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Relaxed Hair Thread

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L.Brown1114 said:
I can’t do this anymore ladies. My relaxed hair is so high maintenance. It’s like a second job. It needs to be flat ironed every week or blow dried at the very least (can’t do the wet look my ends mat up) so much heat and I can feel my hair snapping off some times when I comb it or run my fingers through it. My natural hair bores me but at least it was chill as heck. Even if I got depressed and neglected it, one DC and some TLC on wash day and it was as good as new. I’m going back to natural. Transitioning slowly this time. I think I’ll just have fun with color (I’ve colored my natural hair before and it’s still very low maintaince) if I want straight hair I’ll go get a silk press or blow dry it and curl it with a curling iron. Sorry ladies I couldn’t hang like y’all lol. Happy growing!
Click to expand...
I understand!! I am seriously thinking about transitioning to natural. But I will be a straight hair natural. Nothing against anyone else’s decisions but I prefer to wear my hair in straight styles or roller sets.
 
klsjackson said:
Just an update: I am so unhappy with my hair. But thebodd thing is I have gotten several compliments on it. It may look nice, but I know how it should really look. I am having to comb it a certain way to hid the breakage.

I spoke with a dr and of course my iron is low and this breakage is basically from me not taking my iron and vitamins like I was supposed to so several months ago.

The only thing that will correct this is time and taking my medication like I should. My hair was shedding quite a bit before I relaxed, but I just thtought it was from the change in weather. Evidently, the hair was going to shed anyway but applying the relaxer (chemical) sped things up.

Normally I just get shedding which makes my hair look thinner, but this time I have breakage as well. Dr said the breakage is from the anemia not the relaxer. However, for me it will be a long time before I relax again. At least six months. I don’t like long stretches but I have my iron levels checked before I relax again.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your update. Sounds like you're on the right track with being consistent with your iron intake and having your levels checked twice a year (that's the schedule I was on years ago too).

If you have breakage, I would focus on using only professional/quality hair products (everything from shampoo to DC) - these won't fix the problem but they'll help prevent the breakage from worsening. Also keeping up with trims can help curb the breakage too.
 
today is 8 wks post. I washed and flat ironed on tensioned-dried hair.
I'm also working on reducing my product stash until there is no stash. Stashes equals money not in the bank. I'm a product junkie on a recovery plan lol
I plan to relax either next Sat or 2 Sats from today and I also plan to get a good trim and color 2-3 wks after that. the last time I did any color was in December and it was highlights over previously colored hair. so basically a triple process. :look: This time, I'm thinking an all over rich brown. I know I need at least a trim now that the breakage I suffered at the nape in the spring has caught up.
I realized the way to mitigate nape damage is to completely under-process that area compared to the rest of my head. another reason why I like doing my own relaxers - control!
 
I am not a regular here, but often check in.
I’m still currently neck length and should
Be shoulder length by the end of the year.

My current favs are KeraCare detangling shampoo, Pureology DC, It’s a 10 leave in, and Roux leave in 233. I’ve been toying around with three different oils and serums. Still haven’t made any of them HG yet. I’ve been washing weekly with this Reggie and have no complaints.

I tried going 13 weeks for a relaxer and my hair did not like it. Too much breakage and it was very difficult to manage after 8 weeks. When my hair was APL streching was much easier. However at this length 9 weeks post is my max. I’ve been going to the salon for relaxers only. If I had the time and $ I would be back to my bi weekly salon visits. My hair does great with that Reggie because I did little to nothing in between and it grew like a weed!

Edited to add: I’ve been trying HSN vitamins again but have experienced breakouts. This has never happened before. Trying to take 1 tablet 3 times a week instead of daily. This is working much better for my skin.
 
I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday and I'm finally feeling better. I'm just now doing my weekly dc that I'd usually do on Saturday.

I did do a cowash last night because my hair felt weird not having water on it for so many days.

Actually, I have a honey, Vitamin E, and jojoba oil prepoo sitting on right now. I'll dc later. :yep:
 
sunnieb said:
I've been fighting a cold since Wednesday and I'm finally feeling better. I'm just now doing my weekly dc that I'd usually do on Saturday.

I did do a cowash last night because my hair felt weird not having water on it for so many days.

Actually, I have a honey, Vitamin E, and jojoba oil prepoo sitting on right now. I'll dc later. :yep:
Click to expand...
I was reading your post and wondered do you detangle (extensively) when you cowash?
 
It looks like I'll be joining this thread again, ladies. I got my last relaxer in 2015, transitioned, and decided to be a straight hair natural. My hair doesn't stay straight unless it's relaxed. A silk press doesn't not last in my hair and starts revering the next day.

I was looking at some time in December. But, I might be able to do it November 19th. I'm going to get my hair cut into a long bob.
 
Do you ladies recommend keratin treatment between relaxers in order to stretch longer? I would like to relax twice a year and use keratin treatment in-between.
I have fine hair strands so I try to avoid direct heat. I'm a bit worried about getting the treatment because of this and also not sure if relaxer and keratin treatment go well together. I only know of one youtuber who does this but her strands are much thicker.
 
nerdography said:
It looks like I'll be joining this thread again, ladies. I got my last relaxer in 2015, transitioned, and decided to be a straight hair natural. My hair doesn't stay straight unless it's relaxed. A silk press doesn't not last in my hair and starts revering the next day.

I was looking at some time in December. But, I might be able to do it November 19th. I'm going to get my hair cut into a long bob.
Click to expand...
I’m glad you posted. I am thinking of transitioning to be a straight natural. My hair does well during long stretches when I flat iron, little to no reversion at the roots unless I do a very strenuous work out. But now I am wondering if it will hold up the same with a entire head of natural hair....
 
abioni said:
Do you ladies recommend keratin treatment between relaxers in order to stretch longer? I would like to relax twice a year and use keratin treatment in-between.
I have fine hair strands so I try to avoid direct heat. I'm a bit worried about getting the treatment because of this and also not sure if relaxer and keratin treatment go well together. I only know of one youtuber who does this but her strands are much thicker.
Click to expand...

I personally wouldn't do a keratin treatment to stretch relaxers.

I'd do the following:

*keep newgrowth stretched
*cowash often to prevent matting
*prepoo
*dc 2x weekly
*maybe go get a professional press at 4, 5, and 5 1/2 months post
 
abioni said:
Do you ladies recommend keratin treatment between relaxers in order to stretch longer? I would like to relax twice a year and use keratin treatment in-between.
I have fine hair strands so I try to avoid direct heat. I'm a bit worried about getting the treatment because of this and also not sure if relaxer and keratin treatment go well together. I only know of one youtuber who does this but her strands are much thicker.
Click to expand...

There was an old Keratin thread that I was reading and that's what one relaxed lady had been doing for years. The way she explained it was that the Keratin bonded to the hair and strengthened it which is especially more important for those of us who've broken protein bonds by relaxing. I'll try to find the thread. I posted it in here a few pages back.
 
klsjackson said:
I’m glad you posted. I am thinking of transitioning to be a straight natural. My hair does well during long stretches when I flat iron, little to no reversion at the roots unless I do a very strenuous work out. But now I am wondering if it will hold up the same with a entire head of natural hair....
Click to expand...

I can tell you that's why I came back to texlaxing after almost 5 years natural. I realized that the way I primarily wear my hair can be done better on hair that's already stretched without heat (texlaxing). Then, when I want to straighten it, it lasts longer. I would spend a day and a half prepping my natural hair for the pressing process only for it to revert almost as soon as I walked out of the door. I may have gotten 2 days out of a press. So, for me, texlaxing is the best of both worlds causes me less damage - both heat damage and mechanical damage from manipulation.

FWIW, my form of texlaxing doesn't involve making my hair curly. My hair is texlaxed to look like a blow out when it's airdried. Hope that makes sense. GL to you, whatever you decide to do! :)
 
MzSwift said:
@abioni

I think it's in the early pages of the Keratin Thread bc the thread I posted was this:

https://longhaircareforum.com/threa...ng-relaxer-damage-by-using-silk.112817/page-2

This is the keratin thread:

https://longhaircareforum.com/threads/keratin-treatment-support-thread.357933/page-151#post-24839857

GL to you!
Click to expand...


Can you explain your texlax process? What relaxer do you use, do you texlax yourself, how long do you leave it on, ho often do you do it?

I have been natural for almost 3 years and I am over it. I had my first silk press about 3 weeks ago, and it was great. But, I'm a type 4A/B and feel like the process is really damaging. My hair is soooo thick, and only gets harder for me to manage as it grows longer. I am seriously considering texlaxing or getting a texturizer. I've already texlaxed my edges lol.
 
mona_cherie said:
Can you explain your texlax process? What relaxer do you use, do you texlax yourself, how long do you leave it on, ho often do you do it?

I have been natural for almost 3 years and I am over it. I had my first silk press about 3 weeks ago, and it was great. But, I'm a type 4A/B and feel like the process is really damaging. My hair is soooo thick, and only gets harder for me to manage as it grows longer. I am seriously considering texlaxing or getting a texturizer. I've already texlaxed my edges lol.
Click to expand...

I'm also a type 4B/A and was dealing with WL hair with tons of SSKs. I primarily wore my hair in mini braids or cornrows but when I wore it out, it wouldn't hold a twistout/braidout or press. I can still do my cornrows and mini braids but now my braidouts last all day and my straight hair lasts weeks without restraightening.

I use a mild, lye relaxer (Motions). I've learned that adding conditioner/oil to my relaxer gives me more texture than if I apply the oil and conditioner directly to my virgin hair before relaxing. I believe that is how I'm able to achieve a blow out texture vs. curls.

The night or two before my relaxer, I pre-twist my hair into the sections I'm going to relax in. Then I can quickly apply my relaxer and smooth with my fingers only. I rinse as soon as I'm finished. There might be a 5 minute delay or so for me to clean up and put away the relaxer items, prep the sink and wait for the water to warm.

I've also learned that if I do the midstep protein, my hair becomes less processed. So I've started doing my protein after neutralizing (3-5 times). I always follow that with a moisturizing DC with heat and then let my hair airdry after rinsing out.

So I don't believe in promoting specific products because we all have different hair. But I believe that that the techniques are important.

One of my biggest regrets when I relaxed my virgin/natural hair is that I left too much texture in it. I was looking to be able to WNG, something I could never do when natural, and I ended up suffering a setback from SSKs. So my advice is if you're gonna do it, try not to leave in too much texture.

Sorry for the novel - I hope this helps! :)

I don't have a lot of pictures on here but here are my twists before and during relaxing and also a pic of my airdried hair.

View media item 129631

View media item 129761

View media item 129763
 
MzSwift said:
I'm also a type 4B/A and was dealing with WL hair with tons of SSKs. I primarily wore my hair in mini braids or cornrows but when I wore it out, it wouldn't hold a twistout/braidout or press. I can still do my cornrows and mini braids but now my braidouts last all day and my straight hair lasts weeks without restraightening.

I use a mild, lye relaxer (Motions). I've learned that adding conditioner/oil to my relaxer gives me more texture than if I apply the oil and conditioner directly to my virgin hair before relaxing. I believe that is how I'm able to achieve a blow out texture vs. curls.

The night or two before my relaxer, I pre-twist my hair into the sections I'm going to relax in. Then I can quickly apply my relaxer and smooth with my fingers only. I rinse as soon as I'm finished. There might be a 5 minute delay or so for me to clean up and put away the relaxer items, prep the sink and wait for the water to warm.

I've also learned that if I do the midstep protein, my hair becomes less processed. So I've started doing my protein after neutralizing (3-5 times). I always follow that with a moisturizing DC with heat and then let my hair airdry after rinsing out.

So I don't believe in promoting specific products because we all have different hair. But I believe that that the techniques are important.

One of my biggest regrets when I relaxed my virgin/natural hair is that I left too much texture in it. I was looking to be able to WNG, something I could never do when natural, and I ended up suffering a setback from SSKs. So my advice is if you're gonna do it, try not to leave in too much texture.


Sorry for the novel - I hope this helps! :)

I don't have a lot of pictures on here but here are my twists before and during relaxing and also a pic of my airdried hair.

View media item 129631

View media item 129761

View media item 129763
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! This helps a lot!
 
I’m having a difficult time breaking this gel cast from Flaxseed Gel. My hair feels like it’s been deep fried near my bangs and ears. No idea what to do. I mixed with with my ceramide Treatment, but it completely nullified anything to do with the cream.

Think I might be using too much. Not gonna lie it has been years since I made Flaxseed Gel, and ya girl got waaaaaaay too excited with the application of it. But dang, slip for daaaaays.
 
So I’ve been reading through my old posts that coincide with the times I feel like I had good relaxer results. One surprising trend that I saw was that my relaxer results are so much better when I cleanse my hair 2-3 days prior. The times that happened, my hair turned out so healthy and smooth after the relaxer. Has anyone else experienced this? I’ve always heard it’s best to relax “dirty” hair but my experience contradicts that.

Other things I plan to continue to incorporate based on what I’ve posted in the past:

Shorter stretches- instead of 6-8 month stretches, I’ll stick with 3-4 months

No mid-step protein- Whenever I do it before neutralizing, my results end up more puffy or more underprocessed than I intended. So I’m sticking with doing the protein right after neutralizing.

Using ACV or white vinegar- For my last neutralizing step I pour on vinegar, massage it in and then add neutralizing poo to lather. I let that sit at least 10 minutes and rinse When I do that, my hair feels so heavy and luxurious as I’m rinsing it out.:love3: It also helps heal/soothe any scalp burns.

Lastly, relax in bigger sections- Smoothing seems to be the most important step in my relaxer results. With bigger sections, I can apply the relaxer a lot faster which will prevent some sections from processing longer than others. I’m going to part my hair down the middle and twist 4 even sections on each side, so 8 sections total. Apply. Then spend more time smoothing until I see the results I want.

I’m posting this moreso for my future reference than anything. Lol. This thread has become my hair journal. :giggle:
 
@MzSwift

I frequently relax within 24 to 48hrs of a wash. Not saying this is best practice, but for me it works. I do it out of impatience though Lol.

Same with using vinegar when rinsing out my relaxer. I use neutralizing poo a couple of times then rinse with vinegar. Again, I don't have the patience to wait for the shampoo to turn white and the vinegar helps.
 
Sosoothing said:
@MzSwift

I frequently relax within 24 to 48hrs of a wash. Not saying this is best practice, but for me it works. I do it out of impatience though Lol.

Same with using vinegar when rinsing out my relaxer. I use neutralizing poo a couple of times then rinse with vinegar. Again, I don't have the patience to wait for the shampoo to turn white and the vinegar helps.
Click to expand...

Yay! So I’m on the right track then to having pretty hair like yours. :D
 
@MzSwift
I always wash my hair 3 days before I relax. I would get some tiny burns but for my last relaxer I used summit sensitive scalp to base my scalp and even though I felt a little burning sensation around my nape, I didn't get burnt. My scalp was fine after I rinsed it. The reason it took me a while to start using base cream was because I was worried that the hair nearest to my scalp won't relax but it did. I will always base my scalp now.

I used the lady below's method of pre-parting and twisting before relaxer. Her sections are row by row so it was easy to apply the relaxer and smooth each parted section after. I'm slow so I use a mild relaxer.

 
My hair gets really flat for the first two weeks after relaxer. How do I prevent this or fix it?

I suspect I might be over processing a little. I'm thinking of adding oil to my relaxer like some of you do, will this prevent the flatness? I like my hair bone-straight but with body.
 
abioni said:
My hair gets really flat for the first two weeks after relaxer. How do I prevent this or fix it?

I suspect I might be over processing a little. I'm thinking of adding oil to my relaxer like some of you do, will this prevent the flatness? I like my hair bone-straight but with body.
Click to expand...

You can always cut down on processing time. Leave some texture towards the roots a bit if you like.

Since you like your hair bone straight, if your scalp can tolerate it, right after relaxing and neutralizing, during the styling process, do a style that lifts the roots. Rollerset going inwards, do a loose high bun, Bantu knots towards the top of your head, etc.

Any style that gets the roots lifted.
 
MzSwift said:
So I’ve been reading through my old posts that coincide with the times I feel like I had good relaxer results. One surprising trend that I saw was that my relaxer results are so much better when I cleanse my hair 2-3 days prior. The times that happened, my hair turned out so healthy and smooth after the relaxer. Has anyone else experienced this? I’ve always heard it’s best to relax “dirty” hair but my experience contradicts that.

Other things I plan to continue to incorporate based on what I’ve posted in the past:

Shorter stretches- instead of 6-8 month stretches, I’ll stick with 3-4 months

No mid-step protein- Whenever I do it before neutralizing, my results end up more puffy or more underprocessed than I intended. So I’m sticking with doing the protein right after neutralizing.

Using ACV or white vinegar- For my last neutralizing step I pour on vinegar, massage it in and then add neutralizing poo to lather. I let that sit at least 10 minutes and rinse When I do that, my hair feels so heavy and luxurious as I’m rinsing it out.:love3: It also helps heal/soothe any scalp burns.

Lastly, relax in bigger sections- Smoothing seems to be the most important step in my relaxer results. With bigger sections, I can apply the relaxer a lot faster which will prevent some sections from processing longer than others. I’m going to part my hair down the middle and twist 4 even sections on each side, so 8 sections total. Apply. Then spend more time smoothing until I see the results I want.

I’m posting this moreso for my future reference than anything. Lol. This thread has become my hair journal. :giggle:
Click to expand...
I like the ACV rinse rinse on top of the neutralizing shampoo!! I’ll have to try that! I’ve used it to clarify on the first wash after a relaxer since I use nolye.

And I’m relaxing either tomor or Sat so will definitely give that a try! 9 weeks post
 
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