So, I was recently offered the chance to try and review Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Shampoo and Conditioner. Everyone who knows me (and my hair) is not surprised by how quickly I jumped at the chance. My hair is unmanageable to the extreme. First, I have hair that is really long (I love long hair). By long I mean I shut it in the car door when I'm not paying attention, look up while sitting and accidentally sit on it, and regularly have strangers walk up behind me touch to make sure it's real long (okay, the last one's a bit creepy). Aside from being so long it has a ton of curl. Now the curl is a great thing and a horrible thing. If I am willing to spend tons of time I can have a single night of beautiful curls. Now this takes a myriad of hair products and will only last about 6-8 hours before the weight of my long thick hair pulls out the curl. For special occasions I love the option of a head full of curls. For daily use this isn't feasible though. I have to go to school, make breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, go to sports practices, drive the car pool, take care of the garden, help with homework, clean the house, the list is endless and I don't have enough time to concentrate on my hair. So, for daily use I brush the curl out of my hair while it's still wet. The side effect of this is that my hair frizzes and (perhaps most importantly) creates a build-up of static electricity. Dealing with these issues is something that causes me much grief.
As a result of these issues, I am willing to try anything that offers a glimmer of hope. With a name like Sleek & Shine, I figured I didn't have anything to lose. In the interest of full disclosure, I am somewhat familiar with the line of products. I have a bottle of the Sleek & Shine hair serum that I use on particularly frizz-laden days. However, I have never tried the matching shampoo and conditioner.
In typical me fashion, when trying something new I start with the outside and work my way in. So, I get my bottles in the mail and look at the packaging. The bottles are nice. They're not made of that almost waxy plastic that some other companies use. Reading the label I discover that they are made using recycled material (30%) and are made to be a fair amount lighter than the old bottles were. Of course, the hippy in me jumps for joy realizing that this small step is a great one for the environment and over time can make a huge difference. Aside from that, as a Mountain Dew addict it's nice to look at my shampoo and think that the bottle may contain part of my soda bottle recycled last year.
There is a funny little button on the front of the bottles which help to open them. When checking this out not in the shower this little step makes no sense. However, when you're in the shower this button makes perfect sense. I hate when I go to open a bottle of shampoo and my nail bends because it is wet and the bottle is so darned difficult to open. The little green button makes it so your nails don't have to go anywhere near the opening while they are at the weakest by being submerged in a hot shower.
The shampoo smells heavenly. I almost can't describe how heavenly it is. It's fruity but not in a manufactured way (if that makes sense). It's very natural smelling, which is something I really dig.
It is important to note that, at least for someone like me, there will never be super-model shine in my hair. I accepted this long ago and encourage anyone with curly-wavy hair to simply accept it as well. It doesn't matter what products I use, my hair is never going to be the straight and silky hair that I wanted it to be as a youth (of course people with that silky-straight hair can't get their hair to hold a curl for even a short while, so I guess we all want to look on the other side of the drive). I don't go into a new product expecting results that aren't feasible for my hair type. Instead, what I want is some shine and for something to limit the amount of frizz I am dealing with. Of course, I have to be more careful what I am using in the winter or in a particularly dry summer (like this one is turning out to be).
So, what I discovered with Sleek & Shine Shampoo and Conditioner is that my hair loves it. Yes, there is still some frizz but it is more easily controlled than it is using most other shampoos. Of course, I can control minor and even moderate frizz with products used after crawling out of the shower, but the less frizz the less often I have to apply said products. Of course, the less I have to apply other products the less frequently I need to wash my hair (which I won't wash more than three times a week due to the length, although my ideal is twice a week so that some of the good natural oils can reach the tips of my hair before I strip them out again). This combination of shampoo and conditioner doesn't require that I use three other steps after washing to be able run out the door to watch a softball game. Even more important to me than the time I save by not having to mess with my hair too much to tame it is the fact that not a single time since I began using Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Shampoo and Conditioner have I watched little lightening bolts fly from my fingertips to another object. Even when I don't add anything to tame the frizz it isn't so bad that I have to worry about shocking myself due to my hair. The idea of not having to worry about it is, pardon my pun, shocking.
As always, thanks to BzzAgent and Garnier Fructis for the opportunity to try and review this product.
