Review: Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition 3-Minute Undo Dryness Reversal Treatment

A little while ago I posted an entry about how I purchased this product and was excited to give it a try. Well here's my follow-up review based on my experience of using this product every few days for about two weeks.

I've got to say that the first time I used it I was SO excited. The texture, the fragrance and the promise of soft, moisturized hair left me all giddy in my shower. Look at the neat consistency of this product!

The first thing I noticed when I applied this to my clean, damp hair was that it was sort of difficult to work through my hair from roots to ends. Most deep conditioners have a lot of slip, making them sort of melt like butter into the hair. This one felt sort of like a regular conditioner that is not meant for dry hair. Yes, it's thick, but no, it doesn't glide through the hair when you apply it--I really have to work to get it to cover my hair.

Since this is a "3-Minute Undo" I left it in for three minutes and crossed my fingers when I rinsed it out. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my hair was softer than I thought it would be, but it didn't feel like a miracle product by any means. In fact, I still had some tangles in my hair after I rinsed, and I tried to work those out with my fingers while still in the shower but they wouldn't budge.

Let me back this up and tell you that my hair is long and I have fine hair but lots of it. Also, my hair is color-treated and prone to tangling. I have very dry ends and oily roots and also, my hair is naturally wavy but I have to use product to make the waves consistent. If I use the right products, I can get lots of curls (ringlets, even) but if I use the wrong products, my hair can be a flat, lifeless mess.

That said, it seemed like 3-Minute Undo would be an ideal product for me, right? The bottles says that it is "For Dry to Over-Dried or Damaged Hair" and that the "3 nutritive fruit oils penetrate to nourish every strand to the core." The three oils are olive, avocado and shea, and they also added apricot seeds for extra nourishment (you can see those in the photo above).

With all of this working for me, I certainly hoped that I could see and feel some results after my hair dried. I will say that my hair was a bit shinier and softer after using this product. I loved the extra shine, but honestly, my hair didn't feel significantly softer than how it feels after using other conditioners that I own. Also, I noticed that my hair wasn't as bouncy and my curls were not springy. In fact, my hair didn't have curls at all after using this product. My curls were reduced to flat, almost lifeless waves. I found this peculiar since my hair didn't really feel greasy or weighed down.

I tried this again two days later and was cautiously optimistic. You really can never judge a hair product after using it just once, right? So again, I had the same struggles with getting this product into my hair, but I waited the three minutes and hoped for the best.

I let my hair air-dry as I often do, scrunching my curls in my hands every so often until my hair is completely dried. I've got to say that on the second time around, I noticed that while my hair did feel soft, it didn't seem like a softness that was actually penetrating my hair. The softness seemed to just be sitting on top of my hair, if that makes any sense. It felt like my hair was coated, but I could still feel the dryness underneath. This is sort of disheartening because the effect on my hair is the exact opposite of the product's claims.

On my 3rd and 4th use of this product, I got the exact same results. This product was still difficult to apply to my hair in the shower and it didn't help with detangling one bit. In fact, I felt that it almost encouraged tangles when my hair was dry. Also, every time that I used this, my hair seemed less bouncy and my waves were flatter than normal. Yes, I did see an increase in shine, but I don't think that flat hair is a good trade-off for shiny hair.

And once again, my hair felt soft and coated, but I could still feel the dryness underneath.

When I use this product, it really feels like it's coating my hair but not doing anything to help actually restore moisture to my dry ends. I'm thankful that it didn't leave my hair greasy or oily, but I don't foresee any long-term benefits from using this product (at least for me).

Have you tried 3-Minute Undo? And if so, did you have a better experience with it than I did? I'd love to hear your thoughts.