Sunday, August 4, 2013

Review: Garnier Fructis Volume Extend Instant Bodifier Dry Shampoo

Hey Curlies! I've got a review of a new dry shampoo that is just starting to really hit store shelves en masse.

It is by Garnier. Now, don't stop reading yet.  I am not a big fan of Garnier.  I mean, after the standard middle school obsession with everything they make was over, I discovered that most of their stuff is pretty meh.  The Triple Nutrition Conditioner is a great one for those following the Curly Girl Method, but I personally find it too heavy for my fine hair.

Speaking of fine hair, back to the review!

"We wanted to put more words in the name, but we ran out of bottle"
So as you know if you've spent time here before, I have very very fine hair.  I need to wash everyday, even when following sulfate-free routine, because of oil at my scalp.  Dry shampoo seems like it would be perfect for someone like me.  It can volumize and de-grease on a no-wash day.

But to be honest, I've never really been one to use them!  In my experience, the few that I've tried (Batiste, Dove, and Tigi) all smell awful and are scented soooooo strongly!  I just couldn't handle that smell.  They would leave my hair feeling dirtier rather than cleaner, and I felt like anyone nearby knew I had skipped a wash because of the overwhelming "HI I USED DRY SHAMPOO TODAY" smell radiating from my hair.

So I was skeptical when I saw this, but I was traveling and knew I was going to need to have a dry shampoo day.

Well, the day came when I knew I'd need to use it.  I looked at my oily scalp in the mirror, and let out a sigh as I prepared for whatever overwhelming, gag inducing scent Garnier had squeezed into this bottle.  And I sprayed.

This. Does. Not. Smell. Bad!

That already put it miles ahead of the competition for me.  The scent is very light.  It's not overly fruity or floral or anything.  It just smells nice and fresh.

When I looked at my hair post-spraying, I expected to see a white sheet of gunk that I would need to frantically brush away in order to reveal my brown hair, with a nice grey cast of course.

Nope!  Just a few light white streaks, but nothing that I couldn't take care of with some light brushing and finger massaging.

So for those keeping score at home, this shampoo 1) does not stink, and 2) doesn't leave as much of a grey gunk residue.  Woo!

You be the judge on the cleaning power.

Before
After
Before
After
So overall, I think you can tell that it does do some decent volumizing, and will take care of some oil.  But it isn't perfect.  Despite not smelling terrible and not leaving gunk behind, it could do a better job with oil removal.  It looks better after spraying, but it's not "I just showered" clean.  But I don't know if that is a fair standard to compare it with.  After sparying this, I felt I could leave the house and not feel icky.  

I think where this product could really shine in your routine is as a root volumizing spray, whether on clean or slightly oily hair.  If you're super oily, I don't think this is going to fix it completely.  But mild oil or clean hair that you want to clean/volumize, this would work well.

I will definitely be keeping this in my rotation for when I have a little bit of oil (perhaps before a night out, for instance) or when I want to have some extra texture for volumizing.  

Check it out on Amazon or in your drugstore!  Have you tried it? What did you think? Do you have any dry shampoo recommendations for me?