Hair shampoo

Hair care is one of the oldest needs of mankind and its importance is still high today. Until well into the 20th century, only the less cosmetically appealing soap preparations were available for washing hair. Today, there is a broad, almost unmanageable range of hair care and styling products for all scalp care needs. According to a recent survey, about 1/3 of all women in Germany wash their hair every 2nd day, about 15% daily. For men the frequency is significantly higher. The trend towards frequent hair washing continues to increase in the industrialised countries.

The choice of a suitable galenic system for the application of active ingredients in the scalp area depends on the anatomical characteristics of the capillitium as well as on the liberation and penetration conditions of the application area.

Shampoos for dyed or damaged hair: For the cleansing of dyed, permed or damaged hair, the use of a conditioning shampoo is recommended, recognisable by the declared area of application, for example "dyed hair". Typical representatives of the care substances used in these shampoos are cationic cellulose products or components of the guar bean (guar) used as thickening agent. Silicones are also used as conditioning agents. Their application concentrations are selected in a way that they do not weigh down the hair.

Conditioning shampoos may also contain amino acids and protein hydrolysates which in combination with the quaternary ammonium compounds are supposed to act as repair agents. To protect the hair from drying out, moisturizers such as panthenol or glycols are added.

Shampoos for fine hair: For shampoos for fine hair, the cleansing power of a shampoo should be less pronounced. Such shampoos are also declared as "volume shampoos".

Volume shampoos: Volume shampoos contain various ingredients. Volume shampoos contain various active ingredients that make it difficult for the hair to "slide together", e.g. silicon dioxide (silicic acid). This roughens the hair surface slightly, giving the hairstyle more "volume".

Dandruff shampoos: In case of increased scalp scaling(pityriasis simplex capillitii), the industry offers "anti-dandruff shampoos" beyond a medical indication. Such anti-dandruff shampoos usually contain active ingredients such as ciclopiroxolamine or zinc pyrithione. These regulate the cell division activity of the scalp epithelia and are antimicrobial (against Malasessia furfur). It is recommended to use such "anti-dandruff shampoos" only as long as dandruff is visible. Afterwards a mild care shampoo should be used.

A shampoo is expected to have a creamy foam, good cleansing properties and good skin and mucous membrane compatibility. Furthermore, a shampoo should be sufficiently effective at any water hardness level.

As washing-active substances mostly anionic surfactants like fatty alcohol ether sulfates are used, e.g. sodium lauryl ether sulfate. In combination with amphoteric surfactants (e.g. amidopropyl betaine) mild shampoo is formed. Such surfactant mixtures can be found in most commercially available hair shampoos.

Besides surfactants, shampoos contain conditioning agents such as polymeric quaternary ammonium compounds ("quats"). These additives make the hair easy to comb after washing. Other ingredients include thickeners, opacifiers and preservatives. Nearly all shampoos contain fragrances (see below fragrances).

The ingredients of hair shampoos vary according to the care orientation of the shampoo. The substances listed below are frequently found in hair shampoo:

• Sodium Cocoyl hydrolyzed soy protein (surfactant soy protein hydrolysate, reacted with coconut fatty acids)
• Sodium cocoyl hydrolyzed wheat protein (wheat protein hydrolysate reacted with coconut fatty acids)
• Cyclopentasiloxanes (Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane)
• Disodium cocoamphodiacetates (N-2-(N-(2-carboxymethoxyethyl)-N-carboxymethylamino)ethyl coconut fatty acid amide,disodium salt)
• Glycines (glycine; 2-aminoacetic acid)
• Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt of hydroxypropyl guar) -s. and guar.
• Hydrolyzed cottonseed protein (cotton protein hydrolysate)
• Hydrolyzed egg protein
• Hydrolyzed keratin ( Hydrolyzed Keratin )
• Hydrolyzed oat protein (oat protein hydrolysate)
• Hydrolyzed silk (silk protein hydrolysate)
• Hydroxypropyl oxidized starch pg-triammonium chloride (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt of oxidized hydroxypropyl starch)
• Hydroxypropyltrimonium hydrolyzed milk protein (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt from milk protein hydrolysate)
• Hydroxypropyltrimonium hydrolyzed Wheat starch (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt from wheat starch hydrolysate)
• Niacinamide (vitamin B3)
• Oryzanol (Oryzanol, Gamma-Oryzanol)
• Panthenol (dexpanthenol, pantothenyl alcohol, provitamin B5)
• Polyquaternium-10 (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt of hydroxyethylcellulose)
• Polyquaternium-105 (Quaternary polymeric trimethylammonium salt of phosphorylcholine glycol methacrylate, methacrylic acid stearyl ester and acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride)
• Polyquaternium-70 (Quaternary polymeric trimethylammonium salt of stearylamine (alkoxylated), adipic acid and linoleic acid)
• Starch hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride (Quaternary trimethylammonium salt of starch)

Every manufacturer of cosmetic products is legally obliged to declare the ingredients used on the packaging according to the internationally valid INCI nomenclature (INCI stands for "International Nomenclature for Cosmetic Ingredients").