Hair types and relaxed hair

[daviine]

How do the relaxed people know their hair types? Is it by looking at the new growth alone?

I thought I read someone say that you can't tell becasue this is "scab hair". I don't know what that means but is that true?

I'm really curious though. I'm curious enough to try to transition with braids and then unbraid just to see what the type is. Is that one way of finding out?

Let me know because because I didn't really care before but the curiosity is just KILLING me man!

 

[Allandra]

Do you remember what your hair was like prior to relaxing? That can be a big help.

 

[daviine]

I've been relaxed since I was about nine. /images/graemlins/blush.gif /images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[LuvableLady]

I recently completed transitioning and it did involve cutting all my hair off. I don’t think most are up for that. Now, about the hair type.

When I was relaxed, looking at the new growth, it appeared to me that I was about a 3c/4A and I thought my hair grew out wavy and sort of hard (compared to now being relaxer free). After cutting the relaxed hair off, I learned that it only appeared to grow out wavy because all the length was pulling it down and stretching the new growth out making it appear wavy. My natural hair is curly, I don’t mean slightly curly, it actually looks like I put a curly perm in. The texture may change as it grows because my hair is only 3 inches long right now but I never knew I had all these natural curls because I have been relaxed since I was quite young as well. To sum it up, I could not tell my hair type with a relaxer and I don’t know if most can. I’m in my second month of being completely napptural and my hair is becoming softer and softer and more manageable. At first, it was hard and curly but I think the scab hair is slowing going away because I have been doing clippings throughout the first month.

I do think that “scab hair” is real and that it is difficult to tell your true hair type when the hair is relaxed, chemically altered, or during transition because of the weight of the relaxed hair pulling the new growth down. Trust me it is totally different when you cut the relaxed hair off, it looks like some else’s hair, sort of like baby hair.

 

[BrightEyes]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
daviine said:
How do the relaxed people know their hair types? Is it by looking at the new growth alone?

I thought I read someone say that you can't tell becasue this is "scab hair". I don't know what that means but is that true?

I'm really curious though. I'm curious enough to try to transition with braids and then unbraid just to see what the type is. Is that one way of finding out?

Let me know because because I didn't really care before but the curiosity is just KILLING me man!

[/ QUOTE ]


Yes, it's true.

When you relax some of the chemicals affect the hair that has not left your scalp yet. Some women think that their new growth is what their hair is really like, and that's not always true. Many times the new growth you are seeing is rougher than your real hair. My hair got softer over time. It took about a year to purge all the chemicals and see my true texture. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Karonica]

Strangely, my relaxed hair is like 3c. It fits all the descriptions. Straight wet and dries curly. My natural roots are in between 3c-4a. I can especially tell this after a conditioner wash.

 

[rayne]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
When you relax some of the chemicals affect the hair that has not left your scalp yet. Some women think that their new growth is what their hair is really like, and that's not always true. Many times the new growth you are seeing is rougher than your real hair. My hair got softer over time. It took about a year to purge all the chemicals and see my true texture.

[/ QUOTE ]

So that's why my curly hair is now wavy....very interesting. For years I've been wanting to go natural, but didn't because sometimes my new growth would be hard and tangle very easily. Now I wonder what my hair is really like /images/graemlins/scratchchin.gif

 

[azul11]

wouldnt it be hard to tell as well because of the type of care your hair was under before you relaxed? like say the people around you never really used any of the techniques the ladies here used to care for your hair so your hair may have seemed to be one type when in reality with care it could be a completely different type. i dont know where i heard this from but there was this girl who for the longest thought she had long frizzy straight hair until she took better care of it and learned she had beautiful ringlets. so sometimes even looking at old pics of your hair before may not be a good indicator. God bless you all.

 

[lala]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
LuvableLady said:
To sum it up, I could not tell my hair type with a relaxer and I don’t know if most can.

[/ QUOTE ]


I agree with the above statement. That's why I have not listed a hairtype. I have no clue what my hair type is. I got my 1st relaxer @ 16. Prior to that I did not always press my hair. If I dried it pulled back in a ponytail, it would be straight. My mom did not want me to get the relaxer in the 1st place but I did anyway. Over the years, I thought the relaxer had changed the texture of my hair, but it sounds like maybe it's not true. I've never heard the term "scab" hair before. The new growth is so rough it's like carpet.

 

[VALLEYGIRL]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I do think that &amp;#8220;scab hair&amp;#8221; is real and that it is difficult to tell your true hair type when the hair is relaxed, chemically altered, or during transition because of the weight of the relaxed hair pulling the new growth down. Trust me it is totally different when you cut the relaxed hair off, it looks like some else&amp;#8217;s hair, sort of like baby hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree ...When I transitioned it was before I discovered internet hair boards or any books on the subject so I never heard of scab hair until recently.
I will say that my hair looks very different now from how it was as a child. I never had any type of curl definition whatsoever!!! I grew out my relaxer senior year in high school and still no curl definition..straight up fuzz, frizz and a big old mullet fro!!! I didn't know how to care for it so I relaxed again. Then in 96-98 I transitioned again with a much better knowledge of how to care for my hair and the right products to manage the fuzz and frizz and it is like night and day.
Someone even suggested that your hair changes every 7 years so who knows what happened to my hair, but I do know that I never would have guessed that I would ever have curls/waves on my head. When I would look at my new growth it always seemed much kinkier than it is right now.

 

[CurlyCrly]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
daviine said:
How do the relaxed people know their hair types? Is it by looking at the new growth alone?

I thought I read someone say that you can't tell becasue this is "scab hair". I don't know what that means but is that true?

I'm really curious though. I'm curious enough to try to transition with braids and then unbraid just to see what the type is. Is that one way of finding out?

Let me know because because I didn't really care before but the curiosity is just KILLING me man!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I know because about 3 years ago I cut my hair down to 3-4" after transitioning for about 8 months relaxer-free. Then, I was natural for 6 more months.