Shower gel, also known as body wash, is the general term for a substance similar to liquid soap, which is used for cleaning the body. Almost all available shower gels have an appealing scent and do not contain any saponified oil. Though, instead being products of petroleum, Shower gel/body wash is an emulsion of water and detergent base with added fragrance used as a skin cleansing agent in the shower or bath.

Shower gel is available in different colors and fragrances are PH-balanced. Some shower gels are herb-infused, and some claims to have aroma-therapeutic benefits. Shower gels for men may contain the ingredient Menthol which gives a cooling and stimulating sensation on the skin, and many men's shower gels are also designed specifically for use on hair & body and are thus more convenient to use. Shower gels contain milder surfactant bases than shampoos and in addition to being PH-friendly to the skin, most also contain gentle conditioning agents in the formula. This means that shower gels can also double-up as an effective and perfectly acceptable substitute to shampoo, even if they are not labeled as a hair & body wash. Washing hair with shower gel should give approximately the same result as using a moisturizing shampoo.

Nowadays, most of us don't use soap in the shower or bath. Instead, we lather up with bath foams, shower gels, facial washes and scrubs, all of which rely on complex chemicals called detergents, often the same ones used in heavy industries for degreasing, to wash away simple dirt on our body.

The difference between soap and detergent is like the difference between cotton and nylon. Soap is produced from natural products by relatively small modification.

Detergents are produced entirely in a chemical factory. There is no difference between the detergents in your household cleaning products and those you use in your bath. It is simply a matter of concentration.

Bubble baths, which are highly fragranced, have the greatest potential to cause skin irritation, allergic skin reactions and headaches. In the some countries they carry a health warning alerting users to the possibility of skin irritation and urinary tract infections.

Body washes essentially contain the same basic ingredients as bubble bath. Soaking in any bath product will prolong its contact with your skin, increasing the risk that chemicals will be absorbed. Both bubble baths and shower gels have the potential to penetrate the skin and lungs.

Bubble bath is likely to contain potentially irritating detergents like sodium laureth sulphate and cocami-dopropyl betaine (the latter is also a penetration enhancer, allowing other chemicals to be more easily absorbed); preservatives such as tetrasodium EDTA, a potential irritant; and methylchloroisothiazolinone (both potential mutagens ? substances that speed up gene mutation).

If it contains cocamide EDTA (or similar compounds ending with DEA, TEA or MEA) along with formaldehyde-forming substances such as bronopol, DMDM hydantoin, diazo-lidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea and quaternium-15, it is likely to contain cancer-causing nitrosamines. Studies show up to 93 per cent of toiletries and cosmetics contain these compounds.

So try to avoid bubble baths altogether and limit your use of shower gels. Stick to plain old soap instead. Vegetable oil and glycerine soaps are best. They foam beautifully and are made from enriching oils such as coconut, hemp and olive. They are usually unfragranced or scented with essential oils.

Liquid soap v/s bar soap :

Powered by the lure of exotic fragrances and the promise of skin-pampering ingredients, liquid soap, body wash and shower gel have steadily eroded the primacy of bar soap over the past decade, largely on the well-scrubbed backs of female consumers. (Men – 83 percent of them – still prefer bar soap.)

· Some people say moisturizers in liquid soap leave a residue that requires extra rinse time to remove. Maybe they’re using too much.

· With bar soap, it’s pretty easy to tell when you’ve got enough suds, while a liquid dispenser involves more guesswork. That’s why three 4-ounce bars will outlast a 12-ounce container of liquid.

· Even at the low end (Suave body wash), a 12-ounce bottle of liquid soap will cost you at least 2 bucks. When purchased in eight-bar packages, comparably inexpensive bar soaps like Dial or Irish Spring check in at about $1.65 per 12 ounces. The same economies tend to hold with higher-end brands.

· Once upon a time, soap generally was considered to be pretty clean stuff. Then meddlesome biologists discovered germs that could live practically everywhere, even in soap.

· Liquid soap significantly reduces any exchange of germs between users, which is a plus. But two studies cited by The New York Times suggest the risk of transmitting disease from bar soap is pretty remote. You’re anxious about catching germs while washing yourself? Lighten up. You could be hit by a bus tomorrow.

· Liquid soap devotees are quick to denounce the way bar soap turns slimy or mushy in standing water, and they’ve got a point. Apart from the mess, the degraded soap also represents a waste.

Bath Gel Ingredients

The main basic ingredients found in bath gels are as under.

Water

o This is the main ingredient listed in bath gels. Water's function is to be the solvent for the other ingredients and make the product fluid or liquid in composition.

Emulsifiers

o Emulsifiers act as foam increasers and thickening agents for bath gels, giving the product its gel-like consistency. Common emulsifiers found in bath gels are cocamide DEA, lauramide DEA, linoleamide DEA and oleamide DEA.

Detergents

o All cleansers have detergents in them. However, mild detergents or cleansing agents are used in bath gels to avoid stripping too much of the skin's natural moisture. Lauryl glucoside, disodium cocoamphodiacetate and cocamidopropyl betaine are mild detergents used in bath gels.

Surfactants

o Surfactants are similar to emulsifiers, but their primary function is to create a lather or foam as an indication that the bath gel is cleaning the skin. Sodium lauryl sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate are the most common surfactants found in bath gels.

Preservatives

o Preservatives are needed to extend the shelf life of bath gels and prevent microbial contamination. Parabens are the group of preservative most used in bath gels. Others include methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben.

Fragrance

o Most bath gels contain fragrance to get rid of the chemical smell of some of the bath gel ingredients and make using the bath gel a pleasant experience. Fragrances used in bath gels are either synthetic or come from essential oils and natural plant extracts.

Bath Soap/Toilet Soap(Opaque)

Ingredients :