Clarifying problems

[moniquerenaud]

I cannot seem to figure out how to clarify properly. I mean like every few weeks or months my hair definitely has product buildup (I use coney conditioner and leave in but a sulphate free shampoo) and its looking and feeling blah. So I use a clarifying shampoo. I've used Neutrogena's as well as Tressemme. Whenever people talk about clarifying they say their hair feels wonderful after and they're so glad they did it and their hair does not feel or look "blah" anymore. But when I do it my hair sucks! The next 2 or 3 washes after clarifying its ok but the clarifying wash is my least favourite thing to do because my hair does not feel clarified it just feels kinda dry. Am I missing something? Should I try a different clarifying shampoo?

Ps I have tried baking soda, did not like that. Even tried just adding some to my shampoo but it uber dried out my hair.

Pps. Yes i heavly condition after I clarify

[Firefox7275]

Silicones are not the only thing that can build up: butters, waxes including cetyl esters, certain polyquats, hydrolysed protein, petrolatum/ mineral oil, minerals from hard water, compounds formed by the interaction of anionic shampoo and cationic conditioning agents (CWC) can all accumulate.

Clarifying does strip the hair, that is the point. Baking soda is alkaline so damaging to acidic skin and hair, use chelating or clarifying shampoo. If you use a silicone based leave in use a shampoo rich in cocoamidopropyl betaine to reduce or avoid build up.

[lapushka]

So I use a clarifying shampoo. I've used Neutrogena's as well as Tressemme. Whenever people talk about clarifying they say their hair feels wonderful after and they're so glad they did it and their hair does not feel or look "blah" anymore. But when I do it my hair sucks! The next 2 or 3 washes after clarifying its ok but the clarifying wash is my least favourite thing to do because my hair does not feel clarified it just feels kinda dry. Am I missing something? Should I try a different clarifying shampoo?

It's normal that it feels dry after clarifying. That's why we use the WCC method here, conditioning twice after shampooing. You can say what you want but it does work. YMMV.

[alexis917]

If your hair is dry after you clarify, and then you heavily condition with cones, ....that's why.
The cones are building up on your hair and preventing any other moisturizing things from getting to your hair.
Your removing them (dry hair) and then using them again...sealing your hair in that state.

[meteor]

I'm curious: maybe you need to chelate, if your build-up is due to minerals in the water?
How does your hair respond to acidic rinses (diluted vinegar / lemon)? If it responds well, you might do well with chelating your hair from time to time, because acidic rinses help a bit with hard water.

Also, what kind of heavy conditioner do you use after you clarify? A lot of ingredients build up very quickly, so you might be defeating the purpose of clarifying with some product. Many heavy conditioners are targeting specifically damaged / porous hair but they would create build-up very quickly on low-porosity hair. You may want to experiment with a lighter conditioner instead of getting stuck in the build-up/clarify cycle.