Difference in type of relaxer and application of relaxer??? (long; need opinion)

[blackbarbie]

Don't know if you guys remember the experience I had with my step brother back in August 2005 when he cut my hair (unsolicited) and he knew I was trying to grow my layers back out....Anywho, I started back doing my own hair except for my relaxers.

The last relaxer I let him give me was on December 7th and this Wednesday I will be 20 weeks post. My plan was to not let him do my relaxer this time as I was going to travel 4 hours back to MS to let my old stylist do it.....(last time he relaxed me in Dec., I kept seeing random groups of strands of short hair and couldn't figure out why i had never seen them when he relaxed before; he uses Essations to relax)

Two revelations: The reason I may have seen the random strands of short hair is b/c the last time he gave me color, he used more lighter shades (different shades of blond even; don't get me wrong, i LOVE the color though) and maybe my hair couldn't take it so it broke off in certain places. He may not have changed his technique, just that my hair was much weaker b/c of a lighter color. I do like that he relaxes my hair "bone straight" though and it never poofs up (he always roller wraps it)

Other revelation is: I was worried about going back to my old stylist in MS b/c whenever she used to give me a doobie or roller wrap my hair, if it rained the next day, it would ALWAYS poof up. She used Dudley's relaxer, but did it poof up b/c she wasn't relaxing me all the way bone straight???

I am going to stretch for 4 more weeks, making it 6 months, but i have to decide what I am going to do and was hoping some of you ladies could give me some insight on both my theories.

BTW: a lot of the color has grown out and I have been keeping it strengthened with regular protein treatments.

TIA

 

[blackbarbie]

Bump.............

(i really need some advice here; i'll let my brother do the relaxer if the broken hairs were simply caused by the color weakening my strands and nothing he did; I'll just do a protein treatment a few weeks before i get me next perm...............really don't want to drive 4 hours to get relaxer and she not do it bone straight, but don't know if my reasoning makes sense......please chime in)

 

[atlien11]

Barbie,

I have read your posts a few times. Forgive me for being slow but i am not sure exactly what advice you are asking for. Can you dummy it down into a specific question? Im probably the only person that didnt get what you were trying to say but i would love to help.

 

[blackbarbie]

Barbie,

I have read your posts a few times. Forgive me for being slow but i am not sure exactly what advice you are asking for. Can you dummy it down into a specific question? Im probably the only person that didnt get what you were trying to say but i would love to help.

O.K., sorry for the long, unclear post, but I guess my dilemma is (1) whether to let my brother do my next perm or (2) whether to travel 4 hours back to MS to do the perm. I stated reasons for not letting my brother do my perm (since he last did it in Dec.) and I also stated things I noticed when my old stylist used to do my perm. Just wondered if the theories were anything anyone else had noticed or if I was off base with my pros/cons of both......HTH

 

[deborah11]

I guess one of the issues is how long has your brother has been doing your hair and have you always had breakage as a result of his hair care techniques? If breakage is generally not a problem and the last breakage was an isolated incident than maybe it was due to the color. Color and relaxing can be a bit tricky and often causes breakage.

Have you spoken with your brother about the breakage issue and if so, what was his explanation and did he treat your hair for the breakage?

In the alternative, is the other hair stylist willing to use a different relaxer at your request?

I believe these are the issues that you must address and frankly, if you are not really pleased with either stylist, find another to apply your next relaxer. Check around for recommendations. Frankly, I would rather have puffy hair than severly broken off hair, but that's me. You have to do what is best for you. I wish you the best of luck in making your decision. I know these decisions can sometimes be very difficult and scary to make. You have beautiful hair and I would hate to see you lose it. Good luck!!

 

[blackbarbie]

I guess one of the issues is how long has your brother has been doing your hair and have you always had breakage as a result of his hair care techniques? If breakage is generally not a problem and the last breakage was an isolated incident than maybe it was due to the color. Color and relaxing can be a bit tricky and often causes breakage.

Have you spoken with your brother about the breakage issue and if so, what was his explanation and did he treat your hair for the breakage?

In the alternative, is the other hair stylist willing to use a different relaxer at your request?

I believe these are the issues that you must address and frankly, if you are not really pleased with either stylist, find another to apply your next relaxer. Check around for recommendations. Frankly, I would rather have puffy hair than severly broken off hair, but that's me. You have to do what is best for you. I wish you the best of luck in making your decision. I know these decisions can sometimes be very difficult and scary to make. You have beautiful hair and I would hate to see you lose it. Good luck!!

Deborah,
Thanks for responding. That's just it. My brother was doing my hair on a weekly basis (shampooing) and relaxing every 8-10 weeks for the past year and a half since i have been in ATL and I have NEVER had any breakage. In fact, it wasn't even severe, it was about 10 strands in one place and b/c I never have had breakage, they just stuck out like a sore thumb to me and I just freaked out. I think it was b/c the highlights he put in July 05 were much lighter than the ones he put in in July 04 when I first got here and my hair wasn't strong enough......

(o.k. I think you just helped me with my dilemma b/c if i were to call the stylist in MS and "request" that she use a different relaxer on my hair, she would swear that I was being "uppity" since I have moved to ATL!!!

Thanks again....Just couldn't think straight for a minute; really was having a "blond" moment