Green Beauty Care Shampoo Review — Giovanni Smooth as Silk

This is new territory for me, dipping a toe into the world of beauty blogging, but I have to say, I remember posting on facebook last year how I wished someone would finally invent some "green" beauty products that actually work after throwing away a full bottle of useless, but safe, nail polish remover. Since then I've calmed down and have walked into this area of chemical-free beauty products with a much more serious and dedicated fervor, so I'm pleased to say that I've already had much better results with the soaps and shampoos I've tried in 2012 — starting with Giovanni's Smooth as Silk shampoo and conditioner.

Before I'd even used the stuff I was discussing it with my mom, who raved about the scent, which I hadn't even noticed, having picked it up at Target and placed it directly in my shower caddy. I have to admit, it reminds me of a really pricy shower gel I used once from a company out of London that I also remember hearing was safe for the whole family (and darn it, I have no idea what it's called now) — but this stuff is much cheaper, and as you'll find out in a later post I've also found a different (cheaper) bath soap that feels quite nice and authentic on this green beauty journey. Bottom line, this shampoo and conditioner smells much better than products I've tried from Burt's Bees, for example, so props for that.

It also gives a good lather, which I understand is tough to create without SLS. My son asked for bubbles in his bath yesterday, and having switched to an all-natural baby shampoo for him too, I knew it wouldn't create those nice fluffy bubbles he's used to — so I squirted in some of my Giovanni shampoo while the water was running, and sure enough, BUBBLES! Just enough to make him happy, and I danced a little bit inside too knowing that now I don't have to make a separate purchase for him in the future if I don't want to — the whole family can use one product.

That said, I do have one caveat — this shampoo is not perfect for me, at least compared to the conventional versions I was using immediately prior (Pantene Blonde Expressions and Neutrogena Triple Therapy Volumizing Conditioner). Before, without any products at all I could blow dry (okay, and tame a few flyaways with lip balm or natural face lotion — yeah, I've really given up all my conventional styling products) and have amazing, beach-blonde, pregnant-lady hair. (A) I know that my hair may only be this lush because of the pregnancy and (B) the Giovanni shampoo obviously won't bring out my natural highlights, but...it's not as light and fluffy and bouncy as it was with the other stuff. In fact, it can be downright flippy and dry-looking, even though this is a moisturizing line.

So I have two options: either find some green styling products (volumizer? mousse? flyaway tamer?) or try something new next time. To feed the old beauty-product addict inside of me I know I'm going to end up trying something else first, but at least the stuff isn't horrible, and it's perfectly suitable for the days I do NOT blow dry and just tie my hair back (which is pretty frequent).

Final verdict: Thumbs sideways. Love the smell, love the fact that they somehow maintained the lather without using SLS or SLES, don't love the way my hair looks when blow-dried compared to the results with conventional products. I'll live with it until it runs out, but next time I'm going to try a volumizing formula for my fine, straight hair.

Next up: The Building Blocks of Nutrition, Part Five — Minerals