Shampooing is an integral part of modern hygiene, but the term itself boasts a rich and fascinating history, deeply intertwined with cultural exchange and evolving beauty practices. This article explores the etymology of the word "shampoo," tracing its journey from ancient India to the global beauty industry.
The word "shampoo" finds its origin in the Hindi word "chāmpo" (चाँपो), which translates to "to press" or "massage". The English word ‘shampoo’ has its roots in the Hindi term champoo (sometimes champi/champy or champna), which means ‘kneading’ or ‘massaging’. This connection highlights the original practice associated with hair washing in India: a therapeutic massage of the scalp.
Long before commercial shampoos lined store shelves, hair cleansing in India was a luxurious ritual. In India, a variety of herbs and their extracts have been used as shampoos since ancient times. The key to this routine? A deep, invigorating head massage, known as "champi" in Hindi. Sapindus, also known as soapberries or soapnuts, a tropical tree widespread in India, is called ksuna (Sanskrit: क्षुण)[5] in ancient Indian texts and its fruit pulp contains saponins which are a natural surfactant. The extract of soapberries creates a lather which Indian texts called phenaka (Sanskrit: फेनक).[6] It leaves the hair soft, shiny and manageable.
In the 18th century, when British traders and colonists arrived in India, they encountered the "champi" massage in local bathhouses. Cleansing the hair and body massage (champu) during one's daily bath was an indulgence of early colonial traders in India. The art of shampooing travelled from British India to the Empire’s heart, Britain, in the 19th century. Sake Dean Mahomed, a Bengali traveller, surgeon, and entrepreneur, is credited with introducing the practice of shampoo or "shampooing" to Britain. In 1814, Mahomed, with his Irish wife Jane Daly, opened the first commercial "shampooing" vapour masseur bath in England, in Brighton. He described the treatment in a local paper as "The Indian Medicated Vapour Bath (type of Turkish bath), a cure to many diseases and giving full relief when everything fails; particularly Rheumatic and paralytic, gout, stiff joints, old sprains, lame legs, aches and pains in the joints".[17] This medical work featured testimonies from his patients, as well as the details of the treatment made him famous. People have always washed their hair and bodies, but washing accompanied by a therapeutic massage of the scalp and the body was imported into Europe, largely through Britain, from India.
The word ‘shampoo’ did not take its modern meaning, limited to hair-washing, until the late 1800s. Initially, the term retained its association with massage, but gradually narrowed to specifically refer to the act of washing hair.
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During the early stages of shampoo in Europe, English hair stylists boiled shaved soap in water and added herbs to give the hair shine and fragrance. Originally, soap and shampoo were very similar products; both containing the same naturally derived surfactants, a type of detergent.
Commercially made shampoo was available from the turn of the 20th century. In 1900, German perfumer and hair-stylist Josef Wilhelm Rausch developed the first liquid hair washing soap and named it "Champooing" in Emmishofen, Switzerland. Later, in 1919, J.W. In 1903, a German chemist named Hans Schwarzkopf developed the first powdered shampoo, which could be mixed with water to form a lather. By the 1930s, the first liquid shampoos hit the market, and by the 1950s, washing one’s hair regularly became the norm. Bottles of shampoo and lotions manufactured in the early 20th century by the C.L. Hamilton Co.
The word was adapted to Brazilian Portuguese as xampu, reflecting the English pronunciation. According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. Borrowed from English shampoo, from Hindi चाँपो (cā̃po). “shampoo” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal - Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. Early shampoos used in Indonesia were made from the husk and straw (merang) of rice. The husks and straws were burned into ash, and the ashes (which have alkaline properties) are mixed with water to form lather. The ashes and lather were scrubbed into the hair and rinsed out, leaving the hair clean, but very dry. Filipinos have been traditionally using gugo before commercial shampoos were sold in stores. The shampoo is obtained by soaking and rubbing the bark of the vine Gugo (Entada phaseoloides),[22][23] producing a lather that cleanses the scalp effectively.
Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a viscous liquid, that is formulated to be used for cleaning (scalp) hair. Less commonly, it is available in solid bar format. ("Dry shampoo" is a separate product.) Shampoo is used by applying it to wet hair, massaging the product in the hair, roots and scalp, and then rinsing it out. Shampoo is typically used to remove the unwanted build-up of sebum (natural oils) in the hair without stripping out so much as to make hair unmanageable. Shampoo is generally made by combining a surfactant, most often sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate, with a co-surfactant, most often cocamidopropyl betaine in water to form a thick, viscous liquid. Many shampoos are pearlescent. This effect is achieved by the addition of tiny flakes of suitable materials, e.g. glycol distearate, chemically derived from stearic acid, which may have either animal or vegetable origins. Glycol distearate is a wax. Sodium lauroamphoacetate is naturally derived from coconut oils and is used as a cleanser and counter-irritant. Polysorbate 20 (abbreviated as PEG(20)) is a mild glycol-based surfactant that is used to solubilize fragrance oils and essential oils, meaning it causes liquid to spread across and penetrate the surface of a solid (i.e. Citric acid is produced biochemically and is used as an antioxidant to preserve the oils in the product. While it is a severe eye-irritant, the sodium lauroamphoacetate counteracts that property. Citric acid is used to adjust the pH down to approximately 5.5. It is a fairly weak acid which makes the adjustment easier. Shampoos usually are at pH 5.5 because at slightly acidic pH, the scales on a hair follicle lie flat, making the hair feel smooth and look shiny. It also has a small amount of preservative action.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandates that shampoo containers accurately list ingredients on the products container. The government further regulates what shampoo manufacturers can and cannot claim as any associated benefit. Shampoo producers often use these regulations to challenge marketing claims made by competitors, helping to enforce these regulations. While the claims may be substantiated, however, the testing methods and details of such claims are not as straightforward. For example, many products are purported to protect hair from damage due to ultraviolet radiation. While the ingredient responsible for this protection does block UV, it is not often present in a high enough concentration to be effective. The North American Hair Research Society has a program to certify functional claims based on third-party testing.
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Cosmetic companies have developed shampoos specifically for those who have dandruff. These contain fungicides such as ketoconazole, zinc pyrithione and selenium disulfide, which reduce loose dander by killing fungi like Malassezia furfur. Alternatives to medicated shampoos are available for people who wish to avoid synthetic fungicides. Many companies have also developed color-protection shampoos suitable for colored hair; some of these shampoos contain gentle cleansers according to their manufacturers. Shampoo for infants and young children is formulated so that it is less irritating and usually less prone to produce a stinging or burning sensation if it were to get into the eyes.[27] For example, Johnson's Baby Shampoo advertises under the premise of "No More Tears". Use of surfactants which, alone or in combination, are less irritating than those used in other shampoos (e.g. The distinction in 4 above does not completely surmount the controversy over the use of shampoo ingredients to mitigate eye sting produced by other ingredients, or the use of the products so formulated. The considerations in 3 and 4 frequently result in a much greater multiplicity of surfactants being used in individual baby shampoos than in other shampoos, and the detergency or foaming of such products may be compromised thereby. Shampoo intended for animals may contain insecticides or other medications for treatment of skin conditions or parasite infestations such as fleas or mange. These must never be used on humans. While some human shampoos may be harmful when used on animals, any human haircare products that contain active ingredients or drugs (such as zinc in anti-dandruff shampoos) are potentially toxic when ingested by animals. Special care must be taken not to use those products on pets. Shampoos that are especially designed to be used on pets, commonly dogs and cats, are normally intended to do more than just clean the pet's coat or skin. The main ingredients contained by pet shampoos can be grouped in insecticidals, antiseborrheic, antibacterials, antifungals, emollients, emulsifiers and humectants. Generally, insecticidal pet shampoos contain pyrethrin, pyrethroids (such as permethrin and which may not be used on cats) and carbaryl. Antifungal shampoos are used on pets with yeast or ringworm infections. Bacterial infections in pets are sometimes treated with antibacterial shampoos. Antipruritic shampoos are intended to provide relief of itching due to conditions such as atopy and other allergies.[40] These usually contain colloidal oatmeal, hydrocortisone, Aloe vera, pramoxine hydrochloride, menthol, diphenhydramine, sulfur or salicylic acid. Antiseborrheic shampoos are those especially designed for pets with scales or those with excessive oily coats. These shampoos are made of sulfur, salicylic acid, refined tar (which cannot be used on cats), selenium sulfide (cannot be used on cats) and benzoyl peroxide. All these are meant to treat or prevent seborrhea oleosa, which is a condition characterized by excess oils. Emollient shampoos are efficient in adding oils to the skin and relieving the symptoms of a dry and itchy skin. They usually contain oils such as almond, corn, cottonseed, coconut, olive, peanut, Persia, safflower, sesame, lanolin, mineral or paraffin oil. The emollient shampoos are typically used with emulsifiers as they help distributing the emollients. Although some of the pet shampoos are highly effective, some others may be less effective for some condition than another. Yet, although natural pet shampoos exist, it has been brought to attention that some of these might cause irritation to the skin of the pet. Natural ingredients that might be potential allergens for some pets include eucalyptus, lemon or orange extracts and tea tree oil.[citation needed] On the contrary, oatmeal appears to be one of the most widely skin-tolerated ingredients that is found in pet shampoos. Pet shampoos which include fragrances, deodorants or colors may harm the skin of the pet by causing inflammations or irritation.
Invented in 1987 by Lush co-founder, Mo Constantine[41] and cosmetic chemist, Stan Krystal,[42] solid shampoos or shampoo bars can either be soap-based or use other plant-based surfactants, such as sodium cocoyl isethionate or sodium coco-sulfate combined with oils and waxes. Soap-based shampoo bars are high in pH (alkaline) compared to human hair and scalps, which are slightly acidic. Stiff, non-pourable clear gels to be squeezed from a tube were once popular forms of shampoo, and can be produced by increasing a shampoo's viscosity. Shampoos in the form of pastes or creams were formerly marketed in jars or tubes. The contents were wet but not completely dissolved.
Closely associated with environmentalism, the "no poo" movement consists of people rejecting the societal norm of frequent shampoo use. Some adherents of the no poo movement use baking soda or vinegar to wash their hair, while others use diluted honey. Further methods include the use of raw eggs (potentially mixed with salt water), rye flour, or chickpea flour dissolved in water.
In the 1970s, ads featuring Farrah Fawcett and Christie Brinkley asserted that it was unhealthy not to shampoo several times a week. This mindset is reinforced by the greasy feeling of the scalp after a day or two of not shampooing. Using shampoo every day removes sebum, the oil produced by the scalp. This causes the sebaceous glands to produce oil at a higher rate, to compensate for what is lost during shampooing.
These endocrine disruptors are everywhere: plastics, shampoos, cosmetics, cushions, pesticides, canned foods and A.T.M. receipts.
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