Review: Green Beaver Jr. & Toothpastes*
The folks at The Green Beaver Company kindly sent us some of their kid-friendly products to try out and review. I've been a big fan of their shampoos and conditioners for grown-ups for a few years (I buy it by the case!) and having been using some of the Jr. line for a few months, so I was pretty excited to try out some more of their products for kids!
Right off the bat, my favorite things about Green Beaver are that they're fairly local to me here in Ottawa (they're located in Hawkesbury!), they source a lot of their ingredients in Canada, and they're up front with what their products do and don't contain. Green Beaver is fabulous about putting comprehensive ingredients labels on their products which, as a parent, matters to me -- I never used to read labels this much before becoming a parent. Knowing what chemicals my children come into contact with is important and Green Beaver makes it really easy to minimize their exposure to some well-known "baddies".
We received their Green Beaver Jr. shampoo, conditioning detangler, bubble bath and foaming hand soap, as well as three of their fluoride-free toothpastes in Zesty Orange, Green Apple and Frosty Mint.
Strangely, the boys were most excited about the toothpastes. I think they brushed their teeth about six times each in the first day -- their dentist would have been proud! Boy#1 really didn't like the orange flavour, but loved the mint. Boy#2 disliked the mint, but loved the orange. Both of them were less thrilled with the green apple flavour, but I rather enjoyed it. I was really happy to see how much the boys enjoyed it -- toothbrushing is a battle I hate having at bedtime, so anything that makes them want to brush their teeth is good by me!
I like that Green Beaver toothpaste doesn't contain any extra fluoride, and found that it made my teeth feel as clean as they do with other toothpastes. It has a runnier consistency than your average drugstore toothpaste, so be careful when putting it on your toothbrush.
The foaming hand soap was also a big hit with both Mom and boys. Instead of squirting out liquid soap, the dispenser spits out a lovely, lightly-scented foam -- making wastage less of a problem. The soap contains a number of natural oils and is very gentle on the skin. The soap is even better for what it doesn't contain -- no SLS or SLES in Green Beaver Jr products!
The bubble bath has the same light berry scent and the bubble-longevity is comparable to other natural bubble baths we've tried. It, too, is free of SLS and SLES.
Green Beaver's conditioning detangler is something that comes in handy around here. Boy#1 has very long hair and I find this detangler works better than other mainstream products for getting out the knots. I was a little worried he would balk at the berry scent the first time we used it, but he turned to me and said, "wow, Mom! This smells like Rockets!" Apparently, boys are okay with berry-scented hair as long as it's reminiscent of a popular candy. ;)
I have to say that I am less fond of the Green Beaver Jr shampoo on his hair, however. It has always worked well on Boy#2, who has medium-to-short hair. I find it hard to rinse out of Boy#1's longer hair, though, and it seems to make his hair feel a little sticky in that too-clean sort of way. I prefer to use their Apple Mint shampoo on his long locks, with a splash of the corresponding conditioner.
Overall, I'm a pretty big fan of Green Beaver. They are a conscientious company with a good philosophy. Their products use a wide range of natural and certified organic ingredients. They are also parents who understand other parents' concerns about chemical-laden products. In the future, I would like to see them introduce a range of baby-friendly items. I really appreciate their approach and have been very happy to watch them succeed and expand their product range. Good work, Green Beaver!
The boys and I give Green Beaver 4 thumbs up!
*Disclosure: I received the above-pictured products in exchange for a review on this blog. I have, however, been using their products with satisfaction for several years now!