Kari Molvar, Forbes
Welcome to You’ll Love This, our bi-weekly column in which Forbes Vetted staffers spotlight their favorite products while they’re on sale.
When you have fine hair, a good volumizing shampoo is deceptively hard to find. I’ve tried many—no-frills drugstore brands, fancy salon options, hippie solid bars and heavily perfumed French imports—but none gave my strands the oomph I was looking for. Either I didn’t notice any lift at the roots, or they coated my hair in heavy thickening agents that, invariably, led to greasy, gunky build-up. So I started to consider a volumizing shampoo to be decent if it didn’t leave me worse off. That is, until I tried Davines’ Energizing Shampoo (which, BTW, is 20% off right now with the exclusive code FORBESFAV20).
During the pandemic, my hair grew long—really long. This cut down on salon bills but made my fine hair even finer. But I liked the swishy length, so I didn’t want to cut it. Then I got diagnosed with a hormone imbalance which, I discovered, makes me especially prone to hair loss and dry, brittle strands. Super. So when an email appeared in my inbox from a publicist for Davines, the revered Italian botanical haircare line, asking if I wanted to try the Energizing Shampoo from the brand’s Naturaltech line—telling me it was designed to help “thinning and fragile strands”—I was sold.
The unisex Davines shampoo is not new; It came out more than a decade ago and seems to have a cult following (the only negative reviews seem to be from people wanting the bottles to be filled even higher to the top with the magical elixir). And after trying it for myself, I can totally see why. When I use the Energizing Shampoo in conjunction with Davines’ Energizing Thickening Tonic, my hair feels noticeably fuller. And according to my coworkers, it looks more voluminous over Zoom, too.
The Davines shampoo comes out of the bottle with a slightly gooey consistency because it’s ultra-concentrated—you don’t need much to get a full lather. The formula itself contains a propriety blend of green tea extract and vitamin B3 to calm inflammation, caffeine phytoceutricals to stimulate and encourage hair growth and a “microbiotic booster,” a brew of molecules created by Davines’ scientists to preserve the scalp’s skin barrier and prevent breakage. When you massage it in, it tingles, smells super minty (like sinus-clearing, toothpaste-level minty) and unlike many other body-boosting shampoos, it made my hair feel thicker at the roots but without any build-up. It’s also worth noting that the sulfate-free liquid didn’t strip my dyed hair of its colored glory (phew).
As I mentioned above, for an extra boost I pair the Energizing Shampoo with the brand’s newly reformulated Energizing Thickening Tonic, a leave-in texturizing spray that bulks up the diameter of the hair fiber. It comes in a squat bottle with a very forceful spray applicator that sends a full blast of the (also very minty) tonic into your scalp. Then, you’re supposed to massage it in and comb it through. What I like best about this formula is that it leaves my hair soft and manageable, not at all stiff or crunchy, like mousses and other leave-ins sometimes do. Davines claims the vitamin-B-based tonic increases hair thickness by 10 percent, and after using it regularly for a month, I can totally attest to that.
Good-hair seekers know that Davines rarely, if ever, discounts its hair products. So it’s a pretty big deal that the brand is offering a discount exclusively for Forbes Vetted readers now through October 31. The code FORBESFAV20 will get you 20% off the Energizing Shampoo (limit one bottle per customer, please). Start there and then you’ll probably decide to explore the tonic and other hair-boosting products (scalp serums, treatment gels) in the Energizing Line once you see how voluminous, bouncy and thick your hair becomes.
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