Inspired by an ancient beauty secret, a group of Icelandic students are hoping to cash in on people’s love of all things organic with a bizarre shampoo made from cow urine.
The six students from the University of Reykjavik said that they had come across historical records of women adding cow urine to their bathwater to clean their hair and give it a shiny look. This discovery inspired them to revive the tradition by making a urine-infused hair cleaning product. If their claims are to be believed, the urine-infused ‘Q Shampoo’ is chock full of vitamins and minerals, which do wonders for the hair.
“Despite the critics, some people will think it exciting and want to give it a try,” said co-creator Anton Reynir Hafdisarson. “Icelandic history tells us that girls used to mix urine into their washing water to clean and beautify their hair.”
The creators have been considerate enough to mask the smell of urine with ingredients like coconut oil, sunflower oil, and other fragrances, but apparently a strong nose can still detect the smell of ammonia. “Some people think there is still a slight whiff of urine in the soap,” Anton admitted. “But that might just be because they know what’s in the product. We think it is not noticeable.”
“The product is 100 percent organic with no artificial ingredients or harmful by-products,” Anton said, adding that he uses it every day and couldn’t be happier with the results. The students might actually be on to something because cow urine is full of ammonia, which is a key ingredient in most modern shampoos. Only in this case, the ammonia comes from an all-natural source.
If you’re wondering why the six young entrepreneurs went for a cryptic name like “Q”, it’s because it sounds like the Icelandic word for cow, ‘kú’.
“We are already in contact with various shops to market Q Shampoo and we hope that international markets will also be interested,” Anton said.
Cow urine shampoo is not as unique as some people may think. In India, cow urine and cow dung have been used as main ingredients in Ayurvedic beauty products for centuries. It will be interesting to see how such a bizarre shampoo does in Western markets, though.
Sources: Iceland Mag, Iceland Monitor
