clear rinse review

WHAT'S A CLEAR RINSE?

A clear rinse is used to prolong and give back life to color treated hair. Think of it like the clear coat you paint your nails with after the colored coat. It's like a color rinse or semi-permanent dye, but clear. It coats the hair and is completely safe to use, having no unhealthy chemicals. It works best with any type of chemically treated hair as it was designed to work with dyed hair and acts like a porosity corrector. 

BENEFITS

In a way, you can say a clear rinse it like the ultimate oil. 

It does everything a hair oil can do, but ten times better.

• acts like a mild protein treatment and porosity corrector because it coats the hair strand.
• really silks your hair, giving it a healthy shine.
• helps reduce frizz and really smooths your hair stands, which leads to easier detangling. 
• helps keep your hair's health in the condition it had before the rinse; this is why it's good to do a clear rinse when your hair health is stable, as it'll help keep it in stable condition, locking in your current moisture/ protein balance. 
• it's literally like a coat for your hair, protecting it from the weather.  

REVIEW

Trying out clear rinses is something I've been planning to do for a while. I finally got to doing it my last wash, and boy do I wish I had tried it sooner! Usually I don't do reviews on things so quickly, but I loved it so much. it made my new growth and relaxed hair so smooth. My relaxed hair looks like it was flat ironed without the volume loss, and it camouflages better with my Japanese straightened areas. It really gave my hair a natural looking shine and smoother feel, this is definitely something I'll be keeping. 

The cons is that it kinda tangled my new growth during the process. My new growth wasn't properly detangled when I applied the clear rinse, and after it sat on my hair for about 15 minutes my hair felt more 'structured'. Because of this there was more tangles I got more breakage. On the positive it did help reduce my growth's frizz and the tangles only occurred during the rinsing process. Next time, I'm probably only going to apply it on my chemically straightened hair.

Since this review is so early, I'll make a part two that will probably includes before & after pictures and how long the clear rinse lasts. I also used aveda's black malva conditioner before the rinse to see if it makes the color last. I'll also be writing about this in part two.

( I completely forgot to take pictures, 

but had luckily took one for a different reason. )

( FIRST CLEAR RINSE ) WASH DAY

• I waited to use it after my hair was in the most stable health. And that's what really happened as during the wash I only last a couple strands of hair, that's the smallest amount of breakage I ever got while so long in my stretch. 
• I moisture deep conditioned on dry hair with a random mix. Can't remember what I put in it, but I did use a little Hesh Rose Petal Powder. Something new I just bought at the Indian market as I was restocking on Vatika Coconut Oil. I then steamed for 30 min, but it stayed on my head for another 2 hours out of laziness. 
• I shampooed with my last bit of Hairveda Shikakai Swirl. 
• I then used my Aveda Black Malva conditioner alone for the first time, and that had ended up sitting on my head for 3 hour mostly due to laziness, too. 
• After rinsing it out and toweling drying, I used Jazzing's Clear Rinse for 15-20 minutes. 

apple cider rinse

MY RECIPE:
2 CUPS water
1 CUPS rose water
4 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP any oil
1 TBSP honey

DIRECTIONS: Rinse out regular or deep conditioner out 50-70% then pour apple cider rinse throughout hair, making sure all of it gets saturated. Also be sure to get the scalp as it gently cleanses and restores the ph of the scalp. Leave in for a couple minutes, then half rinse out. Dry hair as usual.

REVIEW: This has had great results on my hair, the main benefit has been shine. Apple cider has a low ph, so it seals the cuticle and traps moisture in the hair strands. But remember, it's not good to do it too often. Apple cider has clarifying-like affects, so it can cause dryness when used too frequently. I started experiencing this when I was doing this every time I washed. My hair was not necessarily becoming dry, but I was no longer getting the same effects I once was. I've also read that using a ACV rinse as a final rinse leave-in will have a better effect on your hair. I've yet to really try that, the most I have done is rinse it out un-thoroughly so that some of it remains in my hair. I would think that using an apple cider rinse as a leave-in would also lead to dryness, and that an aloe vera juice leave-in would be a better substitute since it also has a low ph of 4 and with moisturizing properties. but I can't say because I have not tried it yet.

hair porosity

I know this has been explained before, but I thought I'd explain it in detail since it seems some people are confused about it. first of all, I see some people saying their hair is unhealthy because it has low porosity. that is incorrect. hair that has low and normal porosity are healthy. hair that is high in porosity is unhealthy. another thing that I find girls teaching, which isn't exactly true, is that low porosity hair and protein overload go hand in hand. they are two different things because hair can have protein overload and a high porosity at the same time. just doing protein treatments can help smooth the cuticle, but it won't bring high porosity hair to low porosity hair by itself. so just remember: protein helps porosity, porosity doesn't help protein. also, not all proteins help porosity, you have to look for specific kinds of proteins. I was confused about this once, too.

low porosity - hair that isn't very porous has smooth cuticles that water doesn't enter in easily. but when moisture does gets into the cuticle, it will be shut in resulting in long lasting moisture. this kind of hair is usually shiny, but it is resistant to chemical treatments like dye and relaxers. low porosity hair does not need cones or much protein either, you can get protein overload easily. low porosity hair will benefit from natural high ph products, like Castile Soap, Baking Soda, and Bentonite Clay. many low porosity haired girls have also have had success with Giovanni 50/50 Balanced Moisturizer.

normal porosity - this kind of hair can be thought of as being balanced. it can absorb a fraction of water, but is not overly porous. moisture can get in the hair strands and last. unlike low porosity hair, it can take chemical treatments okay, but you should keep it mind that over time the hair will become more porous by doing so.

high porosity - think of chemically processed hair that isn't being properly taken care of. this hair is damaged and has lots of holes in the hair shaft. these holes are like a sponge and absorb water easily, but this does NOT mean it's better for moisturizing. just as quick as the moisture comes the moisture goes. think of the hair strand as a house made of doors. with high porosity hair all the doors are open, making it unsafe for the cortex and insides of the cuticle. this type of hair does take in chemicals better, but it's not suggested because you'll just end up with even more damaged hair.

relaxed and chemically treated hair has a natural high porosity, but regular use of products such as Roux Ph Control, Aloe Vera Juice, and Apple Cider Vinegar will combat this and restore hair to normal porosity. proteins that coat the cuticle and oils will also help. note that oils help smooth the cuticle, but this is not due to ph. oils are not water soluble so they do not have a ph.

now that we understand the levels of porosity lets talk about the test. many of us hair fanatics know about this test. you divide your hair in four sections and take a shed strand of hair from each. this is because one section of hair might be healthier then another section. then you put the strands of hair in a tall cup or bowl and see if it floats. if it floats for a while it's healthy. here's what you should do for more clear results. see if your hair floats for at least 15 minutes. if it does then your hair is alright. if it doesn't it has high porosity and you have to up on your ph correctors. if you come back in an hour (with occasional checks in between the hour) and it's still floating, congratulations! your hair is in very good condition. now push down the strands and if they float back up (be patient!) your hair has low porosity.
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here is an article that further discusses the science of hair porosity:
The "Other Path" to Moisture, by Joe Parker
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here are some of the tips for low porosity hair that's explained in the article:

• If a product will hydrate your fingers then it will moisturize low porosity hair. 
• Adding a tiny amount of castile soap to your deep conditioner will boost it because it will lower the overall surface energy of the water system. 
• To boost your leave-in or rinsable conditioner, heat it up and apply it to your hair at an elevated temperature: 30 to 40 C. 
• Hydrolyzed rice, silk and wheat proteins have a molecular weight, making them better for low porosity hair.

ph higher than water equals higher porosity, and ph lower than hair equals low porosity. so to finish it all off, here are some recorded ph levels of hair related things:

• 14 sodium hydroxide (lye) 
• 13 bleach
• 9-11 calcium hydroxide & guanidine hydroxide (no lye)  
• 9-11 permanent dye 
• 8.9 castile soap
• 8-9 bentonite clay
• 8-9 ammonium thioglycolate (chemical used in perms)
• 8-9 semi permanent dye                       
• 8-9 baking soda 
• 8 sea water
• 7 pure tap water
• 6 milk
• 5-6 tea
• 5 soft drinking water
• 5 hair 
• 4-5 coffee
• 4.25-5 apple cider vinegar 
• 4.5 roux porosity control
• 3-5 aloe vera juice 
• 2 lemon juice