LiLi
Well-Known Member
First off this information is not just for relaxed heads. I feel that it's useful for natural and relaxed hair.
After much confusion with the hard water issue I decided to call in the big dogs; so I e-mailed Redken about this issue. I use a product of theirs called Hair Cleansing Cream and have been for a couple of years now. My question to them was if it was safe to use the Hair Cleansing Cream daily . I also asked them if it's a chelating cleanser then how is if effective if you are still rinsing with hard water. (For some it's common sense but for other's, like myself, it's a valid question). Well they e-mailed me back and asked that I call them for more information. So I called and spoke to an extremely helpful Redken technician named Judy. I asked her the first question.
She said that she doesn't advise the use of the Cleansing Cream daily for relaxed or naturally curly hair because it may dry out the hair. She also advised against using it every other day but said that it was possible to do so; I'll take her advice though and continue to use it once a week.
She explained the second question (rinsing with hard water). She said hard water is not a bad thing. But the buildup from the hard water is. She said that what chelating cleansers like the Redken Hair Cleansing Cream do is allow penetration of the conditioner.
Then a big light finally went on in my head ... that is why the same conditioner will work well one time (I always use the Cleansing Cream when it's my first time using a conditioner) and doesn't do anything later on. Everytime I use the Cleansing Cream I always get excellent results from any conditioner that I use. However, when I use a different shampoo (even if it's a clarifier) with the same conditioner (over a period of time) I don't get the same results. I hope that makes sense??
Over the years I have noticed so many people on here say that they use clarifying shampoos and that the conditioners they used to love still don't work anymore even after clarifying. I, too, was stumped as to why this happens - other than a change in the formula. So I have been doing research and found that in order to remove all of the mineral and calcium deposits you have to use a chelating shampoo.
Clarifying shampoos only remove surface buildup ... chelating shampoos cleanse the hair from the inside. Now some are harsh but there are others that are very gentle. Like I said, I absolutely love the Redken Cleansing Cream and my hair doesn't feel stripped or anything after using it.
She also said that using a chelating shampoo (of course she said the Cleansing Cream but I say chelating since Redken isn't the only brand that has a chelating cleanser) 48-72 hours before a relaxer will allow the relaxer to yield better results.
So I decided to ask her more and asked her what ingredients should a person avoid before applying a relaxer. She said anything that is made mostly of petroleum. She said it doesn't matter if it's used on the previously relaxed hair since you aren't supposed to put relaxer on those sections anyway; but make sure to avoid products with those ingredients on the new growth.
I also think that conditioners stop working due to buildup from switching to different conditioners. For instance:
Say you use Elucence with wonderful results and then switch to a different conditioner for a little while. When you switch back to your beloved Elucence you say, "Hey what happened ... this used to work and now it's crap".
If, before you start using the Elucence again, you cleansed your hair with a chelating shampoo, then Elucence might work just as well as it did before since you got rid of the buildup from the other conditioner.
I hope this all makes sense to my LHCF sisters and hopefully it will help you in your hair care journey.
After much confusion with the hard water issue I decided to call in the big dogs; so I e-mailed Redken about this issue. I use a product of theirs called Hair Cleansing Cream and have been for a couple of years now. My question to them was if it was safe to use the Hair Cleansing Cream daily . I also asked them if it's a chelating cleanser then how is if effective if you are still rinsing with hard water. (For some it's common sense but for other's, like myself, it's a valid question). Well they e-mailed me back and asked that I call them for more information. So I called and spoke to an extremely helpful Redken technician named Judy. I asked her the first question.
She said that she doesn't advise the use of the Cleansing Cream daily for relaxed or naturally curly hair because it may dry out the hair. She also advised against using it every other day but said that it was possible to do so; I'll take her advice though and continue to use it once a week.
She explained the second question (rinsing with hard water). She said hard water is not a bad thing. But the buildup from the hard water is. She said that what chelating cleansers like the Redken Hair Cleansing Cream do is allow penetration of the conditioner.
Then a big light finally went on in my head ... that is why the same conditioner will work well one time (I always use the Cleansing Cream when it's my first time using a conditioner) and doesn't do anything later on. Everytime I use the Cleansing Cream I always get excellent results from any conditioner that I use. However, when I use a different shampoo (even if it's a clarifier) with the same conditioner (over a period of time) I don't get the same results. I hope that makes sense??
Over the years I have noticed so many people on here say that they use clarifying shampoos and that the conditioners they used to love still don't work anymore even after clarifying. I, too, was stumped as to why this happens - other than a change in the formula. So I have been doing research and found that in order to remove all of the mineral and calcium deposits you have to use a chelating shampoo.
Clarifying shampoos only remove surface buildup ... chelating shampoos cleanse the hair from the inside. Now some are harsh but there are others that are very gentle. Like I said, I absolutely love the Redken Cleansing Cream and my hair doesn't feel stripped or anything after using it.
She also said that using a chelating shampoo (of course she said the Cleansing Cream but I say chelating since Redken isn't the only brand that has a chelating cleanser) 48-72 hours before a relaxer will allow the relaxer to yield better results.
So I decided to ask her more and asked her what ingredients should a person avoid before applying a relaxer. She said anything that is made mostly of petroleum. She said it doesn't matter if it's used on the previously relaxed hair since you aren't supposed to put relaxer on those sections anyway; but make sure to avoid products with those ingredients on the new growth.
I also think that conditioners stop working due to buildup from switching to different conditioners. For instance:
Say you use Elucence with wonderful results and then switch to a different conditioner for a little while. When you switch back to your beloved Elucence you say, "Hey what happened ... this used to work and now it's crap".
If, before you start using the Elucence again, you cleansed your hair with a chelating shampoo, then Elucence might work just as well as it did before since you got rid of the buildup from the other conditioner.
I hope this all makes sense to my LHCF sisters and hopefully it will help you in your hair care journey.
, this will be something I add to my regimen, you sound just like a hair scientist, very well put. 
