# How long to wait to get a relaxer after sew-in



## ellebelle88 (Mar 21, 2011)

I am officially one year into my transition and I have given up. My hair is breaking off horribly. I recently had my second sew-in installed that I kept in for 7 weeks. I didn't wash my hair at ALL with this sew-in because there was a net under it which prohibited me from being able to. I took my hair out yesterday and it feels really weak, dry, and brittle. I want to get a relaxer but I am scared to. 

How long should I wait and what should I be doing in the meantime to prepare my hair for this process?


----------



## Kneechay (Mar 21, 2011)

Girl, I'd hold off on that relaxer. Please listen to me.


I always tell people that braids and weaves should be for people who don't relax or do super stretches. I always preach against the net because 1) it agitates therefore damaging the hair in braids it sits atop when combing/brushing the weave 2) it prohibits proper washing and moisturizing of the hair.

I wore weaves for a whole year and had nothing but great results and washed and moisturized weekly. This is important to health. Your hair is dry because you didn't wash and moisturize, things imperative considering you were transitioning.

I suggest you wait a while before applying a relaxer. As a matter of fact, please try to not for at least two to three months. I know this may sound like overkill, but you need to restore moisture in your hair and baby it for a while before you strip it with a relaxer all over again. Take this time to deep condition, use creamy leave-ins and moisturizers and learn to do no-heat styles. It'll get better.

Good luck lady.


----------



## ellebelle88 (Mar 21, 2011)

Nichi said:


> Girl, I'd hold off on that relaxer. Please listen to me.
> 
> 
> I always tell people that braids and weaves should be for people who don't relax or do super stretches. I always preach against the net because 1) it agitates therefore damaging the hair in braids it sits atop when combing/brushing the weave 2) it prohibits proper washing and moisturizing of the hair.
> ...



Nichi! I have always been a major fan of your hair. You are actually one of my inspirations. I do understand what you mean when you say that my hair is dry and brittle. I was planning on applying the Aphogee Protein Treatment then deep conditioning about twice a week for two weeks. You still don't think my hair would be able to handle a relaxer after two weeks of babying it? I feel that the longer I go trying to wash it and take care of it on my own, I lose more and more hair.

I can no longer afford the weave + the installation prices. Because of my financial situation $60 for a relaxer every 4 months beats $200-300 for a weave every 2 months.


----------



## Flawlis1 (Mar 21, 2011)

*I would say wait at least 5 weeks before you get your relaxer. To get your hair back in decent condition you should do a protein treatment to help give your hair some strength and then do moisturizing and hot oil treatments to help give moisture and suppleness back into your hair. Doing scalp massages at least 3 days a week will help too. Just do your best to get your hair back in shape before you relax.*


----------



## beana (Mar 21, 2011)

I get weaves, use a net, and am also transitioning to natural. I use a wig cap with big stretchy holes. I can access my scalp and hair fine underneath. I have a very strict wash DC routine thats done at least every 2 weeks while in weaves and i havent had a problem. 

I would wait at least 1 month to relax my hair and i would wash and DC every week until then.

4 week plan:

- moisture DC
- protein tx, moisture
- moisture dc
- light protein followed by moisture dc


----------



## Kneechay (Mar 21, 2011)

ljbee said:


> Nichi! I have always been a major fan of your hair. You are actually one of my inspirations. I do understand what you mean when you say that my hair is dry and brittle. I was planning on applying the Aphogee Protein Treatment then deep conditioning about twice a week for two weeks. You still don't think my hair would be able to handle a relaxer after two weeks of babying it? I feel that the longer I go trying to wash it and take care of it on my own, I lose more and more hair.
> 
> I can no longer afford the weave + the installation prices. Because of my financial situation $60 for a relaxer every 4 months beats $200-300 for a weave every 2 months.



Wow, that's expensive for a relaxer and a sew in, maybe because where I go in Houston, things don't cost that much. I think I pay total for weave & sew in about 180 and half is the price of the weave at times, contingent upon prices at the BSS.

Thanks so much for the compliment, that really made my day. You're so sweet. 

I'll be honest, I don't do protein treatments, so I can't even really speak on them, I just DC, shampoo & condition then moisturize to take care of my hair.

 Are you washing your hair in multiple sections? I have found I lose the least hair this way and only detangle/comb in the conditioning stage right when I'm washing it out with my Jilbere detangling comb. You should consider trying twistouts and buns. Do cute buns on the lower left or right of your head and bobby pin the ends up into a cute style. Do low mani styles for a while. The reasons I'm encouraging you to wait is 2 fold.

1) You were transitioning, but didn't really get to 'deal' with your own hair, you went into weave and feel 'stuck'
2) You may reconsider relaxing after working with your own hair and texture for a bit. Who knows, you may end up regretting relaxing.

I think 2 weeks out of the weave with what you described after take down is insufficient time to relax after. Your hair is dry and brittle because of lack of moisture and a relaxer isn't going to remedy that, you feel me?


----------



## ellebelle88 (Mar 21, 2011)

One last question, if I *do* relax in 2-3 weeks time, what could be the consequences?


----------



## itismehmmkay (Mar 21, 2011)

Well, I didn't wait like I was supposed to.  I took my weave down last weekend.  I had been doing back to back installs for about 13mths and would wash, but not really condition because I didn't want buildup.  When I took it down and kept it out, I was attempting to wear it straight since I was basically all natural.  That didn't work, so I ended up relaxing. 

I can tell that my hair is still getting back to normal, but what I think has helped me is that I only relaxed it maybe 30-40%; just enough to be able to do a rollerset and airdry.  I wash and condition nightly, which I know some say is like overkill, but it has always worked on my hair to restore alot of moisture.

The only thing I regret is that I wish I hadn't put the relaxer over the pressed/flatiron hair.  I would have washed it and deep condition it with cholesterol for like an hour.  Then do the relaxer the next day.  But it was during the week, had work the next day, hair was lookign a mess...blahblahblah.


----------



## ellebelle88 (Mar 22, 2011)

itismehmmkay said:


> Well, I didn't wait like I was supposed to.  I took my weave down last weekend.  I had been doing back to back installs for about 13mths and would wash, but not really condition because I didn't want buildup.  When I took it down and kept it out, I was attempting to wear it straight since I was basically all natural.  That didn't work, so I ended up relaxing.
> 
> I can tell that my hair is still getting back to normal, but what I think has helped me is that I only relaxed it maybe 30-40%; just enough to be able to do a rollerset and airdry.  I wash and condition nightly, which I know some say is like overkill, but it has always worked on my hair to restore alot of moisture.
> 
> The only thing I regret is that I wish I hadn't put the relaxer over the pressed/flatiron hair.  I would have washed it and deep condition it with cholesterol for like an hour.  Then do the relaxer the next day.  But it was during the week, had work the next day, hair was lookign a mess...blahblahblah.



How did the relaxer take since you did it after such a long transition and immediately after taking out your weave? Is your hair breaking off? Have you noticed a change in your hair from the relaxer you had 13 months ago and the one you recently gave yourself?


----------



## Curlybeauty (Mar 22, 2011)

I'd say a week or 2.


----------



## HappilyLiberal (Mar 22, 2011)

ljbee said:


> Nichi! I have always been a major fan of your hair. You are actually one of my inspirations. I do understand what you mean when you say that my hair is dry and brittle. I was planning on applying the *Aphogee Protein Treatment then deep conditioning about twice a week for two weeks. *You still don't think my hair would be able to handle a relaxer after two weeks of babying it? I feel that the longer I go trying to wash it and take care of it on my own, I lose more and more hair.
> 
> I can no longer afford the weave + the installation prices. Because of my financial situation $60 for a relaxer every 4 months beats $200-300 for a weave every 2 months.



Aphogee 2-step or 2 min?  If it is the 2-step, do it once with a moisturizing deep conditioner afterwards.  Then use the 2 min. once a week followed by a deep conditioner.  The 2-step really is not designed to be use more than once every 6-8 weeks.  You'll cause more problems for yourself if you use that too often.


----------



## Golden75 (Mar 22, 2011)

If you already have breakage, the relaxer will probably just make it worse.  Try to wait a few weeks.  Like the other ladies said, try to get your hair back in balance, with protein & moisture.  Maybe start with a light protein (2min) and see how that does, and moisturizing condish.  Then move up to a heavier protein if you still have lots of breakage. Try to avoid heat until you decide what to do.  I regretted relaxing on 2 separate occassions when wearing weaves.  The relaxer will not cure the prob if thats all your trying to do.  Adding the relaxer is potentially adding more damage to damaged hair.  So at least try to get your hair in better condition (no pun intended) before you decide to relax.  Good luck, keep us posted on how things go.  Oh yeah, and be patient.  If you are a wig wearer - try a half wigs so you can just concentrate on getting hair in shape and not style.


----------



## ellebelle88 (Mar 22, 2011)

HappilyLiberal said:


> *Aphogee 2-step or 2 min?*  If it is the 2-step, do it once with a moisturizing deep conditioner afterwards.  Then use the 2 min. once a week followed by a deep conditioner.  The 2-step really is not designed to be use more than once every 6-8 weeks.  You'll cause more problems for yourself if you use that too often.


Yep, I meant that I would do the 2-step once to first give my hair the hardcore protein it needs. I would follow that up with a moisturizing conditioner then the next week I would do the 2-minute version followed by a moisturizing conditioner. I've been wearing a weave since October and so I haven't been able to alternate between protein and moisturizing treatments. Because my new growth started to become so difficult to manage, I only focused on moisturizing conditioners hoping that it would help me to detangle better.


----------



## itismehmmkay (Mar 22, 2011)

ljbee said:


> How did the relaxer take since you did it after such a long transition and immediately after taking out your weave? Is your hair breaking off? Have you noticed a change in your hair from the relaxer you had 13 months ago and the one you recently gave yourself?




So the relaxer took okay, but I purposely wanted to underprocess.  Really, I hadn't planned on relaxing since I had a year's worth of natural hair.  So I had already cut off my previously relaxed ends, thinking I was going to not relax.  Eh.  

So far my hair is fine w/ no breakage, but it was looking kind of thin even before I relaxed so I'm not sure what's up.  I haven't really been wearing it down, but it's looking better now though since the daily washing as I think it's coming back to life; going back to normal moisture levels.  I may do a super cholesterol treatment this weekend to add some protein.


----------

