Any naturals that still relax front edges?

[kgard7777]

Hello,

I am almost 4 months into my transition and although I dream of being natural. I still think once I reach that goal I will still relax the front of my hair. Anyone else on the board who does this and do you still consider yourself natural in this case?

 

[LynnieB]

Naw, i haven't and won't do this and no, you will not be 100% natural anymore.

for me, it's all or nothing.

quickie ?: why would you want to do this? what's the purpose?

 

[kgard7777]

Why because I wear my hair back a lot and like for edges to remain straight without gel etc. Just a little water and remaining natural curl after relaxer

 

[LynnieB]

there's a few natural hair tricks you can try instead of relaxing.

a little gel (or some other product) and water and a boar bristle brush to smooth than put on a satin scarf for a few minutes will smooth down hair.

or

you could flattwist or make big cornrows that go towards the back of your head and allow to dry. when you take them out, your hair will also be pretty smooth and you could just use the boar bristle (and maybe a pomade or gel) to lightly brush the hair towards the back........your hair will retain some of the wave from the twists/braids.

you could also make bantu knots - you'd have to experiment with the size. these also tend to smooth out the hair.

your edges @ the hairline are going to be the weakest so relaxing them will thin them out or cause breakage at the hair line. this will be worse when you're dealing with your natural hair AND the permed hair. just something to think about.

 

[kgard7777]

Thanks! so how do you like being natural?

 

[LynnieB]

you are welcome!

i absolutely LOVE it!

 

[glamazon386]

I've heard of people doing it before. But if you're going to be natural, I believe it should be all or nothing. If you're going to relax the edges you might as well relax the whole thing or not relax at all.

 

[brownsugarflyygirl]

I really dont think that its neccessary. To be honest, if you wear your back all the time...that will "train" the front of your hair to be straight. I have been natural about two years now...and at first my front edges were a little unruly....but I would just put a little product on it and would put a scarf over it to smooth. Now, I can just add water and use a brush...and its smooth as can be.

The downside is that the front of my hair and my nape are straighter than other parts due to consistent manipulation...but I dont mind...its more like 3c up there now than 4a...oh well Cant have everything.

Moral of the story....you dont need chemicals to get your natural hair to lay down.

 

[bLackButtaFly]

I've heard of people doing it before. But if you're going to be natural, I believe it should be all or nothing. If you're going to relax the edges you might as well relax the whole thing or not relax at all.

ITA. There was agirl that was in college with me, and she used to do this; and I told her it was like a relationship, and she just wanted the love w/out the commitment.

 

[GirlywithCurlies]

ITA. There was agirl that was in college with me, and she used to do this; and I told her it was like a relationship, and she just wanted the love w/out the commitment.

Hilarious.

But seriously, you don't need chems to get your natural hair to "lay down" - since you are in the relatively early stages of your transition you probably haven't had a chance to see what your hair can do on its own. It can be overwhelming at first but take the time to learn your hair.

For me the scarf method works wonders and makes my hairline smooth and sleek.

 

[sareca]

Sounds like we need a new label ... 'mostly natural.' I've know more than a few people to do it to help ease their transistion. Be careful you don't overlap when you touch up your hairline.

 

[PeaceFlow]

Naw, i haven't and won't do this and no, you will not be 100% natural anymore.

for me, it's all or nothing.

quickie ?: why would you want to do this? what's the purpose?

lol, I have to ask you a question.. I was toying with the idea of a texlax last week and I put some relaxer on a small strand test of hair, maybe 30 strands worth ( baring in mind I must have 100,000 on my head)

Am I stll natural??

 

[dillard]

lol, I have to ask you a question.. I was toying with the idea of a texlax last week and I put some relaxer on a small strand test of hair, maybe 30 strands worth ( baring in mind I must have 100,000 on my head)

Am I stll natural??

that means you are 99.9997% natural

 

[glamazon386]

ITA. There was agirl that was in college with me, and she used to do this; and I told her it was like a relationship, and she just wanted the love w/out the commitment.

That's funny. I've never had a problem with my edges. I just put some gel on my hands and smooth it back. I only really use a brush when I'm trying to pull it back in a bun or ponytail. I like how it looks better without the brushing.

Some people use a small toothbrush and gel on their edges though. One of my cousins did this when we were teenagers. She was relaxed but she had type 3 hair that would get bushy around the edges. That toothbrush and gel (back when we used to use that icky brown gel. she still uses it btw) would get it as smooth as the rest of her hair.

OP - How would you wash the relaxer out without getting it on the rest of your hair? I'm just curious.

 

[frankie]

If you relax the front edges, you'll have to give yourself regular touch-ups as your hairline grows out, then you'd end up with a row of relaxed hair with natural ends. So if you were to slick your hair into a ponytail the outer front layer would be relaxed, while the rest underneath would be natural. That would look crazy, unless you chop off your hairline periodically, grow it out natural again and start the proces all over.erplexed

 

[scarcity21]

If you relax the front edges, you'll have to give yourself regular touch-ups as your hairline grows out, then you'd end up with a row of relaxed hair with natural ends. So if you were to slick your hair into a ponytail the outer front layer would be relaxed, while the rest underneath would be natural. That would look crazy, unless you chop off your hairline periodically, grow it out natural again and start the proces all over.erplexed

Good point Frankie!

 

[Iansan]

I would consider texturizing certain parts of my hair and leaving the rest natural. I'm toying with the idea now. I'm not caught up on labels, I'm more into achieving a certain aesthetic.

 

[lsw29]

Relaxing your front edges deafeat the purpose and would make you no longer natural. For me the scraf method gets my hair to lay down, have you tried this method before?

 

[foxxymami]

I don't think that's necessary. I've found that when I wash my hair then tie a silk or satin scarf over night, it lays down very nicely. If you sweat a lot, that's a different story, though.

 

[Country gal]

Why because I wear my hair back a lot and like for edges to remain straight without gel etc. Just a little water and remaining natural curl after relaxer

You don't want to use gel but a chemical instead? I wouldn't consider you natural but texlaxed.

 

[PhonyBaloney500]

Yeah a Dominican stylist I used to go to for blow outs tried to convince me to get a texturizer for the edges and even offered to do it free.

Anyway the water and gel works! Scarf reinforces it!

 

[gradygirl]

I've heard of people doing this and while they are not 100% natural I still condsider them natural because its just there edges and the majority of their hair is natural. If you do relax your edges I would use a mild relaxer and not leave it on very long and also maybe cover up your unrelaxed hair with a plastic cap so it does not get any chemical on it.

 

[glamazon386]

You don't want to use gel but a chemical instead? I wouldn't consider you natural but texlaxed.

Yeah I don't get that either. I'll take gel any day over having to touch up some edges. Even when I was relaxed I still had to put some glaze or something on my edges. They lay down better now than they did when I was relaxed.

 

[meaganita]

I used to relax my edges when I wore weaves and my weaved up hair was natural. But ever since I've stopped wearing weaves there's been no other texture for my hair to compete with, so I no longer relax my edges. I've now been completely natural for a little more than a year now. The remaining relaxed hair was trimmed off. One of my bestfriends is a natural who used to relax her edges all the way around. But she stopped doing it and just get's her hair pressed. Now that her hair is "trained," her edges lay down with no problem and her hair still reverts back to her 4a/b texture when wet. She doesn't even think about relaxing her edges anymore. So basically, the hair can be trained to lay down w/out chemicals OR heat damage.
HTH

 

[divya]

That's basically texturizing...

 

[Suerte]

Natural....Relaxer....don't go together.

You'd be "A person who perms their edges".

Not a natural.

Pomades, gels, fixants, and direct heat and/or pressure are the only thing that will lay your edges down when you are natural.

 

[DarkVictory]

Hello,

I am almost 4 months into my transition and although I dream of being natural. I still think once I reach that goal I will still relax the front of my hair. Anyone else on the board who does this and do you still consider yourself natural in this case?

I would consider this texlaxed.

 

[jwhitley6]

I've done it...and I still considered myself natural. Can't nobody tell me otherwise. Even a few months ago I relaxed my kitchen...I take after my dad and my hair grows waaay down my neck. It's short, kinky and difficult to press, so sometimes I'll relax it. I leave in on for maybe 5 minutes max. The hairs are fine, so not much is needed, but I think it makes a difference. I could live without it, but I think my neck looks a little better afterwards. I only do this once or twice a year though. I'm not as anti-relaxer as some naturals here. If my hair could handle a relaxer well, I might have one...but since the only relaxer I ever got took all of my hair out, I'll pass.

 

[locoabouthair]

My hair lays down with gel, a pomade or H20 (depending on the weather).

I say if it makes you happy do it. However I do feel you are no longer natural once you do so. Maybe I'm crazy but its kind being " a little bit pregnant".

 

[hopeful]

I think you may be surprised at how nice your edges look once you are completely natural. When all of your hair is natural you won't need your edges to be as straight as you did when relaxed. If you baby your edges with good conditioners, moisturizers, oils and gentle handling you will probably be surprised at how nicely they lay down and how pretty they look. Now if after going completey natural and after babying your edges they still look too rough to you, do what you gotta do. But I suggest that you give your natural hair a chance. I rarely use gel on my hair, water, moisture, oil and a scarf is enough, but I know that everyone is different. If you do end of relaxing your edges, to me you would be mostly natural, but it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, what matters is that you and your hair are happy.