Students make their own shampoo

Hopwood Hall College students with their own brand shampoos

A group of 14-16 year old Hair and Beauty students from Hopwood Hall College have donned lab coats to produce their own branded shampoo.

Their tutors have been teaching them the science modules of the new Higher Diploma in Hair and Beauty Studies and came up with this innovative idea to get the youngsters interested in the subject.

With the help of colleagues Alan Hill and Yasminia Jackson from Hopwood Hall College’s Science department in Middleton, the young students were given all the ingredients, chemicals and equipment that they needed to make real shampoo.

They toiled for hours in the labs going through the process of making the actual shampoo, measuring ingredients and following a 'recipe'.

Once the recipes were perfected, they were then given an overview of branding products and correct labeling. With this information they set to work on the PCs, designing their own names and labels. Some of the creative names the students came up with included: Luscious Locks, Tropical Twist, Grapefruit Tang, Citrus Burst and Candy Gloss.

The students now intend to manufacture larger quantities of their branded shampoos and sell them to raise funds for charity.

A spokesperson for the college said: “The youngsters who have come from a number of schools across Rochdale, have thrived in the college environment and they all look set to achieve top grades of A*s to Bs when they complete the two-year Diploma next summer.”