Botched self-relax w/Silk Elements..what should I do?!

[hotparatha]

Hi Ladies,
I'm so frustrated and upset at myself for this! I used Silk elements relaxer with Lye about a month ago. I think it was severly under-processed because my hair still felt kinky after I washed it out. I know last time that I definitely did not leave it on for as long as I should have. Yesterday (8/5/06)i decided to try to relax it again. I left it on for about 25 minutes. I tried my best to smooth it. While it looked straighter with the relaxer in it did not look bone straight. I figured this was alright because I didn't want my hair bone straight anyway. But once I washed it out it started to poof up and now it looks like I didn' even have a relaxer. I don't know if I should have used more relaxer. I used a little les s than half the jar. I deep conditioned with Affirm 5-in-1 mixed with ORS replen. pak and then I used 2 moisturizing conditioners. After my hair was dried it just looked a mess. I cannot run my fingers through it. The roots are still kinky..only the ends are straight.

I don't know what to do. I know you're not supposed to relax more than once per month but I can't imagine what my hair would look like in a month if it looks like this now. And worse yet..I am supposed to go to Miami on Tuesday and I wanted to get in the water. I don't have time to get my hair braided before I go and I can't imagine having to deal with this bird's nest after coming from the beach. We're in August already, please don't tell me that I have to spend the rest of the summer with my hair in this condition. What should I do now???
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[neena]

It might be too soon to do another corrective relaxer. Maybe you should consider getting a couple of phony ponies or instant weaves for your trip. As for the relaxer I think maybe you didnt use enough, because when i relax i use nearly the whole jar. I've never used less than half. Or maybe the lid on the relaxer wasnt on tight enough causing it to lose its strength. I had this happen to me a couple of months ago and the relaxer didnt take at all. Or maybe you should try a different brand.

 

[lonei]

LYE relaxers have done this to me for 2 years, no matter how long I leave in on. I would relax in 2 halves (relax the back then wash it out then relax the front) so that the back and front would both get 25 mins each, and it would still be poffy. I dont suggest you relax it again this month, if i were you I would just ride it until my next relaxer and get a trusted professional to do it, or a friend to help, or change relaxers. I would prefer to have poofy hair (which i do) than no hair/damaged from overprocessing...Its up to you, let me know what you think and good luck.

 

[hotparatha]

neena,
Yes I figured it would be too soon. I was planning to use a pony anyway. But I had scheduled a snorkeling session so I don't know how the hair would hold up even if I use a clarifying shampoo and condition it when I come from the water. I think you're right that I didn't use enough relaxer also. You know when you usually have relaxer in your hair looks completely white with the relaxer on. Well when I had it in yesterday it looked a little translucent but I figured it was because it was a different brand. erplexed

lonei,
I don't think the problem was with the lye this time. I used to use Mizani lye at the hairdresser's and it wouldbe really straight. I decided to try silk elements because the mizani would always burn up my scalp. But you're right..at least I still have hair on my head. I keep running my fingers through my scalp and getting upset. I guess i'll just wait it out though. Thanks girls.

 

[LiLi]

I'm sorry this happened to you.

This information is based on my experience and things that I have learned over the years.

The first time you self-relaxed, it sounds like you didn't use enough of the relaxer (based on what you said about your hair still feeling kinky afterwards). You have to make sure that you put on a sufficient amount of relaxer on your hair to prevent this from happening. Putting "too much" on your hair is better than not putting enough on your hair. Putting "too much" will not do any damage to your hair (it's the amount of time that you leave it on and how you handle your hair that causes the damage).

Also, you have to make sure that your hair is thoroughly detangled before you even start relaxing your hair. What I do is thoroughly detangle my at least a week before I relax and each day after that, just comb carefully comb through in sections until the day I relax.

Also, when you self-relax (IMHO) it's best to do it in sections. I have had unsuccessful relaxing attempts without a plan beforehand (such as sectioning and relaxing in parts).

Lastly, when you do a corrective relaxer, you should ONLY leave it on for 5 minutes; otherwise, you have overprocessing (which is what the results of you last attempt sounds like). Overprocessing with a lye relaxer will look poofy but a corrective relaxer using a lye will not straighten your hair any further, it just corrects the fuzziness/kinks from underprocessing.

Please remember that this is just from my experiences and things that I have learned over the past 5 or so years since I started self-relaxing. There are other things that I do, but the things that I noted are based on what happened during your self-relaxing experience.

Oh yeah ... another thing is so make sure you take note of any date codes on the relaxer. Many people are doing everything right and the reason why their results are less-than is not because of what they are doing, but because the relaxer is out-dated. Contact the company and they will let you know how to figure out the date code on their product (if it doesn't have a regular expiration date on it like products such as food).

Don't do anything else to your hair. My suggestion would be to deep condition with a moisturizing conditioner for the next week or so and then hit it with some good protein conditioner the next week.

I used to have the same issues as you but I was able to get through it by using the right products to mask the problem until it grew out.

 

[hotparatha]

LiLi..thanks to you too!
I didn't know the corrective relaxer should only be left on for 5 minutes! I really fried my hair. Also, i don't think I detangled enough beforehand. I will look for the date code as well. Recently I've been trying to use organic hair products only. I need to find a really good moisturizing conditioner and shampoo. One of the conditioner i use now says "smoothing" on the front but I don't know how much moisture it actually delivers to the hair. It really is all trial and error.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Yeh, lye has never gotten my hair strait. I will be using no lye from now on. I'm going to let a pro do my touch up so she can clip away any damaged ends. I hope all goes well....

 

[Synthia]

HI,

Did you have a lot of stuff/product on your hair when you relaxed?

I try to relax with my hair as naked as possible (I use no-lye though and get really straight).


I really don't think you should do another relaxer.

Do some light protein and deep moisturizing treatments to repair your hair after all the damage. Also use something to improve your hair's pH (Porosity Control) maybe since you can't run your fingers through it. That should smooth your cuticles down.

Next, if you feel your hair is strong enough you'll just have to get some heat protectants and flat iron with a high quality flat iron.

Enjoy Miami.