Safe Your World UV-Protecting Shampoo with Organic Yerba Maté

Those of us in the organic beauty industry often bemoan how hard it is to find effective, luxurious natural hair products.  Several brands, which will remain nameless, have let me down recently, leaving my ends more straw-like than silky-smooth. 

So, even though it doesn't have the chicest of packaging, I was down for trying a citrus-fresh shampoo sent to me from a brand with inspiring environmental activism: Save Your World's new Save Your Hair Color-Safe Shampoo in Oasis Fruit.

Pretty factor: Like John Masters, Save Your World also uses nutrient-rich organic aloe as its base instead of the typical water.  But the star ingredient is organic yerba maté, a South American herb that contains 24 vitamins, 15 amino acids, and powerful antioxidants = stronger, healthier, and more vibrant hair.  (Yerba mate is also believed to reverse grays, but I'll save my wishful thinking for bigger matters.)

Save Your Hair also hemp seed, coconut, evening primrose and avocado oils to hydrate and rejuvenate the hair plus titanium dioxide (a natural sunscreen) to protect against the color-fading effects of the sun.  I've been using this shampoo with Juice Organics Brightening Conditioner and my hair has been fuller and shinier.

Eco factor: With every Save Your World product bought, you spare one acre of rainforest in Guyana (a state in South America) from being logged for an entire year.  Save Your World partners with Conservation International, which pays Guyana's Forestry Commission what it would have received had the area been razed. So far, it has helped preserve 200,000 acres of CO₂-absorbing rainforest.  Save Your World products are free of sulfates, 1,4-dioxane, parabens, and synthetic dyes or fragrance.

To buy: $12.98 at some Whole Foods and saveyourworld.com