How should I interpret this warning label on my shampoo bottle?

Question

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My shampoo brand comes with the following cautionary advice [and I am reproducing it verbatim]:


WARNING: Not for daily use. This product contains advanced innovative ingredients designed to create LONG & STRONG [in bold capital letters no less] results. Avoid excessive contact with mucous membrane.

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What do you think the manufacturer is really trying to say here?

NOTE: Just for your information, it seems our "good" friend with a DIRTY "mind" and a bad hair day, Ms. Gottaloveher, has thumbs down everyone who has answered this question. … I just wanted to let ALL of you know that I NEVER down rate ANYONE, not even that FREAKY "Gottaloveher"! She maybe mentally DISTURBED, but she is entitled to her opinion. Though I DID block her @$$ out of my Q&A's - I don't need CREEPS like her around here. I am NOT sure what shampoo she's been using but with that hairdo I doubt if it costs more than a buck twenty. …Don’t you just HATE these self-riotous morality police MORONS? Why do they insist on answering questions that their feeble minds easily interpret as somehow offensive??? There are loads and loads of seemingly offensive questions on this site, does that mean I have to go around with my morality code and straighten every single one out – not to mention offend a whole bunch of people in the process???? ... THANK YOU ALL.

Answer 1

I've dusted off my old organic chemistry textbook, but could find no reference to a chemical structure that has been described as "LONG & "STRONG".

At first I thought I needed to extend my search (e.g., .looking under the OSHA recommended Laboratory Safety Manual), but then I realized the mistake I was making...

I was experiencing some sort of dissonance between the positive terms, "Long & Strong" and "advanced innovative ingredients" and "avoid excessive contact", "not for daily use", etc. since I was making the erroneous assumption that the latter terms implied some danger.

Obviously this could not be true since your shampoo company, as well as any business for that matter, would then feel the moral obligation to change the description to something like "irreversibly toxic", since the public welfare is their first concern.

Consequently, there had to be an alternative explanation and there are other possibilities:

1. Since it is a well known fact that most people in the shampoo business are avid golfers, the "Not for Daily Use"- warning is specifically addressed to John Daley, the pro golfer known to have the "Longest and Strongest" drives. Obviously an attempt to warn him that he needn't spend the money on this shampoo. A simple misprint in the spelling of his name.

2. Secondly, it is likely that " advanced innovative ingredients" are hard to come by. The company is simply expressing a concern that there may not be enough shampoo to go around and are suggesting temporarily rationing use to every other day, so that everyone will have a chance...We have come to expect no less from our businesses then the golden rule or some variation there of!

3. I admit I was at first stumped by the apparent cautionary "avoid excessive contact with mucous membrane", but all one has to assume is that the author of this message is a recent immigrant from Germany and then everything falls into place. "Mucose membrane" is obviously "lucose membrane" which is the well known misprint in the standard GermanEnglish medical dictionary referring to "Schleimhaut-entzündung" which is an inflammation of the membrane lining.

This might seem a bit of a stretch, at first, but one simply has to keep in mind that most businesses are somewhat fanatical in wanting to protect the public and could not avoid the potential irritation that there customers would experience if there shampoo should come into excessive contact with an inflamed lining!!!

Of course, if you should suddenly disappear from YA family, I'll know that I was wrong.

Answer 2

Either the manufacturer is making a joke saying that you'll get great results with daily use, or in fact, it is dangerous or irritating to hair to use every day.
It is highly subjective and thus I think you should throw it away and get a new shampoo, it's too risky, you don't know whether the manufacturer was joking or really warning you.

As for the "excessive contact with mucous membrane", the mucous membranes of the insides of the nose, and of the lips absorb chemicals into the body, which is why you avoid them when using topical retinoids (For treatment of acne), and other drugs, for example, ie, they absorb chemicals.
This is a real warning, but the first 'warning' may not be.

Answer 3

Hey! Please stop using it!!!! I like you and I'm afraid something bad might happen to you if you continue! The mere fact that it includes a warning label should be sign enough.... shampoo should NOT come with a warning label EVER!

The best interpretation for the manufacturer "is really trying to say here":

"We had a law suit recently that we won- only by the skin of our teeth. The judge forced us to include a warning label on our product."

Answer 4

I am pretty sure that this is some kind of treatment, and the description seems pretty clear to me.

The only thing that can be confusing, is if you don't know what a mucous membrane is. If so, replace that with "Don't let it come in contact with any body opening". That includes your ears and lips! I am pretty sure you will keep it away from your genitals, nostrils and anus.

Answer 5

It is a clarifying shampoo that ought not to be
used each day as it will strip the oils out of
your hair and scalp causing it to thus become
brittle and to break off.

You should only use this shampoo only once a
week, and buy a milder shampoo to use every
second day.


It tells you not to get the shampoo in your eyes,
mouth or nose, and other sensitive areas
(a.n.u.s. - you never know what people will
try).

Pep.

Did GottaLoveHer freak anyone else out?

Answer 6

I think they are trying to say that you should use it as a treatment only, but why did they name it a shampoo? Try using it once a week to be safe, and the mucous membrane part they mention I think they want you to avoid getting it into your eyes , nose & mouth. Check for a number on the bottle that you can call.

Answer 7

I'd say the only part that makes since to me is: not for daily use.
I'd use it once every couple of days. Sometimes its a nice way of saying if you use it every day your hair will fall out because there are things in here if used frequintly, will damage your hair. (or worse!) EEK!

I got a better idea. Find a new shampoo. LOL that's really what I'd do.
:))
good luck

Answer 8

LOL I guess it is your once a week shampoo for those special occasions when you want longer and stronger hair to impress a date....or they are reassuring you that it will keep on working - that your hair will stay clean enough for a few days, and using it daily will cause your scalp to fall off.

Apparently they are telling you not to assume more is better, and don't get it up your nose or use as....CENSORED.

Answer 9

Damn, what is it? Some sort of super-powerful dandruff shampoo. Must have some serious chemicals in it. I'd return it and go get something that doesn't have that kind of warning. Or if you are going to use it, limit it to once or twice a week at most. I wouldn't use it daily.

Answer 10

Are you sure you bought this as just a regular shampoo and not over the counter or on prescription?
Any chance of knowing the make?