Do relaxers work better for people with coarser hair?

[kittykhat]

Do relaxers work better for people with coarser hair? POLL added.

Not really coarse but like 4a/4b/c hair? I know that my mom has 4a hair and my sister has like 3a. When my mom relaxed her hair, it comes out super straight! But when my mom relaxed my sister's hair, it came out texlaxed. They used the same relaxers and the same strength. Do any of you guys notice this too? BTW, I am still transitioning. I can't wait to cut off my relaxed ends! I'm just curious. I have always wondered this.

 

[Neith]

I think it's an individual thing.

My type 4 hair is very resistant to relaxers too

 

[aegis]

no, not at all. maybe your mom leaves it in for a shorter period than your sister.

 

[poookie]

i think it mostly depends on the hair strand thickness, and not how kinky or curly the hair is. my sister has thick strands & her hair was very resistant to relaxers when she was younger, so my mom stopped giving them to her. my ridiculously fine strands took chemicals quite well, though.

 

[kittykhat]

Oh ok. So the finer the hair is, the straighter it'll get?

 

[LatterGlory]

__________________

 

[Sugar]

Oh ok. So the finer the hair is, the straighter it'll get?

Not necessarily. My hair is fine, but it never gets bone straight with my ORS relaxer (no lye). But other relaxers have gotten it bone straight in the past (Mizani for one).

I recently started adding conditioner to my relaxers and doing the protein step during the relaxer process...my hair still has about 20-30% of its natural texture. Before I made those changes that same relaxer still left me slightly underprocessed.

I think it depends on alot of factors:
1) the brand of relaxer
2) the strength of the relaxer
3) the condition of the hair (clean or dirty)
4) the hair's natural resistance level (how easily does it process)
5) How long the relaxer is left in and how well it was smoothed

I could go on and on....

 

[Neith]

Not necessarily. My hair is fine, but it never gets bone straight with my ORS relaxer (no lye). But other relaxers have gotten it bone straight in the past (Mizani for one).

I recently started adding conditioner to my relaxers and doing the protein step during the relaxer process...my hair still has about 20-30% of its natural texture. Before I made those changes that same relaxer still left me slightly underprocessed.

I think it depends on alot of factors:
1) the brand of relaxer
2) the strength of the relaxer
3) the condition of the hair (clean or dirty)
4) the hair's natural resistance level (how easily does it process)
5) How long the relaxer is left in and how well it was smoothed

I could go on and on....

I agree with this.

A lot of the time it's a number of factors. There are many different relaxers out there and many unique heads of hair out there.

Generally speaking, fine hair is easier to relax.

but you will always find exceptions to the "rule"

 

[kittykhat]

Oh ok. I'm learning new things on here everday.

 

[jamaraa]

No...the change simply looks more dramatic. Relaxers work on all hair textures, tho not on all individuals (some are relaxer resistant for whatever reason). Some White folks use them (Christian Siriano, for example). He's of Italian-American descent and his mother and sister have curly Euro hair texture. For him compared to his family, the change was quite dramatic.

Coarser hair simply looks VERY different in it's curly state vs it straight state!

 

[jamaraa]

Neith do you consider yourself an "Andre 4"?

 

[Neith]

Neith do you consider yourself an "Andre 4"?

Yep, I do.


This is my natural hair, wet.

This is my hair after being processed/smoothed with super strength relaxer for the full processing time

I have had a straight relaxer in my lifetime, but I (or a stylist) had to keep it in for an hour or more for it to break my hair down.

A rollerset gave me mostly straight hair. The relaxer softened my texture a lot, but that just aint nowhere near straight I wish I knew why!

 

[jamaraa]

Neith An HOUR?! Lordy girl, you are BLESSED w/ some strong hair. I know you've said you're "relaxer resistant" but golly! Anybody else woulda been bald permanently and passed it on the their kids after 1hr w/ a SUPER relaxer! I'm going to save your post for reference about "relaxer resistance"....it's so dramatic w/ you.

Natural's you're only hope Neith...sorry to "disappoint" ya !

Are you heat resistant too? I asked you about what type you consider yourself cuz you have the most "defined" curls I've seen in ages. You're ringlets are wonders! I thought 4s didn't have that?

 

[FlowerHair]

The few times I relaxed my hair it never really straightened the hair, I always had to blow dry my hair for 45 mins after washing or it would look exactly like it usually does LOL! I get way better results from just flat ironing.

I'm a 3b/c something.

 

[ChristmasCarol]

My hair is 4a/3c and I had a relaxer left on for 45+ minutes one time. The stylist forgot about me while attending to her 3472 other clients she booked that day. Didn't damage my hair at all. Didn't even burn my scalp. It was only slightly straighter than a texlax. Weird.

 

[almond eyes]

It's not about the coarseness it's about whether the hair is fine or medium-fine, medium-thick or thick. Thick strands regardless of its coarseness relax better than fine strands.

Neith your strands look fine because that it what my hair would look like anytime I relaxed or tex-laxed.

Best,
Almond Eyes

 

[Kurlee]

i have always believe that coarse does best with chemicals. Coarse hair has the "fattest" hair strand and can take more heat, colour and relaxer abuse than someone with fine or medium hair. I envy those with coarse hair

ETA: hair type doesn't matter a coarse (fat individual hair strand) type 2 will be able to handle more abuse (chemical) than a fine type 2, meaning that the coarse persons hair can take more abuse before breaking or becoming damaged

 

[ceebee3]

I think they definetly work better on thicker hair, not sure about coarse hair.

My cousins with thick hair that are relaxed look way better than my finer relaxed strands.

 

[vkb247]

Coarse hair can take a bit more wear and tear than fine hair because it has more cuticle layers. So, generally speaking, coarse hair can take more without showing it.

 

[LoveLiLi]

OP, I've noticed the same thing. My family members and friends with 4a/4b/4c (cnapp?) hair tends to 'take' a relaxer better than my friends and family with hair in the low to mid 3's, with the 4b hair taking the relaxer the best.

The type threes still curl up when wet and I would take a little leave-in or curl enhancer and style my sister's hair in a WnG all the time. Her hair curled up beautifully, like she didn't even have a relaxer. Same thing for my bff, her hair would curl up like it had never seen a tub of Bantu.

My other sister and my mom's hair would hang straight when wet and didn't frizz up as easily as my type three fam & friends.

 

[mahogany_horizons]

I agree with this!

 

[happylife]

Oh ok. So the finer the hair is, the straighter it'll get?

No, I wouldn't think so kittykhat.

I can explain why. My hair is normally very curly in most areas and soft sans relaxer. But because I wanted to avoid breakage from tangles and have more style choices so I have been relaxing for a few years now.

The result has been that no relaxer has totally knocked my curl out....even pre lhcf lurking days when I would leave it on too long, salon or box perm, regular or sensitive strength. Go figure. )

 

[Britt]

OP, I've noticed the same thing. My family members and friends with 4a/4b/4c (cnapp?) hair tends to 'take' a relaxer better than my friends and family with hair in the low to mid 3's, with the 4b hair taking the relaxer the best.

The type threes still curl up when wet and I would take a little leave-in or curl enhancer and style my sister's hair in a WnG all the time. Her hair curled up beautifully, like she didn't even have a relaxer. Same thing for my bff, her hair would curl up like it had never seen a tub of Bantu.

My other sister and my mom's hair would hang straight when wet and didn't frizz up as easily as my type three fam & friends.

This is my observation and experience as well.
This is also why I think texlaxing and texturzing is best done on 3c/4a hair and up. Take a look at some of the texlaxed heads on the boards, Dlewis comes to my mind immediately.

 

[anon123]

It depends on what you mean by "work better". If you mean get it straighter, I think they work better on finer hair. So no matter the type, they tend to work better on less coarse hair. Of course since they break down the protein bonds, they also tend to be harsher on finer strands. Really being harsher and "working better" are the same thing in that sense. So they tend to cause more damage and do more to weaken the hair the "better" they work.

 

[Neith]

Neith An HOUR?! Lordy girl, you are BLESSED w/ some strong hair. I know you've said you're "relaxer resistant" but golly! Anybody else woulda been bald permanently and passed it on the their kids after 1hr w/ a SUPER relaxer! I'm going to save your post for reference about "relaxer resistance"....it's so dramatic w/ you.

Natural's you're only hope Neith...sorry to "disappoint" ya !

Are you heat resistant too? I asked you about what type you consider yourself cuz you have the most "defined" curls I've seen in ages. You're ringlets are wonders! I thought 4s didn't have that?

Yeah, I'm heat resistant too. Always needed a "hard press"

Relaxers and heat wrecked my hair all the same. Before I started taking care of my hair, it would reach just past shoulder, then break off.

Type 4's have very small coils Some people have more clumping/definition than others. My coil diameter is penspring sized.

You start getting into the 3's when you have curls wider than a pen/pencil.

 

[MonPetite]

My hair is coarse and EXTREMELY hard to relax. To go bone straight I had to relax three times in one week with a super and comb it through with a rattail comb. My scalp took two weeks to heal...but my hair looked AMAZING.

Until I did a DC and my natural texture STILL crept back in (only slightly, but enough to ruin all the effort of being bone-straight).

Needless to say, it showed me relaxers weren't for me after all.

 

[shunemite]

I have 4b hair, fine and thin. I know my hair- it appears relaxed then springs back to kinky. So I work it through with my fingers. I use Mizani mild, and I do a good job. The relaxer just has to be on there long enough to break 30% of the sulfur bonds.

 

[butterfly_wings]

I have thick hair although it is quite sof but I found that when I relax with regular relaxers I notice the kinks coming through after 2 weeks I don't mean newgrowth but like it is reverting, anyway the last 2 times I relaxed I used super /resistant strenth and I was very pleased, my hair came out straight not bone straight but straighther than before and it was strong.

So I will be sticking to this from now on

 

[Fine 4s]

We should all be clear on what the word 'coarse' means. I think the word coarse vs. fine refers to the circumference of the hair strand and nothing else. The circumference of a fine hair strand is smaller than that of a coarse hair strand. So you can have coarse hair if your hair falls in the 1-2-3-4 (or any number) hair category. When we use terms like thin, medium or thick we mean the volume of hair on one's head. The 1-2-3-4 categories also refer to how smooth/kinky the hair texture is.

So is the question about perms on 3 or 4 texture hair (or anything in between 3a-b-c or 4a-b-c) and how it breaks the kinks, curls, coils OR about how how the perm behaves/takes on thicker/coarser strands?



The coarser the strand, the more the hair can tolerate a chemical relaxer and fine hair ladies should stay clear of chemical relaxers or be vewy, vewy careful...IMHO.

 

[locabouthair]

It seems like my very coarse hair is resistant to relaxers. But like someone said it depends on the relaxer strength and other factors.