GVP conditioning balm (Sally's biolage knockoff)

finch · 05-24-2009, 11:18 AM

I didn't see a thread here exclusively devoted to this stuff, so I decided to start one.

I bought this stuff after seeing raves about it here, and because my hair is sooooo dried out right now from chlorine abuse

. I hate LVPNG condish. I know lots of people love it, but I just hate the stuff. Something about the way it goes in my hair makes it foam up, which makes it not so conditioning after all.

ANYWAY...I bought the GVP stuff (great value products conditioning balm, at Sally's) and tried it today. The slip is not very good, but it IS a very rich product, so I didn't expect that. I did a modified DT with it (left it on for about 10 min. while I shaved my legs, lol), then rinsed out and used VO5 moisture milks as a leave in. I am air drying with no styling products in right now, just to give my hair a "break," (besides, it's pouring down rain...why bother styling...) or a "naked day" as I like to call it, so we shall see how it goes.

The price is definitely right ($5.79 for 16oz.), and it's readily available, so those are two huge plusses in my book. Other curlies, what say you?

Backliteyes · 05-24-2009, 12:00 PM

I've only had the chance to try it once so far, so I can't really say yet. On first brush I liked it and I'll use it as a richer conditioner unless issues crop up that I can attribute to it. At this point though I have 2 other conditioners competing to be my heavier conditioner go-to, so I'm still seeing if my hair likes any better than the others.

RozettaStone · 05-24-2009, 01:55 PM

Hah, well, this is my HG conditioner, and I love it, as you can see from my sig. I believe there are several threads devoted to it, but they are probably under "Biolage" instead of "GVP" or "Sally's." Walgreens also has their version, which is very popular here, called BioInfusium? balm (costs more than Sally's tho), and apparently, Aldi's makes a great one, too.
Your post just goes to show how everyone's hair reacts differently to products, because the instant that CO first hit my hair, it was amazing!

I get tons of slip with it. I don't get slip like this with anything else I've tried, nothing comes near it. The tangles melt away as soon as it hits my hair. I've looked at the ingredients, and apparently, my hair loves the fatty alcohols that seem to predominate in this CO. I've used a lot of other COs that are very rich in oils (including AOHR, JC TooShea) -- and none of them give me slip; instead they seem to make my hair feel dry and tangly, even while it's wet. The big difference as soon as I used this GVP CO is that my hair DOES feel wet, soaking wet, and smooth, in the shower. When I turn off the water to add my products, my hair is still wet and slippery feeling -- I never have this with other COs, so product distribution was very hard.
This CO made a *huge* improvement in the condition of my hair, in just the first week or two, and I've been using it steadily now since I think end of March. My hair is shiny now, and soft, and the icky dry patch in back that has been fried and bleached looking for the past many years is showing a lot of improvement for the first time. So even though I've used all sorts of good products on my hair since going CG two years ago, and even though I use oils on my hair regularly, this stuff is what has made the big difference for me. It also seems to make all my other products work better, too, maybe just because my hair is in better shape now.
So I think it's just a matter of which ingredients work for which hair -- your hair may not love those fatty alcohols so much because it's craving -- what? Hope you can find out soon!

saricurl · 05-24-2009, 06:25 PM

GVP is way too heavy for me. I gave it a few good tries but it gave me the same results that other heavy conditioners (like AOHR and AOWC) give me: heavy, gummy, sausage-like ringlets that hang close to my head with a lot of frizz. It felt great in the shower, detangled well, but once I styled I could tell it wasn't going to work. I love rich conditioners but they need to be rich AND light, which GVP is not on my hair. It makes a great shaving cream, though! My legs have never been so soft!

Nylorac · 05-25-2009, 06:01 PM

I just bought this stuff today and I am feeling hopeful about this product. The hair on the top of my head is dried out so I am looking for a rich conditioner to soften it up. I cannot say that something profound happened in the first use, but it was clearly a super moisturizing conditioner! I read somewhere on here that it might be best to rotate this conditioners with out ones because it is so heavy. That is my plan with this product.

The Mop · 05-29-2009, 08:45 PM

I am a huge fan of this conditioner and I use it nearly every day mushed up with some honey. My hair does not tangle with this stuff. My hair is not weighed down by this stuff. My super dry hair, very porous hair thinks this product saved it from a fate worse than death by flat iron.

Spiralli · 05-29-2009, 08:52 PM

Y'all are keeeling me with this new lemmmming you've created for me. I am heading to Sally's tomorrow so that I can keeeel the lemming.

curlykey · 05-29-2009, 08:52 PM

I love this stuff! My daughters loved it too. I bought two bottles and was saving the second one. I just finished off the Walgreens knockoff (Bioinfusion-conditioning balm) and to me it was not as conditioning as the GVP from Sally's, plus I like the smell of the GVP much better. I will have to stock up on the GVP when I can.

RozettaStone · 05-29-2009, 11:36 PM

Plus the one from Sally's is even cheaper than Walgreen's.

You said it, Mop. This stuff is the bomb. My hair loves it. I've used it consistently since I first tried it. I wonder where it has been all my life.
I am going to marry it.

(Saricurl -- maybe you could use it for a DT. I'll have to try it on my legs; thanks for the idea!)

RozettaStone · 05-29-2009, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by curlykey

I will have to stock up on the GVP when I can.

Sally's is having a sale right now -- I got a coupon in the mail for 20% off for June. I think you have to have the Sally's card to get this (it's worth getting the card). But I saw sale prices at the store as well, and I think the GVP products were marked down.

Type2CFromSpain · 07-12-2009, 12:37 AM

May you tell me the ingredients of this stuff? I don't like silicones and I'm interested in.
Thank you.

KsLiZCuRlZ · 07-12-2009, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Type2CFromSpain

May you tell me the ingredients of this stuff? I don't like silicones and I'm interested in.
Thank you.

No Silicones..it's CG and i want to get it as soon as i finish my last bottle of silicone conditioner

Curly Girl Fla · 07-12-2009, 10:16 AM

I never tried the GVP version, but I love the Aldi one-$3.99 for 16 oz. In fact, I'm DTing now right after my henna, and I also used it in my henna gloss on the length of my hair. Has anyone used the Aldi and the GVP, and can compare them?

sherry7899 · 07-12-2009, 06:47 PM

My local Sally's never has this in stock, and I really want to try it. Hopefully they will get it in soon.

Sherry

Lnm130 · 07-12-2009, 06:56 PM

I never knew Aldi sold conditioner? I'm not in there very often, only for certain things, but there is one right down the street.

lisasand · 07-12-2009, 10:59 PM

I too now use the Aldi conditioner in my henna gloss. I first used the Bioinfusion, Walgreen's version of Biolage and liked how well it moisturized my hair, but it was too expensive to continue using in my henna gloss and Auntnett I think it was, mentioned on the henna thread both the GVP and Aldi Shique conditioning balm, so I got both to try (I actually had my nephew mail me 2 btls of Aldi from Chicago..lol) as there isn't an Aldi anywhere near me.
GVP is a little creamier than Aldi and I love the smell of the GVP more. The other difference for me is that the Aldi condish foams a little when I scrunch my hair as I use it as a leave in also, so now I smooth it in. However, I like them both and will continue to alternate between them.
Have been using them every 2 days for about 4 wks now and perhaps it's too soon to say that I have found my HG but my goodness do I like these 2 products!

finch · 07-14-2009, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Type2CFromSpain

May you tell me the ingredients of this stuff? I don't like silicones and I'm interested in.
Thank you.

Here are the ingredients:

Quote:

Water (Aqua), Propylene Glycol, Myristyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Decyl Oleate, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance (Parfum), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Hexyl Cinnamal, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Hydrastis Canadensis (Golden Seal) Extract, Fucus Vesiculosus (Bladderwack) Extract, Methyl-2-Octynoate

As the previous poster upthread said, it's CG and 'cone free.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curly Girl Fla

I never tried the GVP version, but I love the Aldi one-$3.99 for 16 oz. In fact, I'm DTing now right after my henna, and I also used it in my henna gloss on the length of my hair. Has anyone used the Aldi and the GVP, and can compare them?

Not me, we don't have an Aldi anywhere close by me.

It's been almost 2 months, and I love this stuff. It's one of my staples in my conditioning routine. If Sally's ever changes the formula, I may have a breakdown. LOL.

thickcurlygurly · 07-14-2009, 07:43 PM

I just bought some from sally's today, a few minutes ago i took my hair out of the shirt I use for plopping, and wow I love this stuff!
1)the price $6 at sally's beauty supply store
2)Results soft hair, minimal frizz !yay!
3)It smells super yummy and the smell lasts
4)cg friendly!
4 1/2)hydrates my dry curly hair
5)all of the above combined in 1 product

happy hair!

WurlyLox · 07-15-2009, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lisasand

I too now use the Aldi conditioner in my henna gloss. I first used the Bioinfusion, Walgreen's version of Biolage and liked how well it moisturized my hair, but it was too expensive to continue using in my henna gloss and Auntnett I think it was, mentioned on the henna thread both the GVP and Aldi Shique conditioning balm, so I got both to try (I actually had my nephew mail me 2 btls of Aldi from Chicago..lol) as there isn't an Aldi anywhere near me.
GVP is a little creamier than Aldi and I love the smell of the GVP more. The other difference for me is that the Aldi condish foams a little when I scrunch my hair as I use it as a leave in also, so now I smooth it in. However, I like them both and will continue to alternate between them.
Have been using them every 2 days for about 4 wks now and perhaps it's too soon to say that I have found my HG but my goodness do I like these 2 products!

The last I got at Aldi was only $2.98 for a 16 oz. bottle - it's a thin, cheap bottle, but who cares?

I've never noticed the foamy thing, but then I never use it as a leave-in. Don't notice any difference in the smell. If anything, the Aldi smells just like the real Biolage while the GVP maybe not exactly - very negligible difference to me.

IMO, they're all great - I can use them every time I wash my hair if I want without it getting over conditioned or weighed down even though I tend to get easily weighed down.

sherry7899 · 07-17-2009, 06:46 PM

I finally found it! I'm going to try it out tomorrow.

Sherry