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

Ben84

notanewuser wrote: »

Not all conditioners contain silicone.

There's a big range of conditioners and possible ingredients. Still, when you look at the labels, just like shampoo, they're not that widely varied in most cases. The same few ingredients top the list of all the popular brands, and silicones are very common in the ones you'd find in most bathrooms. Generally, they all contain ingredients that coat the hair. Few of them that I've looked at seem likely to match the claims of nourishing hair and scalp, and are more of a cosmetic coating.

jenniewb

Ben84 wrote: »

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.

Wish I could get away with these! I can't work out what product has made such a huge mess of my hair but now I can only get away with a few brands of shampoo because many others (and it doesn't seem brand specific) I put in my hair and my hair instantly matts up and feels as if I've glued it together! It's actually quite scary. I can't get the shampoo to reach my scalp as the hair on the surface (not the roots, the lengths) is so matted that it creates a barrier. Not even water can get through! I am not sure if it's the shampoos I've tried or my hair having some sort of product on it that wont wash off.


I have a list of various "moisturising" types of shampoo I can get away with and I always have to have a conditioner designed for damaged hair. I've had it cut majorly since thinking I had maybe just damaged it beyond all repair but it's made no difference.
I guess I just look at it now as counting my blessings I have hair because not everyone does, it does require more effort to maintain but it could be worse

notanewuser

Ben84 wrote: »

There's a big range of conditioners and possible ingredients. Still, when you look at the labels, just like shampoo, they're not that widely varied in most cases. The same few ingredients top the list of all the popular brands, and silicones are very common in the ones you'd find in most bathrooms. Generally, they all contain ingredients that coat the hair. Few of them that I've looked at seem likely to match the claims of nourishing hair and scalp, and are more of a cosmetic coating.

That's because people buy cheap.

Ben84

jenniewb wrote: »

Wish I could get away with these! I can't work out what product has made such a huge mess of my hair but now I can only get away with a few brands of shampoo because many others (and it doesn't seem brand specific) I put in my hair and my hair instantly matts up and feels as if I've glued it together! It's actually quite scary. I can't get the shampoo to reach my scalp as the hair on the surface (not the roots, the lengths) is so matted that it creates a barrier. Not even water can get through! I am not sure if it's the shampoos I've tried or my hair having some sort of product on it that wont wash off.


I have a list of various "moisturising" types of shampoo I can get away with and I always have to have a conditioner designed for damaged hair. I've had it cut majorly since thinking I had maybe just damaged it beyond all repair but it's made no difference.
I guess I just look at it now as counting my blessings I have hair because not everyone does, it does require more effort to maintain but it could be worse

That's interesting. I guess you just figure out over time what works for your hair. Mine goes bad with anything containing sulphate, from SLS to the sulphates in anti-dandruff shampoos. Meanwhile, other people use these and their hair looks wonderful.

I'm guessing here, but I do know that hair responds to PH. Alkaline stuff makes the scales on the hair strands stand up. Perhaps your hair responds particularly strongly, either naturally or from some previous chemical treatment, and only acidic products work? Like I said, it's a guess. You could however experiment with adding some vinegar to your shampoo before using it. If things go better, PH is connected to the matter.

Ben84

notanewuser wrote: »

That's because people buy cheap.

I've found many premium brands of products, including hair products, contain the same five or more top ingredients as anything you'd find in the bargain bin! Not always, but often enough, paying more doesn't mean it's that chemically different to anything else.

Alternative products with notably different ingredients are out there if you want them, at all price ranges, but you've got to read the labels. I spent a long time as a teenager trying different products with the same disappointing results before I realised actually, they weren't that different at all.

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine

Ben84 wrote: »

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.

Thanks Ben84. I have tried soap bars (from Lush) in the past but I found, having very long and also chemically treated hair, that the soap just made my hair dull, dry and prone to matting. I've heard that traditional castille soap actually isn't the most suitable cleanser for hair, due to its high alkalinity. Perhaps for healthy short hair, soap works better, though? What length is your hair, if you don't mind me asking?

I do think that conditioning agents (outside of just oils) have their place in ensuring slip for certain hair types, so I'm not totally anti-silicone; I'm just much more aware of the need for a good clarifying shampoo now, and to try and be less liberal in my applications of 'cone-containing products.

Also, the biggie for me: I read somewhere that whilst shampoos / conditioners may contain 2% silicone, hair serums can contain around 80%! My 5 in 1 'hair oil' serum I only started using a couple of months ago; my guess is that this was a major culprit of the build up I was getting. Yuck!

Ben84

A_Phoenix_of_Tangerine wrote: »

Thanks Ben84. I have tried soap bars (from Lush) in the past but I found, having very long and also chemically treated hair, that the soap just made my hair dull, dry and prone to matting. I've heard that traditional castille soap actually isn't the most suitable cleanser for hair, due to its high alkalinity. Perhaps for healthy short hair, soap works better, though? What length is your hair, if you don't mind me asking?

I do think that conditioning agents (outside of just oils) have their place in ensuring slip for certain hair types, so I'm not totally anti-silicone; I'm just much more aware of the need for a good clarifying shampoo now, and to try and be less liberal in my applications of 'cone-containing products.

Also, the biggie for me: I read somewhere that whilst shampoos / conditioners may contain 2% silicone, hair serums can contain around 80%! My 5 in 1 'hair oil' serum I only started using a couple of months ago; my guess is that this was a major culprit of the build up I was getting. Yuck!

I've also heard regular soap isn't good for hair, often in fact, but my experience is the complete opposite. My hair is fairly short, but I do also know people with long hair who are using it with good results too.

I think the Lush bars made for hair are all solid detergent and not soap however. In everyday terms solid bars of cleaning stuff tend to be called soap, but I mean soap in the very specific sense. Soaps are saponified oils. Some solid bars contain none, like the lush shampoo bars, and others are a mixture of soap and other things. My good results however have only been with the basically just soap ones which have some oils added for conditioning.

As for silicone, I don't see much need for it on my hair any more, which is a dramatic change from before. I now suspect hair just needs regular gentle cleaning, and not to be completely taken over with an extensive cleaning and conditioning regime. The trouble with clarifying shampoos is what else are they stripping out your hair. If you're using the stronger shampoo because of the heavier conditioner, and in reverse you're using the heavier conditioner because of the stronger shampoo, perhaps you simply don't need either at all? It's completely against what we're encourged to think by advertising, but doing less seems to be working out better for me.

System

I like to use Vosene when my hair needs clarifying. Cheap and effective.

Vicky123

Could be a build of hairspray which should be remedied with baking soda mixed with warm water and applied to wet hair before shampooing, left on for a few minutes, with a large build up it would need to be a done a few times, then shampoo and condition as normal, worth a try and very MSE. Hairspray build up is usually obvious by the fact that it's the outside of the hair thats most affected, obviously.

Aishling

I recently used bread soda and it stripped all the build up from my scalp and hair was very manageable. I don't have colour treated hair so unsure if it would effect any chemical or colours.

Apply straight to scalp, then used a mix of shampoo and more bread soda and then rinsed and applied conditioner. It worked