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Have you ever used hair products which made your hair look amazing and feel great, but then they seem to just stop working? Well, you probably need to just use a good clarifying shampoo to remove all of the dirt and product build up in your hair.
Women often use multiple hair products, which all build up in the hair. This causes the hair to lose its color and makes it look dull. The hair also becomes weighed down with product build-up and tends to look and feel stringy.
Clarifying shampoo is designed to strip away all of the impurities and oils in the hair, leaving your hair in its natural state. It’s really surprising how much dirt, oil, and other products the hair can absorb over time.
If you want to restore your hair back to life again, then a clarifying shampoo is the first step to do that, so you can start anew.
What is product buildup and what causes it?
There many many things which can contribute to the build-up of substances in your hair. These are just a few of them.
Use of hair waxes: This is one of the big culprits for buildup in the hair. It’s difficult to remove, but can be done with a good clarifying shampoo.
Silicones: Silicones can be found in a lot of different hair products on the market. They are good in that they help make the hair feel smoother and look better. However, since they form a film on the hair strands – which is great for detangling hair – it means that it can be difficult to properly clean the hair. The product can build up over time and it’s one of the reasons why most people notice their hair getting worse over time when they continue to use their normal products which contain this ingredient.
Not washing the product out: We’ve all been there when we’re in a rush and we’ve not fully rinsed out all of the product in our hair. Maybe you’ve left a heavy conditioner in the hair (or most of it) like I did, and just forgot to rinse. Trying to get it out can be a nightmare, but fortunately, most clarifying shampoo’s will do the job.
Non-porous hair: Some people have hair that is not as porous and therefore the product doesn’t get absorbed well through the cuticles. The product will lay on the hair and lead to buildup over time.
There are other ingredients which might be ‘water soluble’ but that doesn’t mean you can easily rinse them out with water.
If you want to avoid product buildup in the future, try to use less of these products and style your hair in a way that doesn’t require so much product.
However, if you really have to use things like Silicones, then a good clarifying shampoo should remove the product buildup quite well.
Choosing the best clarifying shampoo for your hair
Since using a clarifying shampoo can strip away almost all of the hair’s natural oils, you should probably start of with a mild product and see how you go. Even the most mild hair clarifying products can be very effective in restoring life and bounce back to your hair.
If you’ve never used a clarifying shampoo before, you will likely be surprised how much better your hair can look.
I’ve decided to share just two clarifying shampoo’s. One of them is a typical store brand shampoo, and the other is a professional grade clarifying shampoo. I’d personally recommend going for the cheaper product first, but it’s entirely up to you.
Neutrogena Shampoo – Anti Residue
This is the first product that I used when I began to clarify my hair. And boy did it make a huge difference.
This is the first product that I used when I began to clarify my hair. And boy did it make a huge difference.
I made the mistake of using a really heavy product on my hair, which made it feel terrible.
After using Neutrogena Anti-Residue Shampoo, my hair felt shiny, silky and soft again.
Neutrogena claims that the shampoo ‘Instantly Removes 90% of Dulling Residue’
It’s recommended that you should use a clarifying shampoo like this one about once a week for good results. I personally prefer to use these clarifying shampoos about every 2 weeks instead and have had great results.
Neutrogena anti-residue shampoo is also great for people with all hair types.
Neutrogena Anti Residue Shampoo is a relatively cheap brand compared to brands you’ll find at the salon.
Professional Grade Clarifying Shampoo by Kenra
If you’re not on a tight budget, then I would recommend trying out a professional grade clarifying shampoo.
This product contains extracts of Grapefruit and Witch Haze, along with chelators for eliminating hair dulling residue and build up in your hair. This will help bring back the shine and make it more bouncy after removing all the product weighing your hair down.
This shampoo is especially good for those washing their hair with hard water or swimmers.
Also, this shampoo is suitable for those who have highlighted, beached, or gray hair. So if that’s you, then this shampoo may be for you!
It’s also suitable for those who have colored their hair.
After clarifying your hair, always follow up with a good moisture restoring conditioner
If you’ve never used a clarifying shampoo before, then you probably don’t realize just how dry hair can feel once you’ve stripped away all the natural oils.
To stop the hair from becoming brittle, frizzy and breaking, always follow up clarifying your hair with a good conditioner.
Leave the conditioner in your hair for a few minutes to let it absorb into the hair, then wash off as normal.
Hair masks or deep conditioning is also something that I recommend to people who are using these types of products. You don’t have to use them often but just treat your hair every now and then.
Your old hair products don’t work anymore?
One of the most annoying things is that you find a good hair product, and it works great at the start, but slowly your hair starts to look rubbish.
I used to use a brand called Herbal Essences and it seemed great for my hair at first. Until my hair became greasy, flat, dull and just not great. But after using a clarifying shampoo, I was able to use the product again (although I did eventually change my shampoo).
Having a clarifying shampoo at hand is also useful because if you are experimenting and trying out new hair products, then at least you have a clarifying shampoo to remove all of the product quickly if there is a disaster and regular shampoo doesn’t work to remove the built-up hair products.
And finally… Any hair products that you thought were great in the past, but just ‘stopped working’ – perhaps you can give them another shot! What you should find is that they work just as great as they did the first time you tried them.
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