Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis: Which of the Two Brands Is Best for You?

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Looking for a quick overview of Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis? If so you’re on the right page.

If you’re like most people you probably find that you have one or two problems with your hair. It could be difficult to deal with, like drying one day and becoming oily the next day.

What if you have a flat and curly hair and you want to make it straight? Another problem.

No matter what kind of problem you’re facing, you should be able to find a brand of shampoo or conditioner that’ll help make your hair manageable.

Fortunately, there are a lot of them that are reasonably priced too. Herbal Essences and Garnier Fructis are two of the brands that are worth looking into.

Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis – Cost/Availability

Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis
Cost and availability are two important factors that can influence your decision when trying a new brand. If you’ve never used a brand before, which is unlikely, they’re still very important.

For example, if you plan to get your shampoo in your local shop, you’ll want to go with a brand that’s available in those stores.

Also, some brands are more expensive than others. If cost is a concern, you want a brand that is affordable without compromise to the quality of the product.

Fortunately, both of these brands are available at most drug, grocery, and mass merchandise stores, so you’ll be able to find them easily. Also, their pricing structure is similar and are both affordable.

If you’re looking for the better price of the two brands, Garnier Fructis may offer you a slightly better deal compared to Herbal Essences.

Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis – Products

Both Garnier Fructis and Herbal Essences shampoos and conditioners are available in a wide array of formulas to meet an individual’s personal hair care needs.

Garnier Fructis



Garnier Fructis is available in a total of ten formulas – Fortifying for normal, fine hair, dry or damaged, and color-treated hair, Sleek and Shine.

The rest are: Sleek and Shine Sheer, Dandruff Control, Curl and Shine, Body, and Volume, Long and Strong.

I like that their shampoos are sulfate-free. They’re formulated with Aloe Vera extract that adds moisture to the hair and refreshes it.

And you can get yourself some of their products that are safe for colored hair if you have permed hair.

Herbal Essences



Herbal Essences only comes in eight formulas for shampoo and conditioner. They are Body Envy, Drama Clean, Break’s Over, Hello Hydration, Color Me Happy, None of Your Frizzness, Dangerously Straight, and Totally Twisted.

The Scent of the Two Brands

Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis
The last factor that comes in to play for me before I buy a product is the smell. The last thing I want is to find a product that works really well but smells horrible. I think both brands have formulas with really good smells.

Most Garnier Fructis shampoos and conditioners have the same sort of citrus fruit smell while every different formula of Herbal Essences has a unique fragrance.

They do however all carry either a primarily floral or fruity smell. When you use Herbal Essences, the smell might stay with you all day while that of Garnier Fructis may not be long-lasting.

The smell of Herbal Essences is more feminine though, so if you plan on sharing shampoo with your significant other, you may want to consider Garnier Fructis because the smell is not so floral.

Effectiveness

Of course, the most important aspect of any hair care product is how well it performs. Both of these brands perform very well as a whole, but each one has its own individual strong points as well as weak points.

The factors you can take into consideration are:

  • How well does it clean your hair?
  • Does it leave behind build-up when you use it?
  • How easy both shampoo and conditioner are  to rinse out
  • Does it detangle your hair well enough?
  • How soft it makes your hair after repeated use, and
  • When used repeatedly, does it leave your hair manageable?

The last one maybe even more potent for you, especially if you haven’t found your hair easy to manage. From the review on both products, more points will go to Garnier Fructis.

This is because:

Garnier Fructis leaves very little build-up and cleans decently well, but Herbal Essences cleans much better.

However, the conditioner does gradually leave a fairly significant amount of build-up near the roots.

This might be because it is somewhat difficult to rinse out. Garnier Fructis is much easier to rinse out, especially the conditioner.

It is more watery than the Herbal Essences. For how well it detangles, manageability, and how soft it makes the hair, Herbal Essences wins hands down.

If you have fine hair that tangles easily when wet, you need a product that’s very suitable for that. With Herbal Essences, you shouldn’t have a problem brushing through your hair after using it in the shower.

For Garnier Fructis, you may need to use a separate leave-in conditioner to get rid of your tangles.

If you’re afraid that will take up your time or you generally don’t like products like that, then the other brand is more suitable for you.

In other words, you can achieve the same effect using Garnier Fructis. But to do so, you may need to use an additional product, which is not cost or time-effective.

Herbal Essences vs Garnier Fructis: Quick Comparison

If you’re looking for solid brands to add to your hair care routine, I’ll recommend both Herbal Essences and Garnier Fructis because they’re both quality products at an affordable price.

If you had to use one or the other, then I’ll recommend Herbal Essences because it works well especially if you have fine hair. In addition, it has a better fragrance than Garnier Fructis. 

If you like to go with a more popular brand, they have a tie as both companies are widely known and accepted.

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