3 Steps to Take When You Have Over Cleansed Your Natural Hair
“Wait, it’s possible to over cleanse your hair?”
Yes, you can over cleanse your hair and believe it or not it happens quite often. We have heard from curlies even using clarifying shampoo weekly and bi-weekly in their hair routine.
Alternatively, we have come across tight curlies + naturals who are using strong shampoos that are not well suited for their fine hair strands. This blog post will outline 3 steps that you can take if you have fallen victim to over cleansing your natural hair.
What Is the Shampoo Spectrum?
We define over cleansing as using a shampoo type that is considered “more cleansing, least conditioning”, way too often in your hair care routine. Over cleansing your hair can lead to excessive tangling during the shampoo stage and it can sometimes result in the hair not feeling good after conditioning. It can also cause your curls to appear very limp.
In our educational spaces, we introduced tight curlies + naturals to something we like to call The Shampoo Spectrum.
The Shampoo Spectrum defines and outlines popular shampoo types from most cleansing, least conditioning to most conditioning, least cleansing.
The more often you are cleansing your hair, the less cleansing your shampoo will need to be. Also, how water soluble your products are will determine which category of shampoo would be most effective for your cleansing session.
Clarifying shampoos, for example, are stronger shampoo types and should be used sparingly as they can be harsh on hair that does not have buildup. Though we know a set it and forget it routine can be clutch, clarifying should not happen on a specific schedule.
In our Wash Your Damn Hair Styling & Product Guide, we provide a general timeframe to how often you should clarify, which could be anywhere from 6-12 weeks based on your activity level and hair care needs.
How Often Should You Shampoo?
LaShanda, Tight Curl Natural
During our filmed salon session with tight curl natural LaShanda, that is available exclusively to our SeeSomeCurls subscribers, she revealed that she had been using an all purpose shampoo exclusively and had not incorporated a moisture shampoo into her routine. She had also experienced a lot of tangling.
“Moisture shampoos are shampoos that are more conditioning, less cleansing. This shampoo category contains less strong surfactants and more emollients and humectants in the formulations. For example, if you produce a lot of sebum build-up on your scalp, it’s important to always follow your all purpose shampoo with a moisture shampoo.”
The more often you are cleansing your hair, the less cleansing your shampoo will need to be. Also, how water soluble your products are will determine which category of shampoo would be most effective for your cleansing session.
Just like choosing a shampoo formulation, how many times you shampoo will be determined by the needs of your scalp and hair. Waxy sebum buildup, alternative styling (braids/weaves/crochet) and heavy non water-soluble product usage will likely be a reason to shampoo more than one time.
But determine how many times you need to shampoo based on what your hair is doing in the moment. There is no correct number of times to shampoo, just make sure that your hair/scalp is clean whatever you use or how many times you use it.
Steps to Take If You’ve Over Cleansed
So what do you do when you realize you’ve over cleansed?
Evaluate your current shampoo line up: If you’re using an all purpose shampoo are you following it up with a moisture shampoo? Is your all purpose shampoo on the stronger side? (ex: AG Care Balance or Innersense’s Color Awakening) Do you need to bring a moisture shampoo into your routine?
Take time to learn the shampoo spectrum: There is a spectrum of shampoo and each shampoo in the spectrum is designed to address your specific hair care needs. The shampoo spectrum includes the most cleansing, least conditioning to the least cleansing, most conditioning shampoo types.
Grab a quality deep conditioner: It’s not the end of the world if you have been over cleansing. You can nurse your hair back to it’s “normal” condition. We suggest incorporating a deep conditioner into your routine while you either use your clarifying shampoo less frequently or find a new all purpose shampoo and/or incorporate moisture shampoo into your routine.
In need of specific product recommendations? Confused and need more step-by-step instructions on how to best use the products in your arsenal? If so, our Wash Your Damn Hair Styling & Product Guide is for you!
Our Wash Your Damn Hair Styling & Product Guide is a beginner-friendly resource for tight curlies + naturals looking to master their signature style. Inside your digital copy, you’ll find our full curated product list from shampoos to stylers, with specific outlined instructions on how to best use each product to incorporate it into your hair routine, detailed styling videos and much more!
Use the coupon code STYLE10 at checkout to save $10 off your digital copy.
