Relaxed Hair Thread

Okay so I measured my hair and I’m at 37 inches of hair. Measuring from my hairline going all the way down to my longest pieces.

I washed earlier this morning, shampooed roots and conditioned, then sealed with Shea Butter.

Then I decided to have my mom braid my hair. I will upload pictures tomorrow morning.

When I say my mom has no type of caution when it comes to hair, she really does not. It was mostly me yelling at her the whole time:

Me: “I swear if I hear another one of my strands pop, I’m gonna go off.”

Mom: “I’m not even braiding that hard.”

Me: “Well you sure aren’t braiding soft!”

Mom: “Calm down its just hair.”

Me: “Yeah MY hair!”

Mom: “You’re so uppity, about this hair of yours.”

Me: “Yeah and my hair this long because I’m so uppity about it.”

Me: “ BRAID SOFTER!!”

Mom: “Jeeze okay!”

Needless to say I know some breakage was involved because it wasn’t me handling my own hair, but it’s completely braided up, so I don’t plan to take them down for an entire month. I got hair added, so they’re a bit bigger than what I’m used to, but I can wash my hair in between which is mostly what I wanted.

Even though my mom braided loosely, I’m not used to this tight feeling. Since I always either have my hair loosely bunned, or twisted. The braids are medium/large since I didn’t want her pulling such small sections of hair into braids.

I’m just waiting for my mind to focus on something else, other than pondering exactly how many hairs were lost during this installation. I know it probably wasn’t a lot, but I’m in my feelings about it. Love how my hair turned out though.
 
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KhandiB said:
I got a relaxer this weekend, I like my hair, but I won't go back to this stylist.

Got about 2 inches cut off because of damage.

But my hair is laid, I am grateful, I have been struggling over the past couple of years. LOL


View media item 130309
Click to expand...

Aww, I can't see the pic :( I bet it's pretty though. I'm glad you feel better about your hair! Maybe it's laid because you've been babying it. :cool:
 
Sorry ladies, this is becoming my little hair journal. Lol.
Dropping my motivation to go back to mini braids, ayurveda and KISS.

3.5 Year Growth/retention

Ceasar June 09 Back.jpg Length check Dec 12.jpg

ETA my "lazy" regi snippet from then:

-putting my moisturizer (oil, condish and water) in a spray bottle and using it once or twice a day.
-mixing my protein and moisturizing DCs so that I have one-step conditioning after washing.
-I mix all of my ayurveda powders into shampoo and conditioners mixes once every 1-1.5 months and use those as usual (weekly wash, daily cowash or whatever).
-I also use castille soap as a more natural, non-sulfate alternative to "clarifying". That stuff really cleans!
-Styling my hair once per week -- about 95% of the time.

PERSONAL CHALLENGE: OK, I'm gonna try do this for the next year. No length goal, just looking to see how much my hair's health improves and how much I retain. I'll flat iron in December 2020 to see my results.

Adjustments-
-- The "water" in my spray mix will be a tea made with brahmi and hibiscus powders.
--my hair will stay styled in long term PSs (at least 3 weeks long)
 
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So I took those god forsaken braids out. I just couldn’t.

Here’s what they looked like:
35xqp1.jpg


Don’t get me wrong the style was very pretty, and loved the metal clasp things, but my mom used waaaayyy too much hair, and it was putting so much tension on my scalp, despite her braiding as loose as she could.

She used about 6 1/2 packs of hair, we originally had 8, but didn’t use all of the last few, when at most, she could’ve easily gone with 3-4 packs, because I didn’t mind if the color of my hair was slightly different from the braiding hair. I just wanted my real hair braided up and protected. My hair is incredibly fine, and doesn’t need a lot of hair added.

This is how much hair she used:
35xqws.jpg


There was also a bundle on the floor, but this was the majority of it.

These are what my roots looked like:

I’m sure it looks normal to you guys, but it was so uncomfortable.
35xqz6.jpg


To me, that was just too much hair, and the sheer weight of it left me with an aweful headache after waking up recently from a nap today. I was hoping after three days, it would’ve loosened up, but it just felt like it was getting tighter and tighter.

My length is fine, and I didn’t get much breakage if at all, but my scalp is incredibly unhappy, sore, and very very warm to the touch.

I’m not knocking braids, I love them, but this is the last time I do braids with added hair. My scalp is just waaaay too sensitive.

I think the sensitivity is mostly due to me not being used to this. I haven’t had braid extensions since I asked my mom to start letting me do my own hair in middle school. I’m in college now, so that just isn’t something I’m used to anymore.
 
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Mini braids completed yesterday. So happy to get back to easy hair! Everytime my hair is loose I wonder how much damage I'm doing to it. Since my relaxer 3.5 weeks ago, I've kept it either in a braided ponytail/bun or two braided pigtails pinned up around my head. I only redid the braids once/week. Now it's time to incorporate more of my ayurveda powders.

Hope everyone is doing well! :)
 
MzSwift said:
@PlanetCybertron

Aww, they were so pretty!!!
But you're right, the pain isn't worth it. I also think you're right that you could've used 3-4 packs instead. I actually had a braider put braids into my hair who only used 1.5 packs!

Anyway, I hope your headaches go away soon. ((BIG HUG))
Click to expand...

Thank you!!!

Originally I wanted just two packs before we even went to the store, I was wanting her to just barely add in hair to reinforce the style, so when I washed, the braids wouldn’t come apart.

This morning my head felt fine. I was going to rub some essential oils on my head last night but I didn’t wanna irritate it any more than it already was.

It’s still slightly tender in certain spots, but today it is much better. I washed and did all my leave ins, and I have my hair up in a bun now. I do have more noticeable flyaways now, but all I can do is just be more gentle in that area.


Tonight I will be doing medium sized twists, since my hair has already started to tangle up. I much prefer twists, since they’re easy and keep my hair separated with virtually no tension.
 
MzSwift said:
Mini braids completed yesterday. So happy to get back to easy hair! Everytime my hair is loose I wonder how much damage I'm doing to it. Since my relaxer 3.5 weeks ago, I've kept it either in a braided ponytail/bun or two braided pigtails pinned up around my head. I only redid the braids once/week. Now it's time to incorporate more of my ayurveda powders.

Hope everyone is doing well! :)
Click to expand...

Definitely same. I love my buns, but unless I bun while my hair is every slightly damp, just keeping my hair out in a regular bun makes me self conscious on how dry it’s probably getting.
 
PlanetCybertron said:
Thank you!!!

Tonight I will be doing medium sized twists, since my hair has already started to tangle up. I much prefer twists, since they’re easy and keep my hair separated with virtually no tension.
Click to expand...

You just reminded me of a lady I saw featured on the Just Grow Already relaxed hair blog. She wears her hair in medium sized twists. She said she started doing them because whenever her hair was loose it would break off. She retained so much hair. Now I want to go re-read that so I can see her technique.
 
 
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Have any of you ladies dealt with breakage in the middle of your hem line? I have an issue where my hair breaks in the middle but is longer on the sides, kinda like a W:

View media item 130321
I just trimmed my hair in that picture (well really, my sister did) but it's still so prominent to me and I really dont like it. And it was worse prior to the trim. I always have to trim which is stunting my progress. Any idea on what it could be? Since I've discovered curl activators, I think that'll help me with dryness and breakage but I know there's more to it. Any suggestions?
 
Divah97 said:
Have any of you ladies dealt with breakage in the middle of your hem line? I have an issue where my hair breaks in the middle but is longer on the sides, kinda like a W:

View media item 130321
I just trimmed my hair in that picture (well really, my sister did) but it's still so prominent to me and I really dont like it. And it was worse prior to the trim. I always have to trim which is stunting my progress. Any idea on what it could be? Since I've discovered curl activators, I think that'll help me with dryness and breakage but I know there's more to it. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

It could be quite a few things.

1. If you sleep on the back of your head
2. If the hair is a lot coarser, drier, or finer in that area
3. Not being able to see that area well enough to either part, or apply product correctly
4. Not being able to detangle that part properly
5. Using a certain amount of tension or manipulation that’s just enough to cause damage to that area.

These are just a few, but I notice this happens to a lot of people, including myself.
 
Divah97 said:
Have any of you ladies dealt with breakage in the middle of your hem line? I have an issue where my hair breaks in the middle but is longer on the sides, kinda like a W:

View media item 130321
I just trimmed my hair in that picture (well really, my sister did) but it's still so prominent to me and I really dont like it. And it was worse prior to the trim. I always have to trim which is stunting my progress. Any idea on what it could be? Since I've discovered curl activators, I think that'll help me with dryness and breakage but I know there's more to it. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I've been growing out my W for as long as I've been on my hhj. In my case the hair in this area is finer, less dense and stops higher than the rest of my nape's hairline.

I take care of it by making sure the area is moisturized. I also apply JBCO every night. I make sure my scarf knot doesn't rest in the center and that any style doesn't put a lot of tension on this area.

It's the longest it's ever been but I don't know if the hair in the area will ever catch up to the rest of my head. In fact, a major reason why I'm not relaxed bone straight is knowing that my W would be more obvious and I wouldn't want to keep trimming back to maintain an even shape.
IMG_20190528_160032164.jpg my hairline in the back

IMG_20190727_215427788.jpg

Still less dense in the middle but I've made peace with it for now. If my hair is relatively straight I just wear ponytails, buns or a half up half down style that gathers the hair that's down so the W is less noticable.
 

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I was moisturizing my hair and was like “hmm, I wonder how it looks twisted.” Long story short, I ended up twisting my whole head lol and it stayed twisted. Only thing is, there are no parts and the twists are all different sizes. :lachen:

Oh well I’m still wearing them, I just need a headband or something.

I really like this version of my texlaxed hair.
 
Okay so @MzSwift has kindly requested I share all of my info regarding how I went from roughly neck/shoulder length to Hip length with the use of wet/damp bunning.

Here’s a few comparison pictures:

As soon as I was able to pull my hair back into a low bun, I started bunning my hair daily
36vvr7.jpg


Starting off at that length, after about two years or so I made it to hip length
36w32k.jpg


Here’s a more In Depth breakdown on my daily, weekly, and monthly routine I had:

Washing: back then I would strictly co-wash. Rarely did I use actual shampoo or some sort of cleanser. Maybe every 2-3 weeks would I use a shampoo. I co-washed usually every day, or every other day.

Bunning: When I would bun, starting from the first picture around neck/shoulder length I would bun when my hair was very damp, or more towards the wetter side. So I would co-wash , then keep a towel on head for maybe 10 mins, and then bun. So my hair was mostly wet when I would bun, and I’d keep it up/secured with a cotton scrunchie. If it came down I’d just re-do it. So I would note that the wetter your bun is the more potential it will have to come apart repeatedly.

BSL to MBL:

This is where I started bunning on more damp hair versus wet hair. This is also where I kind of backed off co-washing to maybe 2-3 times a week. But I would still have my hair damp.

Spritzing: I would take whatever conditioner I had on deck, dilute it with some water and spritz down my hair. Not until it was soaking wet, but not damp to the point of being almost dry. With this method my buns stayed secured better, and I could stretch my co-washes a bit longer.

****Note: I also wasn’t sealing when I would spritz. I would just dampen my hair, bun it, and go. However, I would make sure my hair was damp enough to where I only had to spritz once a day.

WL to Hip:
At this point I started co-washing frequently again. So I stopped spritzing altogether. But my drying method changed up. By this time I would co-wash either every day or every other day, but I would let my hair air-dry to maybe 75-80% dry and then bun. So my hair was a lot drier versus when it was shorter. However with this method my hair would inevitably dry quicker somewhere later during the day. I wouldn’t re-dampen it, I would just wait until the next morning when I shower, co-wash again, and then do the same thing. Since I was co-washing pretty much daily, I didn’t feel the need to re-dampen.

••••••••••••••••••
Thoughts and Tips:

> Concerning deep conditioning, I didn’t deep condition at all during those years because I was giving myself moisture on a frequent basis and completely hydrating my hair

> The one thing I should’ve given more attention to was protein. With all the moisture, and my hair being in a more fragile state as a relaxed head, protein was needed to keep that excess stretching away.
In these pictures you can see how my hemline was suffering due to the lack of protein:

Once I got passed BSL you can see where my hemline started thinning:
36weg2.jpg

36wek4.jpg

36wel8.jpg


> Depending on how frequently you co-wash will determine the way your add protein to your hair. If you do-wash or damp bun less frequently, you can do an actual full protein treatment and rinse, but if you co-wash or damp bun daily, I’d suggest getting your protein more frequently in the form of leave-ins or using a protein treatment and turning it into a spray on protein treatment. So if you’re damp bunning daily, I’d say to have most if not all of your leave-ins be protein based.

> Manipulation: I would honestly suggest to just not manipulate your hair. At all. Detangle once, bun, and then leave your hair alone. Remember, wet hair is fragile.

> Try to keep your buns secure, but not tight.

>Sealing is completely up to you by the way, I just chose not to.

> If you’re going to bed with damp hair, try to pineapple or top knot bun. It’s very easy to sleep directly on your bun and cause tangles or knots that even the next co-wash doesn’t completely untangle or get rid of.

> when bunning, opt for a cinnamon bun
36wghq.jpg

And then secure with a scrunchie AFTER you’ve finished the bun. It may take a while to get it down, but it’s just one big Bantu knot.
Instead of tying the scrunchie at the base like you would a ponytail like this:
36wgq5.jpg


Doing it the second way puts tension on that area of hair, even more so when it’s damp, and taking it out can also cause snapped hairs.

Doing it the cinnamon bun way, keeps the tension from the scrunchie off of the base, and instead secures the entire bun evenly. Takedown is a lot easier and less damaging as well, but if you don’t have enough length then doing it the second way is fine, but as soon as you have enough length to do it the cinnamon bun way, switch to that as soon as you can.

>Relating to the above post, try to find scrunchies that are small enough to where you don’t have to loop them at all. Sometimes you have to loop a scrunchie two or three times to secure the hair, but with doing this you risk breakage and more tension. Finding a small enough scrunchie to where you can just put it over your bun and not loop it saves your damp hair from any unnecessary tension.

> I opted for cotton or satin lined fluffy scrunchies over the more rubber band like and harder/thinner scrunchies. Cotton ones or satin lined ones were just way more gentler and held my hair up better.

>If you’re using a cotton scrunchie, dampen it with some water or conditioner, so it doesn’t suck any moisture from your hair in certain parts.

>Ingredients:

•Whatever your hair likes is what you should use. I’d steer clear of glycerin if you live in an arid climate with not a lot of humidity, and opt for an oil or a heavy moisturizer so you can put over your damp or wet hair.
•BTMS based products are my personal favorite for co-washing
•ORS hair lotion is also a good moisturizing type of Sealant.
• For all of the Shea Butter sisters, damp bunning is a perfect opportunity to apply a light coating of Shea Butter to ensure the dampness and moisture stays put in the hair throughout the day.

This is all the info I managed to gather, but if you have anymore specific questions, please feel free to ask!

Hope this was detailed enough.
 
PlanetCybertron said:
Okay so @MzSwift has kindly requested I share all of my info regarding how I went from roughly neck/shoulder length to Hip length with the use of wet/damp bunning.

Here’s a few comparison pictures:

As soon as I was able to pull my hair back into a low bun, I started bunning my hair daily
36vvr7.jpg


Starting off at that length, after about two years or so I made it to hip length
36w32k.jpg


Here’s a more In Depth breakdown on my daily, weekly, and monthly routine I had:

Washing: back then I would strictly co-wash. Rarely did I use actual shampoo or some sort of cleanser. Maybe every 2-3 weeks would I use a shampoo. I co-washed usually every day, or every other day.

Bunning: When I would bun, starting from the first picture around neck/shoulder length I would bun when my hair was very damp, or more towards the wetter side. So I would co-wash , then keep a towel on head for maybe 10 mins, and then bun. So my hair was mostly wet when I would bun, and I’d keep it up/secured with a cotton scrunchie. If it came down I’d just re-do it. So I would note that the wetter your bun is the more potential it will have to come apart repeatedly.

BSL to MBL:

This is where I started bunning on more damp hair versus wet hair. This is also where I kind of backed off co-washing to maybe 2-3 times a week. But I would still have my hair damp.

Spritzing: I would take whatever conditioner I had on deck, dilute it with some water and spritz down my hair. Not until it was soaking wet, but not damp to the point of being almost dry. With this method my buns stayed secured better, and I could stretch my co-washes a bit longer.

****Note: I also wasn’t sealing when I would spritz. I would just dampen my hair, bun it, and go. However, I would make sure my hair was damp enough to where I only had to spritz once a day.

WL to Hip:
At this point I started co-washing frequently again. So I stopped spritzing altogether. But my drying method changed up. By this time I would co-wash either every day or every other day, but I would let my hair air-dry to maybe 75-80% dry and then bun. So my hair was a lot drier versus when it was shorter. However with this method my hair would inevitably dry quicker somewhere later during the day. I wouldn’t re-dampen it, I would just wait until the next morning when I shower, co-wash again, and then do the same thing. Since I was co-washing pretty much daily, I didn’t feel the need to re-dampen.

••••••••••••••••••
Thoughts and Tips:

> Concerning deep conditioning, I didn’t deep condition at all during those years because I was giving myself moisture on a frequent basis and completely hydrating my hair

> The one thing I should’ve given more attention to was protein. With all the moisture, and my hair being in a more fragile state as a relaxed head, protein was needed to keep that excess stretching away.
In these pictures you can see how my hemline was suffering due to the lack of protein:

Once I got passed BSL you can see where my hemline started thinning:
36weg2.jpg

36wek4.jpg

36wel8.jpg


> Depending on how frequently you co-wash will determine the way your add protein to your hair. If you do-wash or damp bun less frequently, you can do an actual full protein treatment and rinse, but if you co-wash or damp bun daily, I’d suggest getting your protein more frequently in the form of leave-ins or using a protein treatment and turning it into a spray on protein treatment. So if you’re damp bunning daily, I’d say to have most if not all of your leave-ins be protein based.

> Manipulation: I would honestly suggest to just not manipulate your hair. At all. Detangle once, bun, and then leave your hair alone. Remember, wet hair is fragile.

> Try to keep your buns secure, but not tight.

>Sealing is completely up to you by the way, I just chose not to.

> If you’re going to bed with damp hair, try to pineapple or top knot bun. It’s very easy to sleep directly on your bun and cause tangles or knots that even the next co-wash doesn’t completely untangle or get rid of.

> when bunning, opt for a cinnamon bun
36wghq.jpg

And then secure with a scrunchie AFTER you’ve finished the bun. It may take a while to get it down, but it’s just one big Bantu knot.
Instead of tying the scrunchie at the base like you would a ponytail like this:
36wgq5.jpg


Doing it the second way puts tension on that area of hair, even more so when it’s damp, and taking it out can also cause snapped hairs.

Doing it the cinnamon bun way, keeps the tension from the scrunchie off of the base, and instead secures the entire bun evenly. Takedown is a lot easier and less damaging as well, but if you don’t have enough length then doing it the second way is fine, but as soon as you have enough length to do it the cinnamon bun way, switch to that as soon as you can.

>Relating to the above post, try to find scrunchies that are small enough to where you don’t have to loop them at all. Sometimes you have to loop a scrunchie two or three times to secure the hair, but with doing this you risk breakage and more tension. Finding a small enough scrunchie to where you can just put it over your bun and not loop it saves your damp hair from any unnecessary tension.

> I opted for cotton or satin lined fluffy scrunchies over the more rubber band like and harder/thinner scrunchies. Cotton ones or satin lined ones were just way more gentler and held my hair up better.

>If you’re using a cotton scrunchie, dampen it with some water or conditioner, so it doesn’t suck any moisture from your hair in certain parts.

>Ingredients:

•Whatever your hair likes is what you should use. I’d steer clear of glycerin if you live in an arid climate with not a lot of humidity, and opt for an oil or a heavy moisturizer so you can put over your damp or wet hair.
•BTMS based products are my personal favorite for co-washing
•ORS hair lotion is also a good moisturizing type of Sealant.
• For all of the Shea Butter sisters, damp bunning is a perfect opportunity to apply a light coating of Shea Butter to ensure the dampness and moisture stays put in the hair throughout the day.

This is all the info I managed to gather, but if you have anymore specific questions, please feel free to ask!

Hope this was detailed enough.
Click to expand...


:thankyou::urock::rocker::toocool::heart:

When I first came here in 2009, I was natural and so many relaxed long haired ladies grew their hair from SL to MBL and beyond by wet/damp bunning. In fact, when I initially textlaxed, my plan was to wet bun to HL but I got hair lazy.

Thank you so much for not only sharing your journey but also your tips! The ladies I saw used to alternate between cowashing with a protein condish and moisturizing condish. I may try that too. I've also fallen off on my DCing. I may incorporate overnight DCing before I cowash as it will fit into my laziness well.

Thanks again, sis! I know it takes a lot of time to put together such a long, informative post.
 
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