Shikakai: the original shampoo

The English word 'shampoo' comes from the Hindi chāmpo, meaning to press or massage. It entered the language in the eighteenth century, describing something Indian households had been doing for a very long time already.

What they were using was frequently shikakai — Acacia concinna, whose name translates roughly as 'fruit for hair'. The pods contain natural saponins, which foam gently in water and lift dirt without the aggression of a synthetic surfactant.

The traditional preparation is laborious: dry the pods, grind them, steep the powder, strain it. What survives that process is a cleanser that has been quietly outperforming its replacements for centuries, particularly for anyone whose scalp objects to being stripped.

Our version doses shikakai extract at 2.0% in a modern sulphate-free base. The convenience is new. The active is not.