If you self-relax with lye relaxers, don't you get scared?

[Latomian]

Am I just old-fashioned in thinking they are more harsh? I am tired of going to stylists and would like to self-relax (since I believe I have my best hair interests at heart). I also heard that lye is better for the hair (b/c of calcium build-up in no lye, I think??). But I'm afraid that I'm going to burn all of my hair off. I have read Sistaslick's guide over and over (it's posted in my bathroom) and have even practiced by putting in my Hair Mayo that way but....I'm still....

Any encouragement???

 

[me-T]

i need some encouragement too. my biggest worries are takin too long, and not gettin my hair straight enough. i dont want to go more than 85/90% straight but i'm afraid it wont look like i did anything, especially with miz. butter blends bein so mild

 

[PinkPeony]

i'm a self relaxer and there are many,many others on this board
at first i was scared too but i think the most important part is to protect your previously relaxed hair w/a protein condi and maybe some oils or grease

sylver,dsylla,iris and sistaslick are all sucessful selfrelaxers... from the top of my head lol

 

[Neith]

i'm a self relaxer and there are many,many others on this board
at first i was scared too but i think the most important part is to protect your previously relaxed hair w/a protein condi and maybe some oils or grease

sylver,dsylla,iris and sistaslick are all sucessful selfrelaxers... from the top of my head lol

Iris is natural (at least the iris that I'm thinking about) Dunno if you just made a mistake or not




I have self relaxed with lye and no lye... no burns, no setbacks! I'm no hair genie either... no hair magic, just apply carefully.

I can't believe how badly my relaxers burned with stylists. What are they doing, applying it directly to the scalp?

Lye is no more or less harsher than no lye when it comes to the ability to burn the scalp. If either one is not applied right, they will cause damage!

Actually, no lye has more straightening power and a higher pH than lye. That's why I use no lye. If you do decide to use no lye, make sure you get a chelating neutralizing shampoo to remove the calcium deposits.

My hair is just fine with no lye. I use the chelating neutralizing shampoo on the day of the relaxer and once per month. I'm pretty sure it removes the extra calcium!

 

[me-T]

i wish i could use no lye cause they're so readily available( hair aisle while grocery shopping!) but they make my hair feel so much like crap. and no the scalp burn is no different.

 

[chocolatethai]

dont be scared!! lol i've always self relaxed, not by choice at first, i've been burned in the past but there's still hair on my head it was traumatic but not too devastating. my advice when you are first starting out is try relaxing your head in two seperate sections i apply relaxer to the front of hair smooth it and then rinse out the front being careful not to get the back wet then i repete on the back. this works for me cuz i'm kinda slow with the application and i would always end up with two diferent textures on my hair depending on which section i started with

 

[dcprdiva]

You'll be fine... I have been self relaxing since I was 15. I used no-lye until I found out other wise about 10 years ago and have been using salon quality since. Go for it, you will get used to it with practice! And once you find out what works for you, you'll be fine. Barry Fletcher said that no-lye relaxers overprocess hair too...

 

[ladylina]

I was scared too at first, but I have been burned by the stylist before. So I was like what the hay?! I think the most important thing to me is basing my scalp and protected my previously relaxed hair. But if you are scared have someone you trust help you.

 

[hopeful]

Iris is natural (at least the iris that I'm thinking about) Dunno if you just made a mistake or not

Iris is natural. I think she meant Isis. Isis is relaxed/texlaxed with no-lye and her hair is incredible.

 

[The Princess]

I self relaxed with LYE for the 1st times, 4 months ago. I just made sure I based up real good and protected my previous relaxed hair. After reading Shamboosie book he stated their would be shedding, but I didn't experience it. Im glad I switched over and very happy. I now retain alot of moisture in my hair now. When before using No lye, my hair was steady dry. Not anymore now. I was so scared before, but glad i did, cause the benfits is worth wild. IMO

 

[nomadpixi]

I would have to agree with the rest of the posters. When I changed from no-lye to lye, I was using Phytospecific. Even on Phyto, my hair was as dry as if I was on a $2 box perm.

I switched to Motions oil mild, at the time(a bit underprocessed, but found what worked after a while), and even then I felt the difference. MUCH less dry. So, after tweaking my choices, I've been on Design Essentials for the last year and loving it. I've ordered Mizani Butter blends regular and am anxious to see how well this is going to work. I'm finally pleased with the condition of my hair for a change. I left no-lye and never looked back.

 

[Latomian]

Thanks for the encouragement! My last stylist kept calling my hair "bad hair" and the one before that overlapped relaxers like there was no tomorrow. The one before that...we had a great relationship until her business started slowing down and she started mixing relaxers...so, I'm ready to sit down and try this myself. I'm thinking about Butter Blends, Affirm or ORS lye.erplexed

 

[Puddles]

I've always self relaxed. In the beginning I was scared....but with more and more applications it becomes second nature.