A QUESTION FOR THE NATURALS/TRANSITIONING WOMEN..................

[Rapunzel*]

WHY DID YOU GET A RELAXER?

I GOT MINES AT I BELIEVE 9 YEARS OLD, I HAD BEAUTIFUL NATURAL HAIR I STARTED GOING TO THE SHOP AT 8 AND THEN MY MOM LET OUR STYLIST DO MY RELAXER. I STRETCHED IN THE PAST AT 12 13 BUT I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO MANAGE MY HAIR BY GREASING THE NEW GROWTH DAILY. IM CURRENTLY IN BRAIDS THROUGH MY TRANSITIONING BUT I ATTEMPTED TO GO FULLY NATURAL BUT WENT NATURAL FROM MARCH TO NOVEMBER I WAS SO FAR ALONG BUT THIS TIME IM FULLY COMMITTED AND NO MORE RELAXERS FOR ME. I TRYED TO DO MY OWN RELAXER N FEB BUT IT DIDNT GET STRAIGHT

SO IM MOVING ON TO HEALTHIER HAIR AND ANOTHER 3 INCHES OFF WHEN I TAKE MY BRAIDS OUT

smh i was so far

 

[danigurl18]

To be honest, I have no idea!! I asked my mother why she decided to put a relaxer in and she said "because I wanted you to have one." Then after she said that my dad was like "before you put that junk in the girl's hair, all we had to do was wet it, slick down the front with water and grease, put it in a ponytail, and put a little oil on the curls in the back" At least to me, that sounds a lot easier than relaxer maintainace to me!

 

[Rapunzel*]

To be honest, I have no idea!! I asked my mother why she decided to put a relaxer in and she said "because I wanted you to have one." Then after she said that my dad was like "before you put that junk in the girl's hair, all we had to do was wet it, slick down the front with water and grease, put it in a ponytail, and put a little oil on the curls in the back" At least to me, that sounds a lot easier than relaxer maintainace to me!

thanks for the feedback

yea with relaxers you have to wrap the hair every night, and didnt do that till 12 but faithfully at 15, im transitioning but i have a lot of new growth. idk why my mom wanted me to have one i guess it was easier to my hair stylist at the time to manage it more. my hair was so long smh i guess she thought it would never break off

 

[filthyfresh]

My mother relaxed my hair when I was 5, because she claimed my hair was unmanageable. Secretly, I think she was just lazy. LOL. She's never really cared for her hair too well anyway (not that it looks messed up). She might wash her hair between relaxers...MAYBE. So I never knew what my natural texture looked like. I'm transitioning because I want to do something different with my hair. I want to see what it can do.

 

[PassionFruit]

my mom didnt want me to get a relaxer... when & where I grew up, Relaxers were for adults.... kids wore braids with beads, ponytail, plaits and on special occasion got their hair hotcomed.... then I was a pre-teen I got Hennas regularly... I wanted DYEs but mama wasnt having it... never mind getting a perm

When I started going to the salon by myself ( and not to the old lady who'd done my hair since I was a babe) ... I started getting perms & bleach jobs, etc... but at least I looked how I wanted to....

had I listened to my mama I would still have hair

FWIW, I am going back to that old school way, including braids, hot combs & henna ( not BAQ)

 

[Rapunzel*]

My mother relaxed my hair when I was 5, because she claimed my hair was unmanageable. Secretly, I think she was just lazy. LOL. She's never really cared for her hair too well anyway (not that it looks messed up). She might wash her hair between relaxers...MAYBE. So I never knew what my natural texture looked like. I'm transitioning because I want to do something different with my hair. I want to see what it can do.

wow 5 for me 9 is too young as well, i think my mom did ito because she didnt want to do our hair every day, when i was 10 in the 4th grade i was parting my older sister my 11months hair n the back and doing mines every morning, that only lasted for so long, when i turned 11 the inches went off

 

[MekyakaKinkerbelle]

My mom relaxed my hair because she had neither the time nor the patience. But I don't fault her. 25 years ago, it was what you did. I'm pregnant now and although I'll be happy with a healthy baby, sometimes I pray I don't have a girl, because if her hair is half as thick as mine and I have to worry about her hair and mine, something's likely gonna go lacking. And Lord knows I don't like walking around looking a H.A.M. and a dang sure won't let my child look crazy...who knows, I might consider some sort of chem for my hair at that point.

Being natural doesn't always mean less care or time involved.

 

[Rapunzel*]

my mom didnt want me to get a relaxer... when & where I grew up, Relaxers were for adults.... kids wore braids with beads, ponytail, plaits and on special occasion got their hair hotcomed.... then I was a pre-teen I got Hennas regularly... I wanted DYEs but mama wasnt having it... never mind getting a perm

When I started going to the salon by myself ( and not to the old lady who'd done my hair since I was a babe) ... I started getting perms & bleach jobs, etc... but at least I looked how I wanted to....

had I listened to my mama I would still have hair

FWIW, I am going back to that old school way, including braids, hot combs & henna ( not BAQ)

yea i would regret it too , so im guessing ur hair was pretty long, and i want to do soemthign different have a new look were my frow out sometimes and grease and manage it every day. with a relaxer u cnt oil it or grease it as much because itll start breakage

 

[Chromia]

I guess the reason I got a relaxer is because my mom wanted me to. My first relaxer was around age 12. Then I kept relaxing into my teens and 20s because I thought the only style options for my hair were getting a relaxer, getting my hair pressed, getting dreadlocks, or having an afro.

I had grown up getting my hair pressed after every wash. When I was about 8 my mom sent me for a Jheri Curl and my hair broke off pretty badly after that. When I was 10 I had another Jheri Curl. After that my mom used to send me to get braids. I hated sitting in the chair all day getting extensions braided in. The braids were always so tight and my neck used to hurt from sitting there getting my hair braided for hours. I guess when I was about 12 my mom decided I was old enough for a relaxer.

 

[Rapunzel*]

My mom relaxed my hair because she had neither the time nor the patience. But I don't fault her. 25 years ago, it was what you did. I'm pregnant now and although I'll be happy with a healthy baby, sometimes I pray I don't have a girl, because if her hair is half as thick as mine and I have to worry about her hair and mine, something's likely gonna go lacking. And Lord knows I don't like walking around looking a H.A.M. and a dang sure won't let my child look crazy...who knows, I might consider some sort of chem for my hair at that point.

Being natural doesn't always mean less care or time involved.

aww congrats by the way and i totally understand, i was happy i had a boy because id never get out the house on time i wash his hair 2-3 times a week and put a little castro oil on it and go, his hair is really curly

 

[Rapunzel*]

I guess the reason I got a relaxer is because my mom wanted me to. My first relaxer was around age 12. Then I kept relaxing into my teens and 20s because I thought the only style options for my hair were getting a relaxer, getting my hair pressed, getting dreadlocks, or having an afro.

I had grown up getting my hair pressed after every wash. When I was about 8 my mom sent me for a Jheri Curl and my hair broke off pretty badly after that. When I was 10 I had another Jheri Curl. After that my mom used to send me to get braids. I hated sitting in the chair all day getting extensions braided in. The braids were always so tight and my neck used to hurt from sitting there getting my hair braided for hours. I guess when I was about 12 my mom decided I was old enough for a relaxer.

oh ok i see urs was from a jery curl is that kind of like a texturiser?
they were really popular n the 80's and 90's and yea i didnt like getting my hair braided for hours, thats just why i do my own i can finish when i please and stretch when i can, did ur hair break from the relaxer?

 

[Chromia]

I think the Jheri Curl was like a texturizer since it was a chemical that(supposedly) made the hair easier to manage. Actually it wasn't really like a texturizer because part of the process was setting the hair on perm rods. I had to spray my hair with activator every day and sleep in a plastic cap.

My hair broke from relaxing when I went to a certain stylist. She did my hair for I think 2 years, until I was 17. I still had breakage after that, but not nearly as bad as the breakage I had with that stylist.

 

[glamazon386]

Because it was the norm. My mother relaxed my hair when I was 5 or 6. Then I went with her to the salon every week. During the summers I usually had braids with extensions. She said my hair looks different now then it did when I was a child though. I think the hormones from puberty changed the texture a little bit. That was when I started having a lot of problems with it.

 

[Rapunzel*]

Because it was the norm. My mother relaxed my hair when I was 5 or 6. Then I went with her to the salon every week. During the summers I usually had braids with extensions. She said my hair looks different now then it did when I was a child though. I think the hormones from puberty changed the texture a little bit. That was when I started having a lot of problems with it.

and does she say it changed for the better as in curlier? what ive noticed we never really oiled our scalp conditioned it so it never got to this healthy point.i remember my mom telling me when i was 6 if i let her rinse it again ill have bouncy curls and it looked just as she described.

but ur right it can change through puberty

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

yall mean hair texture can change through puberty? How? I'm curious.

 

[Caramela]

It was my mom's decision. Not mine. She relaxed my hair as a child and I have no memory of my pre-relaxer hair. Although family members say "You had "nice" hair" or "I don't know why Lillie put a relaxer in your hair. You didn't need it".... But my mom's hair is very silky and she's never relaxed her hair a day in her life, so maybe to her, it was unmanageable. Who knows?
But if puberty changes your hair texture... then I have no idea what to expect.

 

[LongHairDreams]

My sister talked my mother into it when I was 13 because it was hard for me to take care of my hair. She was really against it but broke down. At 10, i believe, my mother made me start caring for it. She never showed me how to do it properly, so it broke off. I went natural again in 2000 because I was going through a phase. Then got a relaxer again. Now im natural and I don't plan on going back.