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Intransigentia
October 8th, 2010, 11:43 AM
I think my hair needs clarifying. I had been thinking to do a heavy oiling first, but that doesn't make sense. I think I'll still oil my scalp though, because of its hatred of shampoo. Is there anything else I should do before?

Afterwards, you need to give the hair major moisture, right? Everybody talks about the greatness of SMT. I haven't tried it, would this be a good time to start? Or would a heavy oiling (which I know my hair likes) be better? How about Foxy's Shea Cream, another thing my hair quite enjoys?

Also, what about protein? If the clarified hair feels like it wants protein, should I do that instead of moisturize, or as well, and if so, protein first or moisturize first?

aenflex
October 8th, 2010, 01:49 PM
Usually people clarify to remove protein :) Does your hair need it?
When I clarify I just wash, without pre-oiling, and then apply conditioner sparingly and a little coconut oil as a leave in. That process has always worked for me.
Shea butter does nothing but coat the hair which sort of belittles the purpose of clarifying to begin with.

Anje
October 8th, 2010, 01:52 PM
I wouldn't do protein after clarifying. (Then again, I wouldn't do protein anyway, my hair hates it!) Clarifying tends to be drying, and protein treatments are also drying. So doing one drying treatment right after another seems like a recipe for angry hair.
ETA: The general rule with protein is to do protein first, then ALWAYS follow with moisture. So if you must do protein after clarifying (which I'd suggest saving for another day, personally), do moisture after that.

I've never tried pre-treating before clarifying my hair. Again, it seems a little counter-productive. The idea with clarifying is to strip everything off the hair and scalp. I don't really see a reason to put more stuff on to strip off.

Intransigentia
October 8th, 2010, 01:59 PM
Thanks both of you, that's helpful!

I'm not sure if my hair needs protein, but aren't you supposed to be able to determine that better when the hair is clarified? I don't think it will, but I was thinking if it did... Yeah, I'm still pretty new at this :-)

But in any case, what I'm getting now is, clarify, then moisturize, and if your hair wants protein, do it some other time.

Thank you again.

Anje
October 8th, 2010, 02:06 PM
I'm not sure if my hair needs protein, but aren't you supposed to be able to determine that better when the hair is clarified? I don't think it will, but I was thinking if it did... Yeah, I'm still pretty new at this :-)
That's OK...

I'd say you can determine whether you need protein whenever your hair is wet, so long as it's not buildup-y. This site has some good information (http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~prb/chaos/tools/indirectotron.php?u=aHR0cDovL2JsYWNrYmVhdXR5YmxhY2 toYWlyODY5MTEueXVrdS5jb20vdG9waWMvNTExL3QvSGFpci1C cmVha2FnZS1hbmQtU2hlZGRpbmctMTAxLmh0bWw%3D&hs=0&hv=0&hx=0&hp=0&ho=0&w=****+link+doesn%27t+get+along+with+LHC+servers%2 C+not+sure+why.), which I find more descriptive than the LHC article on the subject.

Intransigentia
October 8th, 2010, 03:11 PM
Thanks for the great link!

morecowbell
October 8th, 2010, 04:38 PM
<snip> This site has some good information (http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~prb/chaos/tools/indirectotron.php?u=aHR0cDovL2JsYWNrYmVhdXR5YmxhY2 toYWlyODY5MTEueXVrdS5jb20vdG9waWMvNTExL3QvSGFpci1C cmVha2FnZS1hbmQtU2hlZGRpbmctMTAxLmh0bWw%3D&hs=0&hv=0&hx=0&hp=0&ho=0&w=****+link+doesn%27t+get+along+with+LHC+servers%2 C+not+sure+why.), which I find more descriptive than the LHC article on the subject.

Great link! :) Thanks!

Carolyn
October 8th, 2010, 05:00 PM
I don't do anything first. I shampoo with a commercial clarifying shampoo. I only wash once but I shampoo the entire length. I follow that was a heavy dose of moisture. My best results are a SMT with heavy coneless conditioners. I might lightly oil after that as a leave in.

jojo
October 9th, 2010, 06:44 AM
I clarify by just using a clarifying shampoo and wash 3 times from root to length and then I use a heavy moisturising conditioner which I leave on for 30 minutes and rinse, followed by a light coconut oil to the very ends.

I really look forward to my clarifying sessions as I love my hair afterwards, I clarify as a rule every month but more often if my hair needs it. If I find my hair harder to manage and the ends feel rubbish then its a sign for me.