Head Shampoo

Head Shampoo

In 1903, German drugstore owner Hans Schwarzkopf created a special powder formula that became the world’s first shampoo. It would be another 24 years before the same inventor would create the liquid version used by the world today. Head Shampoo is one of the first mass-market products which came about during the organic products movement beginning in the early 1970s and one of the all-time leaders in total sales to date. It is produced by the Head Shampoo Company of Carson, California USA.

The product is an all-natural shampoo first produced in 1971 by two Los Angeles-based hairstylists who were concerned about the harm they feared traditional shampoos might cause to hair and who literally created the formula in a garage.

Satisfied with the results, the product was first sold through drug paraphernalia shops, or "head shops," hence the name. Popularity of Head Shampoo grew beyond the California counterculture, finding its way into health food stores throughout the state and later, through a vigorous television advertising campaign complete with catchy jingles, eventually sold through more traditional retail outlets.

Head Shampoo is red in color, which caused some concern that it would cause one's hair to turn red. Unlike other shampoos which relied on FD&C colorants, those used in Head were from natural sources, primarily beet juice. In response to those consumers still apprehensive of the coloring, a colorless version, Clearly Head, was produced. Strong consumer demand for the original red version kept it in production as did the possibility of the discontinuation of the entire product line.

Head Shampoo continues to be sold in health food stores, supermarkets and via mail order and internet sales.