Need a little encouragement........

[the_UnPrettiest_pretty]

The time is coming for my 1 year anniversary w/out a relaxer. As of October 4, 2007, I will have gone one year w/out any relaxers or other chemicals including dyes, rinses, etc. That was an ultimate goal: to rid my hair of chemicals like those. Now here's the hard part. I am soooooo tempted to relax right now. I see all these other people around me getting relaxers and seeing their hair come out so sleek, bouncy and shiny, while my hair is just, well, there. The reason I stopped getting relaxers is because I didn't know whether they were doing damage to my hair or not. So, to err of the side of caution, I just stopped getting them altogether. But now there are so many new relaxer systems out there that seem worth giving a try, and I have a serious dilemma. Should I continue w/out the relaxers or should I go ahead and give them another shot? I'm really torn, as ORS has some wonderful products, and I've heard that their relaxers are off the hook.

I'm not trying to transistion or anything like that, I'm just trying to decrease my usage of all these harsh chemicals in the hair care products I use, and eventually end up using organic, all-natural products. Someone please tell me what the pros/cons of relaxing/not relaxing are? I really need help making a decision, because I'm soooooooooo tempted to get a relaxer right now.

 

[lisana]

There are a lot of wonderful relaxers out there right now. They are all adding oils and such to decrease the chances of hair damage. But they are still chemicals and you still take the same risks, known and unknown that every woman who chooses to relaxes takes. Obviously, the main pro to relaxing is straight hair. Also, IMO, it can be easier to retain length because of the straightness (this is my own personal observation according to my hair). The con to relaxing is that we really don't know what those chemical do to our bodies, i don't care what others say to the contrary, we don't know and that's just all there is to that. however, women have been using them for years and there is no scientific proof, so far that they cause an increase in cancers, etc. So you just have to make the decision based on what you really want an why you want it. Just make sure you use the board for research and starting searching for all the tons of information about how to properly relax, etc. This will really help you maintain the health of your hair

 

[the_UnPrettiest_pretty]

Thanks for the reply lisa, you make some valid points. However, I'm not interested in maintaining the length of my hair, I was just worried about what those chemicals could possibly be doing to my hair and scalp. I know women have been using relaxers for years, I just wanted to stray away from them for a while so that I could assess whether or not they were doing real damage to my hair. I've had relaxers since I was about 9, s it's not as if I am trying to undo any damage that may have been done.

The thing I am most concerned with is whether or not using a relaxer for straightening effects is of any use to me. I really would love to have that swinging, straight, bouncy hair again after getting a fresh relaxer, but what will be the long term consequences? For example, will my hair start to break off badly again? Will I have to keep amp up the use of reconstructors/treatments to counteract that damage? If there were a surefire way to determine that a relaxer will not severely damage my hair, then I would get one today. I am just really confused right now and I don't want to make a bad decision. There is a lot of hard work being put into maintaining the health of my hair, and I don't want to screw it all up by making an impulse decision based on results that will only last a few days, or a week at most.