What would you consider the most vital part of your hair regimen? Moisturizing? Deep conditioning*? or perhaps pre-pooing? Most of the time we say these parts of our regimens are essential, but there is hardly any of us that say that clarifying is on our top priority list of our hair regimen. Well, it is about time that we change this. Why? Keep on reading to find out!
1. You hair is looking duller than tarnished jewelry
So you’ve added all the oil that you can to your hair to bring on some bling and it is still dull? This is one of the major signs of needing a clarifying treatment. Dull hair can be the result of environmental buildup ( dirt, dust, etc.) and product buildup and a clarifier can easily remedy this. After using a great clarifier, you can say goodbye to dull hair.
2. You can practically scrape off the hair cream residue
Yes, one of the most obvious signs that it is time to clarify is when you can clearly see and feel buildup on your strands. If you are a faithful user of gels, heavy creams, greases (guilty!), thick oils* and leave ins, co-washing all year long just won’t do it. To avoid product build up and the possibility of having breakage due to buildup, its good to clarify at least once a month.
3. Speaking of buildup, hard water mineral buildup can be a beast
Besides the buildup that we can get from our products, we can also attract buildup from a lesser known producer of buildup: our tap water. Depending on what part of the country you may live in, hard water buildup can be a headache. When you use a special clarifying cleanser called a chelating shampoo*, you can reduce the chances of hard water build up.
4. Your best moisturizer is not moisturizing like it usually does
You know how it is when you have that golden moisturizer that you’ve been using forever and then all of a sudden it just stops working? Well ladies I am going to tell you that the reason your moisturizer may have stopped working has nothing to do with your hair being used to it. But it can have a lot to do with a lack of clarifying. Due to a bad case of buildup, your moisturizer may not be penetrating as well as it should be. I’m sure you now can see why clarifying should be on your priority list (even if it’s once per month).
I clarify with African black soap (DuDu-Osun) at least once a month sometimes twice. I rarely use a shampoo almost never.
I have to do it every time I wash my hair. My sebaceous glands are out of control. If I want a truly clean scalp and head full of hair, I have to clarify my hair. Been doing it since I was a child and never had issues.
What is clarifying?