Are lye relaxers too harsh for some people?

[Leslie_C]

I went thru a period where I cut my hair off and started from scratch, and within 1 - 1.5 yrs I had a head full of nice hair. Well, I started going to the salon and she used Affirm Mild on my hair, since I know my hair is fragile. Well after a couple of times my hair was thinning out.....I couldnt put my finger on why. So fast forward, I buy the affirm relaxer in regular and used it on myself a couple of times. MAJOR MAJOR breakage. To the point I thought I needed to start from scratch again. Now, I havent relaxed in almost 6 months and dont know if I will or not.

I just took down a sew in and am glad to see it filling in nicely but I have about 50 diff lengths of hair from short to medium length. At this point Im deciding between relaxing and getting some cute layered style and growing it from there....or transitioning for about another year and possibly getting a relaxer on a head of virgin hair. Or I might just stay natural and alternate between presses and textured styles.


It had to be the relaxer that ruined my hair last time, so do u think it was actually just the Affirm brand of relaxer, or could it be that lye is too harsh on my hair?

Also, is Design Essentials relaxer lye or no lye? What about Mizani? thanks in advance.

 

[baglady215]

Lye is supposed to me more gentle on the hair than no-lye. Although I've heard that Affirm can cause thinning. Maybe it was just Affirm.

DE and Mizani, and Affirm as well, come in lye and no-lye versions.

 

[NewYorkgyrl]

I also heard that Affirm thins hair. My visit to a Dominican salon confirmed that when I asked the owner what types of relaxers the salon uses and she did not mention Affirm. I asked her why and she said that relaxer is really bad it thins your hair out.

 

[secretdiamond]

I think it depends on the hair and the person. I know there are ladies here with thick hair who still use affirm.

 

[Leslie_C]

Thanks ladies. My new growth is thick as all get out, but when relaxed my hair tends to be sort of fine unless it was airdried. I guess when and if I decide to relax again, Affirm will be out of the question. Ill look into Design Essentials or Mizani, but Im leaning more towards DE bc some have told me Mizani can be pretty harsh as well and very drying.

 

[Lucia]

I think it depends on the person too, I have thick hair and it could not thrive and became thin and weak w/ relaxer no matter what the brand--so I'm a natural girl whther I like it or not, for me it's natural or have zero hair.

 

[Candy_C]

Lye is harsher on the scalp and friendly on the hair.

if the hair was coming out from the root then it could be that Lye is the culprit.

I use no-lye - elasta qp mild, and my hair is as thick and as strong as my natural hair was. i feel that i'm texturized to be honest. if you've only used Lye then try using no-lye in another brand. maybe find out what the best no lye sensitive relaxer would be of help? or maybe relaxers just arent for you! whatever choice u make i hope it works out well

 

[tallygirl]

Lye relaxers work much better for me, than no-lye. I guess the choice of lye vs. no-lye just depends.....

I,too, have heard that Affirm causes thinning. Personally, I've had breakage using Affirm (but that was before I found LHCF and learned how to really take care of my hair). Mizani (lye) is where I'm at now, and it has been working quite well for me.

 

[MJ]

I'm learning this about me too. My hair just doesn't like relaxers...

I think it depends on the person too, I have thick hair and it could not thrive and became thin and weak w/ relaxer no matter what the brand--so I'm a natural girl whther I like it or not, for me it's natural or have zero hair.