Shampoo

Shampoo
Andre Willers
8 Feb 2011

Synopsis:


Discussion :
Shampoos are as old as fire .
Humans had a major problem getting rid of the smell of wood-smoke . Not only does this mark them as preferred prey to the Leopards , but it also spooks potential prey . (they used actively in the cursorial raptor stage , But it had a limited ceiling .)

Compound Combs .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Combs" Aug 2008
Their technology was not up to making comb-teeth fine enough and strong enough to scrape off lice-nits and smell-bearing lipids . But they could slot different combs together to form very fine slits .
A compound comb . Look for grooves , studs ,slots ,etc in surviving combs .

Neolithic Shampoo :
Before general usage of clothes (circa 70 000 BCE : post Toba) , there was not heavy selection against body-hair . Body-lice and hair-lice had not yet differentiated .

The Method :
The compound comb was dipped in an alkaline ash or ash-paste , combed over the body , then the body is rinsed . Two or three times would have removed most nits , parasites and woodsmoke smell .
The de-fatted hairs can then be "moisturized" by the lipid of the prey-du-jour .

With the general usage of clothes , body-lice promptly split with the development of night-clothes (ie pajamas) . Yes , they are this old .

It is much less hassle to entrap the woodsmoke-smell in a special set of essentially cheap clothes , then venture forth after doing the comb-and-washing thing to the exposed head-hair . Laundry started . (It is even cheaper to wash the pajamas) .
(I bet not even the Matriarchs foresaw that chore . See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Origins of Peace and War" Apr 2007 )
Also See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Old age Markers" Dec 2007 )

Things toddled along till the invention of Nomadism as a sister culture to Agriculture.
Circa 10 000 BCE .
Head-lice was subjected to much heavier selection pressures than body-lice . The human response in many dry-areas (deserts , steppes) was simply to shave it all off .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Shaving" Feb 2010

If it was kept , continual grooming was necessary (the parasites have evolved) .
This became a mark of importance , that one could afford this .

See the Etruscan terracotta cinerary urn from Cerveteri (ca 520 BCE) . A bridal couple is shown with dreadlock-type hairstyle . Obviously expensive .
Even today it would draw attention .

Also , note Assyrian style wavy beards . That waviness came from daily grooming , which included compound combs and shampoos . Like teasing hair .
It is notable that earliest soaps came from this region .
The King's barber , shampooist and hairdresser must have been the most trusted person in the Kingdom Note that they never appear in history until they surfaced after the Age of Reason in the 1700's AD as doctors and surgeons .

Ancient Greeks and Romans .
They did not use soaps . Strigils , compound combs , oils and lots of water and slave labour sufficed . This process also scraped all body hair off . Hence all those old statues with no body hair . Body hairlessness became locked into the Anthropomorphism of beauty (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Inverse anthropomorphism" Feb 2011 )

Where are those compound combs ?
Right there in the cellars of the museums . Nobody has looked or wondered why .

China .
Shampoo came to the West from India , who got it from China .
But , as is seen , it is very old . Only the recipes differ .
The hairstyles :anything you can imagine , then some .

Hot Showers :
These are now ubiquitous amongst privileged classes .
With compound combs and showers (ie frequent rinsing and scraping) , shampoos are unnecessary .

As usual , humans have gone overboard with the shampoo bit . Most commercial shampoos have evolved to require daily use . They destroy the natural fats of scalp and hair , then partially and expensively restore them . (Just Google the junk in shampoos .)

Just combing hair under a shower using at least three different slit-differences (the last being very fine) should give a natural grooming effect .
(This will not be popular amongst pharma's . But why can't they make combs with built-in chemicals and slits (like some razors) ?
It is an opportunity , not a threat .Every human on the planet uses a comb daily .)

I await the Intralipid Comb with anticipation .

Splashily yours
Andre
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Appendices :
Appendix A

A nice history is found at :
http://www.randomhistory.com/2008/07/19_shampoo.html

"The proper cleansing of hair must address the complexity of soil that builds up from a combination of airborne contaminants, hair care products and, most importantly, oily hair lipid and sebum secreted by glands in the skin. When this natural byproduct combines with external pollutants, they build up on the individual follicles of hair and the hair takes on an oily, slick appearance. The innovations in hair care in the past one hundred years focus on this issue by using materials that target the hair lipids through “highly surface-active” cleansing agents called surfactants to break down and distribute healthy natural oils while washing away contaminants (Wong 1997)."

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Appendix B

A general discussion on Wikipedia :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shampoo

" Theory
Shampoo has only been used with fervor since the 1970s. Before then, either regular soap was used a few times a month or, just after the early 20th century, shampoo was used only a few times a year. It was in the 1970s that shampoo use became prevalent. 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. According to some dermatologists, a gradual reduction in shampoo use will cause the sebum glands to produce at a slower rate, resulting in less grease in the scalp.[17]
Traditional and prehistoric use
[edit]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.[18]
[edit]India
In India, a variety of herbs and their extracts are used as shampoos. A very effective shampoo is made by boiling soapnuts with dried Indian gooseberry (aamla) and a few other herbs, using the strained extract. This leaves the hair soft, shiny and manageable. Another product used is the residue mustard cakes left after extraction of mustard oil.[citation needed]
[edit]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, for a shampoo.[19] "
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