Hello all. Can you switch relaxers?

[gonetothelagoon]

Hello Ladies,
I have lurked here for quite sometime and have found you Ladies to be fabulous! How refreshing the support you offer one another. So I have come out of lurking. I've learned a lot from you Ladies, including that some of what I already practice is in fact beneficial. What a joy this site is and a wealth of information. Well done Ladies. Bravo!

I have a question. Can you switch relaxers? I have been told that you cannot. That you risk serious breakage if you do. Is this true Ladies? I currently use African Pride regular no lye relaxer and have been for three years. I touch up about every eight weeks or so and usually do not go bone straight. Hair type is 4a. Thank you in advance.

 

[model_chick717]

From what I know--you can switch relaxers. Actually, I have never heard that it could seriously damage a persons hair. Alot of people I know have switched from no-lye to lye relaxers with no problem at all...

 

[NAY007]

When I used to relax my main relaxer was African Pride. But every now and then I wanted to try some other brands and I did. I never had a bad experience at all.

 

[myco]

As long as you are only relaxing your newgrowth, switching relaxers shouldn't be a problem. I think that "rule" comes from people intentionally or unintentionally overlapping when they do touch-ups. Not only do you risk overprocessing your hair when you overlap, but going over the hair with a relaxer that might not be compatible compounds the problem.


Welcome to the board!!

 

[adrienne0914]

i agree with myco. it shouldn't be a problem unless you're always overlapping. since you're only supposed to relax the new growth, re-relaxing the hair every time only weakens it that much more.

oh, you can't switch from lye/no-lye to thio relaxers!

 

[gonetothelagoon]

Thank you. This makes sense. I shall research this some more.

 

[Tracy]

I have been known to switch relaxers from touch up to touch - with no adverse effects. I wouldn't go as far as to recommend this approach (it's always better to find something you like and stick with it) but it can be done. I've even switched from lye to no-lye and back again in touch up to touch up intervals. Lye, then no lye, then lye - all different brands.

Again - that's not a good idea, but I use the extreme example to put it in perspective.