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View Full Version : Clarified my hair, still feels like there's buildup



Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 04:02 AM
I have been having trouble with my hair sticking together like Velcro and feeling like there is some kind of buildup on it even though I know there is not because I use Pantene clarifying shampoo on a regular basis. When I first started clarifying I noticed my hair felt great, didn't stick to itself anymore and was much much easier to manage. But these days when I clarify it it still feels the same. What could I be doing wrong?

Weewah
January 25th, 2014, 04:32 AM
I'll be watching this thread, because I'm also battling some build up issues right now after clarifying.

Did you condition after clarifying with something that could re-buildup/leave residue on your hair? I'm pretty sure that's what my problem is so I'm going to clarify yet again tomorrow and use a different conditioner after. I SMTed after clarifying last time and it left a residue.

catasa
January 25th, 2014, 05:08 AM
I donīt know the Pantene shampoo unfortunately but maybe you also need to chelate, in addition to clarify, if you have hard water? As I have understood it clarifying shampoos will not always remove build up from hard water minerals, but chelating shampoos will. There is a chelating shampoo of the Joico line that is often recommended here, sorry I canīt remember the name now. I have tried it myself with so-so results, but then my hair seems to be a little more finicky than most...

Or otherwise try another clarifying shampoo? Maybe there is something in the shampoo itself that is doing something to your hair?

And in relation to what Weewah said - maybe try once to not use anything at all on hair after clarifying, just to see how it feels then? You can always re-wet it again straight after just to add something moisturizing.

Good luck! :)

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 06:05 AM
Thank you so much, would this be the one you are talking about http://www.amazon.com/Joico-Chelating-Shampoo-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B000FMTOQY I'm not sure if my water is hard or not but I assume it most probably is. I think I will give this a o if I can find it for a reasonable price with shipping and all. I have been using Tresemme naturals conditioner, and it does leave a buildup, but I can feel it while I am in the shower washing it before I put the conditioner on and it still feels like I haven't clarified it.

Brattina88
January 25th, 2014, 06:26 AM
I'm not faniliar with the shampoo either.... But I wanted to echo maybe you need to chelate. Maybe you could try an ACV rinse (or WV if you prefer). The ACV rinse made my hair feel amazing. So now I uses it "as needed" ;)

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 06:34 AM
I started doing ACV rinses recently too, but still no difference. I think I am going to try this chelating shampoo as soon as I can, now that I have read up on it a bit

Siiri
January 25th, 2014, 07:03 AM
Most water companies/towns tell on their website whether the water is hard or soft (google town and water hardness). Hardness doesn't tell you everything though, because even if it's soft, it may have some other metals.

Madora
January 25th, 2014, 08:13 AM
I have been having trouble with my hair sticking together like Velcro and feeling like there is some kind of buildup on it even though I know there is not because I use Pantene clarifying shampoo on a regular basis. When I first started clarifying I noticed my hair felt great, didn't stick to itself anymore and was much much easier to manage. But these days when I clarify it it still feels the same. What could I be doing wrong?

What do you mean "on a regular basis"?

Because clarifying strips your hair, you should only do it on a limited basis...say once a month, followed by a deep conditioning treatment.

Maybe try Neutrogena Anti Residue clarifying shampoo. It has received good reviews here. I use it myself, though the hair really is stripped afterwards and a conditioning treatment is required.

Firefox7275
January 25th, 2014, 08:47 AM
Agree chelate, a good product should contain two or three agents to hit different deposits. Read all your products for ingredients that can build up (many silicones, some polyquats, hydrolysed proteins, butters, waxes including cetyl esters, petrolatum/ mineral oil). Also be aware condition-wash-condition can cause problems as anionic surfactants combine with cationic conditioning compounds.

If nothing works it may simply be your cuticle has worn away on the oldest ends and its time for a trim: hair doesn't go from 'healthy' virgin to split/ broken there is a gradient of damage in between.

catasa
January 25th, 2014, 09:25 AM
Thank you so much, would this be the one you are talking about http://www.amazon.com/Joico-Chelating-Shampoo-Fluid-Ounce/dp/B000FMTOQY I'm not sure if my water is hard or not but I assume it most probably is. I think I will give this a o if I can find it for a reasonable price with shipping and all. I have been using Tresemme naturals conditioner, and it does leave a buildup, but I can feel it while I am in the shower washing it before I put the conditioner on and it still feels like I haven't clarified it.

Yes, that is the shampoo I meant!

Also agree with Firefox, if chelating does not help and it is just the ends then maybe it is time for a trim? I need to trim my ends about every third month, otherwise they get "grabby" and much more unmanagable than the rest of my lengths (and this has been the case through all the various routines that I have tried).

spidermom
January 25th, 2014, 12:12 PM
You may be clarifying too often and drying out your ends.

I use styling products with cones and need to clarify about once every month or two. Sometimes I use the clarifying shampoo for two washes (about 3 or 4 days apart) in a row because I don't feel that all the buildup is gone, but rarely more than that. When I clarify, I don't follow immediately with a moisturizing treatment because then I can't tell if the buildup is gone or not. Sometimes I don't even use conditioner immediately after clarifying for the same reason; I want to see what my hair is like without stuff on it.

Panth
January 25th, 2014, 01:34 PM
Just a point: the Pantene clarifying shampoo does chelate (at least for hard water / calcium deposits). It takes the limescale of my bathroom whenever I use it, so I figure it does the same for my hair.

Chelating is not your problem.

pri108
January 25th, 2014, 01:46 PM
Hi Revontuletar,

I have not used any other shampoo than Pantene clarifying since 4 years now. They do one called ICe shine which ruined my hair with the residue (had to buy it cos clarifying was out of stock). have you tried changing the conditioner may be it leave so much residue that the shampoo can't wash it off. hard water could be another reason.

Sounds strange but i had heard dish washing liquid mixed with your shampoo does it really well. there is a red fairy liquid that i use often in my hand wash, clothes etc, becasue it is quite gentle. try that (very little ) with your shampooo and see if residue goes. how many washes do yo do? i wash my hair twice in the shower.

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 08:08 PM
You're absolutely right that I am probably clarifying way too often, I do it about once every 1-2 weeks or so. I haven't been to this forum in years, I just ended up not having time to worry about my hair too much and I thought I had found a routine that worked reasonably well for me, and my hair was growing and going ok, so I just left it at that. I feel like a complete newbie again, haha. I think it probably is time for a bit of a trim. It hasn't had a trim in quite a while and I have been contemplating cutting it back to hip length to thicken the hemline a bit. I hate that my hair is so thin, and I have been noticing more and more of those little broken off bits that are a couple of inches long and stick out everywhere. I have a lot of them, and it has been worrying me that maybe I am getting too much breakage. I should also probably mention that I use veggie dyes on my hair (mostly directions) and I think that contributes significantly to buildup

Firefox7275
January 25th, 2014, 08:16 PM
I use La Riche Directions and dont need to clarify because of that, at least in the shade I use there are no ingredients that are likely to build up as far as I can remember. The vast majority of the time I conditioner only wash.

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 09:07 PM
I use La Riche Directions and dont need to clarify because of that, at least in the shade I use there are no ingredients that are likely to build up as far as I can remember. The vast majority of the time I conditioner only wash.

I use Alpine Green, Fluorescent and Violet from Directions. I do CWC with a sulfate-free shampoo every three or four days, and clarify every 1-2 weeks. I oil my hair with EVOO every time I wash my hair and I saturate my hair in coconut oil if I am going swimming (I go to the beach about once a week). That's all I really do, and all I have been doing for quite some time

Firefox7275
January 25th, 2014, 09:14 PM
W
I use Alpine Green, Fluorescent and Violet from Directions. I do CWC with a sulfate-free shampoo every three or four days, and clarify every 1-2 weeks. I oil my hair with EVOO every time I wash my hair and I saturate my hair in coconut oil if I am going swimming (I go to the beach about once a week). That's all I really do, and all I have been doing for quite some time

CWC could be your problem, the shampoo and conditioner can sometimes combine to cause something that builds up. Or you may be way overdoing the penetrating oils - not all heads will take it every single wash.

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 09:25 PM
W

CWC could be your problem, the shampoo and conditioner can sometimes combine to cause something that builds up. Or you may be way overdoing the penetrating oils - not all heads will take it every single wash.

I did not know that. In that case, is very possible that it could be both of those things contributing, if indeed chelating is not my problem. I will be giving my hair a trim today, as I have been meaning to for quite a while, so I will see if that helps, and then maybe I will lay off the shampoo for a while and cut back on the oils a bit

Anje
January 25th, 2014, 09:32 PM
In the past, I've had sticky, stiff ends that seemed to retangle with each other instantly, felt kinda squeaky-rough when I ran my fingers down my hair, and felt sort of hard. Clarifying didn't fix it, neither did cutting. For me, it turned out that it was a bad reaction to protein in my conditioner (Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut, which some people love; it's not evil to everyone). Multiple SMTs were my way out of it.

If you've been using a new product (particularly conditioners/leave-ins) with protein in it when you weren't before, consider that this might be a possible cause before cutting.

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 09:44 PM
In the past, I've had sticky, stiff ends that seemed to retangle with each other instantly, felt kinda squeaky-rough when I ran my fingers down my hair, and felt sort of hard. Clarifying didn't fix it, neither did cutting. For me, it turned out that it was a bad reaction to protein in my conditioner (Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut, which some people love; it's not evil to everyone). Multiple SMTs were my way out of it.

If you've been using a new product (particularly conditioners/leave-ins) with protein in it when you weren't before, consider that this might be a possible cause before cutting.


Protein confuses the hell out of me. I remember reading up on it ages ago and thinking it was too confusing, my hair was going ok anyway with what I was using so I just didn't bother trying to understand it all. I have used this conditioner for quite some time, (and this is the one that I use for SMTs with positive results) but I used to switch it up with a more expensive one that I don't use anymore because it's expensive and I figured this one does the job anyway.

ErinLeigh
January 25th, 2014, 10:35 PM
here are links about the conditioner mixing with shampoo thing
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2012/10/deep-conditioning-dry-hair-wet-hair-or.html
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2011/05/before-you-shampoo-conditioner-or-oil.html

Revontuletar
January 25th, 2014, 10:48 PM
The conditioner I am using is Tresemme Naturals Nourishing Moisture conditioner: Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/capric triglyceride, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, aloe barbadensis (Aloe) leaf extract, Persea gratissima (avocado) oil, lauroyl lysine, distearyldimonium chloride, brassica campestris/aleurites fordi oil copolymer, caprylil glycol, benzyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, aspartic acid, citric acid, fragrance.

ravenreed
January 26th, 2014, 12:24 AM
Velcro, grabby ends with broken bits reads protein build up to me. That is exactly what my hair is like if I use any protein. I found that clarifying didn't remove it, I had to trim away those ends, which is why I am so determined to avoid protein.

hanne jensen
January 26th, 2014, 02:51 AM
Revontuletar, it's the copolymer in the Tresomme. That stuff will build up and it takes industrial strength cleansers to remove it. I have a whole bottle of the stuff in the shower and it's great for shaving legs or toilet washing, but not hair. Aloe will also build up on the hair.

Revontuletar
January 26th, 2014, 03:27 AM
Revontuletar, it's the copolymer in the Tresomme. That stuff will build up and it takes industrial strength cleansers to remove it. I have a whole bottle of the stuff in the shower and it's great for shaving legs or toilet washing, but not hair. Aloe will also build up on the hair.

Ok. I will be going out tomorrow to get a different conditioner with no copolymer. Any tips on how to get rid of the stuff thats already on my hair?

Revontuletar
January 26th, 2014, 03:33 AM
That conditioner is a relatively new acquisition, so I think it could well be the cause of my problem

Revontuletar
January 27th, 2014, 03:26 AM
Well, I clarified it again, followed by ACV rinse, no conditioner, then let it dry and combed it out. The buildup was mostly gone, but I found it snapped pretty easily so I did SMT with a different conditioner and it is feeling a bit better now. Not perfect, but better than it was. I'm pretty sure it was that new conditioner that was causing the problem. Thanks everyone for helping.