Longest time without relaxing?!?

[Drea84]

I was just curious to know what is the longest time some of you went without relaxing? What did you do to maintain the hair during this period? What happened when you finally relaxed?

Thanks girls!!!

Drea84

 

[patticake]

this has been the longest i've ever gone without relaxing! i usually wait 6 weeks, but next week will make 12 weeks! this is the longest i've ever gone! to maintain my hair i've been doing twist outs with Elasta QP Mango Butter or Profectiv Break-Free and just wearing my hair curly. or i'll blow dry it on the lowest heat with a round brush with some Pantene Leave-In spray and S-Curl in my damp hair and wear it down. usual when i wait even 6 weeks my hair is very unmanageable and i suffer breakage.

but so far so good, my hair is in very good condition right now!

oh, speaking of condition, i try not to shampoo as much and usually do condition only washes more often.

 

[Crysdon]

I go twelve weeks faithfully (although I may go 16 weeks this Summer) and I find that conditioner washes and less manipulation is what helps to stretch out my touch-ups. Also do a protein treatment to make the two different textures stronger.

 

[diamoness]

5 whole months. When I did get a touch up, my hair was nice and bouncy, shiny and full of body. During the last 3 months, my hair was in braids or cornrows. Now since the milk thing, I know I can go much longer....if I decide to ever relax again.

 

[Guest]

5 months. my texture is 3b/c and not that much diff from my relaxed ends so I didnt expierence any breakage.

 

[honeycomb719]

4 Looong years. I decided to go natural after my doc took a look at my hair because I was complaining about it not growing. My hair was badly overprocessed and weak. That was back in the spring of 98. I just went back to relaxers this past Nov, and I must say, although I didn't maintain much length (4 inches tops) my hair did get much more healthy and a bit thicker. I can't really say if my hair is as thin as I remember it being before I stopped relaxing in 98, because I have been in a vicious cycle of underprocessing my hair

. But, that is soon to change. I have an appt to get it relaxed professionally this friday, then I will see the true length and state of my hair. I believe that if I had know about this board back in 98 when I stopped relaxing, my hair would be much longer, but I didn't know how to keep my 4a hair from breaking. When it's in it's natural state my hair is very coarse feeling and looking but spongy at the same time

.

 

[Karonica]

I think the longest I've gone is 3 months. I would never do this nowadays. Because with me, the two different textures spell out b-r-e-a-k-a-g-e. Not to mention I don't have a lot of patience.

 

[adrienne0914]

eight months. i was wearing individuals at the time. so it was pretty simple.

adrienne

 

[EmeraldSky]

<font color="purple"> 3 months. It was kind of difficult, but worth it because the hair growth was really obvious after the touchup. During the winter I plan to go 3 months or more and simply wear my hair in protective styles, I figure it's winter so it won't be a problem anyway, I don't like my hair rubbing against my coat, but during the summer I plan to go 10 to 12 weeks. </font>

 

[Allandra]

So far, this is the longest I've ever gone without a relaxer touch up. I'm 'scheduled' to get a relaxer touch up on April 19 (which will be 17 weeks). I'm doing what I always do (frequent shampooing, rinsing, moisturizing). So far, so good.

 

[Drea84]

Yeah its been five months for me and I'm going crazy about going to the salon and having the poor woman freak out. I state that only from past experience. Anyways I'm thinking this "going natural" thing is not for me. I'm going to wait another month before I finally make up my mind making it three months of these braids and six months without a relaxer but we will see.

Drea84

P.S. Thanks for all the responses!

 

[Titansgirl]

The longest I have gone has been 8 months. For the first three months I wore my hair down, but the last 5 months I did braid-outs, cornrows, ponytails w/ the fake ponytail on the end.... I went that long because I was debating on going natural, but I chickened out and got a relaxer this year in January...

 

[beana3]

4 months, then 3 months after that.. I kept trying to transition. My norm should be be every 8-10 weeks as the breakage i experience from trying to hold out is very severe.

 

[nita4]

Drea84, that is okay if going natural isn't for you. It's not for everyone. The good thing about trying is that you know how long you can go if you wish to extend your relaxers that far and you gave your hair a much needed break. Oh Well...

 

[skegeesmb]

Not counting me being natural now, the longest I went without a relaxer was 1 year and a month. My mom told me to do my own hair since I was older. So I just didn't relax because I didn't want to. I figured when I had time to relax my hair, I would do it. But being the lazy person I am, I put off relaxing my hair for a loooooong time.

 

[Drea84]

And your hair is beautiful! Why whatever did you do skegeesmb? Your hair looks like it never went through anything traumatic lol if that makes any sense.

Drea84

 

[skegeesmb]

Well Drea84,

I just figured that I didn't want to put a relaxer in my hair anymore. I suffered from no breakage, no bald spots, and many unfortunate misshaps that some women have. I figured what the hell, my hairtype as a kid didn't send my mother screaming for the hills, and most of my family choose not to wear relaxers, so I figured why not. I knew that if I cut my hair I was missing out on waistlength hair.

But I also figured if I cut (which I did last year) that by April 2004 I would have waistlength hair and I wasn't going anywhere. I like my poofy curly hair. It's long enough now so that I can pull it away from my face, and I know before long, I'll be on my way to having hair like Adrienne (yeah I'm jealous!)

.

So I'm just patiently waiting......and waiting.....and waiting.

 

[Peachtree]

6 mths... if there's no breakage

washing 2-3x wkly, pre-shampoo treatments deep conditioning &amp; braid outs did the trick for me. Another thing, finger combing was essential, cause my wide tooth wasn't going to work.

I pretty much have the same results no matter the duration between touch-ups... no breakage, volume, overall healthy.

 

[Integrity]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
skegeesmb said:
Well Drea84,

I just figured that I didn't want to put a relaxer in my hair anymore. I suffered from no breakage, no bald spots, and many unfortunate misshaps that some women have. I figured what the hell, my hairtype as a kid didn't send my mother screaming for the hills, and most of my family choose not to wear relaxers, so I figured why not. I knew that if I cut my hair I was missing out on waistlength hair.

But I also figured if I cut (which I did last year) that by April 2004 I would have waistlength hair and I wasn't going anywhere. I like my poofy curly hair. It's long enough now so that I can pull it away from my face, and I know before long, I'll be on my way to having hair like Adrienne (yeah I'm jealous!)

.

So I'm just patiently waiting......and waiting.....and waiting.

[/ QUOTE ]

i agree with ya. your hair is soo nice and it grows fast. no need to be jealous girl, you will get there too.

 

[BronxDiva]

I am currently in my 11th week trying to go for 12 which would be the longest.

 

[Honi]

19 weeks and counting &lt;fingers crossed&gt;.

 

[cupcakecutie5]

4 months

 

[Guest]

I'm thinkin I could transition with Humecto.

 

[gvsugirl]

2 months. and i tried to stretch it out by doing twist outs...big mistake! I think i'll try to stretch it out to 2 and a half months this time by just doing rollersets. It seems as if my hair isnt straight, then it breaks. Usually i'm a 6 week touchup-er