Ancient Mesopotamia Texts from
Akkadian period show that Mesopotamians dealt with a wide range of skin diseases. Their culture emphasized personal hygiene to prevent illness, and there is frequent reference to their use of both medicated and regular soaps and shampoos as methods of prevention and treatment. Ancient Mesopotamian tablets from the
Neo-Assyrian period document the use of medicated shampoo to treat scalp eruptions.
Indian subcontinent The word
shampoo entered the English language from during the
colonial era in India. It dates to 1762 and derives from the
Hindi word (, ) or
shampoo, itself derived from the
Sanskrit root (), which means 'to press, knead, or soothe'. Shampoo is a type of traditional
Indian head massage using
hair oil. In India, a variety of herbs and their extracts have been used as shampoos since ancient times. A very effective early shampoo was made by boiling
sapindus with dried
Indian gooseberry (amla) and a selection of other herbs, using the strained extract. At the pre-
Indus Valley Civilisation site of
Banawali evidence is found of sapindus, Indian gooseberry and
shikakai which were used for to prepare herbal products including those for hair care.
Sapindus, also known as soapberries or soapnuts, a tropical tree widespread in India, is called
ksuna (Sanskrit: क्षुण) 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). It leaves the hair soft, shiny and manageable. Other products used for hair cleansing were shikakai,
hibiscus flowers, ritha (
Sapindus mukorossi) and arappu (
Albizzia amara).
Guru Nanak, the founder and the first
guru of
Sikhism, made references to the soapberry tree and soap in the 16th-century.
Europe Gauls used soap from goat's fat and beech ash for brightening the hair. but cleansed their bodies and hair with a mixture of oils and sand. During the 17th century, people of the
upper classes commonly wore wigs; cleaning hair with water was discouraged and instead hair was applied with oils.
Dean Mahomed, an Indian traveller, surgeon, and entrepreneur, is credited with introducing the practice of
shampoo or "shampooing" (a type of traditional
Indian head massage using
hair oils) to Britain. In 1814, Mahomed, with his Irish wife Jane Daly, were established as shampooing bathhouse keepers, and a few year later in 1821 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". His 1826 book on shampooing featured testimonies from his patients, as well as the details of the treatment made him famous. The book acted as a marketing tool for his unique baths in Brighton and capitalised on the early 19th-century trend for seaside spa treatments. The "wash the hair" meaning of shampoo was first recorded in 1860. 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, Rausch developed an antiseptic chamomile shampooing with a pH of 8.5. In 1927, liquid shampoo was improved for mass production by German inventor
Hans Schwarzkopf in Berlin; his name became a shampoo brand sold in Europe. Originally,
soap and shampoo were very similar products; both containing the same naturally derived
surfactants, a type of
detergent. Modern shampoo as it is known today was first introduced in the 1930s with
Drene, the first shampoo using synthetic surfactants instead of soap.
Indonesia 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. Afterwards,
coconut oil was applied to the hair in order to moisturize it.
Philippines 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), producing a lather that cleanses the scalp effectively.
Gugo is also used as an ingredient in
hair tonics.
Pre-Columbian North America Certain
Native American tribes used extracts from North American plants as hair shampoo; for example the
Costanoans of present-day coastal
California used extracts from the
coastal woodfern,
Dryopteris expansa.
Pre-Columbian South America Before
quinoa can be eaten the
saponin must be washed out from the grain prior to cooking. Pre-Columbian
Andean civilizations used this soapy by-product as a shampoo. == Types ==