Reflective Question about Relaxing Hair.....

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

I've been meaning to ask this for years now but never remembered to probably because I haven't touched relaxer since 2005. In my relaxer days I had a great deal of breakage and just hair that was in poor health. I have fine hair that is very frizzy and about a 3b and I always assumed that was why relaxers ate through my hair, because it was too delicate and not curly enough for harsh chemicals.
Anyway, nearly every time I would get a touch up I'd have it done on straight hair, meaning fully blown out/flat ironed hair. So I was putting relaxer on already straight hair. I wonder if that could have had something to do with why it damaged it so much?? How does the relaxer "know" that my hair is curly if it was completely straight when it was applied? Anyone know how this works and if that could have resulted in extra damage?

 

[Carisa]

Anyway, nearly every time I would get a touch up I'd have it done on straight hair, meaning fully blown out/flat ironed hair. So I was putting relaxer on already straight hair. I wonder if that could have had something to do with why it damaged it so much?? How does the relaxer "know" that my hair is curly if it was completely straight when it was applied? Anyone know how this works and if that could have resulted in extra damage?

The bolded very well may have been an issue. Using too much heat (flat ironing) and relaxing are . You may have been overlapping since your hair was already straighten it is sometimes hard to tell hair that is straightened with heat from previously relaxed hair since they look so similar. I hear alot of people say they had damage using relaxers but many times its because they didn't apply them correctly in the first place.

 

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

^^^ Right but apart from the risk of overlapping is there an issue to relaxing hair that is already in a straight state? I have a feeling that it is detrimental and that I probably should have been washing my hair at least back to its natural state beforehand to rearrange the bonds back to curly....

 

[LushLox]

I think for some, relaxing already straightened hair will cause breakage, I wouldn't risk it personally. Straightening is already major manipulation and then you're going to follow this up with the most abrasive manipulation you can do - relaxing! What I have been doing is washing and rollersetting my hair the day before my touch up, so whilst the roots have their natural texture, the hair is very soft and easy to work with when relaxing the hair.

 

[Aireen]

I don't like to risk it, seems unnecessary and the stylist can easily overlap by relaxing hair that has been previously relaxed. I think that was the major contributor to your breakage.

 

[JinaRicci]

^^^ Right but apart from the risk of overlapping is there an issue to relaxing hair that is already in a straight state? I have a feeling that it is detrimental and that I probably should have been washing my hair at least back to its natural state beforehand to rearrange the bonds back to curly....

Remember the relaxer is targeting disulfide bonds whereas the bonds you break with heat are hydrogen bonds, which reform after you wash. It's a different chemistry involved. So apart from decreasing the chance of overlapping, I don't think it would have made a difference if you had washed it back to curly.

For how long and how often did you relax? Since you have 3b hair you have less disulfide bonds so it would take much less time to get your hair straight.

btw, I don't like how Chuck looks in your siggy pic. He is def in Ed mode.