What exactly makes a shampoo clarifying?

[arr]

Recently i was comparing labels on the Suave Naturals shampoos and i noticed that the clarifying shampoo has basically the same ingredients as all the other shampoos. Same with V05, Vanart and other various cheap watery clear shampoos. Does this mean they are all clarifying, even if it doesn't say so on the label? If so, that means i am clarifying my hair every time i shampoo, which is every other day, since these are my preferred shampoos. I even wash it down to the tips once a week. I don't use silicones, so i don't do this because of build up, i just like the way my hair feels with this routine, light and clean like a child's hair, uncoated. I do use conditioner and i play around with adding oil to my shampoo. I don't plan on changing my routine because my hair does very well with it, but i would like to know if i am indeed clarifying my hair every wash?

[sarahthegemini]

shampoos that have coco-betaine or sls/sles and no other 'conditioning' agents in them are clarifying. Or any ingredients known to build up like silicones or waxes. So most shampoos tbh.

[ARG]

Like Sarah said, shampoos that do not contain "conditioning" agents and they will contain SLS and SLES. Sometimes they're sold as "volumizing".

If you're using a shampoo that has lots of sulphates in it, then yeah, you're using a clarifying shampoo. There's nothing wrong with that if that's what you like and that's what works for you. Personally, my hair looks great when I use volumizing shampoos, I stopped because I found that it stripped my scalp of the natural sebum, which caused my scalp to go into hyper drive and produce more oils, meaning more washes, and less natural protection for my hair, resulting in more breakage.

[Panth]

Clarifying shampoos contain cocoamidopropyl betaine and/or SLS/SLES. They also lack any coating or moisturising ingredients (e.g. 'cones, protein, waxes, some plant extracts, etc.). They typically have shorter ingredients lists than the average shampoo and particularly compared to moisturising or 'reparative' (i.e. protein-containing) shampoos.

That said, I don't think all shampoos that come under that description are clarifying. I typically use regular shampoos that also come under that description (often described as 'volumising' or 'for fine hair' or 'for limp hair') and they don't do the same as a clarifying shampoo for me. IMO, those that are described as clarifying probably also have rather stronger cocoamidopropyl betaine and/or SLS/SLES concentrations than regular shampoos. However, I'll never know as they only have to put the ingredients of toiletries in rank order, not give actual concentrations.

(Note that some shampoos advertised as clarifying do occasionally contain things that prevent them from clarifying, e.g. 'cones. So, be careful and read the ingredients!)