Mirror Placement when self-relaxing

[WaistLengthDreams]

Hello LHCF Ladies, I need your help. I will be attempting my first self-relaxer in a few weeks and I have been doing some heavy research for this. I've read through the Self-Relaxer Support Thread and got a lot of great links/information. But I need some suggestions on mirror placement. I have a giant mirror on one of the walls in the bathroom and I can't figure out how to place an additional mirror in my bathroom so that I can see the back of my head. Do you know of any cool self standing mirrors or something that I can get to assist me? I know that I will want my hands to be free as I work the relaxer through my NG. There's only so much time that I will have to work on my hair and I don't want to be wasting time holding up a hand mirror to see what I'm doing at the back.

Suggestions Anyone??

 

[shunemite]

Try putting the second mirror at a 60 - 90 degree angle to the bathroom mirror in front of you and then turn to the side. That way both mirrors will bounce off each other and you'll see your ears to almost the middle of the back of your head....... if that made sense! It's what I do. As far as time if you're running out, you can do it in section. Just rinse out the front two sections and put the neutralizing conditioner on them before you start on the back.

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

Try putting the second mirror at a 60 - 90 degree angle to the bathroom mirror in front of you and then turn to the side. That way both mirrors will bounce off each other and you'll see your ears to almost the middle of the back of your head....... if that made sense! It's what I do. As far as time if you're running out, you can do it in section. Just rinse out the front two sections and put the neutralizing conditioner on them before you start on the back.

That makes perfect sense thank you. Does it matter which mirror you actually look into?

Now, I've got to figure out either a way to get the mirror to stand up on its own or find something to buy that stands on its own...hmm

 

[GV-NA-GI-TLV-GE-I]

and mirror to see what I'm doing at the back.

Suggestions Anyone??

Isn't it crazy? That's why I'm considering the BKT dangit. I've tried various things like braiding the hair in sections and glopping junk on the already processed ends...whatever I do, there is always going to be a little overlap of some sort. You should try and get one of these types:

There are some with better reach and pivotability.

 

[MoMo]

I'm almost ashamed to say that I don't use a mirror. I do it all by touch. I've always done my hair that way.

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

Isn't it crazy? That's why I'm considering the BKT dangit. I've tried various things like braiding the hair in sections and glopping junk on the already processed ends...whatever I do, there is always going to be a little overlap of some sort. You should try and get one of these types:

There are some with better reach and pivotability.

Thanks, GV! That mirror is just the thing I need. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted in my head but didn't know if it actually existed. Now, I just need to figure out where to find one....

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

I'm almost ashamed to say that I don't use a mirror. I do it all by touch. I've always done my hair that way.

Don't be ashamed! That's what it seems that most people do. I've been looking at youtube videos of ladies self-relaxing and that's what they do. However, most of them have been doing it for years. Since this would be my first time, I don't trust myself enough to leave it to touch.

 

[MoMo]

^^^I gotcha.

 

[shunemite]

That makes perfect sense thank you. Does it matter which mirror you actually look into?

Now, I've got to figure out either a way to get the mirror to stand up on its own or find something to buy that stands on its own...hmm

One ear faces the larger mirror, and when I turn my head I'm looking at the larger mirror the whole time. So I can see the reflection bouncing off of the smaller mirror in the large mirror.

 

[Ms Kain]

Hello LHCF Ladies, I need your help. I will be attempting my first self-relaxer in a few weeks and I have been doing some heavy research for this. I've read through the Self-Relaxer Support Thread and got a lot of great links/information. But I need some suggestions on mirror placement. I have a giant mirror on one of the walls in the bathroom and I can't figure out how to place an additional mirror in my bathroom so that I can see the back of my head. Do you know of any cool self standing mirrors or something that I can get to assist me? I know that I will want my hands to be free as I work the relaxer through my NG. There's only so much time that I will have to work on my hair and I don't want to be wasting time holding up a hand mirror to see what I'm doing at the back.

Suggestions Anyone??

I'm thinking about doing this too but just like you, I'll have to do all kinds of research. I can't lie, I am mad but I think it's because I tried it sometime back when I wasn't very experienced with my own hair but I'm just hoping that now that I've learned so much here and I'm more knowledgeable about my own here, this will make a difference!

In the meantime, it looks like it's been about 16 days since you posted. So tell us IntheMix, did the relaxer turn out well?

 

[DivaD04]

how i used to do it. if your door is right by your sink/mirror.
get a long door mirror
hang it on the front of your bathroom door
positioned it slightly at an angle to where you can see the back of your head in the bathroom mirror and the door mirror
adjust the door to your liking.
i can't do it now b/c my bathroom is too big. my door isn't right at my bathroom mirror.
i hope this makes since to you...i think it's easier if i was to just do it.

 

[happylife]

I'm almost ashamed to say that I don't use a mirror. I do it all by touch. I've always done my hair that way.

me too. no need to be ashamed.

here are some things i always do to avoid damage because i do not use mirrors ( which is maybe equal to not having good mirror positioning cause either way you dont have a good view of what you are working with):

a. i try to make sure my hair is easy to part before relaxing. i actually do this ahead of time by detangling well after a cowash a week or so before. then i avoid doing things that may cause it to tangle afterwards. this way i can part my hair really well and decrease the chances of me getting relaxer on non new growth.

b. i base my scalp really well. i do this in hopes that it will protect my scalp and keep it from burning.

c. and because i dont use mirrors, i section my hair and lube/coat up all the non new growth with bb castor oil for preventive measures... i dont want to have breakage from overlapping. i think mizani makes a product specifically to shield your hair from overlapping. its on my list of things i want to buy and try out.

hope this will help despite if you have good mirror positioning or no mirrors at all

 

[WaistLengthDreams]

I'm thinking about doing this too but just like you, I'll have to do all kinds of research. I can't lie, I am mad but I think it's because I tried it sometime back when I wasn't very experienced with my own hair but I'm just hoping that now that I've learned so much here and I'm more knowledgeable about my own here, this will make a difference!

In the meantime, it looks like it's been about 16 days since you posted. So tell us IntheMix, did the relaxer turn out well?

I had a decent sized mirror that I ended up placing on my office chair in the bathroom and I positioned it as shunemite suggested. As for my results, considering it was my first time, I didn't do too badly. I was going for bone straight but got nervous and rinsed it out earlier than I should have. It seemed straight to the touch but, I guess not because it's still got some texture to it.

Here's my NG Pre-relaxer (12 weeks post):

Here's my roots Post-relaxer:

Good Luck JaineB, HTH!!

 

[jerseygurl]

You did a nice job IntheMix, I myself prefer some texture. And I do it all by touch. I use the mirror when I'm trying to get my edges

 

[nymane]

 

[sunnieb]

Great info! I'll try to this this when I self-relax next month!

 

[divachyk]

This is likely not the place for these questions:
1. How do you self-relax when you have varying degrees of underprocessed hair?
2. I assume it's best to lay relaxer on ng first then pull it through on the underprocessed sections, right?
3. Can you point me to a yt vid?

 

[simplyhair]

Hey DC, I went to three consults last year for underprocessed hair. My underprocess was like this: ~~~~------~~~~~~-----------

The first set of ~~~ was my ng...I wanted the second set of ~~~~ to get straight. So the stylists said the following:

Stylists 1 & 2: Apply relaxer to the underprocessed hair that is down the hair shaft first since it is further away from the scalp, it will take longer to process. Versus applying the relaxer to the ng closer to the scalp first, the body heat will process the ng faster and not allow enough time to go thru and make sure the underprocessed hair has enough time to process...if not cuz the client starts to burn, then the stylist has to rinse out the relaxer leaving the underprocess hair still wavy. They believe you correct this type of underprocessing similar to how you relax virgin hair. But I'm not quite sure if your underprocessing is similar to this pattern.

Here is a YT video of someone explaining the same concept but she is not underprocessed. She just had a really long stretch and was focusing on the strands away from the scalp first.

Stylist 3 wanted to apply relaxer to the new growth first and pull the relaxer thru at the end for five minutes.

Well, I should have went with Stylist 1 or 2 cuz I burned with Stylist 3 since she applied at the scalp first. I burned quickly too because she was flying trying to pull it thru...it just did not work...nothing was straight or even texlaxed.

I thought I was playing it safe by going with the "scalp" first method because I was afraid Stylist 1 & 2 didn't know what they were talking about (and I didn't want my length to be overprocessed)

Now, please don't take my word on which route to go..it seemed like a trial and error. But hindsight, in the mouth of two or more witnesses...I should have listened to Stylist 1 and 2 and went with the corrective relaxer on my hair strands first.

HTH!

 

[sunnieb]

Now that I've self-relaxed twice I can tell what I do:

I sit at my mirror in my bathroom with a bar stool on each side. I put a small mirror that stands up on its own (I think I paid $1 for mine at Walmart) on each stool. When I need to put relaxer on the back of each side, I'm able move my head around and see what I'm doing by looking in each mirror.

I hope that makes sense!