Product Review: Garnier Blow Dry Perfecter Kit
Beauty products are rarely deserving of the word “controversial,” but if ever one was, it’s the Garnier Blow Dry Perfecter Kit. Feelings all over the internet have been very mixed about this product, and luckily I scooped it up after only reading a few positive reviews. If I had read some of the negativity going around, I might have been too scared to try it.
This is how it works: you buy the kit, which contains two different tubes of product and a pair of gloves. You wash your hair without conditioning, and then you put the goop in the big tube on your hair first and let it sit for 20 minutes (or up to 30, for stubborn hair). Then you rinse it out and liberally apply the goop from tube two, but don’t rinse afterward. The product is heat-activated, so you blow dry your hair as normal. Et voila! Shiny, silky hair that resists frizz for up to seven washes.
People who shouldn’t use it, according to the included documentation: people who have had their hair chemically relaxed or straightened, people whose hair is significantly damaged, people who have had their hair colored in the past two weeks or plan to color their hair in the following two weeks.
Pros:
1. Effective – I followed the directions to a T (this appears to be very important in order to achieve good results) and the product did exactly what it said it would. My hair is fine, very curly and very prone toward frizz (particularly in the humid Atlanta summers), and my results have been nearly miraculous. My hair is softer, shinier and much easier to blowdry and flat iron effectively. Also, it doesn’t frizz unless I get very, very sweaty. Alternately, I could barely get out of the house before my hair puffed up before.
2. Quick – From start to finish, including the shower and blow-dry time, this treatment probably took an hour. Keratin treatments at salons take several hours.
3. Inexpensive – Similarly, Keratin treatments cost hundreds of dollars and aren’t permanent. This kit, on the other hand, will last seven washes and only costs $12. Plus, no annoying appointment to keep!
Cons:
1. Smelly – the first tube of goop smells sort of like a rancid perm, but the results were worth it for me. If you rinse your hair thoroughly and use a generous amount of the goop from tube two, you don’t really get any lingering smell. I might have gotten a whiff or two the day after I applied the treatment, but it wasn’t strong or noticeable to others.
2. Color fading – I dye my hair mostly black, so the only fading I noticed was on a few pieces that had been dyed purple but faded out to a dark red. Those sections got a bit lighter but my black stayed the same. If you dye your hair allover red or some other easily faded color, this probably isn’t the product for you.
3. Potentially risky – I’m not going to lie, I’ve read a lot of bad reviews on this stuff. The active ingredient is commonly used in Asia, so I’m not really worried about the safety of using it, but badly damaged hair probably only get worse if you use this kit. I need a haircut and a re-up on my dye anyway, so trying this out was relatively risk-free for me and totally worth it. If you’re worried, you may want to wait until you find yourself in a similar situation.
All in all, I would absolutely purchase this product again and very much plan to do so.
Ulta, $12.
