Relaxed Hair Thread

Seeing yet another uptick in natural=good; relaxed hair=bad bs threads. I'm just sayin' I see ya'll. Sent from my SCH-I545 using LHCF

everyone should just mind their own freaking hair!

whats up with this stupid natural vs relaxed thing. ridiculous ( some of those naturals were ONCE RELAXED).....

im relaxed from 6 years natural, if i feel lîke swiching back i can just do it, its my hair and k dont care about what people say.

bus its annoying all this fight..... jeezzzzz lol
 
I'm nervous about giving myself my first relaxer touch-up. Both times I've self-relaxed was on virgin hair. I was going to relax at 12 weeks on May 18 because I have 2 events to go to in May and June but I might wait until 16-18 weeks to give myself more room to work with. I'm pretty good with a flatiron so I know my hair won't be looking a mess by stretching this long. I hope my new growth doesn't give me any problems. I think I can handle it since I've been natural twice now.

I was scared of this as well. My biggest advice, from personal experience, is since you are accustomed to relaxing lots of Virgin hair, stretch longer to give you more to play with. My first touch up, I had stretched six months, and had three inches to relax, so I felt more comfortable.

Relaxing with less new growth requires much more precision and technique to avoid overlap, IMO. I realized this my second touch up (that I performed at 12 weeks post) that I butchered. ;( I have recovered since then, but only because I've improved my practice and selected better tools to relax with. GOOD LUCK!! HTH :)
 
im also afraid of self touching up. my virgin relaxer was les say 1st december (it wad actually 28th november). ive stretched very well in my opinion :-) i have fine hair and it could be hard to tell the new groWth!!! thats my problem. plus i will be using lye this time. i think i might do the half and half method + twist my hair in small sections to apply faster.

Great methods! They should really help. Something I did to help with finding the line of demarcation: I cowashed my hair in previously detangled plaits (a week before relaxing) , which of course shrunk up the new growth. I then wore those plaits until it was time to twist it up on relaxer day.
 
im also afraid of self touching up. my virgin relaxer was les say 1st december (it wad actually 28th november). ive stretched very well in my opinion :-) i have fine hair and it could be hard to tell the new groWth!!! thats my problem. plus i will be using lye this time. i think i might do the half and half method + twist my hair in small sections to apply faster.

BranwenRosewood

That first time is hard but the first time is the hardest. Research on YT as many women as possible. I use the half and half method. Takes a while, but it's worth it. Stretching for longer, if you can, also works in your favor as it will help you to determine the NG from the rest of the hair.

What makes it a lot easier for me is having everything ready so that once I start, nothing can stop me intentionally.
 
im also afraid of self touching up. my virgin relaxer was les say 1st december (it wad actually 28th november).
ive stretched very well in my opinion :-)

i have fine hair and it could be hard to tell the new groWth!!! thats my problem.
plus i will be using lye this time. i think i might do the half and half method + twist my hair in small sections to apply faster.

I plan to use lye for the first time too.

I was scared of this as well. My biggest advice, from personal experience, is since you are accustomed to relaxing lots of Virgin hair, stretch longer to give you more to play with. My first touch up, I had stretched six months, and had three inches to relax, so I felt more comfortable.

Relaxing with less new growth requires much more precision and technique to avoid overlap, IMO. I realized this my second touch up (that I performed at 12 weeks post) that I butchered. ;( I have recovered since then, but only because I've improved my practice and selected better tools to relax with. GOOD LUCK!! HTH :)

@BranwenRosewood

That first time is hard but the first time is the hardest. Research on YT as many women as possible. I use the half and half method. Takes a while, but it's worth it. Stretching for longer, if you can, also works in your favor as it will help you to determine the NG from the rest of the hair.

What makes it a lot easier for me is having everything ready so that once I start, nothing can stop me intentionally.

Thanks for the advice ladies! When I first relaxed, I always planned to stretch 6 months but since I did my virgin relaxer in February I was going to do my touch-up in July so I could be on a January/July schedule. I don't know why I was going to relax in May but I've changed my mind about that. I will relax on July 6 which will be 18 weeks post.

I was reading about JGA's relaxer process and I'm going to do something similar to her. I also plan to pre-part and twist a few days before I touch-up.
 
I've used the half and half method as well even though it takes a while. I doubt I would be able to apply to my whole head and smooth enough in the required time. Definitely have everything prepped and ready to go so you don't get side tracked. YT videos were key (along with SistaSlick's articles).

I also pre-parted for the first time during my last relaxer. I found it really helped cut down on application time and gave me better and even results :yep:
 
I think I might experiment with adding silicones to my regimen. I only moisturize on wash day, which is once or twice a week, so my biggest concern about using cones (product won't penetrate to re-moisturize) is void. I don't think my hair ever hated them but they weren't my friend when I was natural since I wet my hair almost daily. I don't think my hair is as picky as I like to think it is.

I'm trying to find a recipe for a silicone serum since I have a bottle of dimethicone and a bottle of cyclomethicone in my stash. I have some SAA and keratin I could add so I might need to make two versions: an all oil serum and a heat protectant with a lotion-like consistency.
 
I plan to use lye for the first time too. Thanks for the advice ladies! When I first relaxed, I always planned to stretch 6 months but since I did my virgin relaxer in February I was going to do my touch-up in July so I could be on a January/July schedule. I don't know why I was going to relax in May but I've changed my mind about that. I will relax on July 6 which will be 18 weeks post. I was reading about JGA's relaxer process and I'm going to do something similar to her. I also plan to pre-part and twist a few days before I touch-up.

I love this. JGA informed a lot of my relaxer process as well. That pre-parting is golden, esp. for touch ups.

Also, this past relaxer touch up, I used a spatula tool for the first time instead of a dye brush, and it was ammmmazing. Helped SO much with precision.
 
Got my aqua sprush and Mizani Butter Blends relaxer in the mail. Its almost time. I will do my relaxer prep and go ahead and pre part so all I have to do is base twice and apply! Soooo excited!
 
everyone should just mind their own freaking hair!

whats up with this stupid natural vs relaxed thing. ridiculous ( some of those naturals were ONCE RELAXED).....

im relaxed from 6 years natural, if i feel lîke swiching back i can just do it, its my hair and k dont care about what people say.

bus its annoying all this fight..... jeezzzzz lol

Exactly! :rolleyes:


im also afraid of self touching up. my virgin relaxer was les say 1st december (it wad actually 28th november).
ive stretched very well in my opinion :-)

i have fine hair and it could be hard to tell the new groWth!!! thats my problem.
plus i will be using lye this time. i think i might do the half and half method + twist my hair in small sections to apply faster.

Like Saludable84 mentioned, 1/2 and 1/2 is the way to go. I did it on my touchup back in February and wish I would have done it on my virgin hair back in December. Also the fact that my hair is 3c in the front and 4a in the back makes it easier for me when I break that section in half. The part that time consuming is the detangleing, sectioning, pinning/clipping and covering.
 
everyone should just mind their own freaking hair!

whats up with this stupid natural vs relaxed thing. ridiculous ( some of those naturals were ONCE RELAXED).....

im relaxed from 6 years natural, if i feel lîke swiching back i can just do it, its my hair and k dont care about what people say.

bus its annoying all this fight..... jeezzzzz lol

people need lives. it's 2014. I actually think it's insecurity tbh.
 
Relaxing tomorrow 1 day shy of 20weeks post and i'm sooooooooooooooo excited. My birthday is Sunday so i'll post pics. I'm going to the salon and i really hope its not a nightmarE.

Scheduling my next relaxer for August 30th.
 
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I want to re-create the look I have in my avi, but I can't remember how many bantu knots I need and I don't know where I posted the details....:perplexed
 
Just wanted to give a quick thanks to all you ladies. I've been dealing with severely damaged relaxed hair for about 2-3 years now.

I think I'm finally on the right track to healthier hair:
*Little to No heat*
*Moisturizing and Sealing Properly*
*Adding Protein to my regime*

I have gone from getting relaxers every 6 weeks to every 9 weeks now. I know you ladies stretch much longer and that's my goal as well. I actually just started incorporating Vatika Coconut Oil and JBCO and I'm hoping it will help keep my new growth soft and manageable so I'm able to stretch longer. It's working so far.

Anyway, thanks for the tips!
 
Can someone kindly remind me why it is important to tie your head at night. I've been falling asleep without my head tie recently. Sigh.
 
It's important to tie your hair up at night for at least 2 reasons.
1) it protects your hair from the drying effects of the air (air conditioners, fans, etc).
2) it protects your hair from rubbing against fabrics that take the moisture out of it and that could cause your ends to fray.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF
 
@PureSilver wow you go girl!! 20 weeks I can only dream!!!

halfindian, it was a nightmare. I lost my cool and let the stylist and her assistant have it. I aint going back there!

My spiral/drop curls came out ok, it suits my face but i lost progress and i'm furious about that. VERY FURIOUS!

Pics will come after Sunday when all the curls are gone.


Next relaxer is August 20. If you would like i could be you buddy and i'll see if i can help you lengthen your stretches. Next year i aim for relaxing 2X for the year.
 
@halfindian, it was a nightmare. I lost my cool and let the stylist and her assistant have it. I aint going back there!

My spiral/drop curls came out ok, it suits my face but i lost progress and i'm furious about that. VERY FURIOUS!

Pics will come after Sunday when all the curls are gone.


Next relaxer is August 20. If you would like i could be you buddy and i'll see if i can help you lengthen your stretches. Next year i aim for relaxing 2X for the year.

PureSilver

What happened?
 
Relaxing on wednesday or tuesday @ 9 weeks post. I started taking Diatomaceous earth and between that and exercising/diet i have a small afro.

However i cant have color and a relaxer. :-\. I got it out my system thought. I will stick to black rinses for my hair. My bangs have no color and its a huge difference between that hair and my colored & relaxed hair.
 
Went from texlaxed to fully relaxed. I used vitale no lye to get my hair straight. Totally hate the flat look!

But my goal is to relax quarterly.
 
Went from texlaxed to fully relaxed. I used vitale no lye to get my hair straight. Totally hate the flat look!

But my goal is to relax quarterly.

I texlaxed after being natural for a while and I am contemplating being fully relaxed, but I am scared. :/
 
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