The Story Behind the Shampoo

I first discovered that detergent manufacturers alter their products regionally due to the water hardness (phosphate content is also regulated by state). The bagels in New York taste the way they do because of the water. The sourdough bread in San Francisco - the water. Coors beer - the water. I was in my favorite coffee shop and discovered an elaborate water filtration system - the water.

Well, you can't shampoo without water. It's what makes the product work and it's the hardness of water that affects the outcome. Further research showed that water can vary at every source. We've tested water all around the world and found that it runs the gambit from rock hard to baby bottom soft. Use the image map above to see what the median hardness is in your area and compare it to any other region. These are generalizations from The American Water Works Industry Database. This database consists of approximately 1100 water utilities serving at least 10,000 people each. There are about 56,000 utilities in the U.S. but these 1100 serve 113 million people and include 80% of the large utilities (those serving over 50,000).

Homes and hotels may soften these municipal supplies even further. Water hardness can even vary seasonally due to different runoff patterns, and within the same city -- Chicago, for example, has over 50 municipal suppliers.

When we contacted Hyatt Hotel headquarters they said that softening is tailored to the particular chemicals and water temperature used in each hotels laundry operation and not the shower.

Shampoo is, in simple terms, "soap in a bottle". Mostly water, a little cleanser, a thickening agent, some fragrance, a water softening agent and a few additives thrown in for good measure. Most bathrooms have quite a selection of shampoos. It seems that we are always searching for the "ultimate" product. I've even heard hairdressers recommend that people switch shampoos because the hair gets "used" to a particular shampoo. We started developing shampoos based on the water type that they would be used in. When I set out to develop a shampoo line I had several goals in mind. It had to be gentle, especially for color treated and permed hair, a fresh clean fragrance, economical and equally important, easy to figure out which one to use. I have achieved my goal. I have three shampoos, a separate formula for soft, hard and extremely hard water.

I discovered that if you are using a shampoo formulated for the water it is used with, that there is never a need to change products. For an accurate reading of your water make sure you use the water test strips included in the No More Bad Hair Days Kit available in the shopping cart. It contains a dozen water testing strips. Read a few of the customer raves that are still coming in.