How to Use Clarifying Shampoo on Colored Hair
Clarifying shampoos help remove the buildup of styling products in hair. They contain low-grade sulfates that work as a deep cleanser to strip the hair of what regular shampoos may leave behind. If you have colored hair, you can use a clarifying shampoo, but don't use one too often because it causes hair color to fade more quickly.
Things You'll Need:
- Clarifying shampoo
- Conditioner for color-treated hair
- Choose a good clarifying shampoo brand. A few brands are safer for color-treated hair including Matrix Logics DNA Clarifying Shampoo, Matrix Essentials Solutions Alternate Action Clarifying Shampoo and Ted Gibson Clarify Color Shampoo. These shampoos have sulfates, but each one uses a milder type that is less likely to strip hair color. If you cannot find any of these brands, look for a clarifying shampoo that does not have the main ingredient acetic acid. This acid-based ingredient is used in most clarifying shampoos, but is also the harshest to colored hair, and it strips away hair color the fastest.
- Use a clarifying shampoo once a week. If you have color-treated hair, use a clarifying shampoo every seven days. By washing with a clarifying shampoo once a week, you can rid your hair of all the gunky buildup left behind by styling products and hairspray but still retain most of your applied hair color.
- Use a hair conditioner for colored hair. Immediately after using a clarifying shampoo, use a deep conditioner that is for color-treated hair. This helps your hair retain the color longer and keeps it moisturized.
- Use cool to lukewarm water to rinse hair. When shampooing or conditioning color-treated hair, always use cool to lukewarm water to wash and rinse your hair. Hot water tends to wash color away faster.