Ode to my Clarifying Shampoo...

Hi Loves!

As you all know by now I only recently started my hair journey...I'm still a newbie by a long shot. Many things are new to me. One of those things is to figure out how to listen to what my hair is telling me and go with my instincts. I started using the Tresemme moisture rich conditioner as my cowash conditioner. Let it be known that I am absolutely in love with this product! The problem is it is laden with silicones and I cowash quite often as many as 2-3 times per week. That quickly lead to serious build up...my hair was smooth and soft but inflexible when dry. I also use Hair One cleansing conditioner that I thought was getting rid of extra dirt and grime...I am now convinced that it was not. I know...I know many of you are like well Dee just clarify you knucklehead. There is a perfectly good explanation for that.... I think. I use the Ion  botanical clarifying shampoo the last time I used  it my hair was so soft and mushy so limp and almost seemingly rotten. It broke to the touch that in effect was my very first example of moisture overload. :( Needless to say, I was horrified and quickly grabbed for my Aphogee 2 step protein treatment barely wanting to touch my hair. 45 mins later my hair was sufficiently strengthened, breakage stopped and I could breathe easy. The bed news is I have since been conditioned to associate mushy hair with Ion...I know that really is not the case but I still panic thinking about it. Fast forward to this week, I knew I could not put it off any longer, I had to clarify, it has been roughly about  3 months since my hair had a good lather and I decided to take the plunge. I lathered my hair...not once but twice! On top of that I lathered with my new love Giovanni  Triple Treat Tea Tree Invigorating Shampoo, followed up with  Giovanni  50:50 conditioner, DC'd,  then ACV rinsed. My hair feels amazing! So soft, so light, bouncy, I cant keep my hands out of it. I am due for a protein treatment next week and I can't wait!

• Educational tid bit for the day: clarifying shampoos are meant to be deep cleansers that get rid of the build up that is on the shaft of the hair. This is good especially for those who love silicones or are heavy handed. They typically contain sodium/ammonium lauryl/laureth sulfates. As a general rule the sodium laureth sulfate is the milder version of sulfates and  is less harsh on the hair while cleansing. You want to do this only once or twice per month preferably once).