Product build-up / 'plastic' in hair... clarifying shampoo?

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

notanewuser wrote: »

I love the matrix biolage shampoos and conditioners. No parabens, no silicones. The smoothing oil is fabulous.

Lovely, thank you so much!

notanewuser

This is my favourite set.

http://www.lookfantastic.com/matrix-biolage-smoothproof-gift-set-worth-33.95/11029723.html

notanewuser

What's your usual routine? I have thick wavy coloured hair. I wash on average every other day, using the smoothing oil on towel dried hair. I usually let it dry naturally, or like you use hot air to style when it's 90-95% dry. I straighten it maybe a couple of times a month and colour only with semi permanent dye, topping up by mixing a bit of dye with my conditioner once every 10-14 days.

I don't use hairspray so don't really get any build up. You might find you don't need it with the smoothing oil. It sounds like you're using a lot of it though, or maybe using hairspray every day but washing less frequently?

j.e.j.

Another vote here for Pantene Clarifying Shampoo. It's about £5 a bottle and I think Superdrug sells it.

Anoneemoose

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine wrote: »

Hi Anoneemoose, I'm always wary of sharing my details online, but thank you for your very kind offer. Did you have a similar problem with product build up, and did the Salon Services shampoo fix it? How long did it take to work properly?

I'm wondering if I let the Osmo clarifier sit longer on my hair, whether the extra time will make it more affective at removing the 'cones (or whether it will just overly dry my hair...) Hmmm.

No problem, completely understandable.

I have had all sorts of issues - my hair is dry from over straightening but has a build up from the products I used to try and fix that.

My hairdresser nearly always uses that which is why I bought it. It does seem to help. At one point I was using it all of the time :eek:, which made it worse. Now I just use it every now and again. I believe it is only available in the 5 litre bottle that I got it in, however it is only about £14 for that amount so not too bad. Would just be a lot of waste if you bought it and didn't like it.

The pantene one was really good as well though and reasonable.

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

notanewuser wrote: »

What's your usual routine? I have thick wavy coloured hair. I wash on average every other day, using the smoothing oil on towel dried hair. I usually let it dry naturally, or like you use hot air to style when it's 90-95% dry. I straighten it maybe a couple of times a month and colour only with semi permanent dye, topping up by mixing a bit of dye with my conditioner once every 10-14 days.

I don't use hairspray so don't really get any build up. You might find you don't need it with the smoothing oil. It sounds like you're using a lot of it though, or maybe using hairspray every day but washing less frequently?

I wash my hair every 2-3 days, and up until recently this was my routine:

1) Wash and condition hair

2) Apply a Lee Stafford 5 in 1 hair oil (actually a silicone-heavy serum) over my towel-dried hair before using a hair dryer, to add shine and sleekness, getting rid of any frizziness.

3) Apply copious amounts of Frizz Ease hairspray before work each day, because I always wear my hair down and without the hairspray the wind just creates an unholy mess of my fairly fine hair...

I have since stopped using the hair 'oil', instead using a Tresemme Heat Defence Styling Spray before I use my hairdryer; this still seems to tame the frizz and add shine, and is much lighter weight than the serum.

I've also used the Osmo clarifying shampoo a couple more times, and the build up is now gone! Wooo!! :j

I'm still on the lookout for a hairspray that doesn't cause terrible silicone buildup, because I don't want to become overly reliant on the Osmo clarifying shampoo since I know it will strip my hair colour out faster; but at least I'm heading in the right direction, and I haven't had to shell out for that seemingly unnecessary salon treatment. :money:

Thanks everybody! x

notanewuser

Friends swear by Elnett for brushing out but as it's loreal/nestle I don't have any of it.

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

notanewuser wrote: »

Friends swear by Elnett for brushing out but as it's loreal/nestle I don't have any of it.

Thanks, I have tried Elnett before but I couldn't get over the noxious smell of the spray; it's seriously so fumey that I could still smell it mid-morning, and I was paranoid that other people would too!

Ben84

It's not plastic that products build up in hair, it's silicones.

I'm not going to recommend any shampoo or conditioners though, I think all the conventional shampoo and conditioners are bad for your hair. Shampoo strips everything, then conditioner puts a layer of silicone on the top to hide the damage. Most everyone (me included once), thinks that incredibly dried out hair coated with silicone is healthy and how it's supposed to feel.

I'd recommend a soap for cleansing hair, like the JR Liggetts bars, or one of the Bronner's Castile bars. I think the key features are simple, plain soap with a small excess of natural oils. Hair feels a bit weird when soap has just been washed out, but let it dry and you'll find it's ok. Some people report a week or two of adjusting when they first use soap, but personally my hair was better in one wash and just kept improving for the next few weeks. Soap is gentler, and there's no silicones to build up, just natural oils to condition the hair. I genuinely feel like I have completely new hair, it is so different to when I washed it with shampoo and conditioner.

notanewuser

Not all conditioners contain silicone.