Is your hair feeling a little dull, lack luster or limp? Have you been in the pool, lake or ocean? Do you use hairspray, shine products, blowdyers or flatirons? Well if you are experiencing or using any of these it may be time to clarify your hair.
All of these things can leave a residue on your hair that regular shampoo can not get rid of. (Even most drugstore shampoos coat the strand and leave build up!) Then, when we use the heat from blowdryers and especially flatirons and curling irons we just seal that onto our hair. Overtime our hair can look dull and lackluster, take a greenish or grayish tint or feel slimy when wet! It can also loose the ability to absorb our conditioners and make it resistant to hair color.
Clarifying shampoos are made to break down the build up that is sealed onto our strands. Usually you want to apply your clarifying shampoo to wet (not damp) hair from scalp to ends. It may not lather too much the first shampoo because it is working on breaking through. I leave it on for about a minute or 2, then I repeat. This time you will most likely have lots of lather, you can choose to leave it for another minute or two depending on how much build up you have. *If this is your first time, go ahead and leave it for those extra 2 minutes.
Your hair will feel squeaky clean (which is why you should not do this more then once a month at most). Usung this too often can cause your hair color to fade or your hair to dry out.
After clarifying this is the optimum time to use a luxurious deep conditioner. This is the perfect time because with out all that build up the cuticle of your hair is free to lift up and soak up all the yumminess in your conditioner, which allows it to deeper penetrate the hair. If you want to turn it into a "spa" experience, warm a towel up in the microwave and wrap your conditioned hair in the towel for 10-15 minutes, then rinse and PAT dry. The great thing is, conditioners now a days do not really need heat, they have molecules so small they penetrate the cortex of your hair just fine on their own.
Use a conditioner with protein if you have over processed hair and a moisturizing conditioner if you have dry or curly hair. If you feel you need both, mix them together. Just remember that using a protein conditioner too often can actually make your hair more brittle and break off!
My favorite clarifying shampoo is Redkens Hair Cleansing Cream, but Paul Mitchell makes a good one and even Nuetragena makes a pretty decent clarifier.
***NOTE*** purchasing professional hair care at the drugstore may not be a good idea. It usually marked up higher than if you picked it up at the salon and it may not be what you think it is on that bottle. The product could have been tampered with or expired.
