Going Bananas: we’re seeing a lot of this fabulous ingredient around this season

Whether blending them, putting them into baked goods, or chopping them into cereals or salads, bananas are one of the most versatile and nutrient-packed fruits. So nutritious, it’s become a popular ingredient in beauty products.
Bananas are an all-star choice when it comes to more wholesome foods to your diet. They’re chock full of potassium, magnesium, fibre, and vitamins (mainly B6 and C).
Bananas help keep your bones healthy, reduce the risk of heart disease, help regulate blood pressure, and boost energy and cognition. In beauty products you’ll find banana is a helpful ingredient in face creams, like in Tano Skincare‘s Age Well Face Cream, and even Garnier is using the good stuff in its Vitamin C Eye Cream (see below).
In haircare, banana is also a popular ingredient choice since its richness in potassium helps improve hair elasticity and synthesise collagen, leading to less breakage and stronger locks. Here’s a bunch of great things that are currently making us go, well, bananas.
Compiled by Lisa Andrews & Antonino Tati
Garnier Vitamin C Brightening Eye Cream
Garnier proudly insists that this is the world’s first eye cream that is highly concentrated with 4% – a patented figure that refers to the amount of niacinamide, caffeine, vitamin C and banana powder combined, found in every tube. The banana component helps to lighten dark circles and improve overall skin tone, while the caffeine factor helps improve puffiness. In one week we found a certain smoothness and overall better appearance in skin complexion. By week four, we were all in with highly visible results. Available from popular beauty outlets, and at garnier.com.au. RRP 29.99 for 15ml tube.

The Body Shop Banana Range
A brand that knows a good natural ingredient when it sees and tries it, The Body Shop have a full range of banana infused beauty products including Banana Smooth & Shine Shampoo, Conditioner, and Hair Mask. The fully vegan products are perfect for taming frizzy hair, since the banana component helps flatten the hair cuticles, preventing flyaways or rough textures. Bananas are rich in natural oils and water content, which also works to quench those dry strands that can lead to frizz. Product prices vary, available from thebodyshop.com.au.

Lush Banoffee Pie Body Spray
Notes of banana are wrapped in a gooey base of vanilla and silken tonka glaze in this body spray from the fresh food-as-beauty folk at Lush. The key ingredient keeping it all together is labdanum resinoid, a rich and resinous formula that adds to the sweetness. Surprisingly, too, the scent is tropical but the sensation on the skin isn’t sticky. Store your body spray somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight between uses. Available from lush.com/au RRP $58.00 for 200ml bottle.
Maxibon Barney Banana Ice Cream

We know it might surprise you to see an ice cream in this mix of beauty products but since the calcium from milk and the minerals in bananas are all great for bone health, a Barney Banana ice cream as a treat makes perfect sense.
You might recall this fabulous treat growing up. In fact, Barney Banana ice cream originally hit shop freezers in 1958 but it was Peters who put the ice cream on a popstick, originally promoting it as having real banana pieces.
The popstick is gone since with Maxibon – you just don’t need it! The rebooted Barney Banana features a banana-flavoured slab sandwiched between two chocolate biscuits then dipped in chocolate and delicious cookie pieces. Available at major supermarkets such as Woolworths, RRP $11.50 for a four-pack.

The Velvet Underground & Nico Banana Enamel Pin
Why should Charli XCX have all the Velvet Underground fun? This here enamel pin says rock’n’roll’n’style all in one. Made of enamel on alloy, features a polished black metal outline, bright yellow enamel fill, and with sturdy rubber pinback. Size: around 2.8cm x 3.6cm. Available from The Pop Shop, RRP $22.

Bananarama – 40 Year Anniversary of their brill album True Confessions
It’s hard to believe that 40 years ago we were dancing in clubs and loungerooms to Bananarama’s boppy version of Venus, which featured on this here album. Bananarama released their third studio LP True Confessions amid the peak of their global popularity. The album would go on to be their most commercially successful record worldwide and, aside from Venus, it housed excellent tracks like More Than Physical, Do Not Disturb, and the cool, laidback Trick Of The Night. Various new versions of the album have recently been reissued through London Records including a double vinyl set – the second record featuring remixes of Venus and More Than Physical from the cheeky likes of Richard X, Boys Noize, and Luke Mornay. In fact, five of the remixes appear here exclusively on vinyl and for the first time. Score! Available from local record stores as well as at store.bananarama.co.uk.
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Dusk X Paddle Pop Banana Scented Candles
Speaking of retro memories, Dusk is yet again collaborating with Streets to create a range of Paddle Pop Banana Scented products. These include the large and small soy blend candles, pictured. The scent is very banana meets vanilla cream, and its nice and subtle – not too strong when you have to concentrate in the home office, burning the candle at both ends, so to speak.
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