"Mom, I want a relaxer": your personal stories

[crazydaze911]

My mom used home perm on my hair alot - dont know what age she started - and it was on my WHOLE HEAD each time (she was clueless), but she also put mayo on my hair and other weird things so i didnt know the difference and she musta been doing it wrong cuz my hair didnt seem any better in texture afterwards - i think this is b/c i always airdryed. When i was 12, her friend recommended some 'treatment' that would make my hair pretty and more managable. i STILL didnt know it was a relaxer (damn i was kinda slow there). After i got it done the first time professionally i remember thinking it was the best thing since apple pie and everyone was complimenting my hair. Little did i know it was the DEATH of my hair. so glad i've given it up!

 

[crazydaze911]

My mom relaxed my hair when I was about 4 because I asked for it after becoming obsessed with a Just For Me ad. She didn't know how to deal with kinky hair so it was easier for her, not that I had much to begin with anyway. She's never forgiven me for not having her 3a hair ...

She did the touch ups herself, from root to tip, and didn't rinse it out till my hair got pin straight.The last perm she ever gave me was in the 9th grade when she left the relaxer in so long that all of my hair was glued to my scalp from the burns . Most of my hair fell out after that. Her hair was always done at a salon by a professional by the way.

My mom is competitive about hair so she has always been very secretive about what she does, what she uses, or who does it. While my thin broken off hair hoovered between chin and shoulder throughout my entire life (before lhcf) her's has always been just above apl. She'd sometimes ask "Aren't you jealous of my hair?" or "Don't you wish you had my hair?".

Like Oasis I don't remember ever not having a relaxer. I think that's why I stayed relax so long even though I got burned almost every time a relaxer touched my scalp. It never occurred to me that I could actually stop. I'm transitioning now, almost 10months post...Its been hell, but I'm determined.

Yes, pls try to stay determined. keep ur hair roller set or in braids or with a treatment if you have to - the first year is HORRID. i felt like the ugliest thing on the planet. but its the BEST thing i ever did for my hair. its soooooooo much better now - now its the relaxed hair that looks ugly and like it doesnt belong. Also - my mother and sister have easier textures to take care of and i've always been jealous. my mother doesnt rub in my face but she is silly and immature as a rule, so i can guess what u've gone through.

 

[BrandNew]

I got my first relaxer when I was about 10. My cousin permed my hair while I was staying over at her house. When my mother saw she was so upset. She still brings it up to my cousin. After that my hair started breaking terribly. I didn't have edges. My mother kept my hair braided so it could grow out and did a BC when I was 12. I can remember I cried my eyes out. I hated having short hair so I asked for a relaxer and she did it.

 

[kandake]

I started doing my own hair in the 4th grade. My mom would wash and press it and then I would style it daily. Well it wasn't really a style. Just a sloppy ponytail. The press only lasted half a week. So I had to walk around looking crazy until the next press. Which was weeks later.

I begged my mother for a relaxer when I was in the 6th grade. It took me the whole year to wear her down.

She lectured me the whole time telling me that I have to take care of my hair and keep it moisturized. I was like yeah, yeah I know. I would have said anything for the creamy crack. LOL

Needless to say, my hair went down hill from there. I wish she would have never given in.