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View Full Version : Observations on Clarifying and Chelating from Someone Whose Tried Many Approaches...



DweamGoiL
January 14th, 2014, 01:11 PM
Years ago, I grew out my hair so I had gone out and purchased a shower filter since my water was somewhat hard. I first realized this when I began using these wonderful shampoo bars and all I got was sticky gloppy residue that never was fully washed out of my hair. I had and continue to pretty much be cone-free for the last 15 or so years. Not being able to freely use more natural products was not only disappointing, but annoying. Then, I tried washing my hair with my regular water and ending with a final rinse of distilled water and vinegar. That seemed to work just fine, but it also meant I had to have gallons of distilled water on-hand, and being that I walk everywhere, it got old really soon.

My first shower filter was a store bought Waterpik one and after 2 months, the thing literally exploded when I turned on the water. Lucky for me, I was not in the shower at the time and the remaining pieces were a real pain in the neck for my then hubby to remove afterwards. My second shower filter was a Sprite brand one. It was great, but keeping on top of changing the filter all the time considering there were 4 of us using the shower, became a 'thing'. It was also becoming a bit harder to find places online that sold filters for the model we had. I was forced to go back to the distilled water gallons until I eventually cut my hair when my youngest daughter was born.

So during the Fall of last year, I decided to actively grow my hair again. It was well past BSL and skimming MBL. To be perfectly honest, it was grown out of lazyness and neglect mostly, but overall, I still kept a lot of my old LHC habits from the past. I can confidently confess that this place changes not only your perceptions and attitudes about hair, but your long-term habits even when your hair is not considered long any more. I must have somehow chosen to block out the whole hard water issue, or maybe now that I am approaching my more mature years, I just forget stuff easily. I'd like to think the first theory is truer, but I digress. All I know is that for the past 10 years or so, I have not used distilled water or a shower filter and I had no issues. But, like they say 'all good things must come to an end' because as of lately, my hair had progressively become more limp and dull. At first, I thought I was losing my hair since my hairline appeared to be much more scarce and the part was wider due to my fine hair simply just laying on top of my head. At times my hair seemed to pick up a little body, but it was nothing to how it was before. I began attributing this change to the fact that maybe henna was relaxing my wavy hair or that my hair was simply changing due to peri-menopause.

Most of my hair is pulled forward in this picture (it looks a bit thinnish)

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/th_Me102413small_zpsd99e17a0.jpg (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/Me102413small_zpsd99e17a0.jpg.html)

I decided to try a last ditch attempt and went to my local beauty supply store where the woman recommended Rolland Una Clarifying Shampoo. Of course, you know us, LHC'ers...I was all over that label. I noticed it was also a chelating agent so I took it home since it was the ONLY brand they had in the whole store that carried out both functions. The first time I used it, I did notice that my hair had lost a lot of the plasticky feel to it, and it was softer and shinnier once it dried. While I was in the shower, it almost felt like fishing line strands. I hoped for the best despite this. I also noticed that my scalp wasn't as itchy as it usually was and that the strange funky smell that sometimes wafted in after washing my hair, had disappeared. However, when it dried, the hair was still pasty in the back close to the nape of the neck. I used the shampoo again last night, and to be honest, I was a bit scared since the bottle itself tells you not to use it too often so I was already imagining irreparable straw-like hair. That wasn't the case at all. Sadly, I had forgotten the true texture of my own hair. I had become complacent to dull, stringy hair for so long. Today, it doesn't feel anything like what I had slowly become accustomed to. Also note, I applied a tiny bit of Monoi oil to seal the ends along my hemline, but nothing else.

Hairline has more lift and volume

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/th_Mail_Page_1_zps479d3510.jpg (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/Mail_Page_1_zps479d3510.jpg.html)

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/th_Mail_Page_2_zpsc9dccdc7.jpg (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/Mail_Page_2_zpsc9dccdc7.jpg.html)

http://i987.photobucket.com/albums/ae360/dweamgoil/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/th_photo1_zpsc1a36341.jpg (http://s987.photobucket.com/user/dweamgoil/media/Long%20Hair%202003%20to%20Now/Clarify_Chelating%20011414/photo1_zpsc1a36341.jpg.html)

I decided to also measure my ponytail circumference today and had measured sometime in early December (Dec = 2.9" Today = 4 1/16")

Lesson learned: I wll be clarifying/chelating every other month from now on :rolleyes:

Kherome
January 14th, 2014, 02:34 PM
I have hard water and I chelate at least once a month. Too many people get the idea that clarifying is the same as chelating...it's not. Clarifying doesn't cut it with hard water IME.

breezefaerie
January 14th, 2014, 03:02 PM
That's good to know. I always see mention of chelating shampoos but never knew where to find any.

Khiwanean
January 14th, 2014, 03:23 PM
I have an old bottle of Nexxus Aloe Rid shampoo that's labeled as clarifying, but is actually chelating. Disodium EDTA in the ingredient list tipped me off to that. Any ingredient ending in EDTA is likely a chelating agent. That particular shampoo is intended to get rid of chorine green in light colored hair.

schnibbles
January 14th, 2014, 04:11 PM
Hm, interesting. Thanks for posting about this. I know I need to do some chelating (hard water here too) but I never knew what that actually was.. or how to go about it. I do clarify, and I know that's not the same. I don't use a shower filter, seems like a major pain.. kind of like you said with changing the filters constantly.

Firefox7275
January 15th, 2014, 08:18 AM
EDTA is chelating at the right concentration. It has other functions in cosmetic formulations so every product containing it will NOT chelate away build up (tho it *may* protect somewhat).

Silicones are not the only ingredients that can build up: so can some polyquats, waxes including cetyl esters, natural butters, the combination of anionic surfactants in shampoo and cationic agents in conditioners (eg. condition-wash-condition), alkaline soap residues (especially in hard water).

LadyCelestina
January 15th, 2014, 09:19 AM
What else does have chelating properties?

Panth
January 15th, 2014, 12:22 PM
Pantene's Clarifying Shampoo will also chelate. It took all the limescale off my bathroom sink when I used it for some handwashing.

ositarosita
January 15th, 2014, 12:54 PM
I have hard water as well .. I use Paul Mitchell shampoo number 3 which is clarifying and chelating whenever I feel the need to. (it smells sooooo good)

renia22
January 15th, 2014, 04:21 PM
Chelating really is amazing. Anyone who is having hair problems really should try it. A while back someone on here recommended it & I bought a couple of small bottles of Nioxin clarifying cleanser at Ulta on clearance, and whenever I use it my hair is back to "good" hair right away. I wish I bought the big bottle I saw, apparently it's been discontinued. Maybe I'll get Paul Mitchell shampoo three next, that one seems to get good reviews. But there really is something to this chelating, it takes dull hair and turns it into new, fresh, residue free, shiny hair.

molljo
January 15th, 2014, 07:05 PM
EDTA is chelating at the right concentration. It has other functions in cosmetic formulations so every product containing it will NOT chelate away build up (tho it *may* protect somewhat).
Where on the ingredients list should EDTA fall for it to be chelating? I have a shampoo that contains it, but it's waaay down at the bottom, which leads me to think there's not enough to be really effective. I have extremely hard water where I live, so I've been seriously considering getting a chelating shampoo for a while now.

hanne jensen
January 16th, 2014, 03:31 AM
My water is so hard that I can walk on it. Once a month I de-mineralize my head. I use 2 parts ACV and one part water. Then a good dollop of clarifying poo. Mix well, apply from scalp to ends, put hair up in a shower cap and do somethiong else for 7-10 minutes. Rinse well and condition. The reason I use clarifying poo is I figure there's probably product residue that binds to the minerals. Plus, I'm lazy.

ErinLeigh
January 16th, 2014, 07:28 AM
I need a new chelator. My Pureology has cones and I do not want to use that.
I have Ultra Swim..is that good enough or is there something else in ingredients missing? I can't tell if it removes everything or just chlorine. The EDTA seems far down this list? Should I buy something different?

Ingredients
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Urea, Polysorbate 20, Coco Glucoside, Sodium Thiosulfate, Glyceryl Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Bicarbonate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycerin, Disodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-10, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Fragrance, D&C Violet 2, May Contain Citric Acid and/or Sodium Hydroxide

DweamGoiL
January 17th, 2014, 08:27 PM
I need a new chelator. My Pureology has cones and I do not want to use that.
I have Ultra Swim..is that good enough or is there something else in ingredients missing? I can't tell if it removes everything or just chlorine. The EDTA seems far down this list? Should I buy something different?

Ingredients
Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroamphoacetate, Urea, Polysorbate 20, Coco Glucoside, Sodium Thiosulfate, Glyceryl Oleate, Propylene Glycol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Bicarbonate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Glycerin, Disodium EDTA, Polyquaternium-10, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Fragrance, D&C Violet 2, May Contain Citric Acid and/or Sodium Hydroxide

I am not familiar with that brand, but just by reading reviews from other sites, it seems it is mostly geared to just removing chlorine. Other than that, the reviews were all over the map.