What Does Clarifying Shampoo Do?

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Like many of us, you probably love having beautiful shiny hair, and you will spend a lot of time and money on it to keep it looking that way. So, when your hair starts looking flat, dull, or even feeling oily for no reason after you’ve washed it, you may start wondering what you did wrong.

Most of the time, this will be the result of styling product buildup. this is more common than you think, especially since not every bit of mousse, gel, oil, leave-in, or hairspray is guaranteed to come out when you wash your hair.

Enter clarifying shampoo.

So, what does clarifying shampoo do? It cleans your hair of all the build-up… but it can remove dyes and colors, so you need to be careful!

How do you use it? Well, you’re in luck, because in this article we’ll tell you everything you need to know.


Contents

What Does Clarifying Shampoo Do?

Redkin Clarifying shampoo

Basically, clarifying shampoo is a specially-formulated product that works to provide your hair with a super cleanse, which normal shampoos can’t do. It’s an often overlooked personal care product that can be really beneficial to your normal hair care routine.

Basically, clarifying shampoo is a specially-formulated product that works to provide your hair with a super cleanse, which normal shampoos can’t do.

Many people get confused about what clarifying shampoo does, because it’s not a shampoo as such!

Clarifying shampoo doesn’t really clean, or even moisturize your hair. In no way are they a substitute for your Dove or your Briogeo salon-grade shampoo .

Clarifying shampoo is purely designed to cut through product buildup, as well as minerals that can build up in hard water areas and excess sebum and dead skin flakes on the scalp.

You can think of clarifying shampoo as like stripping an old door of paint, getting rid of all the sticky layers.

You are left with the original wood, which you can paint over again with a new glossy coat.


When Should I Use Clarifying Shampoo?

The frequency in which you should use clarifying shampoo will depend on your hair type, how many styling products you use regularly, and whether or not you live in a hard water area.

For instance, if you use a lot of products and regularly wash your hair in hard water, then you should likely use a clarifying shampoo once a week, or between every two to three washes with your normal shampoo.

If you use a lot of products and regularly wash your hair in hard water, then you should likely use a clarifying shampoo once a week, or between every two to three washes with your normal shampoo.

If you’re a frequent swimmer, then you could use a clarifying shampoo every other wash, which will also help to eliminate any green tint and weird curl that chlorine can leave on your strands over time.

However, if you don’t regularly use things like gels or sprays, and live in a soft water area, then you’ll only need to use clarifying shampoo about once a month as a general guideline.

Do you have an oily scalp and hair? Well, then you can use clarifying shampoo on a regular basis to remove excess oil and dirt from your scalp, as well as any flakes of dead skin.

And it will work to increase the volume of your locks by giving your roots a boost from being previously weighed down.


Clarifying Shampoo Ingredients

If you do use clarifying shampoo, whether monthly or regularly, you will want to make sure that you choose a product that is free from sulfates, parabens, silicones, mineral oils, phthalates, dyes and formaldehydes at the very least.

This is because the above ingredients can cause scalp irritation and inflammation, which would cause other issues that you could do without! Particularly if you want to benefit from super clean and healthy hair, and if you have low-porosity hair and need to avoid certain ingredients.

Ingredients in clarifying shampoo that you do want to look out for include essential oils of rosemary, tea tree, eucalyptus, lemon, lemongrass, and juniper. All of these have anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties that work to stimulate blood circulation as well as soothe the scalp.

Other ingredients like aloe vera, quinoa protein, ginseng, argan oil, burdock are also included in clarifying shampoos to improve hair follicle formation, balance sebum levels, reduce dandruff, and leave your hair feeling healthy and soft.

Acure’s Curiously Clarifying Shampoo  is a 100% vegan product that will gently cleanse your hair to remove product buildup, while also leaving your hair feeling hydrated and moisturized.

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ACURE Curiously Clarifying Shampoo - 8 Fl Oz - Performance-Driven Hair Care Gently Cleanses, Removes Buildup, Boosts Shine & Replenishes Moisture - Lemongrass & Argan, 100% Vegan
  • Gentle ingredients: Clarifying shampoo...
  • Performance-driven hair care: Cleanses...
  • 100% vegan shampoo: Formulated without...
  • Directions: Apply to wet hair; massage...
  • Size: 8 Fl Oz (packaging may vary)

Containing refreshing rosemary and lemongrass extracts to cleanse deeply, its paraben-, sulfate-, formaldehyde-, petroleum- and mineral oil-free formula also includes argan oil, aloe vera juice, açai extract and avocado oil in a perfect combination that will replenish dry hair and boost shine.

It’s great stuff.


What If You Have Colored Hair?

Clarifying shampoo can do a great job at keeping colored hair looking its best. This is because the dyes used in your color treatment will become dull as your hair gets weighed down by product buildup.

Clarifying shampoo works to get rid of the buildup!

So, by using clarifying shampoo, you’ll lighten the tone of your hair when the product and mineral buildup residue is cleansed away. But along with any residue, some of the color may also be stripped from the hair when washing it with clarifying shampoo.

This means that clarifying shampoo does work to lift the tone of color treated hair, though obviously not as much as a color-toning shampoo like blue or purple shampoo.

However, it can also make your hair fade faster if it is used too often, or if you use clarifying shampoo that is not color-safe. So in general, if you have colored hair, then you should only use clarifying shampoo once a month to remove product buildup.

Clarifying shampoo does work to lift the tone of color treated hair. However, it can also make your hair fade faster if it is used too often or if it’s not color-safe.

In addition, it would be best not to use a clarifying shampoo to deep clean your hair until the color has settled after a few washes.

You should also avoid using clarifying shampoo regularly if you’ve bleached your hair blonde.

If this is the case, then a violet or purple shampoo would be the best choice to keep your hair bright, and you can use a clarifying shampoo once a month to cleanse away any product and mineral buildup.

Love Beauty And Planet Delightful Detox Daily Clarifying Sulfate Free Shampoo  is a clean formulation that’s safe for color treated hair.

Bamboo charcoal and bergamot provide the clarifying ingredients for this also paraben, silicone, dye, phthalate, and cruelty free shampoo.

The addition of infused coconut oil will provide rich hydration to your locks as the deep detox of buildup occurs on your hair and scalp. And even the bottle is 100% recycled and recyclable, so you’ll be doing your bit to save the planet while keeping your hair at its best.  

Love Beauty and Planet Delightful Detox Daily Clarifying Sulfate-Free Shampoo Charcoal and Bergamot Cleansed Hair Care Silicone-free, Paraben-free, Vegan Shampoo 32.3 oz
  • OUR CLARIFYING SHAMPOO PROMISE: Love...
  • DETOX HAIR SHAMPOO AND CLEANSED HAIR...
  • CLEANSING SHAMPOO WITH NATURE-INSPIRED...
  • YES Safe for Colored Hair, YES Sulfate...
  • VEGAN SHAMPOO FORMULA WITH FREE FROMS:...

Final Clarification

So, now that you have a basic understanding as to what clarifying shampoo does, you can safely use this detoxifying hair care product with confidence.

And even if you don’t get the results you want immediately, adding this product to your hair care routine, when needed, will eventually leave you with cleaner and healthier hair in the long run, which is something we all could benefit from.

Written by Kayla Young

Kayla is the founder of LuxeLuminous. She has worked professionally in the tanning industry for years. She has been interested in esthetics since childhood, and has tried every hair, skin, and makeup product ever produced (more or less).