I’ve been using a new Dove Oxygen Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner for a couple weeks that claims it’s “oxygen-fused”. Here’s the list of ingredients:
Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Chloride, Glycerin, Fragrance (Parfum), Dimethiconol, Glycol Distearate, Carbomer, TEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate, Citric Acid, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Gluconolactone, PEG-45M, Benzophenone-4, Adipic Acid, Trehalose, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, PPG-9, Mica (CI 77019), Titanium Dioxide, (CI 77891).
So obviously, there’s oxygen in the first ingredient, water, H2O, but otherwise I can’t tell where this oxygen is coming from, and furthermore, how oxygen in shampoo is going to make one bit of difference to the moisturization of my hair since it soaks in far more oxygen in the air 24/7 anyway.
That said, it is pretty good stuff. Not knocking the product, just am curious why they market it this way. Made me wonder about other “oxy” products too. Gimmick?
In the marketing. Oh, and in the main ingredient… dihydrogen monoxide. The life giving oxygen is fused to hydrogen, producing a truly amazing compound you can’t afford to be without.
There is going to be oxygen in most of those ingredients, as there is in very many organic compounds (which most of those are - and, of course, titanium dioxide contains oxygen too), but, so far as I can see, the mention of oxygen in the product name, and the claim to be “oxygen-fused” are just marketing bullshit.
I was going to have fun with this, saying it’s also right there in the Hydroxypropyltrimonium and in the Titanium Dioxide (actually, that’s just a brilliant white pigment commonly used as food coloring; see the label on any tub of cottage cheese). But njtt’s straightforward answer took all the fun out of that. 
Even mica has oxygen in it!
A reasonable question might be: Which of these oxygen-bearing constituents releases (un-fuses?) its oxygen when you wash your hair and how is that supposed to affect your overall hair-washing experience anyway? Yeah, sounds like marketing hype [del]alright[/del] all right.
ETA: P.S.: Does that shampoo have a warning label mentioning the many dangerous side-effects of exposure to dihydrogen monoxide?
You know what other product boasts oxygen? Preparation H, that’s what!
ETA: OMG, have I just Godwinized this thread?
It’s in literally every ingredient except sodium chloride.
and chemically, there’s no “sodium chloride” in there anyway.
Actually, looking at the ingredients list, I’m guessing that they’re using “oxygen-fused” as marketing blather for “ethers.”
Traditionally, there are two classes of conditioning ingredients: cationic* and nonionic. Shampoos (including Dove) are usually full of anionic surfactants, which react with most cationic conditioners to form sludge, so conditioning shampoos have historically been made with nonionic conditioners like stearyl alcohol, which has a heavy, waxy consistency.
However, if you take hydroxypropyltrimonium chlroide (R-N-(CH[sub]3[/sub])[sub]3[/sub] and “oxygen-fuse” it to guar** gum with an ether structure (R-O-R’), you apparently don’t get the clumping with anionic surfactants, but you still get the conditioning effect (i.e., some sticks to the hair).
*The cationic surfactants used in hair conditioners are usually quaternized ammonium compounds, or “quaternium chlorides.” The nitrogen in ammonia has three unpaired electrons, which form covalent bonds easily, so neutral amines have three organic “arms.” Stripping an electron from the nitrogen allows a fourth “arm” to be added, which prevents the “quat” from forming any strong ionic bonds - as a result, quaternium chlorides dissociate well in water, and are cationic in solution. Cationic surfactants seem to have an affinity for damaged or recently-washed hair, so they’re the go-to ingredients for conditioners.
Titanium Dioxide turns up all over the place. I used to work for a company that distributed to smaller outlets (big ones get it in bulk tankers). The main customers were plastic moulders, mainly double glazing, paint and ink producers and pet food canners. We also carried pharmaceutical grade for use in sweets, toothpaste, sunscreen and medicine. If you take a pill with a white coating… That’s it too.
Why would pet food canners need bright-white pigment? The other uses all make sense to me, but that one does not. Anyone know?
[QUOTE=purplehorseshoe]
Why would pet food canners need bright-white pigment? The other uses all make sense to me, but that one does not. Anyone know?
[/QUOTE]
According to this from 2001, it was used to help make poop be more easily spotted.
It also has more mundane cosmetic uses such as making the dough kibble is made from amenable to being colored, and as a dough conditioner.