AngieK
New Member
<font color="brown">My saga began last Friday . . .
Well, I was supposed to get my relaxer done last Friday at the JC Penney salon. Since my regular stylist has moved away due to an illness in his family, this was my first time going to this salon. Anyway, once I got there, I chatted with the stylist and she determined that I have "soft" hair. However, she did not have an appropriate relaxer for my hair type. She only had Dudley's (too strong), and Affirm no-lye (I won't use a no-lye). Discouraged, I asked her if it would be okay to bring my own relaxer. I planned on letting her use the Elucence since I had always gotten the best results with it. She agreed that it would be better to wait until I could bring the relaxer that works well on my hair and suggested that we do a wash and set.
Okay, there I was almost 13 weeks post relaxer with a TON of new growth. I normally get it done every 8 to 10 weeks, but I was waiting to see if my other stylist was going to return. I did not want to bother with having to wash and set it myself (too much new growth), so I welcomed the prospect of her doing it for me.
She washed it and gave it 2 conditioners. I assume the first one was protein, and the second was a moisturizer. I went under the dryer for both of them. Up until this point, everything was pretty uneventful.
Once she rinsed my hair, she proceeded to set my hair . . . no oil, no leave-in conditioner, only a foaming setting lotion. After the rollers came out, she was getting ready to wrap it. I commented that I looked a little dry and stated that it needed some oil. She took some "hair grease" and rubbed it between her palms and applied a light coating to the outside layer of my hair. Then she wrapped it and placed me under the dryer. It looked okay when it was done, but it looked and felt dry.
Once I got home, I oiled it with my Mango Butter oil mixture and wrapped it again. It felt much better, but not like it would had the oil been applied before it was set. Well, my hair felt dry all weekend and started shedding and I noticed that it was breaking when I combed it. It was breaking A LOT (snap-crackle-pop
). By Monday my scalp started to itch (my scalp rarely itches). I did not want to scratch it because my relaxer appointment was set for Wednesday. HOWEVER, my scalp in the back really started itching to the point where I could not ignore it. I started to rub it lightly and then it started to itch - - and BURN! My scalp was inflamed and I could actually feel heat coming from it
. Well, I had no choice but to wash it. I used a mild shampoo (Aubrey's White Camillia and Jasmine), and a balanced natural conditioner (Druide Tangle-Free). I could tell that my scalp had been traumatized because the shampoo burned a little during the first application. I left the conditioner on for 1 hour with no heat. By the time I rinsed, the burning/itching had subsided. During the combout, I also noticed that elasticity had been restored to my hair. I suspect that my hair was not rinsed well at that salon, which would explain the burning scalp, as well as the brittle hair. I was really discouraged by all the breakage and shedding. It just did not seem right for me to go for a year of careful combing, oiling, trims, conditioning, etc., only to lose a TON of hair in ONE WEEKEND
.
That was the final straw . . . I have been trough 4 stylists in the last year and a half. It was last February when I stopped traveling to my stylist back home (I have only lived here for a little over 2 years). I was now determined to take my hair care into my own hands. I have been relaxing my daughter's hair since last year, and I finally decided to relax my own hair. I had been toying with the idea for a few months now, but I finally made the decision that now is the time.
I had to wait until I felt that my scalp was healed and I made sure to keep the new growth soft and moisturized for the remainder of the week. I relaxed it today with Elucence (normal strength). After rinsing, I used Nexxus Emergencee (a tip I picked up from a salon manual). Then I WASHED out the Emergencee (not supposed to rinse it out) using Elucence Moisture Acidifying shampoo 2x, and then Elucence Moisture Benefits shampoo. I acidified again with a Vitamin C rinse and then applied Joico K-Pac (thanks Supergirl
). This stayed in for 20 minutes with heat. After rinsing, I acidified again with herbal ACV rinse. Then I applied my "END ALL SAVE ALL" of conditioning concoctions: One part Elucence Moisture Balancing Conditioner, one part Elucence Extended Moisture Repair, and one part Kenra Intensive Emollient Treatment - 20 minutes with heat.
After a roller set and wrap, my hair looked great! It was relaxed evenly with no underprocessed areas (thanks to multiple mirrors), and it was soft, shiny and moisturized
.
And so my saga ends here. Now, if I could only learn to cut and trim . . .
AngieK</font>
Well, I was supposed to get my relaxer done last Friday at the JC Penney salon. Since my regular stylist has moved away due to an illness in his family, this was my first time going to this salon. Anyway, once I got there, I chatted with the stylist and she determined that I have "soft" hair. However, she did not have an appropriate relaxer for my hair type. She only had Dudley's (too strong), and Affirm no-lye (I won't use a no-lye). Discouraged, I asked her if it would be okay to bring my own relaxer. I planned on letting her use the Elucence since I had always gotten the best results with it. She agreed that it would be better to wait until I could bring the relaxer that works well on my hair and suggested that we do a wash and set.
Okay, there I was almost 13 weeks post relaxer with a TON of new growth. I normally get it done every 8 to 10 weeks, but I was waiting to see if my other stylist was going to return. I did not want to bother with having to wash and set it myself (too much new growth), so I welcomed the prospect of her doing it for me.
She washed it and gave it 2 conditioners. I assume the first one was protein, and the second was a moisturizer. I went under the dryer for both of them. Up until this point, everything was pretty uneventful.
Once she rinsed my hair, she proceeded to set my hair . . . no oil, no leave-in conditioner, only a foaming setting lotion. After the rollers came out, she was getting ready to wrap it. I commented that I looked a little dry and stated that it needed some oil. She took some "hair grease" and rubbed it between her palms and applied a light coating to the outside layer of my hair. Then she wrapped it and placed me under the dryer. It looked okay when it was done, but it looked and felt dry.
Once I got home, I oiled it with my Mango Butter oil mixture and wrapped it again. It felt much better, but not like it would had the oil been applied before it was set. Well, my hair felt dry all weekend and started shedding and I noticed that it was breaking when I combed it. It was breaking A LOT (snap-crackle-pop
That was the final straw . . . I have been trough 4 stylists in the last year and a half. It was last February when I stopped traveling to my stylist back home (I have only lived here for a little over 2 years). I was now determined to take my hair care into my own hands. I have been relaxing my daughter's hair since last year, and I finally decided to relax my own hair. I had been toying with the idea for a few months now, but I finally made the decision that now is the time.
I had to wait until I felt that my scalp was healed and I made sure to keep the new growth soft and moisturized for the remainder of the week. I relaxed it today with Elucence (normal strength). After rinsing, I used Nexxus Emergencee (a tip I picked up from a salon manual). Then I WASHED out the Emergencee (not supposed to rinse it out) using Elucence Moisture Acidifying shampoo 2x, and then Elucence Moisture Benefits shampoo. I acidified again with a Vitamin C rinse and then applied Joico K-Pac (thanks Supergirl
After a roller set and wrap, my hair looked great! It was relaxed evenly with no underprocessed areas (thanks to multiple mirrors), and it was soft, shiny and moisturized
And so my saga ends here. Now, if I could only learn to cut and trim . . .
AngieK</font>
