confused about washing,

I use lots of products in my hair... leave in conditioners,
sometimes Gel, and I also use shea butter and jojoba.
My hair is on the fine side, a bit "fuzzy" and damages easily..I'm also growing out bad highlights.

When I wash, I use very little shampoo because my hair is sooo dry and damages / breaks easily,. I was reading somewhere else on this site that it is important to clarify the hair.., because product build up occurs and can actually add to the breakage.

On one hand lots of people say that to keep your hair healthy NOT to wash often... or even not to use shampoo at all. But, then I read that if I don't wash and clarify the hair, I will have build up that will break the hair and cause damage... So which is it? Do I need to clarify? What should I use? I am confused. I just want healthy hair.

thanks!!!

In short, you should go as long as you can without getting funky!

This varies for people. I know some who can go a whole week without their hair looking oily or getting "dirty head smell". In that case, that works fine for them, and is good for their hair. I tried going three days between washes and not only was my hair mega oily, I got dirty head smell on the second night...so three was too long for me and I have to wash mine every other day.

If you get "dirty head smell", that means your scalp's natural oil has begun to break down (bacteria break it down), and once that happens, it's no longer good for hair, and having extra bacteria breeding on your scalp isn't going to do your scalp any good either (in addition to smelling like "dirty head"). So at that point, it's best to wash.

Some people scalp wash, because the scalp does need cleaning more frequently than the length.

Clarifying is good for both scalp and length too, especially if you use a lot of products.

I agree with Layla.. ACV is great as a clarifier not only for residue removal but to restore acid balance (and destroys a fair amount of bacteria too)

Clarify after shampoo, before conditioner.

I use 1/2 cup of ACV, pour it in a 20 oz soda bottle, and fill the rest with water. So it turns out to be 4 oz ACV and 16 oz water total. I pour it through my hair and catch the runoff in a container, then finally swish my ends in the container. The result is really really soft... because all the hard residue is gone (not just product buildup but also minerals, oils, etc.)

Personally I clarify about every week and a half or two weeks. It actually depends on how often you hairwash, too. Lately I clarify less because I only hairwash once a week... and it depends on your products and frequency of product use. In your case I'd clarify once a week.

HTH :)
Anais