HELP: My First (Partial) Self-Relaxer....

[JDandBeyond]

SO after I made an entire thread about how I felt prepared to go through with self-relaxing and wanting to take control of my hair care destiny....I completely folded under the pressure!

I was BEYOND prepared (I'd even practiced a few times with applying conditioner). Friday night prepped my scalp and edges, I applied CHI silk infusion to the previously relaxed hair, and I added a little Silk Amino Acid to my no-lye relaxer. I parted my hair in 4 sections and started applying in the middle working my way back. About 6 mintues in...I paniced! I wasn't using enough relaxer at first so I started to use more, but some dripped on my already relaxed hair. Even though it was covered with the CHI, I still frantically wiped it out. Then I lost rhythm and things started getting sloppy. I couldn't see the back and I started to worry.

SOOO....after ALL that preparation and hype, I hopped in the shower so fast to prevent any long term serious damage. My NG is still nappy, even in those places where I'd applied the perm for that short time. I neutralized like crazy, shampooed and DCed, but my NG has been SOOOO dry in those areas that I had to DC again on Saturday and Sunday. I DCed with Alter Ego for fear of breakage on Friday. then I DCed with ORS and Dudleys protein conditioner (hair was sooo strong, no shedding but not soft), and last night I DCed with Aubrey Organics HSR. The part that was not experimented on is fine, but the rest is still very dry.

(1) Any siggestions to get back moisture? I planned on DCing every night until it felt right...is that too much?

(2) How long do I have to wait now before I can get a touch up? NG doesn't look any different.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks Ladies!

 

[JDandBeyond]

bumping.....erplexed

 

[yuriko]

In the future, you should try relaxing only half your head at once. There are many threads with pictures. You divide the front half and back half, cover one half with a shower cap, relax only half at a time that way you will not panic so easily. You can either do the other half the same day or wash the whole thing and wait 3 days to do the other half

 

[Menina Preta]

Is the part that you experimented on usually drier than the rest of your hair?

For moisture, I'd DC, then use a leave-in conditioner and seal with a great oil and plait that area up. Then for the next couple of days I'd moisturize and seal with oil each night and re-plait that area. Braiding/plaiting hair at night gives me an oomph of moisture when needed.

Not sure about how long you should wait to touch-up, but perhaps you should go to a professional or have a friend who knows what she's doing, so you don't freak out again if you re-attempt a touch up and do some real damage to your hair.

 

[soulie]

When/if you decide to try it again, practice with condiitoner; go through all your steps if you like, but use a conditioner in place of the relaxer. Time it just like you would time the relaxer application. This might help ease your anxiety about applying.