O, lather, lather, wherefore art thou lather?

I've said it before - shampoo holds a special place in my heart. If you scroll down to my last post, you'll find  my shampoo lovin' rant. If you don't feel like scrolling down, let me recap:

Sadly, the shampoo I love doesn't love me back. Yes, it makes my hair shine and bounce. Indeed,  it makes my locks feel soft and silky. And yes, I was more than willing to pay a whopping fifty bucks for a small bottle of this liquid bliss. But as it turn's out, it's not good for me at all.

Some of the ingredients it contained:

1. Sodium lauryl sulphate:A detergent, emulsifier, and wetting agent. Health effects:Dry skin, skin irritant, linked to eczema. May damage cornea if it comes in contact with eyes. Can enter the heart, lungs, liver, and brain upon skin contact.

2 Fragrance (parfum):A blend of synthetic substances that impart a desired odor. Blends can often contain more than 100 different chemicals. Health effects:Many of the chemicals used to make fragrances can cause skin irritations and allergic responses.

3 DMDM Hydantoin:A preservative.Health effects:A possible skin irritant. May release formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

Need I say more?

So, my first attempt at replacing my beloved shampoo did not go so well. The first product I tried just didn't work for me. It made my hair feel limp and lifeless. So, you know what they say:  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Product Review  #4 

What: Shampoo

Brand: Green Beaver - Cranberry Delight.

Price: Approx. $12 - 14 in the store.  $10.99 on line.

Once again, picking a "safe and healthy" shampoo was difficult for me. But it wasn't because there were so few choices. It was actually quite the opposite. The shampoo section at the Whole Foods  - where I was shopping - was jam-packed.

So why did I choose this product? Well, the name helped. Now before you get any funny ideas or start sharing beaver jokes with me, let me say I was drawn to the name because it honours our national symbol. The good 'ol beaver! Can't get any more Canadian than that.

I also liked this product because it is indeed totally Canadian (from what I can tell). According to the company website, Green Beaver is one of the largest natural, eco-friendly and organic certified (EcoCert) product line in Canada.

From the company website:

"At The Green Beaver Company, we believe in Mother Nature to help us take care of ourselves. For centuries, humans have been living with and safely using natural ingredients. That is why we rely on pure natural ingredients when formulating our products."  http://www.greenbeaver.com/

I should also add, that this company is listed in Gillian Deacon's book "There's Lead in Your Lipstick". As you know, Deacon's book has been a go-to read for me during my product purge.

So, back to the product. Cranberry Delight is designed to help dry, damaged or colour-treated hair. It is supposed to help moisture and rejuvenate lack-lustre locks. A description caught my attention!

As for the ingredients, they looked good enough to eat! Key ingredients : Canadian cranberries, indigenous carrot and organic Prairie seed. Yum! Yum! Talk about ingredients for a happy and healthy scalp.

The product is also supposed to be certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, and biodegradable.

So far, it's sounding like a win-win all around?

But once again, we have to talk about how it actually works.

Let's start with the scent shall we? I can't say I love it. It didn't smell as fresh and as natural as I expected. If I was going to compare it to the last product (Druide Green Tea Shampoo), I would have to say I liked the latter when it comes to smell. Bottom line - the scent just was not all that inviting.

As for cleaning ability? Before I go there, I better remind you that my hair is very unforgiving when it comes to products. Some folks are lucky and can easily use any product. I am not one of those people. With the wrong product, my hair goes limp and greasy. Unfortunately, that's exactly how this shampoo left my hair. It just didn't work for me.

Like the test product before it (Druide), this product left my hair feeling lifeless.

I even tried several applications of the product this time. On more than one occasion, I even lathered-up twice during one shower. But no matter how many times I used it, it just didn't get any better. After every use, my hair just felt sticky and stringy.

Once again, I don't want to trash the company or even the product. Green Beaver appears to be a good Canadian company working to give folks natural product options. I applaud that. But based on my experience, I just can't recommend this shampoo.

So to conclude, I am going to take a pass on this product. I didn't finish using all the product in the bottle. I am once again breaking my rule of not purchasing another product till one is all finished. Tsk-tsk you say! I know, but I just can't keep using this one. I have another confession - I have been using a main stream shampoo for a couple weeks now. It is an Aveda product. I would like to believe it is better for me than some of the drug-store brands. But that might not be the case. There's a whole lot of debate and chatter on-line about just how safe Aveda products are. But let's leave that one for today.

So like my last product review, I want to give Green Beaver a red-licious kiss for being a strong, Canadian company dedicated to producing products that are organic and harvested in a sustainable manner. That alone is enough to prompt me to explore other Green Beaver products.

 

But that's the only smooch this product is going to get. When it comes to effectiveness, it gets only 1 kiss out of 5. Didn't like how it cleaned my hair. Didn't like the scent. Did however like the minimilistic packaging. But other than that, I don't really dig it. Now, I do recognize that this may not have been the right Green Beaver product for my hair-type. I am willing to try other Green Beaver shampoo blends. But not just yet. I am going to try a different brand next. Hence - the hunt for a healthy and chemical free shampoo continues.

Friendly "green" shampoo product reminder:

"Keep in mind that with any truly natural, plant-based shampoo, you will notice a significant reduction in foaming power. It takes petrochemical surfactants to whip up sudsy lather, but extra suds have nothing to do with cleaning power." -Gillian Deacon, There's Lead in Your Lipstick

Little something extra:

I happened to find this link while searching for safe shampoo suggestions. It is from a fellow blogger who appears to be trying to live greener. Full disclosure - don't know this blogger. But I do like her handy shampoo post. Take a look if you like:

http://tryingtobegreener.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/how-safe-is-your-shampoo-conditioner/