Hair Question--this may be a stupid question but....

[princessdi]

We all know that when we relax our hair it is permanently relaxed never to revert back to it's normal condition until new growth starts to grow in around 8 weeks post, or for some sooner.

When we first relax our hair, it is silky, soft, and bouncing from root to end. After about 8 weeks, the new growth starts to come in and we have to deal with our natural hair until we relax again.

My question is:

If our hair is permanently relaxed (ends and all) why does the ends get frizzy, dry, and easily damaged at 10 weeks or more post? Why doesn't the ends stay as silky as the day we first relax?

 

[lana]

I was wondering this same thing, because I DO NOT smooth my relaxer all the way through, but when I relax my new growth, the entire head of hair seems to act "freshly texlaxed". It's odd. I don't know...I guess the roots make the difference.

 

[FlawedBeauty]

maybe when the new stuff starts growin in all the moisture and oils from the scalp is havin trouble makin its way down the length of the hair since its no longer a straight shot down. i have no clue tho lol. just thinkin of stuff...

 

[chica_canella]

maybe when the new stuff starts growin in all the moisture and oils from the scalp is havin trouble makin its way down the length of the hair since its no longer a straight shot down. i have no clue tho lol. just thinkin of stuff...

You know that isn't a bad theory at all. I think it holds truth to it. I think the main culprit is that we don't baby our ends as much as we do the rest of our hair, meaning that our ends have a rough time to go through with all we do to it. It's like our hair is in a war already with the curling, manipulation, non-moisturizing or conditioning ways (we had before LHCF) so I think that is another reason they may end up frizzy.

And like flawedbeauty said, the closer to the scalp the more oil can be distributed to the hair.

 

[Dee-Licious]

i wish wish wish my hair had that fresh relaxer feel all the time... it would make dealing with my newgrowth easier...

 

[Kimberly]

I was wondering this same thing, because I DO NOT smooth my relaxer all the way through, but when I relax my new growth, the entire head of hair seems to act "freshly texlaxed". It's odd. I don't know...I guess the roots make the difference.

but you can not rinse the relaxer from your hair (new growth) without it washing through your previously relaxed hair, either. I can feel the difference in my previously relaxed ends when I am rinsing mine out.

 

[glamazon386]

This is a good question. The reason why I think this may be true is runoff. I mean think about it, people say it's hard to texturize or texlax hair as it gets longer bc each time you wash out the relaxer, the residue from the chemical runs down the length of your hair and the older hair will continue to get straighter. Which eventually leaves texturized hair with straight ends that will need to be clipped.

I don't see why that wouldn't apply to relaxed hair. I mean it's not that big of deal because the point of the relaxer is to straighten your hair. Your hair's already straight so you don't have to worry about it loosing the curl pattern. But that might be the reason why all the hair acts better after a fresh relaxer. The residue from the relaxer runs down the hair when washing it out which in turn smoothes the already relaxed hair out some more.

 

[chica_canella]

This is a good question. The reason why I think this may be true is runoff. I mean think about it, people say it's hard to texturize or texlax hair as it gets longer bc each time you wash out the relaxer, the residue from the chemical runs down the length of your hair and the older hair will continue to get straighter. Which eventually leaves texturized hair with straight ends that will need to be clipped.

I don't see why that wouldn't apply to relaxed hair. I mean it's not that big of deal because the point of the relaxer is to straighten your hair. Your hair's already straight so you don't have to worry about it loosing the curl pattern. But that might be the reason why all the hair acts better after a fresh relaxer. The residue from the relaxer runs down the hair when washing it out which in turn smoothes the already relaxed hair out some more.

That would mean major damage and overporoused hair IMO, unfortunately. It would be like re-relaxing your hair but do you think the relaxer stays on your hair long enough to relax it. I mean at the most it is on there for like 3 minutes and it is mixed with water.

 

[FlawedBeauty]

That would mean major damage and overporoused hair IMO, unfortunately. It would be like re-relaxing your hair but do you think the relaxer stays on your hair long enough to relax it. I mean at the most it is on there for like 3 minutes and it is mixed with water.

i was thinking this same thing. it takes 15-20 min, if not longer to relax hair so why would a few minutes of relaxer being washed throug old strands straighten hair. i have left relaxer on my head for 10 - 15 minutes and still ended up with curlies so i dont think that 2 or three minutes of it mixed with poo and water really affects the previous strands.

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

i was thinking this same thing. it takes 15-20 min, if not longer to relax hair so why would a few minutes of relaxer being washed throug old strands straighten hair. i have left relaxer on my head for 10 - 15 minutes and still ended up with curlies so i dont think that 2 or three minutes of it mixed with poo and water really affects the previous strands.

I think what Bmoreflyygirl said has a lot of truth to it. If you think about it, the previously relaxed strands are already straight, so the runoff from the touchup may make them "behave" and give you that smooth, silky fresh-relaxer look again.

 

[chica_canella]

I don't know, I think a chemist or Navasgeda will have to come and explain to me.

 

[FlawedBeauty]

I think what Bmoreflyygirl said has a lot of truth to it. If you think about it, the previously relaxed strands are already straight, so the runoff from the touchup may make them "behave" and give you that smooth, silky fresh-relaxer look again.

oh i understand that part. i was just speaking in terms of whether or not the texlaxed hair will get straighter and straighter

 

[RubyWoo]

That would mean major damage and overporoused hair IMO, unfortunately. It would be like re-relaxing your hair but do you think the relaxer stays on your hair long enough to relax it. I mean at the most it is on there for like 3 minutes and it is mixed with water.

But if you're protecting you're ends with conditioner and maybe some oil(for additional protection), I don't think there would be damage/overprocessing. There are even texlaxers on here that put conditioner and oil to their entire head to prevent the hair from being fully processed.

 

[CAPlush]

You can get that fresh relaxer feel if you use the right products, incorporate more acidifying products into your regimen, it will help a lot!

 

[caribeandiva]

maybe when the new stuff starts growin in all the moisture and oils from the scalp is havin trouble makin its way down the length of the hair since its no longer a straight shot down. i have no clue tho lol. just thinkin of stuff...

hmm i never thought about that. it makes perfect sense though.

 

[Missi]

.....i agree w/ everybody too: i know we have the driest hair of any race so applying moisturizer it to it once won't keep it like that forever: especially after a relaxer: its now even more dry: so we have to keep applying moisture: and we know since our new growth is curly: it takes up most of the moisture: all the reasons I baggy: where does the oil go????????Hair sucks it right up.

 

[B_Phlyy]

You can get that fresh relaxer feel if you use the right products, incorporate more acidifying products into your regimen, it will help a lot!

I agree with this. When I was relaxed, I never got frizzy ends, only my new growth was frizzy. I did get split though because I flat ironed or curled my hair everyday.

 

[Everything Zen]

Hmmmm.... Very interesting ladies! Also it just feels good to know that I wasn't the only person who didn't understand this phenomenon as well.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

You are right, sometimes it's all about the products you use. To me dry frizzy ends means I'm dying of thirst and your hair needs more moisture especially the ends.

You can get that fresh relaxer feel if you use the right products, incorporate more acidifying products into your regimen, it will help a lot!

 

[winterinatl]

oh i understand that part. i was just speaking in terms of whether or not the texlaxed hair will get straighter and straighter

Mine sort of has.
The longer the hair the older it is. It's been subjected to more relaxing (even if not that much) than the hair closer to the crown. So my waves near the bottom and ends are not as defined. When it was about 5 inches shorter the curls and waves were easier to define.

I try to remedy it by making sure not to relax bone striahgt, I guess which you all refer to as texlax?

 

[princessdi]

You can get that fresh relaxer feel if you use the right products, incorporate more acidifying products into your regimen, it will help a lot!

What acidifying products do you use?

 

[BrooklynSouth]

This is a good question. The reason why I think this may be true is runoff. I mean think about it, people say it's hard to texturize or texlax hair as it gets longer bc each time you wash out the relaxer, the residue from the chemical runs down the length of your hair and the older hair will continue to get straighter. Which eventually leaves texturized hair with straight ends that will need to be clipped.

I don't see why that wouldn't apply to relaxed hair. I mean it's not that big of deal because the point of the relaxer is to straighten your hair. Your hair's already straight so you don't have to worry about it loosing the curl pattern. But that might be the reason why all the hair acts better after a fresh relaxer. The residue from the relaxer runs down the hair when washing it out which in turn smoothes the already relaxed hair out some more.

I think Bmoreflyygirl has the right idea, sort of a short corrective action going on. I also think the diluted setting lotion adds to the silky ends. The acidifyer I use is FANTASIA ic LEAVE-IN HAIR/SCALP TREATMENT. IC has a ph of 5-5.5 counteracting the alkalinity of a relaxer. Ingredients: PROCYSTENOL}..protein,cystine and panthenol, used daily it hardens my hair so I must moisturize and add an oil.

 

[glamazon386]

i was thinking this same thing. it takes 15-20 min, if not longer to relax hair so why would a few minutes of relaxer being washed throug old strands straighten hair. i have left relaxer on my head for 10 - 15 minutes and still ended up with curlies so i dont think that 2 or three minutes of it mixed with poo and water really affects the previous strands.

For the same reason people with texturized hair end up with straight ends eventually. If you ever wanna tell if somebody has a texturizer or is natural that's a sure fire way to do it. They'll have straight pieces sticking out at the ends. That's why they say it's hard to have long texturized hair. And people on this board put protein treatments and oils and things on the previously texturized hair to keep it from getting straight. Of course it's not going to be as drastic of a change as the actual touch up process because it's residue which has been diluted. But it does happen.

 

[sweetcashew]

I'm not sure how to respond to this. All I know is that my hair ends look the same whether I'm freshly relaxed or 10 weeks post. My overall strands behave the same way. Have the same bounce and flow to it.
Maybe there is some truth to the run off relaxer touching the rest of your strands when you wash it out, but if your hair is getting the moisture it needs, your ends shouldn't be dry at 10 weeks post. You should only be fighting with the new growth.

 

[PapillionRouge]

We all know that when we relax our hair it is permanently relaxed never to revert back to it's normal condition until new growth starts to grow in around 8 weeks post, or for some sooner.

When we first relax our hair, it is silky, soft, and bouncing from root to end. After about 8 weeks, the new growth starts to come in and we have to deal with our natural hair until we relax again.

My question is:

If our hair is permanently relaxed (ends and all) why does the ends get frizzy, dry, and easily damaged at 10 weeks or more post? Why doesn't the ends stay as silky as the day we first relax?

This is only like the best question ever!
I always wondered about this....

 

[senimoni]

Even if there is run-off that is processing the ends....to me that doesn't explain why on day 1 it looks great and day ??? the ends look crazy...relaxers are still permanent.

I've wondered this myself but gave up trying to figure out the reasoning.

 

[chica_canella]

Well, I know that I just received a fresh relaxer and my ends aren't frizzy or anything. He put the relaxer over the relaxed hair also because he says that my last relaxer left my hair frizzy instead of straight.