I was lather, rinse, repeating the other morning and I suddenly thought to myself, what am I rubbing into my scalp? What differentiates shampoo from plain old soap? And where does the word shampoo come from anyway? Turns out, shampoo is a relatively new part of the Western beauty regime, since about the turn of the 20th century. It was first brought to Europe from India, where it had been used in some form for hundreds of years. In fact the word 'shampoo' comes from the Hindi word 'campo', which means 'to press'.** Originally, 'shampooing' referred to a sort of full body massage that was traditional in India (hence 'press'), but eventually it came to be used for 'head massage' As early has the 1500s, Indians washed their hair with a mixture of herbs and extracts. They used the pulp of a fruit called soapberry and combined it with anything from buttermilk, aloe, sandalwood and jasmine to turmeric, rose and hibiscus flowers. With the colonization of India, Europeans were introduced to shampoo and some began using it at home - although it came in a solid form, much like soap, and it was not uncommon to wash with it just once a month. In 1908, the New York Times ran an influential article on hair care. It announced that women should wash their hair with shampoo as often as once every two weeks to keep it 'soft and glossy in texture and appearance.' This effectively pushed shampoo into the cosmetics mainstream, although liquid shampoo was not made commercially available in the West until the 1930s. These days, our Herbal Essences and Pantenes are a scientifically-developed blend of surfactants, which remove dirt and oil (also known as sebum) from hair, and a co-surfactant, usually cocamidopropyl betaine (derived from coconut oil) in water.*** Although it's common in the U.S. to wash with shampoo every day, experts suggest that we shampoo no more than three times a week so as to avoid completely stripping our hair of the oils it needs to be healthy and happy. On a fun side note, there is an underground movement called 'No Poo' (yes really) which advocates foregoing shampoo altogether in the interest of health and the environment. No Poo-ers highlight the possible negative effects of chemical additives on the body, as well as the pollutive qualities of plastic bottles that shampoo comes in. So there you have it! The life and times of the humble shampoo. Aren't you glad you're so well informed now? This will make for excellent trivia knowledge, in my opinion. Til next time ... ** the 'oo' sound in 'shampoo' apparently originated with Europeans trying to imitate the Hindi accent in the word 'champo'
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September 2017
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