Hanging out with your girlfriends with curly hair has many advantages. These ladies are already quite overwhelmed taking care of their tresses so in comparison one always ends up feeling better about their hair! Just kidding! Curly hair care is a whole new category in the greater hair-care industry. I got introduced to it via Ms. Super Consumer and on one such knowledge exchange sessions I found out about the brand Giovanni!

As a person with relatively straight hair, I had not ever heard of the brand. But after Ms. Super Consumer gave me rave reviews of the product I researched it and since have come to understand that Giovanni hair care products hold somewhat of a cult status in the curly hair care world. That was just about enough information for me to jump ahead and try it.

The Brand:

Giovanni organic eco-chic cosmetics claims to be USA’s no. 1 selling natural & organic hair care range. Founded by Arthur Guidotti – hair stylist for some of the top Hollywood celebrities, Giovanni was born out of passion to create hair styling products in organic formulations – a near impossible task! They claim that the product comprises of purest formulations, packed to perfection, marketed with an extra-ordinary showcase of pictures and concepts.

Something that stood out to me was their claim about Giovanni products contain upto 94% ‘certified organic’ ingredients and all the products are made in USA. They also claim that the ingredients used in their products mostly comprise of exotic natural oils which are much more expensive than those found in most commercial FMCG cosmetics. They claim to be able to afford it by choosing to reduce their spends on advertising & media and instead choose to price products reasonably!

(Applause!!!)

Cost:

595 INR for 250 ml

Buy Online:

Here

Product Description:

• For Damaged Hair
• Contains Vegetable Protein to Soothe Dry or Damaged Hair, Control Frizz, Add Shine
• Infuses deep moisture for manageable smoothness
• Detangles while protecting against split ends
• Calms unruly hair to alleviate frizz
• Increases shine while smoothing dry or damaged hair
• Directions: Apply daily after Smooth As Silk Deep Moisture shampoo. Massage through to ends before rinsing thoroughly. 

Ingredients:

Aqua (Purified Water), Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Cetrimonium Bromide, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Natural Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, *Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Leaf Extract, *Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Valencia Orange) Extract, *Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract, *Cymbopogon Schoenanthus (Lemongrass) Extract, *Echinacea Purpurea Extract, *Ginkgo Biloba Extract, *Glycine Soja (Soybean) Seed Extract, *Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Extract, *Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, *Macrocystis Pyrifera (Sea Kelp) Extract, *Mangifera Indica (Mango) Extract, *Salix Alba (Willow Bark) Extract

*USDA Certified Organic

Since this is from the “Eco chic” variant the packaging conforms to the rest of the Eco-Chic range. It come in a trapezoidal translucent plastic bottle which is white in color. The shape is intriguing I must admit, quite unlike the packaging I am usually privy to. It is sturdy, and has a flip top cap due to which I am not sure how well it will travel. Being translucent, it is easy to check the amount of product remaining.

The conditioner is of a Pearlized White colour and has a pleasant fragrance which is not too over powering and fades in a matter of a day. I am OK with this because I am not too fond of hair care products that have a very long lasting over powering fragrance.

It has a thick texture by that I mean if you pour a little in the palm of your hand and then invert your hand it will take a  while for it drop due to gravity. It has a cream-gel like consistency. Despite the thickness it has a great slip due to which it is easy to spread over damp hair.

When I used it I felt a little lather, I am not sure if I was imagining this but after more research I have come to find out that I wasn’t! Probably a reason why a lot of people use this for co-washing* their hair. Co–washing is short for “conditioner-only washing.” It means skipping shampoo and relying solely on conditioner.

Before I get into the efficacy I should let you peeps know my hair type. I have mid-length hair (till the middle of my back). They are very fine, prone to breakage but densely placed in the mid and lower part of my scalp. It is boring-ly straight with a slight wave towards the end. The ends are very dry and prone to splitting and the scalp is quite oily and the sebum gradually moves down the strands in a matter of few days after shampoo. I also have a pretty out of control frizz situation going on, since not all my hair are of the same length and the baby hair are so fine that they tend to defy gravity and add to the frizz. So far I have been using Organix Products for a while and wash my hair only once a week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bmp-N52FZhp/?taken-by=ms.plainspoken

Efficacy

I wash my hair with my regular OGX shampoo and then wring out the excess water from the strands. Over damp hair I apply this conditioner and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Due to the slip of the product it spread well but does not de-tangle my hair as a lot of people claimed it did for them. I was not able to run my fingers through the damp hair with the product on because it was unable to de-tangle the hair and if I tried I would end up breaking a lot of strands.

After wash my hair feels quite dry and in-fact even more frizzy. After completely dry the hair has no luster or sheen and the frizz becomes worse. The hair doesn’t feel or look hydrated.

I couldn’t believe a product that had such great reviews did not work so I attempted to use it many times since; but to no avail! Each time the result was the same and my disappointment had no bounds.

Pros:

• Claimed to be very effective on curly hair
• Cruelty free
• 100 % vegetarian
• Does not contain Parabens, Lauryl or Laureth Sulphates 
• Contains certified organic botanical ingredients.

Cons:

• Not easily available (online or offline)

Closing Thoughts:

I am trying to understand why this failed to work for me and I have been unable to come up with a logical explanation. (If you can think of something please let me know in the comments) The only point I can think of is the fact that the brand mentions that this needs to be applied daily and I can definitely not do that nor do I recommend you to do it (straight/ or wavy) because that is just too much product and friction for hair to endure daily.

Unfortunately this did not work for me and I am extremely unhappy about it. I had read pages and pages of great thing about this mostly by the curly haired folks and I was really looking forward to see a similar result on my straight hair.

Let me know your experience if you have tried this. Also if you think I am doing something wrong I would really like it if you could give me some tips because honestly I am heart broken!

Check out some of the hair care products I have been trying here & here. Also connect with me on Instagram so that we can exchange notes.