Google Answers: Wat maakt Tearless Shampoos Tearless?

Hi Poglover,Thank you very much for this interesting question. Usually, when onehears "no tears shampoo" the first thing that comes to mind isJOHNSON'S® NO MORE TEARS® Baby Shampoo so I searched their website.Here's what I found on their FAQs page:Question"I received an email that said the reason why JOHNSON'S® Baby Shampoowas gentle to the eyes was because it contains numbing agents thatnumbs the eyes if contact occurs."Answer"The assertion that chemicals are added that numb the baby's eyes istotally false. The reason JOHNSON'S® shampoo formulas do not irritatethe eyes is the mildness of the formulation, which has undergoneextensive clinical testing and has proven to be as gentle to the eyesas pure water."(Source: Johnson & Johnson FAQs , Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies Inc., Copyright 1998-2004.)Personally, I don't believe that there's a numbing agent mixed in "notears" shampoo. These products have been around for years and there'sno clear epidemiological evidence to support that claim.So what makes it tearless?"Shampoo is used to cleanse the hair. The primary ingredient of ashampoo is a detergent. Many shampoos, particularly those targeted forbabies and children, claim to cause non eye irritation or sting. A"no-tear" formulation achieves this claim by carefully adjusting thenature of the detergents. In particularly, the identity andconcentration of detergents with anionic or "charged" portion arecontrolled to minimise both eye and skin irritation."(Source: What makes a no-tears shampoo? -http://www.ccchwc.edu.hk/webpage/chemistry/AL_project/note/no%20tear%20shampoo.htm,C.C.C. Heep Woh College Chemistry Department, Copyright 2003)From the info above, the quick answer to your question is: "no tears"shampoo works because the detergents and other chemical irritants areformulated to a certain level that minimize eye irritation.But take note..."There is no such thing as a tearless shampoo. Even straight waterpoured into the eyes will cause enough irritation to produce tears. Aproduct can be made friendlier to the eyes by using gentlersurfactants, but it is still not tearless!"(Source: Leave-in products and grooming -http://www.duurstede.ca/articles.html, Duurstede Grooming Products,The W. R. Van Wyck Group Limited, © April 4th, 2004)There's a video that discusses this topic in more detail in case you're interested:Inquiring Minds: Episodes: 15 & 16 - BPN 6322H"No Tears Shampoo"http://www.visualed.com/VEC/lcl_tvo_inquiringmindsclas.html61 programs x 5-8 minutes (2 programs per tape). For pricing pleaseinquire at: [email protected] strategy:"what makes" "no tears" shampoo://www.google.com/search?q=%22what+makes%22+%22no+tears%22+shampoo&sa=Google+Search&cat=&hl=en"what makes" "tearless shampoo"://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22what+makes%22+%22tearless+shampoo%22&btnG=Search"how do" tearless shampoo work://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22how+do%22+tearless+shampoo+work&btnG=SearchI hope this helps you. If you have a question, please feel free topost your clarificationand I'll attend to you as soon as possible.Thanks for asking.Best regards,Feilong