subject: What's In It Anyway? [print this page] I recently purchased a new bottle of shampooI recently purchased a new bottle of shampoo. As I looked through all of the varieties on the shelf, each of them promising to do something different--replenish dry hair follicles or cure oily strands, add volume or smooth frizziness, enhance shine or tighten curls--I found myself growing frustrated with the plethora of choices.
All I wanted was basic, natural shampoo, but all the marketing, not to mention the long list of unpronounceable ingredients, was getting in my way. I decided to do some research on the production of shampoo so that next time I faced the shelves of bottles, I would know exactly what to look for.
The formation of a shampoo begins in the lab. Cosmetic chemists decided what characteristics the shampoo formula should have: thickness, color, smell, cleansing strength, etc. Then they create the preliminary batches using water, detergents, and thickening, foaming, and conditioning agents, as well as certain special modifiers, preservatives, and additives. Water is the basic ingredient, constituting up to 80 percent of the formula. Next come the detergents or surfactants.
They interact with the surface of the hair, trapping oils and dirt and washing them away. Most surfactants come from plant and animal fatty acids, most commonly coconut, palm kernel, and soy bean oil. Other notable cleansers are sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, and ammonium lauryl suflate. Of course, shampoo wouldn't be shampoo without its foam. To create this, chemists add lauramide DEA or cocamide DEA.
Methlycellulose and sodium chloride make the liquid more viscous, and conditioning agents like guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, quatemium 80, and dimethicone are added to 2-in-1 formulas (shampoos that condition as well as clean). To keep the shampoo from bacterial contamination, preservativies like DMDM hydantoin and methylparaben are also included. And as part of a key marketing feature, the color of the shampoo is formulated with the use of certified dyes and additives, some even intended to color the hair while washing.
After the development stage, the shampoo is tested for stability and then manufactured. In the phase known as compounding, large batches (about 3,000 gallons) of the shampoo are made. The materials are transported in big 55-gallon drums and delivered to the mixing site. After the batch is made, a sample is tested by Quality Control, and the mixture is either modified or approved. The accepted batch is pumped into a holding tank and stored. From there, it is taken to the drum filling machine. Bottles are lined up on a conveyor belt, filled with the shampoo, capped, labeled, and boxed for shipment in production lines can produce 200 bottles a minute.
Having learned something about the process and knowing now what each of the ingredients is supposed to do, I can decipher the list of constituents, see through the advertising, and locate a basic shampoo with a minimum amount of additives--all I really wanted in the first place!
