# Is that a fetus in your shampoo or are you just happy to see me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 15, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343 "2004-03-15T02:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/1 "2004-03-15T02:14:48Z")
Today I was at work showing our huge range of shampoos to a picky lady. “This is the Queene Helene Plecenta shampoo” I say. The lady looks at me like I am covered in blood. “It doesn’t have _Fetuses_ in it, does it???” No. Last time I checked, a fetus and the plecenta were separate. “Oh ok” she says, “I got a little scared there. You remember when they had all those stories about aborted fetuses being used in cosmetics” No. I don’t. That’s one of the wierdest things I have ever heard. Not to mention one of the wierdest things I have ever been asked. Did that ever actually _happen_? ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/2 "2004-03-15T02:16:08Z")
Crap. Replace plecenta with **placenta**. Me stupid. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Poetgrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@Poetgrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poetgrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/3 "2004-03-15T02:39:07Z")
No doubt a swarm of ill-informed consumers will write letters to the company, causing them to change their packaging to read “100% fetus free!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/4 "2004-03-15T03:21:21Z")
I’m glad it wasn’t me she was asking, **torie**. There is no way on earth that I could have answered that question with anything except a completely straight-faced “Yes. Yes, it has fetuses in it. All the best shampoos do now. They’re absolutely great for getting the tangles out, with their little fingers and all.” There’s a reason I don’t work with the public. ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/5 "2004-03-15T03:23:47Z")
About this placenta thing. Please tell me it’s not what I think it is. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/6 "2004-03-15T03:33:35Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > …“Yes. Yes, it has fetuses in it. All the best shampoos do now. They’re absolutely great for getting the tangles out, with their little fingers and all.” > > There’s a reason I don’t work with the public. omg Please warn me not to sip my coffee just before reading that! _dutifully wipes monitor clean_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/7 "2004-03-15T03:41:22Z")
Placenta only refers to one thing on this planet. Yup, there sure is placenta in these shampoos, and many other cosmetic products,but it most assuredly is [not human](http://www.dermadoctor.com/pages/newsletter174.asp?WID=%7BD7843C64-538B-11D8-919E-0002B330452B%7D). OMG, google ‘placenta’. I had heard that mothers eat them, plant them, all sorts of things, but [placental art](http://www.birthdiaries.com/diary/48vbirth2.htm)? Lovely, but it makes me rather queasy… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/8 "2004-03-15T03:48:11Z")
So how come my shampoo is called “Gee, Your Hair Smells Like Fetus”? ---
**Author:** ![Tremmie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Tremmie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tremmie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/9 "2004-03-15T04:15:26Z")
> [@\_Deva\_](#): > > Placenta only refers to one thing on this planet. > > Yup, there sure is placenta in these shampoos, and many other cosmetic products,but it most assuredly is [not human](http://www.dermadoctor.com/pages/newsletter174.asp?WID=%7BD7843C64-538B-11D8-919E-0002B330452B%7D). > > OMG, google ‘placenta’. I had heard that mothers eat them, plant them, all sorts of things, but [placental art](http://www.birthdiaries.com/diary/48vbirth2.htm)? Lovely, but it makes me rather queasy… Hmm is that suposed to make it any less disgusting somehow? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/10 "2004-03-15T05:04:54Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > “Yes. Yes, it has fetuses in it. All the best shampoos do now. They’re absolutely great for getting the tangles out, with their little fingers and all.” ::Wipes Pepsi from the moniter:: Thank you for that **featherlou**. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/11 "2004-03-15T05:18:58Z")
Sure would be cool if the shampoo also contained, as some do, hyaluronic acid – a component of semen! ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/12 "2004-03-15T05:25:07Z")
Watch your hair multiply! 😃 on a serious note though… what the heck is up with shampoo now-with-added-animal-placenta? What a truly vile thought. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/13 "2004-03-15T05:44:20Z")
> [@Khiadra](#): > > Watch your hair multiply! 😃 > > on a serious note though… what the heck is up with shampoo now-with-added-animal-placenta? > > What a truly vile thought. Hair that is damaged by frequent chemical processing is lacking in protein. The idea is that placenta (which is rich in protein) will replace that lost protein temporaily, improving the look and feel of the hair. As for whether or not it works, 'ellifiknow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/14 "2004-03-15T14:16:50Z")
Placenta good for hair? Hmmmmm. My monthly is coming up shortly… ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/15 "2004-03-15T17:22:32Z")
:: backs away slowly - regretting he ever entered the conversation :: ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/16 "2004-03-15T18:04:09Z")
> [@Tremmie](#): > > Hmm is that suposed to make it any less disgusting somehow? 😕 Well, no, but it kinda discounts the foetuses thing… Then I have to think about the fact that I don’t have any idea what most of the things in my shampoo are… Many also have [urea](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=urea), which is just as disgusting. Better not to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/17 "2004-03-15T18:08:46Z")
Placenta shampoo? Won’t somebody think of the chili? ---
**Author:** ![SSgtBaloo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@SSgtBaloo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSgtBaloo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/18 "2004-03-16T07:24:30Z")
> [@Poetgrrl](#): > > No doubt a swarm of ill-informed consumers will write letters to the company, causing them to change their packaging to read “100% fetus free!” 😉 No! No! The label will read: \*This is a Fetus-Friendly product \* 😃 –SSgtBaloo ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/19 "2004-03-16T07:54:06Z")
In the mid-eighties, it was common for pro-lifers to claim that the collagen used in cosmetics was harvested from aborted fetuses. This meme is [still spread amongst the congenitally credulous](http://www.believerscafe.com//articlesofinterest/ART03.html). [Rephrased here… reattributed to _Fortune Magazine_, because that sounds a little less ludicrous than the shopworn “Olga Fairfax, Phd”](http://www.thenewamerican.com/tna/1995/vo11no09/vo11no09_unborn.htm) > [@](#): > > The fact that abortion is a billion-dollar industry in the U.S. alone (excluding the sale of fetal body parts for research and use in cosmetics as “collagen”) has been reported in Fortune magazine. The bodies of aborted babies are now sold for up to $5,500 per pound in the United States. Sales of hysterotomy-aborted babies removed alive (up to nine months old) fetch up to $1 million annually. The sale of fetuses from late-term elective abortions at Washington, DC General Hospital netted $68,000 between 1966 and 1976. That income was then used to purchase television sets, soda, and cookies for visiting professors. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-a-fetus-in-your-shampoo-or-are-you-just-happy-to-see-me/234343/20 "2004-03-16T08:02:19Z")
**No doubt a swarm of ill-informed consumers will write letters to the company, causing them to change their packaging to read "100% fetus free!"** They should call it “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fetus”