Garnier Diamond Sleek, or Garnier Fructis Diamond Sleek Shine-Coat Smoothing Spray (long name), is a “heat-activated anti-frizz and heat protectant spray.” Cher’s commercial for it with Xochitl Gomez came out on 4 June 2026.
Compared to the Uber Eats commercial, this one is meh. There are too many scenes and the scenes are too long. The art of editing was where the Uber Eats was brilliant.
Xochitl is good in the stiffly-written commercial and I actually liked her mussy self, where the ad opens. She’s a skateboarder. Cool. She comes across a poorly-designed Cher concert flyer. She’s wearing a retro Cher tshirt from the Farewell Tour era. Nice. (Cher fans are getting old. Not nice.
She goes into a posh salon? Bar? Club? She has hair too frizzy for such an upscale place. (Bad, I guess.) The instrumental parts of Cher’s song “All or Nothing” are playing. Cher is sitting at the bar wearing copious amounts of diamond-encrusted underthings and a white jacket.
Sone strange cataclysmic event occurs but it’s brief and confusing. There’s a cut to Xochitl peering around a wall. (Why doesn’t Cher just appear where Xochitl was previously?) Cher surprises Xochitl from behind. It’s just kind of an awkward and pedestrian Cher reveal.
Cher launches right into saying Xochitl is “an uncut gem” and all she needs is polish. It would have been better if Xochitl asked for help but this is Cher so don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But maybe Xochitl’s got a look. A disheveled look but, you know, maybe she runs with a disheveled crew. Skateboarders and all. Okay, let’s assume she has a glam side too. I can related to this but the commercial (or “film” as Garnier calls it pretentiously) is a bit cryptically written. (Again, Uber Eats…doing a lot in a little time). Cher says Xochitl is a mess but “I’m here to help you.”
Now the idea of Cher as a Makeover Fairy is really, really good. For Cher. For all of us. This is like the wet dream of both gay Cher fans and hetero female fans. In fact, maybe we are all subconsciously shabby because we secretly yearn for a spa mother. But I mean, Cher can’t be everywhere a shabby Cher fan exists. Listen, I’ve been to some of the Cher conventions. There’s just too many of a motley bunch. No offense to my Cher friends. I get it. I haven’t even brushed my hair yet today and it’s already 10 am. And I can’t honestly remember if I brushed it yesterday. But I love beauty products and beauty talk and I still have dreams of a West Hollywood/New Beverly Cinema, good-lookin Cher convention.
Anyway, Xochitl finds a treasure chest (and can I say we still don’t know where the hell we are?) She opens in and sees a bottle of Garnier’s Diamond Sleek spray on a bed of cartoonish-looking diamonds. Cher knows they’re not real by Xochitl gets distracted by the diamonds and wonders if this is the gift. This is an attempt at humor here but it’s not a good look for Garnier because it makes their product look overlookable.
Cher has to correct Xochitl and tell her it’s the bottle that’s the treasure. Xochitl immediately knows what it is and says, “I need to find a mirror.” Cher says, restroom. Inexplicably, we need to go to another location. This is all pointless action and dialogue because why didn’t we just set the whole thing in a restroom and then we wouldn’t have to waste time giving directions.
Xochitl goes into like the most poshest restroom you’ve ever seen, where women are just milling and there’s a curtain of diamond-esque beads hanging. Cher advises Xochitl to “become the diamond.” I don’t…know…what that means. Xochitl says “I don’t know what that means.”
And then Cher says, “When you shine, the whole world is possible” which is actually a good tag line and good beauty advice. But we had to work really, really hard to get there.
Then we spend too many seconds watching Xochitl blow dry her hair. Cher then appears and makes reference to Xochitl’s t-shirt and says, “I love the t-shirt but I’m not crazy about the girl.” And this is confusing because Cher is, I’m 100% sure, talking about herself here (this is self-deprecation) but it can also be interpreted as Cher saying I like your t-shirt, Xochitl, but not the girl wearing it. Because that’s the way I first heard it (and I know better). The language just leaves it kind of open to who “the girl” is. And this is not after an over-analyzing it, this was my first shocking reaction, which is all a commercial allows. And Cher kind of delivers it without much oomph.
This is a farewell-era shirt and I’m not sure if it’s official merch or a bootleg. The official merch had the Living Proof album cover on it. This might have been legit. That was over 20 years ago. Whatever it is, it’s vintage.
Cher waves her arm. Can’t Cher get a wand or a prop? But then again, maybe Cher is the wand. And before Cher is even finished waving (sloppy), Xochitl gets a full makeover. Cher surprises herself, “that actually worked.” Xochitl walks back through this mysterious place full of radiance and confidence.
Cher tells us, “Now it’s your time to shine.” From your lips to God’s ears, Cher. Another great tag line. Credits roll. At then end Cher says, “that was fun.” And makeovers are fun. But there was too much business and not enough makeover in this.
Couldn’t this have taken place in a beauty salon? Xochitl’s bedroom before a big night out? Even at a skateboard park. I’m thinking the ad was fun to make at this location but it says more about the ad’s creators than its potential audience. It’s basically setting the product in a location most Garnier-buyers will never visit. This is often the disconnect between Cher goods and Cher fans, a tax-bracket gap. On the other hand, Uber Eats, Equal, even Vic Tanny (those gym memberships can be pricey) tapped into Cher’s core base.
I’m not a typical Cher fan. I bought the perfumes and the Cher-designed scarf, all the Burlesque MAC merch and the knock-off Versace tshirt (i’m not “rich as Roosevelt,” as Rose Castorini says in Moonstruck) but I remember the days when I couldn’t afford to buy anything in the Sanctuary catalog and couldn’t hop on board to the Acquasentials monthly skin care club.
Besides, luxury-scale is becoming a bubble. Fortunately, this product is only $7-8 dollars so we can all try it.
This is a great shot (right) and can’t this just be the print ad and we forget all about the commercial?
Cher likes to appear in ads with young people. There’s a mutual benefit here: they get some Icon-dust sparkled on them and Cher gets some youth-cred sprinkled back on her. But we’re developing quite a roster of hip young commercial costars again (also why the Uber Eats was so refreshing…and food, the food). But the formula must be working because we’re all still here.
But I kind of miss context around Cher, like her contemporaries. Even her movie co-stars. A commercial with Meryl Streep or well, I guess a lot of them are no longer with us (or working).
But these ads with young kids always feels like time travel to me. Like the ad becomes about closing the age gap. Maybe Cher needs no co-star.
So the ahem “film” left a lot to be desired. But that’s okay because the other assets are good. Cher did a Q&A at launch that was much more adorably Cher-like.
Here are the questions and answers I’ve transcribed, so thrilled was I about this beauty blast of information:
Your sleek, straight hair has been part of your signature look for decades – what does it represent for you personally?
Cher: I don’t know. It’s always what I’ve felt. You know my mom had long hair. My sister had long hair. My mom used to threaten to cut my hair [chuckle] if I was bad. It’s kinda crazy.- At what point did your hair stop being hair and more like a cultural icon?
Cher: You know I didn’t plan it that way. I just had it long. it’s just what I feel, how I feel. You know, it’s how I feel. - What’s a beauty rule you completely ignore?
Cher: Almost everything. I just don’t believe in rules. I just don’t. It’s like I don’t want it, you know. Tell someone else. - What is the secret to Cher hair?
Cher: I blow dry it upside down. My mother did the same thing. - You had so many iconic hair looks. Which was your all-time favorite?
Cher: My own, you know. Just my own plain. - What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Cher: Oh. I’m shy. [Nods.] Yeah. - Down and sleek or bouncy blow-out?
Cher: Both - Red carpet or after-party?
Cher: They’re the same. - Full glam or natural look?
Cher: Aw no! Both. They’re both. These questions are all both! - Diamonds or leather.
Cher: Oh leather. - Bangs or never again?
Cher: Always fabulous. Just depends on how you feel. - Cappuccino or champagne?
Cher: I don’t like either one. - Night in or night out?
Cher: It depends on who I’m with. - Do blondes or brunettes have more fun?
Cher: I don’t know! You’re asking me all these questions and all I think of is both. They’re both. It doesn’t make any difference. It’s how you feel. - Neutrals or bold colors?
Cher: I like the look of what it is. I don’t like color or I mean I don’t like bright colors but it’s the way it feels, the way it looks, like if you feel great in it. That’s the only thing that matters. Like, do you feel great in it?
Beauty Packaging article – This is mostly advertising copy around the campaign:
“Garnier is ushering in a bold new era of sleek hair” (is it that new, though?) “The campaign features a short film….bridging timeless glamour” [Cher] “with modern self-expression” [skateboarding Xochitl ?]….[bringing] “the iconic ‘Cher Hair’ look to an entirely new generation…” The US Brand President says the product was “built on the belief” of “mirror-like shine” and that “pairing Cher with Xochitl Gomez through Dave Meyers’ lens isn’t just a campaign; it’s a statement. ‘Cher Hair’ has captivated the world for decades. Now we’re handing everyone the secret. No barriers. No gatekeeping. Just transformative beauty…”
Oy vay.
There was a VIP evening celebration “honoring transformation, confidence and iconic beauty” and Garnier is also joining with Cherlato for a special “limited-edition” flavor and a hair pop-up bar in Los Angeles with product samplings, styling stations and touch-ups, “interactive content creation opportunities.”
People Magazine article – This is much better, just a conversation with Cher about her mother’s core hair values, her favorite hair clips and trying “to stay myself.” Cher also talks about wigs, the times when your hair gets in the way, and how she couldn’t Scrunchie to “save her ass.” (Is this aesthetically or functionally?) She says she’s used the product and “it works.”
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