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The first time I used a clarifying shampoo was during my senior year of high school after I had attempted to go cherry red without being mentally and emotionally prepared for such a stark change—I had been faithful to my natural dirty blonde hair jazzed up with a few not-so-natural golden highlights to frame my face. After removing the towel from my damp Ariel-hued locks, I burst into tears before darting to my computer to look for quick fixes that promised to fade the vibrant red to, at least, maybe a tomato red until I could get some professional help.
Ultimately, I ended up going with straight-up dish soap, a DIY remedy that I discovered on a pre-Reddit-era message board, which worked fairly well but left my mane dry, damaged, and broken—and I hadn’t even used bleach! It finally dawned on me that taming the red was going to be a process, so I invested in a well-reviewed clarifying shampoo and committed to using it three times a week to preserve the health of my hair while gradually dulling the cherry-ness without resorting to bleach.