Shampoo, conditioner and hair washing

<p>Modern shampoos are much more than just cleansing agents. With rising demands for new milder and ‘greener’ products, the developments in the field of shampoo and conditioners are moving at a faster pace than ever before. Soaps were initially used to clean scalp but are not recommended for hair cleansing because they leave behind a soap scum when mixed with hard water that is difficult to rinse from the hair and scalp. There are different types of shampoos. Besides “normal” cleaning shampoo, there are “specific” shampoos that have additional ingredients targeting some hair problems. Dermatologists most frequently prescribe shampoos but little is taught in medical schools about the hair cosmetics. Most of the prescriptions are based only on the treatment of the scalp and usually disregards the hair fibre health. Hence it is imperative for dermatologists to known about the mechanism of shampoos, different surfactants and where to choose which shampoo.</p>

“All Kinds of Dirty”: Supermarkets, Markets, and Shifting Cultures of Clean

The makers of CLR (the Calcium, Lime, Rust, cleaning product) assure us that there are “all kinds of dirty, one kind of clean.” One can feel confident that soap scum buildup and toilet bowl stains in the bathroom as well as the grease splatters and dried-on tomato sauce in the kitchen can be wiped away with the help of one yellow bottle. The pithy slogan asks us to be preoccupied by dirty in all its forms, without taking into account the many discourses of clean. This article concerns itself with the cult of “cleanness” and the ways in which it has taken hold of the imaginary when it comes to our bodies, the things we put into them, and the spaces we make use of and/or inhabit. I make particular reference here to the spaces in which we buy food, exploring various implications of the staging process enacted in the processing and display of foodstuffs. I set out to examine the ways in which clean is implemented and interpreted by and within two major sites of food shopping: the supermarket and the market.

Molecular Analysis of Shower Curtain Biofilm Microbes

ABSTRACT Households provide environments that encourage the formation of microbial communities, often as biofilms. Such biofilms constitute potential reservoirs for pathogens, particularly for immune-compromised individuals. One household environment that potentially accumulates microbial biofilms is that provided by vinyl shower curtains. Over time, vinyl shower curtains accumulate films, commonly referred to as “soap scum,” which microscopy reveals are constituted of lush microbial biofilms. To determine the kinds of microbes that constitute shower curtain biofilms and thereby to identify potential opportunistic pathogens, we conducted an analysis of rRNA genes obtained by PCR from four vinyl shower curtains from different households. Each of the shower curtain communities was highly complex. No sequence was identical to one in the databases, and no identical sequences were encountered in the different communities. However, the sequences generally represented similar phylogenetic kinds of organisms. Particularly abundant sequences represented members of the α-group of proteobacteria, mainly Sphingomonas spp. and Methylobacterium spp. Both of these genera are known to include opportunistic pathogens, and several of the sequences obtained from the environmental DNA samples were closely related to known pathogens. Such organisms have also been linked to biofilm formation associated with water reservoirs and conduits. In addition, the study detected many other kinds of organisms at lower abundances. These results show that shower curtains are a potential source of opportunistic pathogens associated with biofilms. Frequent cleaning or disposal of shower curtains is indicated, particularly in households with immune-compromised individuals.