Have You Clarified Your Hair Lately?

It's no secret, there are toxins all around us. That's why we wash our face and bodies daily. When you have ethnic hair, you are often told not to wash your hair. This, itself, throws you into a conundrum! To wash or not to wash... And with what? Clarifying! Clarifying is necessary. Without it your hair will be similar to a dry sponge covered in petroleum jelly... Try dropping that sponge into water so that it can absorb what moisture it needs... It wont, because of the build up of petroleum jelly. The only way to get the water immediately into the sponge, is to apply soap to the sponge to break down the petroleum jelly and remove it from the sponge...

I have found, for my own hair, that I must clarify once a week (I can probably go longer than that but, I got myself into a regimen). When I clarify depending on what I am trying to strip out of my hair I either reach for my ORS Uplifting Shampoo or my ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo.

ORS UPLIFTING SHAMPOO

This shampoo tingles when you use it so you may want to do a patch test to be sure you have no allergic reaction. In my personal experience, this shampoo is very good for stripping build up in the way of oils and conditioner has built up. My hair doesn't really get flakes, so I didn't have to worry about getting those.

ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo

This shampoo removes some of the same build up that the ORS Uplifting Shampoo does. Because it is used as the neutralizing shampoo following the no-lye relaxer, it is a chelating shampoo. Chelating shampoos remove the build up of minerals on the hair shaft. This comes in handy when you live in an area with hard water.

Regardless, of if you live in an area with hard water or if you have too much product build up in your hair, clarifying is a way to remove this and you can do the treatment right from home. I hope this helps any questions you have on clarifying your hair. Happy Hair Journeying!

The Moisture Protein Balance

The hair on everyone's head is different. Some straight, some curly. Some soft and silky, others, rough and wiry. But one thing still remains, it's all hair. Hair has to have the correct balance of moisture and protein, if not, breakage will occur.

Moisturizing Conditioners

Moisturizing conditioners will put moisture back into the hair. These conditioners will list water as one of the main ingredients as water is a necessary component to moisturize hair. Be careful when walking down the shampoo and conditioner aisle, there are many “moisturizing” conditioners that have silk proteins that will actually put more protein into your hair.

Moisturizing conditioners are needed when your hair is dry. You hair may snap off at the slightest touch. This is a good indication that your hair may be dry and need some moisture.

Protein Conditioners

Your hair is primarily made up of a specific protein called keratin. The thing about your hair is that it is essentially dead when it comes out of the follicle. Some will disagree, but I will cover that in another post. If you have relaxed hair, you may already know, the bonds in this protein in your hair are weakened in order to straighten your hair.

Protein conditioners will strengthen your hair and will most times list “strengthening” on the label as a characteristic. These types of conditioner are needed when you hair feels mushy or gummy when wet. There are soft protein conditioners and hard protein conditioners. The strength of the conditioner you will need will depend on how mushy your hair is.

In either case, adding or alternating the correct conditioners to your hair regimen is essential for retaining length and having a healthy hair journey.