I was sitting in the bath and reading the bottles of shower gels, deodorants, and shampoos (as you do) and was astounded to find a list of about twenty complex chemicals in my Kangol Shower Gel Two. Never liking being in the dark, I decided to Google for all of the unknown ingredients and find out exactly why they're in my shower gel.

Please note that I'm not a chemist, so I may have got some of the following wrong. However, the ingredients in descending order of quantity follow..

Cocamidopropyl betaine

This page says it's a non-irritating detergent. It has anti-static properties, making it a conditioning agent, as well as antibiotic effects. I guess this is what gets me clean.

Cocamide DEA

It creates the foam / frothiness. I often use this shower gel as a substitute for bubble bath, and where other shower gels don't do a good job at making bubbles, this one does.. now I know why!

Glycerin

Produced naturally during the soap making process, glycerin attracts and absorbs water, so helps make the skin soft.

Phenoxyethanol

I found lots of varieties of this around the Web, but generally it seems to be used as a preservative when in cosmetic products. I assume this is why there's no best before date on the bottle.

Sodium Cocoamphoacetate

The definitions of sodium cocoamphoacetate that I found were rather technical, but I found out it's a 'surfactant'. A surfactant reduces the surface tension of a liquid and allows it to spread more easily. I assume this is what makes the shower gel easily 'fall apart' in water and when put on the body rather than sticking like a gel.

Dipropylene Glycol

I quickly found this useful page which explained that Dipropylene Glycol is a 'fragrance carrier'.

Sodium Benzoate

This stuff seems to do quite a lot. I found that it's often used in acidic foods and products to control bacteria, yeasts, and other growths. I have no idea if the shower gel is acidic, but since it appears to have no other use anywhere else, I guess it must.

Sodium Methylparaben

Finding information about what this stuff is was like pulling teeth. I eventually found something that hinted that they're salts and preservatives. That'll do for me.

Citric Acid

Citric acid is a pretty common acid, and is in fruit and all sorts of things. Some research on Google told me that in cosmetics it's considered an 'alpha hydroxy acid'. In laymans' terms, this means it can trap moisture and initiate the formation of collagen in the skin. This should mean it improves your skin.

Tetrasodium EDTA

When I Googled for this stuff I learnt it's a 'chelating agent'. That didn't mean much to me, and the dictionary definition of 'chelating agent' was full of chemistry hokery-pokery. Further Googling showed that it's simply some sort of stabilizier, softener, or preservative.

Polyquaternium-7

This is a type of polymer and acts as a conditioner. It's mildly irritating and supposedly toxic.

Disodium Phosphate

Yet another preservative.

Benzophenone-4

I think it starts getting a bit technical down at this level. All I could find about this substance was highly academic chemistry stuff. It's an 'arometic ketone'. All I know about ketones is that they make your breath stink when you're on the Atkins Diet.. and aromatic means they stink.