Product build up can leave hair feeling weighed down, gummy, or greasy. If you are noticing that your hair feels 'off,' products don't seem to be providing the same results, or you are noticing a dry or itchy scalp, you should try a clarifying shampoo to give hair and scalp a fresh start.
The average person should clarify once or twice a month, but if you use a lot of hair styling products or have hard water, you may need to clarify weekly. Be careful not to overuse clarifying shampoos as they can strip the scalp of the essential oils that keep hair healthy.
You scalp is still skin and as such the sebum and dead skin cells will build up overtime and it will cause detriment to you scalp health overall if you don't clarify eventually.
Regular shampoos are formulated to remove dirt and excess oil from your hair, but clarifying or anti-residue shampoos are specifically made to remove product buildup to help revive dull, flat hair. These shampoos are designed to exfoliate the scalp and provide a deeper clean than your everyday shampoo.
6 signs that you might benefit from a clarifying shampoo
Your hair looks and feels oily or greasy, even after washing. Your hair feels heavy or sticky. Your hair looks dull, limp, or lifeless. You hair has difficulty holding different styles.
Clarify hair with apple cider vinegar
Mix a few tablespoons with warm water, apply to your hair after shampooing and conditioning, and let it sit for a little while before rinsing out. Use this as a once-a-week detoxifier for softer, shinier, healthier looking hair.
Low porosity hair is human hair that doesn't readily absorb water and treatments. Your hair may be low porosity if it takes a long time to wet and dry. If you use hair care products, they tend to stay on the surface of your hair rather than being absorbed. This makes hair care treatments less effective.
Clarifying shampoo is a type of deep cleansing shampoo that is designed to remove excess oil, dirt, and product buildup from the hair and scalp. It can help to improve the health and appearance of the hair and scalp, and is particularly useful for people with oily hair or those who use a lot of hair styling products.
Hair Type Considerations
This ensures that while you're cleansing away buildup, you're not stripping away essential moisture, which can lead to frizz and dryness. Limit the use of clarifying shampoos to once every few weeks or as needed.
Can you use Dawn dish soap as a shampoo? Yes, it's clarifying, but it should be considered a last resort and should be done so sparingly. It can also strip color from your hair.
So many scalp issues are caused from not clarifying using the right product, or often enough. Which not only leads to dry, itchy, irritated scalps. Greasy, oily scalps or flaky dandruff, but also prevents healthy hair growth and shine.
Clarifying Baking Soda Shampoo
Amp up the cleaning and clarifying power of your regular hair shampoo with a tablespoon of baking soda mixed right in.
Mix one part vinegar with two parts water and apply to your hair after shampooing. Let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing with water. You can use apple cider vinegar as a hair rinse once or twice a week.
If there's white-ish stuff showing up on your hair brush or comb, it's probably buildup. This kind of white stuff is different from dandruff - it won't be flakey, nor will it be oily like sebum. Product buildup typically resembles teeny tiny strands of white hair, and it sticks to the hairbrush quite stubbornly.
This surface-level deep cleansing shampoo uses surfactants and clarifiers to pull impurities out of your hair like heavy metals, chlorine, and pollutants.
I rinsed my hair with apple cider vinegar — here's why you should give it a try. Apple cider vinegar can effectively clarify product build-up, balance your hair's pH level, stimulate growth, and keep natural curls well-defined and bouncy.
Not only does your scalp have a plethora of sweat glands, but it also has an abundance of sebaceous (oil) glands, which produce oily sebum. Have you ever scratched your scalp and noticed white, waxy buildup under your nails? That's sebum mixed with dead skin cells.
Baking soda has been a popular ingredient in home remedies for many years, and one of its uses is as a clarifying agent in hair care. Many people are drawn to the idea of using baking soda on their hair because it is affordable and natural.