a woman washing her hair using a clarifying shampoo

What Are Clarifying Shampoos?

Clarifying shampoos are a kind of deep cleanser that refreshes your scalp and makes your hair light and shiny free from dirt. This helps deeply cleanse the scalp and remove excess oil, sebum, build-up, dirt, pollution, and product residue. These impurities can otherwise impact scalp health and cause serious hair and scalp issues.

Some of the hair types get sticky very quickly, making hair strands feel weighed down. A clarifying shampoo refreshes the scalp and provides you with clean and beautiful long hair.

Clarifying shampoos consist of a high percentage of strong cleansing agents that help remove the dirt, sebum, mineral deposits, and hair product residue from your scalp, leaving it completely clean. They mainly contain sulfates (both Laureth and lauryl).

Regular shampoos are not able to remove all traces of dirt and residue. Using clarifying shampoos once in a while leaves your scalp and hair feeling clean and refreshed. You need to clarify your scalp, especially if you swim or stay in an area with hard water.

Using clarifying shampoos can help your hair in several ways. Let's take a look at some benefits of clarifying shampoo.

Benefits Of Using Clarifying Shampoos

Remove Product Buildup

Regular shampoos cannot provide proper cleansing. Everyday exposure to dust, dirt, and hair care products leads to further buildup on the scalp, making it itchy and sticky. Using a clarifying shampoo is like a hair detox that gives you a clean canvas to start over again. It helps remove mineral and chlorine buildup caused by hard water and water from the swimming pool.

Rejuvenate Your Hair

Excess product buildup weighs the hair down, making it seem lifeless, dull, and flat. Clarifying shampoos restore the shine, make your hair very bouncy, and enhance manageability. They also provide a volume boost to fine hair.

Prep Hair For Coloring

Using a clarifying shampoo before dyeing the hair provides better colour deposits on the strands. The hair is free from oil and scalp buildup that may form a barrier between the strands and the colour. However, make sure to clarify your scalp a day or two before colouring.

More use of clarifying shampoos can be harmful to hair and scalp health. Let's take a look at the side effects of using Clarifying shampoos.

Clarifying Shampoos Side effects

May Strip Your Hair Dye

The surfactants in clarifying shampoos can take off the colour of your hair strands. If you have recently dyed or coloured your hair, avoid using clarifying shampoos.

Strip The Natural Oils

Excessive use of clarifying shampoos can also take off the natural oils from your scalp. As a result, the sebaceous glands on the scalp produce more oil to cover up the loss, causing greasiness.

May Cause Hair Breakage

Without the natural oils, the hair can become very dry, frizzy, rough, unmanageable, and brittle. This may cause hair breakage and hair loss. Clarifying shampoos may also boost scalp issues like eczema and scalp psoriasis.

If you have any scalp problems or colour-treated hair, avoid the use of clarifying shampoos. However, if you have an oily scalp or use several hair care products, you may need to clarify your scalp using this shampoo.

How To Use Clarifying Shampoos?

Wash your hair properly and squeeze out the excess water using your hands.
Take a dollop of the clarifying shampoo to your palms and apply it to your scalp.
Massage your scalp thoroughly for a few minutes before moving toward the hair length.
Leave it on your scalp and hair for around 30 seconds, not more than that.
Rinse properly with water and follow up with a good conditioner.

Avoid shampooing twice as it may dry out your hair and scalp.

How Often to Use Clarifying Shampoos?

Never use it more than two times a week.

Use it once a week if:

You do not use any hair styling products and don't have an oily scalp.
You stay outside for long hours and sweat too much.

Use it twice a week if:

You have an oily scalp and use hair styling products regularly.

If you have natural hair, it is best to use a clarifying shampoo only once every two weeks.

How to choose the best clarifying shampoo?

Check for sulfates
Look for label purifying
Go gentle

Different Types Of Clarifying Shampoos And Products

Purifying Scalp Scrub

Scalp scrubs work in a similar way as facial scrubs. They exfoliate your scalp and eradicate dirt and product residue. When buying scalp scrubs, check for clarifying and hydrating components like aloe vera, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and essential oils.

Detox Shampoos

Detox shampoos are a kind of clarifying shampoo meant for people who use plenty of hair products. They may contain ingredients like tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, amino acid and menthol and help purify your scalp and manage certain hair problems like dandruff.

Take Away

Clarifying shampoos are beneficial to help you remove product buildup, restore hair, and make it more bouncy and lustrous.

However, you should not use a clarifying shampoo more than one or two times a week as it may dry out the scalp and hair.