Extending relaxer retouches, why??

DigitalRain

DigitalRain

Well-Known Member
Am I the only one who just don't see the point in having a relaxer if one is going to wait over 3 months to get a retouch?

I understand waiting has its benefits, but I always thought the reason one chooses a relaxer is to maintain a straight hairstyle. If a person is only relaxing a 1 or 2 times a year, (especially those of us who have 4b hair like me)why even have relaxer in the first place? Why not just go natural if you are concerned with thickness, hair health, etc? For me, relaxing makes my kinky 4b hair more manageable, and regular retouching allows me to maintain my relaxed straight style. If I'm waiting 4, 6 months, by that time I have a head full of puffy, new growth which is impossible to keep laying flat and is so obviously different in texture from the rest of my head. Waiting seems to defeat the purpose of relaxing. If I'm going to wait, I might as well decide to go ahead and choose to keep a relaxer or transition to natural.

I hope I don't offend anyone, I am genuinely curious about this.
 
Well, other people may have different goals than you do.

I am extremely concerned about the health of my hair and scalp, not just the appearance. I don't want to put a relaxer (very caustic chemical) on my scalp too often.

I have lots of 4a/b hair, that I find is very soft, manageable and straightens out a bit (and lays down too) when I take good care of it. It doesn't bother me when my newgrowth comes in at all, in fact I get happy when I see it. It doesn't mess up my styles at all.. in fact it gives more volume.

Also, I do no always maintain a straight style... so I guess I'm not getting a relaxer for my hair to always appear to be straight.

I guess that waiting for long periods of time is a matter of preference. Some people want different things for their hair.
 
The chemicals are not the best for your scalp and therefore minimizing the application could prevent potential scalp damage. Also if you do it right you end up with much thicker hair than if you relaxed more often. But I do agree with you on the point of why relax at all. If you're only getting straight hair for 4 weeks max until the new growth comes in then you might as well press and not have to worry about the chemicals. Which is why I am thinking about transitioning.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Purtygurly said:
I guess that waiting for long periods of time is a matter of preference. Some people want different things for their hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree! It's really what you are trying to achieve. I relax not for straight styles because I rarely where my hair out but more for manageability, but I will admit that the overall health of my hair as improved dramatically since I began stretching out my relaxers.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Purtygurly said:
Well, other people may have different goals than you do.

I guess that waiting for long periods of time is a matter of preference. Some people want different things for their hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

My goals are pretty much the same as anyone else's here. I would think most people come here to learn about growing their hair longer and/or maintaining hair health, which is why I come here.

Please don't think I am knocking anyone's decision to extend relaxers. I am just posting a question I've wondered about for a while, and doesn't have anything to do me having different goals.
 
It does have to do with goals because if you are trying to maintain long straight hair then you will probably relax more often. For example, I don't mind having new growth for an extended time because I am not trying to achieve long healthy straight hair. I am trying to achieve long healthy hair.
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
DigitalRain said:

My goals are pretty much the same as anyone else's here. I would think most people come here to learn about growing their hair longer and/or maintaining hair health, which is why I come here.

Please don't think I am knocking anyone's decision to extend relaxers. I am just posting a question I've wondered about for a while, and doesn't have anything to do me having different goals.

[/ QUOTE ]

You said sometihing about wanting to relax hair to maintain a straight style, I assumed that you relax your hair to have it straight all the time...

My post was not ment to be offensive.

Imagine me getting upset because someone doesn't understand why I extend the time between relaxers...

smile.gif


I'm just too laid-back for that, I'm as cool as a cucumber
cool.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Miosy said:
It does have to do with goals because if you are trying to maintain long straight hair then you will probably relax more often. For example, I don't mind having new growth for an extended time because I am not trying to achieve long healthy straight hair. I am trying to achieve long healthy hair.
smile.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I understand this, I do. I guess what I am thinking is that if straightening the hair is not a concern, why apply the relaxer and if long healthy hair is the ultimate goal, why not forgo chemicals and opt for natural hair is which is stronger and healthier than chemically treated hair would ever be.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I won't post anymore about this, promise.
frown.gif
 
I think it's a good question. I thought about that once, then I realized after extending that it's easier for me to see the new growth while self-relaxing (therefore limits overlapping). I also think the chemicals do enter our bloodstream through the skin on the scalp. I don't have any data at the moment as to how this effects us but the thought helped me decide to stretch mine out, at least by 3 weeks longer.
 
[ QUOTE ]
DigitalRain said:
I understand this, I do. I guess what I am thinking is that if straightening the hair is not a concern, why apply the relaxer and if long healthy hair is the ultimate goal, why not forgo chemicals and opt for natural hair is which is stronger and healthier than chemically treated hair would ever be.

I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I won't post anymore about this, promise.
frown.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

some people want long healthy relaxed hair, some people want long healthy natural hair

Some people even want both - hehe that's me
smile.gif


We all decide what we want and go for it.


btw- Natural hair my be stronger and healthier if taken care properly, but it can become almost as weak and damaged as relaxed hair if it isn't. I've seen many people with dry, breaking natural hair and I've seen many people with dry, breaking relaxed hair as well.
 
i relax my hair just to relax the curl, not to get it bone straight. so even right after a retouch, the texture is not completely straight. when the new growth comes, there isn't much of a difference in the textures. relaxing it this way gives me the option of wearing my hair curly or straight.

the reason i relax less frequently is mainly to prevent overlapping, which only weakens the hair even more. my hair grows at about 1/4" per month. if i relaxed every 8 weeks, there would be a greater chance of overlapping since there's only about 1/2" of hair to work with. i recently started waiting for 12 weeks. it used to be 16 weeks, but i lost more hair from shedding that last 4 weeks so i switched up.

NO offense taken by me. i think it's a legitimate question!
smile.gif
 
i decided to strecth out my relaxer because it is healthier for my hair and i really did notice i difference when i did this. relaxers too often can be very damaging. getting relaxers every 3 or 4 months is very different from having completely natural hair. even though i get a relaxer a few times a year i wouldn't be able to attend to my hair in a natural state and i did transition for about a year, but it just didn't work out for me. i think most women mainly strecth out the relaxer to obtain healthier hair.
 
Sorry I couldn't resist posting, haha
tongue.gif


So it seems that some are sayings its to keep the hair manageable, and making it easier to reapply a relaxer w/o overlapping.

My hair isn't relaxed bone straight, but the relaxed parts are still considerably different from the new growth. I think maybe I have 4c hair because my new growth is packed, super kinky and frizzy, especially around the hairline and tightly coiled small ringlets at the crown. Its strong, wiry, and coarse and not soft to the touch, and making it submit is next to impossible. (my mom used to say I have hair straight from the motherland) My hair grows the normal 1/2 a month and usually a inch or so in the summer.

If I decide to extend my relaxer what would be the best way to do it for my hair type, all this considered?
 
I also extend for manageability although my new growth is more manageable than I originally thought it was. But since my strands are thick and therefore coarse AND the density is thick, it is easier to manage with a relaxer. My daughter and I have somewhat similar textures, but her strands are fine and it's much easier taking care of hers than mine. So she'll remain natural. Even if it wasn't easy to manage, she would still be natural simply because she's too young. And I don't want to make that decision for her.

I wear my hair up all the time so straight doesn't mean much to me until I want to see my length. But I also don't want to spend all day getting it straight so I'm on the fence about going natural. That's why it's been almost 26 weeks since my last relaxer. Right now, my roots are flat because I flat-ironed since I wanted to see the length. My edges got poofy yesterday but I put some UBH moisturizer on it and put on my scarf and today, my edges are straight and flat again. The scarf is my best friend!!

DR, have you tried only combing your newgrowth when it's wet? After that, when you style your hair, you would only comb the relaxed parts until you get your hair wet again. My mother stretches her relaxers by never combing the new growth even when wet. She finally stopped getting it cut and her hair is at her waist. She has never gotten a retouch sooner than 8 weeks. It's usually 10. So naturally I continued this practice on my own hair.
 
I didn't think it was possible to extend my relaxers either, because I have thick 4b hair, not a shred of 4a. But for the first time, I started using castor oil on my new growth and CO washes with Pantene S&S, and when I saw how soft and more manageable my new growth was, I was like "Whoa". I relax every 8 weeks now, but I think I can get actually get away with 10 weeks (I don't know about 12), which is good considering I use to get them every 5 weeks.
 
i dont have 4a/b hair, im not even sure if its 2b/c or 3b/c my natural hair straightened to a relaxer straight condition pretty easy just by runing a brush through it, how ever id been relaxing my hair every 3 months since i can remember. i plan to cut it down to once a year, only because i like the look of "bonestraight" hair, and a relaxer makes it easier to maintain that look. its only recently that i discouvered im better off relaxing less often, my hair benefits by growin in thicker longer and healthier.
 
Good question.

For me, as a 3C,4A, there is no need to relax so often because I don't wear my hair out too much. Since I wear protective hairstyles and conditioner wash, my new growth is soft and easily smoothed into a bun. I don't want to put such a harsh chemical (relaxer) on my scalp too often, and this helps to avoid that. If I were someone who wore my hair out often, I would relax more often or just use a flat iron to get it straight.
 
I relax to get my hair straight, if I never wanted my hair straight I wouldn't relax. I wrap my hair a wear it down most of the time, I relax every 6 weeks and I've never had a problem, my hair has always been healthy. I find that when I try to stretch mine out I end up just breaking my hair by trying to wash, comb etc with a lot of newgrowth.
 
i have 4a/b hair and i'm stretching out my relaxers for several reasons. i do my own touchups and i like knowing where the new and old hair begin and end, i want to slow down putting chemicals in my hair so often, also i was going insane trying to see if my hair is actually growing so i decided to stretch out my relaxers so i can really see it. 11.5 weeks right now--my goal was 12...we'll see what happens
wink.gif
but i think there are alot that do it to actually see the growth
smile.gif
--jainygirl
 
DR, I understand where you're coming from. A person who gets the same amount of newgrowth in 6 weeks that a person gets in 3 or 4 months should not wait 3 or 4 months, in my opinion. I've tried that before and it didn't help my situation. I'll be touching up according to how much newgrowth I have.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Karonica said:
DR, I understand where you're coming from. A person who gets the same amount of newgrowth in 6 weeks that a person gets in 3 or 4 months should not wait 3 or 4 months, in my opinion. I've tried that before and it didn't help my situation. I'll be touching up according to how much newgrowth I have.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a good point
 
I have never got more than 3 relaxers a year and I have never seen any reason for getting more. I have very very thick hair and I like to maintain that. All the women that I personally know who do relaxers every 6 to 8 weeks don't have the kind of the hair I desire. I don't like bone straight hair. I like to relax for the managablility. But, do it less often because I like the thick hair I can mantain. Plus, I don't mind the new growth.
 
Thanks.

I asked the stylist about this last Friday. It had been 6 weeks since my last touch-up and she told me that it wasn't too soon. She said I had a lot of newgrowth and that my hair must've grown fast in that time period. She said there are some whose hair don't grow so fast, and would have to wait longer, but it's all depending on the newgrowth. Perhaps I won't experience alot of newgrowth over the next 6 week span and may have to wait 8.
smile.gif
I can't go over 8 or it's murder.
laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
brittanynic16 said:
I have never got more than 3 relaxers a year and I have never seen any reason for getting more. I have very very thick hair and I like to maintain that. All the women that I personally know who do relaxers every 6 to 8 weeks don't have the kind of the hair I desire. I don't like bone straight hair. I like to relax for the managablility. But, do it less often because I like the thick hair I can mantain. Plus, I don't mind the new growth.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brittany, I noticed in your sig that you describe your hair as 4bCiii. Would you mind describing your texture to me?
 
[ QUOTE ]
DigitalRain said:
[ QUOTE ]
brittanynic16 said:
I have never got more than 3 relaxers a year and I have never seen any reason for getting more. I have very very thick hair and I like to maintain that. All the women that I personally know who do relaxers every 6 to 8 weeks don't have the kind of the hair I desire. I don't like bone straight hair. I like to relax for the managablility. But, do it less often because I like the thick hair I can mantain. Plus, I don't mind the new growth.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brittany, I noticed in your sig that you describe your hair as 4bCiii. Would you mind describing your texture to me?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah.I would also like to know
smile.gif
 
Certainly! Well, until just recently I thought that I had mostly 4a coiled hair. But, i have been investigating my new grow and I noticed that I could only find a couple of coils while the majority of my hair was growing in small waves. No curls just tiny waves. The individual strands have passed the coarse test even in the relaxed state. You can defiantly feel them when you roll them between your fingers. And it is thick! Super super thick. I need to post more pictures of it. HTH
 
I was actually thinking about this the other day, and I think I decided that I want to have my cake and eat it too. I like wearing my hair straight, but I know that I don't need to have it relaxed bone straight every 4-6 weeks to achieve that. Relaxing every 12 weeks keeps my hair in a certain "texture range" that's less bulky than my natural hair would be and I don't have to worry about the instant reversion that would come from pressing if my hair was around too much moisture, (i've always liked washing my hair often and I try to exercise daily). Since it's already 90% straight, all I have to do is rollerset and be done. If the newgrowth isn't as straight as I would like, I can just flat-iron that part. That's much faster to me than having to press my whole head straight. Before I got my relaxer in middle school, I remember spending all day to get it washed and pressed and then walking outside and feeling it double in size in 20 minutes.

I actually like playing in my newgrowth and seeing the waves when I pull it back into a bun, so I don't mind having a lot of newgrowth.

I hope that made sense.
 
My hair has always grown at a steady pace and by 6 weeks, I have a fair amount of new growth. Right now at almost 6 months, I have 3-5 inches of new growth depending on where you look in my hair. With me, it's not about how much new growth I have. It's about not wanting to put relaxers in my hair that often. 6-9 months is what I'm shooting for. I had a lady tell me that I needed a perm. But then the next day, she was encouraging me to go natural simply because I don't wear my hair down a lot anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

QueenT
How to retough half of head at a time?
Replies
2
Views
685
SelfStyled
SelfStyled
B
Should I Get A Texture Softener OR Relaxer
Replies
4
Views
9K
Myjourney2009
Myjourney2009
AsianAfricanPrincess
4bs Using Revlon's Realistic Relaxer
Replies
4
Views
3K
AsianAfricanPrincess
AsianAfricanPrincess
moonlightchic18
Relaxer and treatment advice--going to the spa!
Replies
5
Views
1K
moonlightchic18
moonlightchic18
B
Hair relaxer question. Please help.
Replies
3
Views
959
BlackGeisha
BlackGeisha
Back
Top