Fine, Relaxed, Long Hair? Is it possible?

[tapioca_pudding]

Looking for a rollcall of ladies who have fine, relaxed, long (APL or longer) hair. I have fine hair and recently relaxed. I know it is harder to retain when your hair is fine and relaxed, but is it possible?

If you are a fine haired relaxed lady with long hair, please state your regimen and what helps you retain.

Thank you!

 

[koolkittychick]

I have fine, relaxed hair, and it is currently MBL. My regimen is very simple:

1. Wash and DC once a week, followed by M&S. Will M&S once more in middle of week, especially if I am deep in a stretch.
2. I stretch my relaxer for a minimum 12 weeks at a time. Currently attempting my first 6 months stretch (I'm 3 months in), so we'll see how it goes.
3. I don't use heat ever except when I go to the salon for a touch up.
4. I wear my hair up 90% of the time in loose buns or French braid styles.
5. I have learned to detangle and style my hair primarily with my fingers, especially deep in a stretch. I use a comb once a week on wash day, and I never use brushes.
6. I take a supplement pak which includes a formula for skin and nails, drink minimum 64 oz. of water daily, and exercise at least 3xs a week.

That's it. I was able to grow and retain about 6 inches of hair last year, taking me from APL to MBL, and I hope to repeat that progress this year to reach WL using this regimen.

 

[tapioca_pudding]

koolkittychick

Thank you so much for responding!!! That was so helpful.

 

[Harina]

I have fine, relaxed hair, and it is currently MBL. My regimen is very simple:

1. Wash and DC once a week, followed by M&S. Will M&S once more in middle of week, especially if I am deep in a stretch.
   
   etch. I use a comb once a week on wash day, and I never use brushes.
2. I take a supplement pak which includes a formula for skin and nails, drink minimum 64 oz. of water daily, and exercise at least 3xs a week.

:

koolkittychick I'm not relaxed but I was wondering what you m&s'd with.
Also what supplement pak do you take?

 

[Lucie]

Harina, I just love your siggy. Makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside.

Oops, I almost responded OP. I just realized this is for FINE hair. That siggy got me all confused. LOL!

 

[koolkittychick]

@koolkittychick I'm not relaxed but I was wondering what you m&s'd with.
Also what supplement pak do you take?

@Harina, the products I use to M&S are surpisingly cheap and easy to find, and they work wonders on my 4a/b hair:

Moisturizer

Sealer

The moisturizer works (especially on my new growth) because it is water-based and contains no mineral oil (oddly enough, everything else in that product line does contain mineral oil and thus does not work on my hair), and the sealer is basically the only way my hair will tolerate shea butter, as I tried the shampoo and conditioner that go with this product and they were an EPIC FAIL on my hair. Both work very well together and are my staples, which is a good thing, because the shampoo and conditioner I use are an obscenely expensive brand I buy from my salon when I get a touch up.

ETA: This is the supplement I take: GNC BeWholesome. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Not only has taken this vitapak improved my hair, skin and nails, but it has improved my health overall, and made my doctor very happy.

 

[AmiJay]

koolkittychick, I've decided to stop using heat on my hair. Do you think that stopping heat really makes a big difference?

 

[koolkittychick]

AmiJay, truth be told, I stopped using heat about 3 years ago, but I didn't start seeing major progress with length retention until I learned how to stretch my relaxers during the last year and a half and found a good M&S routine. Those, in addition to no heat, have made all the difference in my length retention.

 

[tapioca_pudding]

Bumpbump...

 

[JudithO]

Yep... Very possible. I was WL before I decided to transition. My hair is very fine, and 4C. My reggie is in my siggie. The key is make sure you use a weekly conditioner that has protein in it (like the ORS replenishing), and leave a tiny bit more texture in your hair when u relax. Bun like your life depends on it too.. lol

 

[AmiJay]

Yep... Very possible. I was WL before I decided to transition. My hair is very fine, and 4C. My reggie is in my siggie. The key is make sure you use a weekly conditioner that has protein in it (like the ORS replenishing), and leave a tiny bit more texture in your hair when u relax. Bun like your life depends on it too.. lol

Wow, your post tells me I'm on the right track. I've been using Mane n Tail for a couple of months and my hair loves it. My hair is almost all texlaxed now and I'm really seeing the difference. I've also finally got to a length where I can do cute buns and I've been feeling like it's working for me. I also haven't used heat in about 3 weeks and my hair seems to really like this regimen.

 

[DarkJoy]

Excellent topic!


____________
*.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

 

[greenandchic]

Yep... Very possible. I was WL before I decided to transition. My hair is very fine, and 4C. My reggie is in my siggie. The key is make sure you use a weekly conditioner that has protein in it (like the ORS replenishing), and leave a tiny bit more texture in your hair when u relax. Bun like your life depends on it too.. lol

Is the ORS Replenishing the one that contains orange oil?

 

[JudithO]

Is the ORS Replenishing the one that contains orange oil?

Possibly! It is yellow and smells like citrus.

http://www.sallybeauty.com/replenishing-conditioner/SBS-311145,default,pd.html

 

[JudithO]

@koolkittychick, I've decided to stop using heat on my hair. Do you think that stopping heat really makes a big difference?

Yes. Makes a world of difference!

 

[Beamodel]

I'm FINE, RELAXED, MBL

M&S nightly
DC 2x a week
Wear a French braid just about daily
Relax every 10 to 12 weeks

 

[mshoneyfly]

Excellent topic! ____________ *.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

Yes, this is great info. The ladies who have responded so far seem to have a pretty simple regimen un common. I am def lurking!

I havent reached APL yet but I think I need to get rid of these bone straight relaxed ends. Leaving some texture is really working for my hair but I can really tell the diff. There's only a few inches left. Lately, its been slowly breaking right at the demarcation line

I LOVE this HHJ!!

 

[greenandchic]

Possibly! It is yellow and smells like citrus.

http://www.sallybeauty.com/replenishing-conditioner/SBS-311145,default,pd.html

That's it! It has Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Oil (Orange) pretty close to the top of the list of ingredients. It smells .

 

[tapioca_pudding]

Bump bump bump!

 

[TamaraShaniece]

I'm in between APL and BSL. I think stretching every 3 months between relaxers and protecting your hair, long hair is possible.

However, in my case I have High Porosity Hair from relaxing, coloring, yada yada so my hair does not retain any moisture (except for my new growth). So the longer my hair gets, my old ends will break period. Seem as though for me, I will be transitioning to natural.

 

[coolsista-paris]

to the relaxed heads: do you have difficulty recongnizîng new growth well, on touch ups?

i feel new growth but i have a feeling i might mess up on touching up.

 

[klsjackson]

I'm relaxed with fine hair. I have learned that my hair can't handle heat. So I mostly roller set. I'm not a fan of protective styles so I mostly do a roller wrap. I shampoo and deep condition once a week. I m&s with ORS olive oil moisturizer and Gleau oil. I use Affirm and Kera Care products, but my fav DC is ORS Replenishing. Staying away from direct heat and sealing my ends helps me retain length. I also take vitamins. I love GNC hair, skin and nails. I also take 5000 mcg of biotin daily.

 

[blackbeauty14]

Hi everyone!

I had very fine hair but very coarse so relaxed it and had been doing for years. What I found was that my relaxed hair would always break as new hair came in. This continued for years until I found Elixir hair oil by Les Joli. This oil truly saved my hair. It's all natural which is a bonus. I massage it into my scalp every night and have been using it for a little over a year now. My hair does break anymore and is actually thicker and fuller for the first time in 8 years. My hair always grew anyway everyone's does but it would break just as fast so my hair was always above shoulder height for most of my adult life. In this last year my hair has reached my shoulder blades! As an Afro caribbean this is outstanding! I have told all my friends and family about this oil because it has truly changed my life!

 

[Evolving78]

to the relaxed heads: do you have difficulty recongnizîng new growth well, on touch ups?

i feel new growth but i have a feeling i might mess up on touching up.

. I had a very distinctive natural curl pattern so I can easily tell between the new growth and relaxed .

 

[Evolving78]

. I had a very distinctive natural curl pattern so I can easily tell between the new growth and relaxed .

I also can handle heat I have to make sure that I detangle my hair properly and I cannot tolerate hair product buildup so I have to wash at least once or twice a week.

 

[SunRai Naturals]

I have fine 4c/b hair strands & have been going back & forth about whether to get a relaxer. With all of the research I'm doing on here thriving relaxed fine strand ladies MBL & longer are very few in number

The thing that also has me hesitant about getting a relaxer is the random breakage. This concerns me especially with my fine strands. I've been reading through alot of the relaxer posts & see over and over again where even people with the best regimens experience breakage & setbacks. Being natural with a good regimen has made my length retention predictable & I wouldn't want that to change.

 

[cocoagirl]

Any more relaxed ladies who manage to grow and maintain long lengths that have high porosity hair? If so what is your routine?

 

[crazytrish75]

I am in between APL/BSL and a 4a/4b fine haired relaxer. My torso is VERY long and my bra sits very low, so full BSL will actually be more like MBL on me. I would have been there by now but laziness coupled with depression last year really stagnated my growth. I am back on my growth train for 2015

My reggie:

*stretch a minimum of 12 weeks, usually 20-24

*prepoo/protein with Sally GVP brand of Joico K-pack weekly
*Poo 1x week with Nexxus Therrape

*DC 2x week in winter and deep in my stretch, 1x week early in stretch and warm weather: Ao HSR on sunday, Neutragena Daily deep conditioner on Weds/Thurs.

*Ayurvedic tea rinse and Cowash it out with cheapy condish 1-2 times a week - Note: I stopped doing this last year to try to make my reggie even simpler and the difference in my hair was huge. It really does toughen up and thicken my strands

*henna 3x a year

*M&S every 2-3 days with the detangling mix in the video below. It does double duty for me, detangler and leave in. Seal with coconut oil

*protective style- bun or French braid every day. PSing is easy for me, I wear surgical caps all day so I have to put my hair up anyway

It sounds like a lot, but truthfully all this stuff takes me 2 hours max a week to do...except the henna, I leave it in for 2-4 hours. Detangling was my biggest issue as my hair loves to dread at the snap of a finger and I would have a lot of breakage by the time I finished, but this video saved my life. I detangle in 5 minutes or less, even at 20 weeks post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h573mDB2gec

 

[Evolving78]

Bumping! I'm back 3 years later at APL. I went back to a relaxer at the end of 2016. I still have to wash my hair 1-2x a week to avoid buildup, and I still can handle heat. I plan on going back to roller setting next year in the spring/summer. I noticed that nobody in this thread wore strenuous protective styles, or hair extensions. I know that is too much for fine hair. What is the best relaxer for fine hair? Is it Lye, or No Lye?