goldenslumbers
New Member
Well, since you asked, I will answer, but you still have some hard decisions to make. If done correctly, either by a professional who cares about growing your hair or a do-it-yourself person who knows what they are doing, relaxed hair will stay permanently straight, and you can maintain that straightness without heat, but you will not be able to wear it out 100% of the time if you practice good hair maintenance and hair-growing techniques for relaxed hair.
I have been relaxed for the last 4 years. My stylist was excellent and she could relax me bone straight, which I could maintain easily without direct heat (as in a blow dryer or flat iron) by wrapping my hair and doing roller sets. When I went to see her for touch ups every four to six weeks, and I washed and deep conditioned it faithfully every week, it would stay shiny, healthy, and straight, but it never grew past my shoulders. My hair could not take having relaxer applied to it so often and be strong enough to grow long.
Long story short, the process of relaxing is applying a chemical to your hair that partially dissolves its curly inner structure so you can gently manipulate it to a straighter appearance before you add another chemical to stop the dissolving process. Actually, flat ironing, BKT, and perming all do the same thing, just with different chemicals or processes. That's why following instructions carefully or having a professional do it, and aftercare is so important, as in all those cases you are purposely damaging your hair in order to make it look different.
When I decided I wanted longer hair, I started to stretch my relaxer touch ups to every three months instead of once a month, and because I have type 4 hair, I learned new hair care techniques that were extremely gentle to my hair so my hair would not break off at the point where my natural hair grew in and my weaker, relaxed hair started. I also learned to do my relaxers at home, and in the eight months I have been self-relaxing my hair has grown five inches, taking me past APL on my way to BSL.
The trade off to that was that right around the sixth week or so, I had to stop wearing my hair out and wear it up in buns, French braids, or other updos because it became too much to deal with the very different textures of hair. Perhaps because you have type 3 hair, you can go longer, say, 8 to 10 weeks, but eventually the textures will compete too much and you will have to put your hair up if you stretch.
It is possible to grow your relaxed hair long without stretching, but that requires extreme dedication to your haircare and a competent stylist who will baby your hair on the level it needs to be able to grow.
Even if you decide to relax your hair, I would still give your hair the rest it needs this summer. Putting relaxer on heat damaged hair is just begging for a very bad result. Take that time to research caring for relaxed hair (this site is a good start) and make sure you have the resources available in your area to make this styling option work for you.
Whatever you do, good luck; you are a very pretty girl,all of you, and I hope you realize that as you mature into adulthood.
Thanks so much for the advice. I find it very hard to stay dedicated/consistent with things. In fact, I have never been. But if theres anything that I would be dedicated to it would be my hair. I'm willing to give this a go... I'll have to do a TON of research though since I know zero about maintaining very healthy hair (obviously. heh).
Another issue would be eventually convincing my mother to let me get a relaxer again after the incident I had a few years ago, even after her following the instructions perfectly. Also, I may have difficulty finding a salon that knows how to handle my type of hair... I live in Kentucky and its 99% white people up here. I'd probably have to go to Cincinnati to find what I'm looking for.
But, I shouldn't be worrying about that now. I'll do some research and try to come up with some sort of regimen. I'll definitely come back here and check it with you all first since all of you know what you're doing!
Also... How do I find what my hair is lacking in or what it has an excess of? I mean what are some tests I can perform on my hair to see if it's lacking in protein or moisture, or if I have product build-up, things like that. I can assume it's lacking in protein. My hair never seems particularly dry to me, so I don't think it's lacking in moisture but I of course could be wrong.
Hm... As for my "style". I've always liked hair styles that are impossible/close to impossible on curly hair
I'm particularly fascinated by '60s hairstyles, clothing and music. Always have been, even when I was a lot younger. Not pseudo-hipster kind of stuff, but legitimate styles from that decade. I spend hours looking through older magazines (I have some 'Teen and Seventeen magazines from the '60s), yearbooks, and pictures just obsessing over a lot of it, but mostly the hair. I love the hair. In fact, it's what kickstarted me into trying to make my hair healthier. I found it curious that these girls could tease and torture their hair almost every day yet still have the thickest and shiniest hair. Of course, all of the styles I look at concern caucasians and straight hair. Most of the african americans I looked at from that time just wore wigs or very short styles. I've attempted some roller sets I've seen from the magazines that I have, but I don't have enough hair and it's just far too uneven to work out. But then again, I'm not skilled at all with the rollers. I eventually want bangs (which is an awful idea), but even if I wanted that still it would have to be for years until I got my hair back into shape... There are plenty of up-dos that I could attempt, but I'm not sure how hair friendly they are.
Anyways, I'm off to go and do some research. Thanks everyone for your contributions
oke:
), but it is very well worth the money, and will make your hair feel fabulous!
