Misconceptions about stretching out relaxers

[lonei]

I have had my hair relaxed for about 7 years now and up until very recently I would stretch my relaxer out for months

. Both my parents are from afro caribbean decent and my natural hair was fairly normal as in not too hard or not too soft. Growing up, my friends and I would always wait for a special occassion to relax our hair and sometimes this could be every 3 to 4 months. In the mean time, washing my hair was a nightmare

! I was using doo gro products which contain sulphates which generally made my hair brittle and no where near tangle free. I went to see my cousin recently in her hairdressers and I told her how long I stretch out my relaxers for, she explained to me that those of us with thick hair must be consistent with our relaxers and shouldn't leave such a long time in between. This is attributed to the fact that when the two different hair textures meet, they become weak and are thus more likely to break off, especially with excessive brushing, combing and heat applications to try and make the re-growth look straight. I took her advice and relax my hair religiously every 8 weeks, my hair is now in much better condition

. Also the change in products from doo gro to motions has also contributed to the general health of my hair. Let me know what you ladies think, I just wanted to educate you before it's too late, good luck!!!

 

[lsubabiedee]

i believe stretching relaxers are fine for some people...when I was relaxing I would wait 10 months sometimes and I never had any extra breakage....it all depends on how u care for it

 

[Trinity1]

I agree to some degree,but I definitely feel it depends on a persons natural hair texture. I think someone with a finer texture probably can go longer between relaxer because the new growth and the relaxed hair arent so different that it creates that friction and cause breakage. Me personally,I have 4a hair and I believe I could stretch out my relaxers to 3-4 months if I wanted to. The thing with me is that I dont want to stretch it out. I relax every 8 weeks and that is perfect for me but may not be for someone else. There are alot of positives that come with waiting to relax. I used to relax every 6 weeks and then I just started doing it every 8 weeks and just those two extra weeks of waiting to relax made a huge difference in what I saw regarding the length. I could see major length whereas before when I was relaxing every 6 weeks I could barely see the difference. I think 8 weeks is right there in the middle where you are not waiting too long but you are waiting long enough to relax.


Tee Tee

 

[Chaya]

I agree! I cant stand to see my hair shed and my hair begins to shed a lot around the time it is to relax. I also begin to see some small pieces of breakage. I cant stand to see breakage or some raggedy ends. When I start to see any of the above conditioners it is usually about the 7-8 week post relaxer. I usually do a protein/moisture conditioning treatment and follow with a relaxer on the following week.

 

[DeQuendre]

I think 8-10 is good for me too. I had been progressively trying to wait longer and longer, but recently came to the same conclusion, that stretching is for certain types--not mine.

 

[lonei]

Yeah ladies, your right, it works for one of my cousins who has a slight asian gene, she can wait for ages without experiencing much breakage, it definately depends on your hair type and everyone is different

 

[Isis]

The longest I've stretched was 13 weeks and I had no breakage with my 4b hair. The advantage is that I can easily see my new growth and I have very little overlapping.

 

[LABETT]

I am stretching out my relaxer to 13 weeks and this has been great for me because my hair has thinned out from relaxing every 5 to 6 weeks.
When I get a relaxer after 13 weeks my hair seems to be more fuller than thin looking.

 

[Chimma]

It depends on how you care for your hair. When I relaxed regularly, I only relaxed every 3, 4, or 5 months.

As long as my mom was taking care of my hair, my hair looked nice the entire time in between my relaxer. W/ absolutely no heat added to straighten or disguise the textures.

When I started taking care of my hair, I had problems starting with month 2. But I still waited, and I have never had my hair look thin after a relaxer. As a matter of fact, even with my bad hair care, everyone still told me frequently that i had thick hair and hair dresser tried to charge me extra. I attribute that completely to the infrequency of my relaxers, even though someone w/ more hair knowledge could probably have different results.

And I'm a 4b w/ no mixing for the past few centuries in my heritage.

 

[sithembile]

I have thick, 4b hair and I get breakage if I stretch past 9 weeks.

 

[keylargo]

I think it may be thin hair that's weaker and prone to breakage when stretching relaxers. I have thin 4a/b hair and it's a struggle for me. I am doing better at stretching and my hair looks a lot healthier and fuller if I wait at least 8 weeks. I'm pushing for 10 weeks this month. frequent conditioner washes help out a lot.

 

[BrEE]

i have kinky hair and i've always stretched my relaxers 3-4 months. i'm starting to realize that maybe 4 months isnt the way to go for me unless i do conditioner washes(which i dont do), cause if not i get alot of breakage and shedding.but after washing my hair w/ a good slip conditioner i notice that even with 2 inches of new growth i dont get breakage.

 

[HotCoCoGurl130]

I have very course thick 4a/b. When I stretched out my relaxer for months at a time my hair was in great shape but I only wore it in a bun and I used NO heat. I think that it is different for every person. If you use heat constantly then thats a different story.

 

[MissJ]

I can't go past 6 weeks without significant hairloss. This is a good thread for the people who are stretching out relaxers to the detriment of their locks.

 

[soaries]

As I found out today stretching out my relaxer does not work for me! I am so disappointed! I had at least two inches of new growth! The last couple of weeks it had been shedding like crazy! To think I was going to wait another two weeks, making it a total of 15 weeks! Never again! After my relaxer and trim, I am still at my same length. I guess I can be thankful that I didn't loose more, but I am so sad!

 

[MindTwister]

I agree with those who say it depends on the hair type and on your hair care routine. I've had two touch-ups since my first relaxer that was in august 2003. I waited 11 weeks for the first one and a little less than 10 weeks for the second. My last relaxer was in january and I plan not to relax until 2nd week of may for my birthday. It's getting kinda difficult to manage my hair but I'm not loosing an unusual amount of hair. But after this I plan on relaxing at least every 10 weeks but preferably every 12 weeks.
To each his/her own...

 

[Allandra]

I think it varies from person to person. Like we always say here, what works for one, doesn't work for everyone.

 

[jainygirl]

my hair is 4a/b and last time i touched up was after 13.5 weeks. i think what messes alot of people up, is they keep trying to treat the new growth the same as their relaxed hair instead of realizing that their new growth is a completely different texture and needs to be treated accordingly. like for myself i used sta sof fro on my newgrowth which kept it soft and manageable especially during my last 2 weeks. Another thing is not dragging the comb thru your hair from roots to tip

3 words .. ain't gonna happen

also i think it's unrealistic to think that your 4a/b hair is gonna have that same fresh from the shop look after three months without using MEGA heat (blowouts and such). i only use heat to blowdry after washing and as i get closer to touch up it's strictly me wearing a bun. boring, but i just think of how good i'm gonna look 1 week after touching up. the first week my hair looks too flat for my taste but after the first wash its all primp primp primp

 

[DeQuendre]

[ QUOTE ]
jainygirl said:
Another thing is not dragging the comb thru your hair from roots to tip

3 words .. ain't gonna happen

[/ QUOTE ]

Great points. I agree.

 

[shoelover1972]

Jainygirl amen to your comments &

My last touch-up was 12 weeks ago and I treat my re-growth very very gently. I do not try to straighten my new growth with heat, heavy combing etc etc. I have not used any heat since 8 Feb and I just keep in a bun. My hairdresser is going to have a wail of a time digging through my roots when I go for my touch-up

 

[Supergirl]

I agree with Allandra that one size doesn't fit all. I have a kinky/coily hair type and I can stretch my relaxer out 12 weeks just fine. I've been doing it since high school, but back then I was still blow drying like a heathen

I'll admit that it's more difficult to stretch it out when you air dry, but with all of the practice it has gotten much easier.

 

[Tracy]

I also notice that whether or not it tends to work for you, and whether or not you see a benefit depends on how long you ORIGINALLY waited between relaxers. I think when someone is used to relaxing every 4 weeks - stretching to 6 or 8 or 10 yields a benefit because they aren't overprocessing anymore (which I think is almost bound to happen when you repeatedly relax that soon)...then I think whether it makes sense to stretch it FURTHER depends on hair type. But I don't think it's specific to any hair type, or texture, or "mix" in your background. My hair can probably be described as 3C, it's fine and I've been told it's not thin. I'm "mixed". But I can't go much longer than 8-10 weeks without breakage - and I've never been able to not relax fro 4 or 5 months!

So I think it's a really individual thing that defies any one size fits all rule, like some of us have noted.

One thing I DO think is that everyone should find that limit for themselves, and stretch their relaxers for as long as THEY can without breakage. That's the key to getting useful results IMO.

 

[ChasingBliss]

[ QUOTE ]
Supergirl said:
I agree with Allandra that one size doesn't fit all. I have a kinky/coily hair type and I can stretch my relaxer out 12 weeks just fine. I've been doing it since high school, but back then I was still blow drying like a heathen

I'll admit that it's more difficult to stretch it out when you air dry, but with all of the practice it has gotten much easier.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you both, I hve kinky coily type hair also and Ive been able to go 16 weeks at a time with no problems. I try my best to care for my hair properly and so far so good. In fact I refuse to relax any earlier than this.

 

[brandy]

[ QUOTE ]
Tracy said:
I also notice that whether or not it tends to work for you, and whether or not you see a benefit depends on how long you ORIGINALLY waited between relaxers. I think when someone is used to relaxing every 4 weeks - stretching to 6 or 8 or 10 yields a benefit because they aren't overprocessing anymore (which I think is almost bound to happen when you repeatedly relax that soon)...then I think whether it makes sense to stretch it FURTHER depends on hair type. But I don't think it's specific to any hair type, or texture, or "mix" in your background. My hair can probably be described as 3C, it's fine and I've been told it's not thin. I'm "mixed". But I can't go much longer than 8-10 weeks without breakage - and I've never been able to not relax fro 4 or 5 months!

So I think it's a really individual thing that defies any one size fits all rule, like some of us have noted.

One thing I DO think is that everyone should find that limit for themselves, and stretch their relaxers for as long as THEY can without breakage. That's the key to getting useful results IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

That sums it up, well said !

 

[Honi]

ITA. I’m 4a/4b and I can go 4-5 months. I learned that if you manipulate your hair dry trying to style, comb, etc your pretty much asking for trouble which is breakage. Fighting your newgrowth just isn't worth it. So when I was pregnant, I learned I just had to leave it alone and only comb my hair while under the shower doing lots and lots of condition washes weekly.

 

[HOTCHOCOLATE]

I agree that it is different for each person. I recently went 16 weeks and I noticed that my shedding really started during the 14th week. So in extending out my relaxer, it enabled me to find my limit which will now be every 12 weeks.

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

I think it's about how you handle your hair. If you treat the two textures like they are one, you will get a lot of breakage. I don't use a comb whatsoever if my hair is not wet. I wear my hair in a ponytail with the ends tucked under on a daily basis. I don't manipulate it. I put on a scarf at night after I moisturize it with plain ol' water and a light oil - (oil of choice these days is coconut oil).

My reason for stretching out the relaxer is simply the fear of overprocessing since I'll be doing it on my own. My last relaxer was 7/12.

 

[Vanessa22]

It's been 6 months for me and I have 4a/b hair. I only comb my hair while it's wet, and surge has definitely helped in managing the two different textures, as tangling can be a hectic result. Paying special attention to my ends and doing the necessary protein treatments have also helped. But it all depends on you and your hair.....DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS.

 

[serena]

I agree with everyone who said that stretching out relaxers is a purely individual thing. You just can't make 'one size fits all' (

Supergirl) declarations about hair. I'm a type 4, in my 23rd week since my last relaxer (I used the stretching out challenge to decide whether I was ready to go natural) and I have no problem whatsoever dealing with my two textures: no breakage at the line of demarcation, no excessive shedding, no difficulty combing through my hair, whether wet or dry (because that too is a very individual matter) - nada. I haven't used heated tools on my hair in those 23 weeks, apart from my soft bonnet dryer. It's all about knowing what works or doesn't work for your own hair. Not all products - and not all tips - work out the same way for all the members of the forum.

 

[alliyah4eva203]

i can only go for 8 weeks then my head starts to shed like crazy. so i usually put my hair in cornrows the the new growth is streched so it doesn't brake so much . then i can go for 10 weeks.