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Where else but in Belgium could someone develop a shampoo based on a national culinary icon: beer? No, it's not a joke you might hear down the pub, nor the result of a bizarre experiment - it's a scientifically well-founded product.
Abbeys have been brewing beer for their own consumption for centuries, but now lay brewers have taken up the trade, under license. The Trappist abbeys in Belgium, however, have continued the tradition. And what about the Trappist nuns at the Our Lady of Nazareth abbey from 1950 in Brecht, Antwerp, who have been making and supplying all manner of soap products to religious schools, hospitals and institutions since 1964? Floor, toilet and glycerine soap, bath foam and shampoo were gradually added, all under the TRAPP brand name. And now, 55 years later, the most recent offshoot of this tradition is Trappist shampoo.
A 10% Westmalle Dubbel is mixed with the existing shampoo, enough to add natural volume to the hairstyle and give the hair an attractive shine. The scalp also does well out of it. The Institut Meurice in Brussel, the technical university for chemical and biochemical industrial engineers, has confirmed this. The new product naturally meets the strict and complex legislation in the field and was granted the French quality label Monastic, a guarantee of authentically manufactured goods from a convent community.
