SEM-based quantitative morphological comparison of herbal shampoo effects on hair

Abstract

Quantitative measures of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images have been utilized for studying the comparative effects of shampoo treatments on hair. This paper describes a method we have devised for the use of SEM and image analysis for quantitatively comparing the conditioning efficacies of shampoos, Completely natural shampoos were formulated in the lab and their conditioning efficacies were evaluated by comparing with a commercially marketed herbal shampoo and to a detergent, sodium lauryl sulphate, SLS. A measure of the extent of uplifting was quantified by using the root mean square deviation of line scans intensities expressed as a percentage of average intensity. The quantitative measure defined here and applied to the formulations showed that the damage caused to the hair due to SLS and the market shampoos were more than the natural shampoo formulated in the laboratory, thereby validating the claim that they were better than the market one. Comparison between various natural formulations are also facilitated by the quantification described and will be a valuable tool for future development of natural shampoos and other hair care products.