Has anyone went natural until tail bone length then put a relaxer in?

Misshairdiva

Misshairdiva

Well-Known Member
I went natural in 2008, after having relaxers my whole life. I have also always only had shoulder length hair. Now my hair is tail bone but the longer it gets the more I am fighting with it trying to keep it straight, fighting knots ect.
I thinking about relaxing but soo afraid that maybe I wont be able to keep my length?
My hair care practices ofcourse have changed I dont use curling irons which was the devil for my hair, only roller set or flat iron.

Any advice would be helpful.
 
Misshairdiva said:
I went natural in 2008, after having relaxers my whole life. I have also always only had shoulder length hair. Now my hair is tail bone but the longer it gets the more I am fighting with it trying to keep it straight, fighting knots ect.
I thinking about relaxing but soo afraid that maybe I wont be able to keep my length?
My hair care practices ofcourse have changed I dont use curling irons which was the devil for my hair, only roller set or flat iron.

Any advice would be helpful.
Click to expand...

There is a risk as with relaxers your hair didn't grow very long. Relaxers sadly just aren't suited to everyone including me. I could only get to shoulder length too and have grown a few inches below shoulder length. I know that if I relax my hair I won't get to even this length again.

Have you looked at the Japanese straightening treatment. That seems to have good reviews.
 
Misshairdiva said:
I went natural in 2008, after having relaxers my whole life. I have also always only had shoulder length hair. Now my hair is tail bone but the longer it gets the more I am fighting with it trying to keep it straight, fighting knots ect. I thinking about relaxing but soo afraid that maybe I wont be able to keep my length? My hair care practices ofcourse have changed I dont use curling irons which was the devil for my hair, only roller set or flat iron. Any advice would be helpful.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't relax. I also wouldn't Japanese straighten. I think that's the fast track to ruining your hair. My opinion would be otherwise, IF your hair flourished when it WAS relaxed before. Since it didn't, I wouldn't recommend it.

I would like to hear your weekly/daily hair care regimen.
 
havilland said:
I wouldn't relax. I also wouldn't Japanese straighten. I think that's the fast track to ruining your hair. My opinion would be otherwise, IF your hair flourished when it WAS relaxed before. Since it didn't, I wouldn't recommend it.

I would like to hear your weekly/daily hair care regimen.
Click to expand...

I second this. If having relaxed hair didn't work for you, I doubt it will now. Maybe you can do a patch test in the way back of your head. Take care of it for awhile and see how it holds up. Otherwise, I would say that there are some things that not everyone can do. Relaxing may be one of the things that your hair just cant do
 
kupenda said:
I second this. If having relaxed hair didn't work for you, I doubt it will now. Maybe you can do a patch test in the way back of your head. Take care of it for awhile and see how it holds up. Otherwise, I would say that there are some things that not everyone can do. Relaxing may be one of the things that your hair just cant do
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I agree. Do a section in the back of your hair and see how it goes. If you have normal to thick stands it can be doable. I feel like relaxing would just melt my fine stands.

Eta: What about seeking out a stylist so that you aren't the one doing the work all the time? (Assuming you don't have one.)
 
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I agree with the others. I was natural (but only about shoulder length) and decided to relax. It was the biggest mistake I've ever made. Relaxers didn't work for me before going natural and don't work for me now. I'm now transitioning back to natural and kicking myself in the process.
 
I relaxed after being natural for 8 years. I made a great decision. relaxers didn't work for me In the past because I had horrible hair care practices. now that I know healthy hair care my relaxed hair is flourishing..it was a good decision for me because my thick, apl, 3c/4a strands were simply too time consuming. I do alot of the same styles I did when natural..rollersets, braid outs ect but now it's easier to do because my hair is now a breeze to detangle. so no regrets here. to me hair is just hair..if the relaxed hair doesn't work out you can always go natural again. experimenting is key in my opinion..
 
I let my natural hair grow to BSL, when I decided to relax it. I used to think I just didn't care properly for my relaxed hair, and that's why it always stayed at a little past shoulder length at its longest. At first it was great (see hair in my avatar) it was thick and healthy. But after a while, the relaxer began to eat away at my strands making them more fragile and weak. I'm now transitioning back to natural and I'm never looking back. I'm happy I did that little experiment, because now I know for sure that my hair just can't take relaxers well.

I'm with most everyone else, I wouldn't do it, but at the end of the day it's your hair. Nothing could change my mind back then when I was determined to relax. I'd say at your length though, it's a lot to lose if something were to go wrong. I would suggest that you really try researching different products and methods for detangling and managing your hair rather than permanently changing your hair for the worse. I wish I had done so.
 
havilland said:
I wouldn't relax. I also wouldn't Japanese straighten. I think that's the fast track to ruining your hair. My opinion would be otherwise, IF your hair flourished when it WAS relaxed before. Since it didn't, I wouldn't recommend it.

I would like to hear your weekly/daily hair care regimen.
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What's dangerous with Japanese straightening? I've seen people who have had it on youtube and their hair looks really nice. One thing I've noticed is that it's not very popular though.
 
xxlaurenxx said:
What's dangerous with Japanese straightening? I've seen people who have had it on youtube and their hair looks really nice. One thing I've noticed is that it's not very popular though.
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Some women have success with Japanese straightening. But there are others that have success initially and then their hair breaks off.

I think based on OP's hair type, she doesn't necessarily need a chemical. Especially if her hair is tailbone without a chemical and didn't flourish with a relaxer.....stay away from chemicals. that's MY opinion.

I think there is a wealth of information that can help her get a nice flat iron without risking tailbone length hair....i mean yeah, it's just hair, BUT who wants to start over from tailbone length ??? If her hair gets damaged that would be an awful shame. Her hair texture shouldn't be that hard to "tame" into a nice flat iron.

That's my opinion. In the end it's her hair and I'm just offering a perspective that I hope is helpful. I personally hope she finds what she needs and preserves her hair. (Chemical or not)
 
Someone asked what my haircare practice used to be verses what is has been these last few years. I used to blow dry with a hand dryer that had the teeth attachment at the end, and then curl using the hot and gold curling iron. Always deep conditioned however I think for me putting a curling iron on my ends just once a week was enough to keep my hair from retaining length.
 
If having straighter hair is more manageable for you, have you considered using a flat iron to heat train your hair? If not having a natural curl pattern or wearing your natural hair out then using heat and proper hair care techniques may give you the manageability your looking for.
 
Bubblingbrownshuga.. had very long natural hair .. Probably waist length..and then relaxed it, if I recall correctly. Not sure if I have the name spelled right. I think she cut it and started over (natural) pretty soon after.
 
rabs77 said:
Bubblingbrownshuga.. had very long natural hair .. Probably waist length..and then relaxed it, if I recall correctly. Not sure if I have the name spelled right. I think she cut it and started over (natural) pretty soon after.
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rabs77 you're right and she she relaxed again recently :yep: but did not chop this times it looks like she texturized. She still has curl and volume. It's not bone straight this time around.
 
BillsBackerz67 said:
rabs77 you're right and she she relaxed again recently :yep: but did not chop this times it looks like she texturized. She still has curl and volume. It's not bone straight this time around.
Click to expand...

Again? Wow! I thought she had YouTube videos but not sure what name to search for on there. She has gawjus hair!
 
Subscribe.. its not getting it straight, its the point that I walk outside and it reverts. I dont want to heat train my hair, to me that would be more damaging then the relaxer.
 
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