Is soap just soap?

Soap is soap right? Well, not really. Unfortunately all soaps are not created equal. This thought was sparked by a recent conversation/argument with two of my roommates. The argument started because one of my roomies was headed out to buy shampoo only. I asked if he was purchasing soap as well and he said he wasn’t. He then went on to explain that all he needed was shampoo to wash his entire body. Though his reasoning was also discussed its not actually relevant here. The question that I than began asking myself was, “just what is the difference between shampoo and regular body was or bar soap?” Never mind the hygienic nightmare that is allowing your suds from your hair to “clean” the rest of you, there had to be a reason why 2 distinct products exist. My research found that, at one point, soap was in-fact just soap. It was the realization that different chemicals and vitamins were need to clean and condition hair that spawned the idea for shampoo. That being said i can only conclude that it is important to use actual shampoo on your hair. Since it is a soap I must also concede to my roommates argument that buying only shampoo will get him just as clean as buying 2 separate products, assuming he doesn’t use dirty suds from his hair to lather the rest of his body. I do however disagree with the logic used and believe that it doesn’t really save money to only buy one product. You will most likely run through the one product twice as fast as you would the two separates. In conclusion, just get clean. You should always use shampoo for your hair but, while I prefer to use a separate product on the rest of my body, any soap should do the trick when plain cleanliness is the main objective. Here’s to smelling great and feeling clean!