is it ok to touch up short hair with a relaxer?

[Quita3514]

Im 7 weeks post and the edges and the back of my hair are lookin real rough I want to stretch my relaxer a month longer but I wondered will it be ok to relax the back of my hair where my hair is cut low and the edges? I heard with a short haircut you can relax the back every 2 weeks? Startin From Square one : My guide to Healthy Hair

 

[Pompous Blue]

That's a good question. I'm not relaxed, but I'm BUMPING for you.

 

[itsjusthair88]

Well I'm not relaxed anymore, but when I had a short cut, my stylist kept the back (where it was tapered) relaxed every 6 weeks, but the top and middle (where it was longer) she didn't do as often...does that make sense? HTH

 

[Solitude]

well......I've never had short-short hair, but I've seen women with short hair relax pretty often, every 4-6 weeks, BUT of course they were keeping their hair short; in other words, it didn't matter that much if their hair was over-processed because it was getting cut off.

I would guess that if you goal is to grow longer hair, you shouldn't relax sooner than every 8 weeks. That would minimize your risk of overlapping and over-processing, and maximize your chance of retaining length.

Are you opposed to wigs to help you stretch longer?

 

[Quita3514]

See Im really thinking about getting a half wig or something bc its hard to grow out a short haircut and still have you hair looking neat..bc you either have to relax it often or use a lot of heat and that's something I'm opposed to doing..being that I'm tryna grow it out..ima give my hair another month bc I wanna see how fast it grows..I really made a conscious decision that once I took weaves out my head I wasn't goin back..I said that whatever I want ill grow it to to that lenghth..so idk www.startinfromsquareone.blogspot.com

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[Hairsnob]

When I had a short cut I relaxed the edges every 2-3 weeks. Just slathered it on and didn't care of any damage because the hair was never on my head long enough to show damage.

 

[carlapd]

I am in a similar situation now, my hair was neck length and in a random moment of insanity I cut it all off this summer (tapered back and sides). Of course now I have snapped back to reality and on a long journey to grow it back. The back and sides of my hair were relaxed every three weeks with a mild relaxer with no damage, but it was also trimmed regularly. When touching up the edges I left it on for less than the time called for, just enough to break the curl pattern and minimize damage

Now that I am growing it back, I have limited the relaxer in the tapered back area to once every 5 weeks as I will not be cutting it. I get a relaxer at 10 weeks, and then touch the short area up at 5 weeks post. with no damage (4a/b type hair). You can also try ORS Edge Control which works really well ,and very moisturizing and may help during that in between period

My hair in the back is now at the point that it is about an 1 1/2 " in length erplexed and now I manage by putting Ecostyler gel on it and it curls up. I have been wearing roller sets so it blends better. I just had a touch up so I am hoping this will be the last time I have to touch up the back at 5 weeks post, and continue to manage by wearing curly roller sets on this very long journey. HTH.

 

[back2relaxed]

I know lots of short haired ladies who relax their hair around the perimeter every 2-3 weeks. I get a relaxer all over every 5-6 weeks, but I plan to stay short for a while. The longer my hair gets, the longer I can go w/o a relaxer b/c its easier to manage. I would suggest continuing to get your hair tapered until the top grows down to cover it, so you can keep your hair looking neat.