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Relaxed Hair Thread

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LushLox said:
alundra said:
I ordered a large container of my beloved Hawaiian 14 in 1 from the USA. The shipping was CRAZY but I got a lot of samples and my hair feels great again.

All the shops I've tried here (in England) so far have told me it's not being made, no longer exists, etc. Guess the wholesaler doesn't make it anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

They sell this on Amazon, is it not the same thing?

Amazon product ASIN B001KVTEUA
 
Took down my small braids today after 3 weeks. Prepping my hair to relax. Washed and currently DCing with heat.
My mom is in town staying with me for a few weeks so I had her do a follow up pull test after DH did one. It feels like what I'm doing is working for me but I won't know for sure until after I relax and blow dry. If I have a good comparison pic, I'll post it.

I had planned to relax at 6 months post on 4/1. But I have a family event on that day so I'm gonna relax a few weeks early just in case it doesn't come out the way I want. Then I have a few weeks to decide what to do with my hair for the event. I'm seriously considering just installing mini twists at 1 week post and calling it a day. I don't have it in me to be stressing over my hair right now.
 
What’s the story on Wen? Does anyone use it anymore? I had a pretty nice stash and used it all without issue. Then I moved on to Design Essentials and olaplex. I noticed recently that my hair was feeling a bit dry and attributed that to the absence of cowashing. I grabbed some As I Am coconut cowash and I’m liking that so far.
 
This thread popped up for me and it is full of some awesome relaxed hair gems!

Just had an epiphany: lye vs. no lye ,protein vs. ceramides

I am no way an expert so I invite others to chime in. When I was reading the book Shamboosie (sp): I remember the advice given was 1. to switch to lye from no lye. 2. If you use lye then protein is needed and 3. if you use no-lye "moisture" was needed. 4. They advocated keraphix/ (humectress)...
longhaircareforum.com longhaircareforum.com

I've accidentally stumbled upon this. I find that doing a mid-step moisturizer is better for my hair. And my hair loves lye relaxers with conditioners in them, like Motions. I'm not sure if Affirm Fiberguard has any in them but I can definitely tell the difference. I plan to mix oil and maybe condish with the Affirm when I relax in a couple of days.

Just had an epiphany: lye vs. no lye ,protein vs. ceramides

I am no way an expert so I invite others to chime in. When I was reading the book Shamboosie (sp): I remember the advice given was 1. to switch to lye from no lye. 2. If you use lye then protein is needed and 3. if you use no-lye "moisture" was needed. 4. They advocated keraphix/ (humectress)...
longhaircareforum.com longhaircareforum.com

And even though I started incorporating Ceramides when I was natural in the form of oils, I didn't get deep enough in my research to know about Ceramides 1, 2 and 3. So this is good info as well.

Just had an epiphany: lye vs. no lye ,protein vs. ceramides

Can someone tell me who makes Phyto?
longhaircareforum.com longhaircareforum.com
 
Chrismiss said:
What’s the story on Wen? Does anyone use it anymore? I had a pretty nice stash and used it all without issue. Then I moved on to Design Essentials and olaplex. I noticed recently that my hair was feeling a bit dry and attributed that to the absence of cowashing. I grabbed some As I Am coconut cowash and I’m liking that so far.
Click to expand...
I remember they had the scandal and lawsuit of women losing their hair. It was out of my price range when it was really big and I forgot about it. I did buy a gallon from QVC at the time, I remember it smelling great but not a lot about performance.
 
IDareT'sHair said:
Question: What PROTEIN Treatment is everyone using the first few weeks after Relaxing?:brainy:
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Honestly, since I've been using Ayurvedic powders, I've really slacked on DCing. They really improve the health of my hair! I usually just start back up with my Ayurvedic mixes a few days after relaxing. Brahmi and Henna/Cassia are very strengthening for my hair so I don't feel the need to add in a specific protein tx.

For a bit of protein post relaxer, I do a baking soda/amino acid tx after my final neutralizing shampoo. It serves that purpose as well as helping to rid my hair of the chemical relaxer smell.

Sometimes for extra shots of protein, I rub in Infusium 23, the original formula.

The only time I do a specific protein tx is before and after long term PSing with extensions or a crochet style. I used to use Joico K-pak reconstructor for that. I just repurchased a honey and egg ayurvedic DC that I threw away when I locced so I'll definitely report back!
 
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OK, I'm post-relaxer and getting ready to rinse out this conditioning mix.

Since 2010, I've been a 99% finger detangler. I just always felt like the plastic teeth on combs would cause too much damage to my fine strands. HOWEVER, I bought this comb set to help comb out my locs last year. And I've been using this big metal comb ever since to de-shed and detangle after minibraids. I absolutely love it! No fear of snagging bc there's no seam like there are on plastic combs. It's sturdy in my hand and I don't have any fear of breaking my comb. lol

Amazon product ASIN B082M98Q6R
 
Just did a wash and DC and air dried in a bun, but with no ponytail holder and no pins, just twisted the ends and wrapped the hair around itself and put on my silk turban.

When I need to go out I don't even need to do much to it, just add some hair pins to hold the pony up and that's it. Super low maintenance and easy, zero tension on my hair at all. This maybe what gets me to MBL if I just continue in this vein.

I remember a time where buns would break my hair at points, but no more as my technique has improved. I used to pray for times like these! :lol:
 
LushLox said:
Apogee Hair Strengthening Kit. It makes my hair feel totally reset and brand new.

Would love to hear what other ladies are using though. It's always good to hear new suggestions. :look:
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@LushLox
So would I.

I am going to use Joico K-Pak Reconstructor today. But always thinking about other Protein Treatments (especially being Relaxed now). I have a small bottle of Apoghee but will look at the Strengthening Kit.

Will be back to post what I am using - mostly from the Handmade Natural Products - but would also really like to hear what other Relaxed Heads are using.
 
I listed a few Protein Conditioners I use in the Protein Thread (in no particular order):
Tigi Dumb Blonde Reconstructor
Sarenzo Bamboo & Alma Protein DC'er
Joico K-Pak
Komaza Hair Care Protein
Curl Junkie Repair Me
Nexxus Keraphix
ElizaVecca Cera10
Affirm 5n1 Reconstructor
 
I've been using SM Hydrate & Repair Multi Action Leave In and I'm really impressed with it. I'm not enamoured by the smell though but it works so well; it is very hydrating.

Just following up with a little oil and that's my hair set for a few days.
 
Alright! I just washed with Suave Professionals Humectant Moisturizing poo and then DC'd w the Vatika Honey and Egg DC.
1681001993119.png 1681002091402.png


The DC felt really good going on and rinsing out. My hair is not hard. This might be a winner!

The only problem is the smell. It's like it wants to smell good but there's a mechanical smell to it, which I think can be attributed to the castor oil in it. I usually don't mess w castor oil so we'll see how this goes.

I'm trying to get back into weekly wash and DC. I'm still in mini braids but I think I'm gonna apply my scalp oil, cornrow them down and plop on my satin skull cap and bandana. I'll be using my ayurvedic cleanser and conditioner during the week when I shower. I find that the scalp oil seems to be more effective when applied on a cleansed scalp. Gonna try to get back into rocking my wigs. Fingers crossed!
 
Warning Long post ahead, but there are chapters..lol

Relaxer day was a success! Best it's gone in like over a year!! MAJOR TURNING POINT IN MY HHJ!
If you've been reading my posts, you've seen that I've had some struggles with my hair over the last several months. Just want to dive into what happened and how it's going now. Maybe it would help someone else in a similar situation...

Conclusion: I was experiencing product buildup overload. Luckily my hair wasn't breaking, it just felt awful all the time, relaxer wouldn't get my hair straight even after 30 min, it was massively tangled, underprocessed, and overall unmanageable all because of too much product buildup.

Backstory: I have high porosity hair and one of the things that has made it easier to handle is using neutralizing shampoo instead of regular shampoo. It helps keep the hair from drying out and makes it 100% tangle-free. I would follow up with a regular sulfate shampoo after the first wash too, but it wasn't enough in hindsight. This routine went on for about a year maybe? I hit a rough patch around October of last year. My relaxers started becoming underprocessed and no longer would become silky straight like before. It became a nightmare to wash/style and handle. It's like my hair couldn't be relaxed anymore no matter how long I left it on. I was heartbroken...

I noticed a few months ago while looking at my hair in the light that it looked dirty even though I just washed it, like there was lots of lint and small particles stuck to my hair. I decided to change up my shampoo. I've been using a regular shampoo exclusively over the last few months and it has been an absolute game changer. The conditioner has absorbed better, making the hair 100x softer and more manageable. The aphogee absorbs and makes my hair feel like silk. I was able to use the mixed chicks DC again and it made my hair feel soft again. Seems like the aphogee 2 minute I can leave on for like 10-15 minutes and my hair loves it. Been considering the 2-step, but I had a very bad experience with it years ago due to protein overloaded for months, so I'm scared of it.

Conclusion: I'm going to discontinue using neutralizing shampoo unless it's relaxer day or limit to every other wash. And not use within 2-4 weeks of an upcoming relaxer to be extra careful not to interfere with my relaxed results.
My relaxer came out silky smooth and soft for the first time in a while. My intuition about reducing the processing time was correct. I did 3 minutes less and it was still silky straight. I can probably take off another minute or two and still be fine. But, I want to see how my hair holds up and if it bounces back at all over the next 10 weeks. Very happy to be past this hump!

This is how my hair looks today. No flat iron needed just a blow dry on warm with serum and the tension method!

Screenshot_20230416-091851.png
 
alove15 said:
Thanks! Will read through your texlaxed posts for pointers :)
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You've already got a head start, I believe, bc you cut yours into a bob, right?

I grew mine out by staying mainly in low manipulation PSs like cornrows, braided pigtails and minitwists/minibraids with no added hair to minimize stress where the two textures met. Of course, it's harder to tell the difference between textures when the hair is straightened so I straightened once a month or alternated between minitwists for one month and then straightened for a month. I did that for about 1-1.5 yr.

This is one of the clearest examples of the texture difference I have from my transition from bonelaxed to texlaxed.

1681823429868.png

My hair is just too fine to rock it bonelaxed. I look at this picture often to remind myself why I don't bonelax.
That bonelaxed portion of the braid is the SAME LENGTH as the texlaxed portion of the braid. With my hair down and straightened, it looked healthy and long. I couldn't tell. But once I did my braided pigtail PS, the difference was astounding!

I ended up chopping off the bonelaxed ends a year later. Now, I'm of the mind that I shouldn't have chopped and if I find myself in the same situation, I wouldn't. They weren't hindering me in any way, they gave me the extra length to do the quick PSs a new mom needed like a high cinnabun and they provided protection for my true texlaxed ends.
 
ItsMeLilLucky said:
@Fashionista922 Girl you are GORGE! Isn't it such a relief when you find a problem and tackle that sucker to the ground? :lol:
I'm glad you found what works.
Click to expand...

Aww thank you!

Yes OMG! After suffering for months it was a huggggggeeeee weight off. I feel like I just unlocked my hair's full potential and leveled up big time!
Pretty sure I'll reach my hair goals this time around. Stay tuned! I am so happy!:pulpdance:
 
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