ABSTRACT
In today’s marketplace personal cleansing products are found on the shelves of mass
retailers and behind cosmetic counters at prestige stores, where they are offered as part of a
total skin care and beauty package. Nearly every shopping mall has a purveyor of specialty
cleansing products and a simple search on the Internet reveals a number of suppliers whose
distinctive personal cleansers are purported to remedy the deficiencies of the products
made by large-scale manufacturers. New cleanser forms offer increased convenience and
consumers can choose from myriad product scents, colors, and functional ingredients
intended to help them achieve relaxation and escape from the cares of everyday life, and to
improve their skin’s health and appearance (1-4). Yet despite their increased variety and
complexity, present day cleansers have the same basic function as their counterparts of
times past: to cleanse the skin.
