clarifying Without shampoo or drying chemicals

[Mrstran]

A month ago I had an issue with clarifying shampoo where my hair stuck together. Scary stuff!
Luckily, a few of you helped me a great deal and gave me a quick run down on what my hair was lacking, which helped tremendously!
I have to admit though, I am a bit terrified now to put anything on my hair that could possibly dry it out.

Ok ok... I live in fear.
:scared:

Anyway, now I'm starting to get flakes and build up. Do any of you know of anything gentle? Do any essential oils work for this possibly? I'm still in the dark and clueless with all this hair stuff. You'd think I'd learn a thing or two after 3 months.

[Anje]

What products are you using that are building up? That might help us narrow down things that could be used to remove what buildup you're experiencing.

If you're not willing to use something like sulfates to remove buildup, though, you probably should think about cutting out products that build up on you. In the meantime, try dilute vinegar rinses (or citric acid, if you can't handle the smell of vinegar). That's frequently helpful for hard water and problem scalps.

[LadyCelestina]

Are you okay using sulfate free shampoos? They might not be as effective (idk), but should work.

[lapushka]

Are you okay using sulfate free shampoos? They might not be as effective (idk), but should work.

Yes this.

What are you using, currently?

[Mrstran]

I've been using Nexxus co only. I haven't used shampoo in over a month. You all are mentioning sulfates and shampoo and now Im thinking that maybe that is my problem.

Would regular old shampoo help with this then?

I was trying to avoid it because of the "drying out" fear. (It has really gotten that bad!)

[Garnetgem]

I always put coconut oil in my hair the day before since then it no longer clumps or tangles together after clarifying before then i used to dread it due to what your mentioning..

[lapushka]

Maybe do a scalp-only wash with a shampoo (either sulfate-free or + sulfates). That way you can still do CO on your ends should you like to.

It is odd, though, that your ends "tangle" that much. Maybe the conditioner isn't strong enough to withstand the tangles? Could be that you are using a conditioner that is too light as well. Usually conditioners for dry, damaged hair are the most moisturizing.

[Mrstran]

Clarifying is scary haha! I'm glad the oil helped you Garnetgem

Hey Lapuska I haven't had any problems since I stopped using the clarifying shampoo. I stopped using regular shampoo also because I thought it could possibly do the same thing. I don't know if it will hurt or not. Just to be safe, I stuck with co only. It has been going well ever since besides the build up. I think I'll try what you are saying and wash my roots only. After all, one way or another I have to clean this scalp. Eeew!

Thank you!

[lapushka]

Hey Lapuska I haven't had any problems since I stopped using the clarifying shampoo. I stopped using regular shampoo also because I thought it could possibly do the same thing. I don't know if it will hurt or not. Just to be safe, I stuck with co only. It has been going well ever since besides the build up. I think I'll try what you are saying and wash my roots only. After all, one way or another I have to clean this scalp. Eeew!

Yep I'd focus on the scalp mainly; the flakes have got to go!

[Anje]

Definitely try your regular shampoo. What product is that?

[mizukitty]

Clarifying should not be scary at all - it is essential to routinely do so for the sake of both your length and scalp health. It is very unusual that your ends stuck together after clarifying - I don't think sulfates could be to blame for that, most likely some other ingredient. At 1c and M strands, it seems odd that a typical sulfate shampoo would dry your hair out to the point it was sticking together, unless it's heavily chemically damaged or something. Is it, by the way?

All products if not removed occasionally with a stripping enough product will cause build up. Whether it be on the scalp or the length. Oils, water soluble conditioners, everything.

EOs are great for scalp health as most are antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral; however, they are potent oils. They won't remove any more product that something like olive oil would.

I think you should look for a run of the mill sulfate containing shampoo like Suave Daily clarifying (has sodium laurETH which is gentler and no lauRYL which is very powerful), and use it on a small amount of hair and see how it reacts. PLEASE don't go for the baking soda or anything like that - it'll cause a lot more harm than good. Modern shampoos are good at what they do - you just need to find one that works for you.

[Hay_jules]

If I recall you do have some bleach damage. I know that caused my ends to stick and tangle like velcro. My favorite shampoo is down under naturals NUDE coconut splash shampoo. It contains the laureth as mentioned above and has coconut oil in it. It cleans my hair like a clarifying shampoo but leaves it feeling soft. My hair feels cleaner than it does with sulfate free shampoo but it feels just as gentle.

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/down-under-naturals-coconut-splash-weightless-moisture-shampoo/6000191918135

[lapushka]

Clarifying should not be scary at all - it is essential to routinely do so for the sake of both your length and scalp health. It is very unusual that your ends stuck together after clarifying - I don't think sulfates could be to blame for that, most likely some other ingredient. At 1c and M strands, it seems odd that a typical sulfate shampoo would dry your hair out to the point it was sticking together, unless it's heavily chemically damaged or something. Is it, by the way?

Yes there's bleach damage. In which case, the clarifying might not be the issue, but the lack of protein might. Have you looked into protein conditioners for after clarifying, OP?

[renia22]

Clarifying should not be scary at all - it is essential to routinely do so for the sake of both your length and scalp health. It is very unusual that your ends stuck together after clarifying - I don't think sulfates could be to blame for that, most likely some other ingredient. At 1c and M strands, it seems odd that a typical sulfate shampoo would dry your hair out to the point it was sticking together, unless it's heavily chemically damaged or something. Is it, by the way?

All products if not removed occasionally with a stripping enough product will cause build up. Whether it be on the scalp or the length. Oils, water soluble conditioners, everything.

EOs are great for scalp health as most are antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral; however, they are potent oils. They won't remove any more product that something like olive oil would.

I think you should look for a run of the mill sulfate containing shampoo like Suave Daily clarifying (has sodium laurETH which is gentler and no lauRYL which is very powerful), and use it on a small amount of hair and see how it reacts. PLEASE don't go for the baking soda or anything like that - it'll cause a lot more harm than good. Modern shampoos are good at what they do - you just need to find one that works for you.



+1

^ What she said

[Mrstran]

Definitely try your regular shampoo. What product is that?

It's herbal essence moisturizing shampoo. My hubby got it for me but then after my hair dried out, I avoided it.
I'm going to give it a shot tonight. My fingers are crossed that my hair doesn't rat up. That's just awful!


Clarifying should not be scary at all - it is essential to routinely do so for the sake of both your length and scalp health. It is very unusual that your ends stuck together after clarifying - I don't think sulfates could be to blame for that, most likely some other ingredient. At 1c and M strands, it seems odd that a typical sulfate shampoo would dry your hair out to the point it was sticking together, unless it's heavily chemically damaged or something. Is it, by the way?

All products if not removed occasionally with a stripping enough product will cause build up. Whether it be on the scalp or the length. Oils, water soluble conditioners, everything.

EOs are great for scalp health as most are antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral; however, they are potent oils. They won't remove any more product that something like olive oil would.

I think you should look for a run of the mill sulfate containing shampoo like Suave Daily clarifying (has sodium laurETH which is gentler and no lauRYL which is very powerful), and use it on a small amount of hair and see how it reacts. PLEASE don't go for the baking soda or anything like that - it'll cause a lot more harm than good. Modern shampoos are good at what they do - you just need to find one that works for you.


Hey! Thank you for the info. I'm definitely going to look into the gentle shampoo. Maybe try a tad on a small section and see how it does. I really had no idea it was that important lol.

Thank you again


Yes there's bleach damage. In which case, the clarifying might not be the issue, but the lack of protein might. Have you looked into protein conditioners for after clarifying, OP?

Aphogee is what I use once a month. I absolutely love it. I was siding it three times a month until I learned there was a such thing as overdoing it. So I started using it less.


If I recall you do have some bleach damage. I know that caused my ends to stick and tangle like velcro. My favorite shampoo is down under naturals NUDE coconut splash shampoo. It contains the laureth as mentioned above and has coconut oil in it. It cleans my hair like a clarifying shampoo but leaves it feeling soft. My hair feels cleaner than it does with sulfate free shampoo but it feels just as gentle.

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/down-under-naturals-coconut-splash-weightless-moisture-shampoo/6000191918135

I will check this one out too. Thanks a bunch!

[Mrstran]

Sorry so many posts. I try to clump them together in one post but it never works. :uhh:

[Annalouise]

I've been using Nexxus co only. I haven't used shampoo in over a month. You all are mentioning sulfates and shampoo and now Im thinking that maybe that is my problem.

Would regular old shampoo help with this then?

I was trying to avoid it because of the "drying out" fear. (It has really gotten that bad!)

You could try using a deep conditioner after the shampoo to restore the moisture balance.
Even if you are doing CO you should shampoo your hair once in awhile. The reason being is that you will eventually get
buildup on your scalp, from the conditioner, because conditioners are designed not to rinse clean like shampoo (ie: they deposit conditioning and anti-tangling agents on to the hair strand (and scalp if you are using it to wash your scalp). When you get buildup or products on your scalp that are not rinsing clean then you can get clogged hair follicles and that can lead to hair loss.:)

[mizukitty]

Aphogee is what I use once a month. I absolutely love it. I was siding it three times a month until I learned there was a such thing as overdoing it. So I started using it less.

Okay awesome! If you have bleach damage and a protein heavy hitter like Aphogee makes it feel better, by all means use it. Yes, overdoing it can be bad if there's not enough moisture added into the mix, but the fact that your hair felt better using it routinely means your hair is lacking in protein. If it is bleach damaged, the integrity of those hairs are compromised - the outer layers of protein chipped away, etc.

Some people with undamaged hair have a problem using protein even once - likely due to the fact that their hair simply doesn't NEED the extra protein - their cuticles are largely intact, and applying protein over them just bonds an unnecessary layer to the healthy hair as opposed to patching up the gaps, cracks, etc.

[Anje]

Aphogee is what I use once a month. I absolutely love it. I was siding it three times a month until I learned there was a such thing as overdoing it. So I started using it less.
Yes, you can OD on it, but with bleach damage it's relatively hard. Use it as often as you wish, and if your hair gets super dry-tangly-rough, moisturize a little more and cut back slightly. It's typically folks with virgin or especially hennaed-virgin hair who seem to have issues with protein (I was among them) in reasonable doses, and quite a few people even with virgin hair like the effects of protein.

Basically, if it makes your hair feel good, don't feel like you have to stop using it. There's a small caveat with silicones in that because some hair can't deal with the silicone-buildup-wash cycle long-term and accumulates damage, but frequently when you're dealing with already-damaged hair, silicones can help make the hair tolerable until it's grown out enough to be cut away.

[LadyCelestina]

Off topic, sorry Mrstran, I hope you don't mind :) - but do you people have a schedule for clarifying (like once a month), or do you clarify when you have funny feeling hair? Sometimes I'm a bit heavy handed with leave-in, so it's hard to tell if I just overdid it or have build up, so I am thinking about just doing it every two months or every month.

[lapushka]

You could try using a deep conditioner after the shampoo to restore the moisture balance.
Even if you are doing CO you should shampoo your hair once in awhile. The reason being is that you will eventually get
buildup on your scalp, from the conditioner, because conditioners are designed not to rinse clean like shampoo (ie: they deposit conditioning and anti-tangling agents on to the hair strand (and scalp if you are using it to wash your scalp). When you get buildup or products on your scalp that are not rinsing clean then you can get clogged hair follicles and that can lead to hair loss.:)

I don't think you can just flat out say that. It's a YMMV thing, again. GRU on here *never* uses shampoo, for instance and has been CO-washing for ages.

[lapushka]

Off topic, sorry Mrstran, I hope you don't mind :) - but do you people have a schedule for clarifying (like once a month), or do you clarify when you have funny feeling hair? Sometimes I'm a bit heavy handed with leave-in, so it's hard to tell if I just overdid it or have build up, so I am thinking about just doing it every two months or every month.

I use a clarifying wash about every 6 weeks, sometimes 2 months, sometimes even 3. It depends, when I think of it. Besides, I have 2 bottles of Pantene clarifying shampoo, and I tend to be sparing with them.

I never used to *need* to clarify, though. Sulfates were enough. :shrug:

[Annalouise]

I don't think you can just flat out say that. It's a YMMV thing, again. GRU on here *never* uses shampoo, for instance and has been CO-washing for ages.

That is what is called "anecdotal" evidence. If GRU was here she could testify that she puts conditioner only on her scalp and never shampoos.
Then we could look at the ingredients in her conditioners and see if one of them doesn't have a cleanser in it.:)

The general rule applies to your scalp as well as the skin on your body. You can't always put moisturizer on your skin and never wash it. You have to remove dead skin cells and product build up or your skin will not look nice. This is just basic information, not rocket science.

And given that most conditioners contain silicones that build up, they are not designed to clean your skin, they are designed to condition and coat your hair strands. So it would be using a product for something it wasn't designed for. Unless you are using a professional CO product in which case you will notice it contains detergents.:)

But there still remains a caveat even with professional CO products like WEN, and that is that the problem remains that they don't rinse clean leaving deposits on the scalp / hair follicles which is not conducive to good follicle health. That is why WEN is being sued by many people in the US for hair loss.

[LadyCelestina]

^ there are gentle cleansers in conditioner, for example cationic surfactants. They don't remove oil 100%, but your skin doesn't generally want to be 100% oil free if you don't have issues like sd
:thumbsup:

[LadyCelestina]

I use a clarifying wash about every 6 weeks, sometimes 2 months, sometimes even 3. It depends, when I think of it. Besides, I have 2 bottles of Pantene clarifying shampoo, and I tend to be sparing with them.

I never used to *need* to clarify, though. Sulfates were enough. :shrug:

What I meant is doing a length wash with one of my regular shampoo's, not separate product :) I do need to occasionally clarify even though I use sulfates. The last time I really really had to shampoo the whole length was after the new conditioner from lidl as that thing is so heavy on silicones it's brutal even for me :D

[lapushka]

That is what is called "anecdotal" evidence. If GRU was here she could testify that she puts conditioner only on her scalp and never shampoos.
Then we could look at the ingredients in her conditioners and see if one of them doesn't have a cleanser in it.:)

The general rule applies to your scalp as well as the skin on your body. You can't always put moisturizer on your skin and never wash it. You have to remove dead skin cells and product build up or your skin will not look nice. This is just basic information, not rocket science.

And given that most conditioners contain silicones that build up, they are not designed to clean your skin, they are designed to condition and coat your hair strands. So it would be using a product for something it wasn't designed for. Unless you are using a professional CO product in which case you will notice it contains detergents.:)

But there still remains a caveat even with professional CO products like WEN, and that is that the problem remains that they don't rinse clean leaving deposits on the scalp / hair follicles which is not conducive to good follicle health. That is why WEN is being sued by many people in the US for hair loss.

That's what I don't get. In another thread recently you tried to hammer the point that conditioners are cleansing and contain cleansing agents; now you are trying to say the complete opposite. :confused:

[Annalouise]

That's what I don't get. In another thread recently you tried to hammer the point that conditioners are cleansing and contain cleansing agents; now you are trying to say the complete opposite. :confused:

"Hammer"? :rolleyes: Who is hammering whom?
I'm not playing these games.

[Anje]

Off topic, sorry Mrstran, I hope you don't mind :) - but do you people have a schedule for clarifying (like once a month), or do you clarify when you have funny feeling hair? Sometimes I'm a bit heavy handed with leave-in, so it's hard to tell if I just overdid it or have build up, so I am thinking about just doing it every two months or every month.
I was always in the "when it feels funny" camp, fwiw. But I also tend to really dislike leave-ins for making my hair feel icky.

Honestly, I could (and did) CO for months and months with my usual Suave Aloe and Waterlily and not need clarifying. The stuff just plain didn't build up on me, not with my hair and my water. It was my continual drive to try new things that would make me shampoo and reset from time to time.



.

[lapushka]

"Hammer"? :rolleyes: Who is hammering whom?
I'm not playing these games.

Huh? :?: That is such an odd response. And you did just contradict yourself, sorry.

[vampyyri]

Hmm, I know that the Torrin shampoo from Snow Water Soap Company is clarifying without sulfates (sounds like wizardry to me): link! (https://snowwatersoap.com/products/torrin-clarifying-shampoo)

If that's your main concern was with how your hair was sticking together, I would look at your protein/moisture balance on the bleached bits of your hair. It is a really careful balance after all, and I myself am recovering from a protein treatment that I went a bit too heavy-handed on... :doh: As for clarifying, I wouldn't clarify all the way down the length unless there was some funky build up that needed to be addressed, and then I would slap conditioner on the length ASAP to make sure that issue doesn't arise again. Another suggestion would to perhaps try CWC, since the conditioner would protect your ends from getting overly stripped on the rinse out. Or throw in a sulfate-free shampoo instead, who knows! It's your hair after all :p

It could be a multitude of things, you just need to experiment until you find what works for you really.