FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF A SOLID SHAMPOO BAR ENRICHED WITH MORINGA POWDER AND FLAXSEED GEL

The goal of this study was to formulate and evaluate a solid shampoo bar enriched with moringa powder and flaxseed gel for effective hair cleansing and conditioning. The study involved the selection of suitable cleansing agents, conditioning agents, herbal ingredients and other excipients, followed by formulation, evaluation and comparison of the prepared solid shampoo bars with a marketed product. Moringa powder and flaxseed gel were prepared and subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening. Suitable formulation ingredients were selected, and three formulations, F1, F2 and F3, were prepared by varying the concentrations of selected surfactants while incorporating moringa powder and flaxseed gel. The prepared formulations were evaluated for their physical, physicochemical and performance characteristics, including appearance, pH, dirt dispersion, foamability, foam stability, moisture content, wetting ability, conditioning properties and surface tension. FTIR studies were also carried out to identify characteristic functional groups and assess the compatibility of the selected ingredients. Based on the combined performance of the evaluated parameters, Formulation F1 was selected as the optimized formulation. It delivered the most balanced performance across all physical and cleansing tests, presenting a skin-compatible pH of 5.23, an initial foam height of 9.5 cm with 90.6% stability, a practical wetting speed, and a high surface tension reduction of 34.90 dyn/cm. The findings also supported the chemical compatibility and integrity of the ingredients incorporated into this optimized formulation based on the FTIR study.