I use the BKT over a relaxer to get bone straight results. I texlaxed by leaving the relaxer on my hair for bout 7-10 minutes (that basically does nothing..lol I'm 3b/c naturally) then a week later I did the BKT to get bone straight results.
The processed (texlaxed) hair is slightly more porous so it "absorbs" the treatment and the result is bone straight hair without comprising the hair like bone straight relaxing.
Plus, with the BKT I can walk in the rain with my hair straight and it DOES NOT FRIZZ!! I love it!
You said it perfectly Veejee. I dont know why on this forum so many people think this product is geared toward highly textured hair. Oh no. This is usually promoted towards slightly wavy/curly hair or straight hair that has frizz. BKTs also are geared towards those with highly color treated hair that cant do the Japanese thermal straightening. Its just nice that curly heads are finding this product to be beneficial too. I think soft liss is one of the few companies that actually show curly head models.
Having porous hair helps a whole lot when using a BKT. The product can attach to the hair better. This is why if you have virgin hair they recommend leaving the shampoo on longer to help lift the cuticles. The deep cleansing shampoos that are used with the BKT are the shampoos that many naturals wouldn't touch with 50 foot pole. The sulfates used are there to strip away any and all products left on the hair and to help lift the cuticle some. The cuticle lifting is helped along by superficially drying the hair before placing on the treatment. When I say superficially I mean they use a blow dryer without a concentrator and slightly shaking the hair with one hand while the other uses the heat and air blown from the dryer. This is done not necessarily blowing in the direction that the cuticles lay. The goal is not to have the hair bone dry but to make it atleast 80% dry. Just like deep conditioner the BKt doesn't work well on sopping wet hair nor completely dry hair. Plus having some water in the hair helps it spread better. By doing these things I just mention you should have a good foundation for the BKT whether you have chemically altered hair or not. I however refuse to blowdry my natural hair like that because I wouldn't be able to even work with it. A denman d3 or d4 brush helps a lot with me straightening/drying my hair with a blow dryer.
You may be wondering why is it that when you redo the treatment it become even better rather than starting over. This is because the deep cleansing shampoo with its
SODIUM laurel and laureth sulfates gradually take bits of the BKT off. Its kind of like creating pores for the newest layer of BKT to hold on to. This is why you are only to use the deep cleansing shampoo for when doing the treatment. Even though the regular drugstore brand clarifying shampoos are composed similarly they do not work as well.
Now that the basics are out of the way Im going to answer your question. Why bother? Well, the straighter the hair is the more likely it will keep it straight. This is similar to putting a relaxer on. If you dont smooth out the relaxer then it has a harder time of making the hair straight. Since relaxer make the hair straighter and more porous the product lasts longer. Without having something to hold on to the BKT wears away faster.
It also depends on your hair goals. If you want very temporary BKT results then use it on virgin hair and only do it once. This will result in a slight loosening of your texture. Straightening you hair will be a breeze and products you thought didn't work now work. This is especially true for those with tight 4a textures. You can also use what ever products you want as well. This will give you about a month. If you have finer hairs it might last a little longer. If you use appropriate maintenance product the treatment could last you a couple months longer but you will notice it gradually wearing off. After that you are back to your own hair for the most part. I've heard it takes 6 to 12 months for all remnants of the BKT to completely wear off.
Now if you want fairly loose hair that will last a few months either you relax/texlax with one treatment or you do multiple treatments on virgin hair. Along with this you need to use appropriate maintenance products.
If you want bone straight hair that you can walk in the rain with no frizz and no curl then you relax bone straight with one treatment or you texlax and do multiple treatments. I think 2 treatments of a BKT on telaxed hair is the way to go.
When I say multiple treatment Im referring to treatments done closely together in time. Doing it monthly is more so maintenance even though it builds upon itself.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most dont do this treatment monthly. They do it until it wears off or shows signs of wearing off. For those with finer textures and porous hair will usually get it done 4 times a year to as long as once a year.
All in all having a relaxer saves one time (you dont have to do the treatment as often) and money (no need to keep buying the product so often),
Either way, that confused me. I was like "NOOOOO!!!!" at the time, because I hadn't decided if I wanted to go natural yet, and it was like an option was destroyed for me.
Still studying.