What's in Shampoo - Should We Care?


Most people don't tend to wonder about what the chemical composition of their shampoo or body wash is – as long as it works.

Fair enough.

Most people want a product that will lather up nicely, feel good, cleanse hair and skin perfectly without drying it out, and have an appealing and pleasant scent.

Ideally, it should also be planet-friendly in a perfectly, 100% biodegradable kind of way.
And one would think that wasn't too hard to achieve.

However...

Knowing How to Work With Surfactants Requires Chemistry

Truth be told, lathery products have been some of the most challenging for me to work with. There's all kinds of 'technical stuff' you have to study and understand, and although it's great when you finally get to the fun part, you simply have to get a grasp of that 'technical stuff' before you have any kind of handle on what you are doing.

There is a world of knowledge to be had in this area that I will in all likelihood never be finished assimilating.


None of The Cool Kids Do Chem, Do They?

It was learning about making lathery products that made me wish I had taken more of an interest in chemistry in my school years. 

If someone had told me back then chemistry was useful to know for things like making creams and cosmetics, I may well have chosen the 'geek crowd' over trying to hang out with the cool kids.

I would therefore like to apologize to all chemistry geeks – it took me a few years, but I realize now that you are actually the coolest kids of all.


Tell Me Everything - But Don't Bore Me To Death

For a while now, I've been pondering how to blog about shampoo, body wash and other soapy products without getting too (boringly) technical. 

To make any kind of sense though, the basics have to be at least touched upon before we can get to the fun stuff.

I have therefore decided to slice the whole thing up into bite-sized sections. I'll try to make each one as concise, informative, and interesting as possible.

Do Tell

Are you getting just a little curious? More to come!

Comments

Anette said…
Kære Lise, jeg vil så gerne have din holdning til SLS og silikoner når det gælder guf til håret... Tak.
LisaLise said…
Hej Anette,
Du stiller altså nogle rigtig gode spørgsmål! SLS og silikoner har jeg faktisk 'på bedding' i de kommende indslag om shampoo - og da jeg gerne vil besvare ordentligt, håber jeg at du kan have lidt tålmodighed endnu...
Anette said…
Of course, Lise - men puf lige til mig, når de er på, så jeg er sikker på ikke at misse det.