going from natural to relaxed...

[Nelli04]

Okay, I got my last perm when I was 16 and I am now 22.
My hair has been shorter or the same length it was when it was permed.
I used to go to the shop every 4-6 weeks to get a retouch and my hair ended up falling out .
This led me to not want a perm and but I also wanted to wear my hair in its natural state.

Well it turns out, I still get my hair pressed every 4-6 weeks and my hair is too much for me to handle in its natural state. And its already lost some of its elasticity so it kind of kills the natural look.
So I am debating getting a light relaxer on my hair...
my only fears are the things you have to do to keep your hair from breaking off.
Now I was told certain things when I had a perm, but I dont think they are true.

Do I really need to go every 4-6 weeks? What will happen if I dont??
Will a light relaxer work on thick 4a hair??
Could I wash my hair and not straighten it, or will it break off that way??
Lastly, what kind of relaxer do you all recommend? I plan to buy one for when I go to the shop.

 

[**SaSSy**]

You should maybe go from Natural to Texlaxed hair because it's not completely straight and you have more versatile styles to work with. You should try to straight atleast 10 to 12 weeks so you don't have to worry about overlapping. I like Mizani BB mild, but I add hair and protect my previous relaxed ends with oil or grease.

 

[SlantedEyezMiss2003]

Well I'm going to try and help as much as I can....every 4-6 weeks in my opinion is way too much, if you go every 4 weeks that's 12 touch-ups a year, and 12 times your hair has been expose to a chemical......I ususally go 12-16 weeks......you can try and stretch your relaxers to 8 weeks in the beginning and see how that goes for you, the thing is not touching that new growth too much, try to wear your hair in a way that doesn't make you bother it so much, I wear buns and ponytails.....the only thing is controlling the shedding, i'm more than 4 months post after a two failed relaxers, so I'm shedding like a dog, and I'm actually getting my hair done sunday......too many relaxers can cause the stylist to overprocess the already relaxed hair.......so try to stretch, but be caution, cause what might work for one, won't work for all........there are a lot of products that can help you stretch your relaxer.....and good person to talk to is Sylver2, she has stretched her hair for a year.......but she doesn't comb or bother her new growth........as in a light relaxer are you talking about mild? I can't tell you what kind of relaxer to use on your hair, I have that course 3c/4a hair, very thick, so my stylist uses mizani butter blend Lye Regular.....I always use regular, whether it's no lye or lye....so you have to decide if you want to use no lye or lye......find Sistaslick's page and she has an article on Lye and No Lye........ I like mizani butter blend line....I hope others will give you their opinions, I hope this helps......

 

[sheba1]

Hey Nelli,

I have been natural for a long time and I've been thinking of relaxing as well. I've never had healthy relaxed hair before but after reading through lhcf I can see I've done many many things wrong in the past.

You'll find many relaxed/texlaxed inspirations around lhcf. As you peruse, click on different healthy haired profiles and see if there's a fotki, a forum album or a journal.

Here's one of my healthy relaxed head inspirations: http://pop.youtube.com/user/chinablk

She was able to bring her hair back from the brink. Most healthy relaxed heads tend to have at least one thing in common; stretching. They stretch relaxers, relaxing no sooner than 8 weeks. The link above is to a young lady that stretches 12 to 14 weeks. The answer to your question is that stretching past 4 to 6 weeks can be very good for the hair as long as you are treating your hair with extreme care, deep conditioning, moisturizing and protective styling.

Another option might be the Brazillian Keratin Treatment that some lhcfers have used. Have you ever heard of it? There's a thread recently started by DontSpeakDefeat for more information and great pics. http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=350699

 

[GoingNatural]

I'm glad that you were able to experience your natural hair!

You definitely dont need to relax every 4-6 weeks. These women stretch for months, some even for a year (shout out to Sylver2)

Washing your hair doesn't break your hair if it's properly moisturized. if you are going to wash often then cowash don't shampoo.

 

[BrooklynSouth]

Okay, I got my last perm when I was 16 and I am now 22.
My hair has been shorter or the same length it was when it was permed.
I used to go to the shop every 4-6 weeks to get a retouch and my hair ended up falling out .
This led me to not want a perm and but I also wanted to wear my hair in its natural state.

Well it turns out, I still get my hair pressed every 4-6 weeks and my hair is too much for me to handle in its natural state. And its already lost some of its elasticity so it kind of kills the natural look.
So I am debating getting a light relaxer on my hair...
my only fears are the things you have to do to keep your hair from breaking off.
Now I was told certain things when I had a perm, but I dont think they are true.

Do I really need to go every 4-6 weeks? What will happen if I dont??
Will a light relaxer work on thick 4a hair??
Could I wash my hair and not straighten it, or will it break off that way??
Lastly, what kind of relaxer do you all recommend? I plan to buy one for when I go to the shop.

I was wondering: have you ever experienced and appreciated your natural texture without heating away your texture? Too much to handle, how so? 5 years but you've never known what it is like to wash your hair without straightening it, you've missed the experience. Nelli04, do what you want but I'm feeling that you have not given your natural texture the chance to show what it can be.