Relaxed Ladies with Thick Hair - What's your Secret???

I don’t post many pictures of my hair because I feel like my hair should be longer by now, but I’m not lacking in thickness, so here goes…(my last relaxer was June 4, 2011)


Relaxed ladies who don't have thin, limp, see-through hair - what's your secret???

I’ve always had thick hair. But, relaxer stretching has contributed.

Before you began your HHJ, what did your hair look like?

My hair was short because I always cut it to a bob. Growing up, I kept it at shoulder-length or just below. Because my hair is thick, I relaxed it frequently, every 4-6 weeks. Yes, I still had plenty of hair on my head.

What do you think contributed to your thick hair?

1. Genetics – both of my parents have lush heads of hair. In the 70’s, my dad had a full fro, a press ‘n curl, then a relaxer before he went back to a fade. My mom is my hair twin, only she overprocesses her hair.
2. Relaxer stretching


Any other tips/tricks/techniques you can think of?

1. Relaxers stretching is good, but not to the point where it causes breakage.
2. Avoid frequent heat usage (pincurl or Caruso set instead of "bumping")
3. Try to rollerset to straighten - it's gentler on the hair and promotes thickness.

ETA: My hair thinned out some towards the end of 2009 when I was going through the height of my law school stress. I'll try to come back and add a picture later. When that happened, I gave my hair a rest. I would co-wash and wet bun or get cornrows for a week or two or wear a phony pony. It has since pretty much recovered, but I still have trouble with my crown area.



Finally, PICS! Come on ladies, show of those pics of your thick relaxed hair!! Doesn't matter if you're EL, WL, or anywhere in between.

I'll add pics in the next post. Let me know if they don't show up.
 
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Starting picture - professional Dominican Blowout September 2008. My hair was thick, but short and overprocessed. I was relaxing every 4-6 weeks. I started rollersetting:

Blowout-vi.jpg


This was January 2009, about 5 or 6 months into my HHJ. This was a professional Dominican blowout:

3-vi.jpg


September 2010 rollerset (at home, no blowout):


CIMG28301-vi.jpg


February 2011 - professional Dominican blowout (I felt my ends were getting too wispy here) - Sorry for the poor quality, took this picture on my iPhone!:

Backshotdominicanblowout-vi.jpg



^^^^^^^^^^^^ After this picture, I got a blunt cut (in May) to get rid of wispy ends, but I won't be posting those pictures until the blunt cut grows out. I prefer layers and a little more length than I have now.
 
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Bump....

It's official! Just because you relax doesn't mean you will have thin, limp, lifeless, dull, and see-through hair!

Beautiful hair ladies!

Sent from my Comet
 
For the sake of this thread, I want to hear from fully relaxed ladies.

Relaxed ladies who don't have thin, limp, see-through hair - what's your secret??? :grin:
Stretching and using a mild relaxer

Before you began your HHJ, what did your hair look like? I've been neck length and shoulder length most of my life. I've had thickness but always struggled with length.

What do you think contributed to your thick hair? Leaving some texture in the strands.

Any other tips/tricks/techniques you can think of? Little heat. Wide tooth detangling combs. Reducing shedding was big for me.

Finally, PICS! Come on ladies, show of those pics of your thick relaxed hair!! Doesn't matter if you're EL, WL, or anywhere in between.

I don't do much protective styling so for me, maintaining thickness is about fighting off damage areas by paying close attention to deep conditioning and managing breakage.
 

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my thick hair is definitely genetics. ive had thick hair all my life. my mom had thick hair. i never appreciated until now. i use to try to hide how thick my hair was by wearing it flat and bone straight.
 
Same here... never appreciated it until now... back in undergrad I used wish for thin fine strands.. Now I love my thick hair.. As long as it is healthy I'm good :yep:

my thick hair is definitely genetics. ive had thick hair all my life. my mom had thick hair. i never appreciated until now. i use to try to hide how thick my hair was by wearing it flat and bone straight.
 
I have fine strands, so for me deep conditioning, not brushing/detangling soaking wet hair and staying away from heat styling entirely has been the key. When I'm 8+ weeks post I style my hair by moisturizing, sealing then sleeping in flexirods.
 
My Hair Before:
cf2689f1-d3c5-b07c.jpg

My fro!!! <3

My regimen:

Texlaxing (Lye Relaxer)
Weekly Co-washing & DC
Air Drying
Flat Irons only 2-3 times a Year
Moisture & sealing (Giovanni Leave-In + Castor oil on ends)
Protein 10 days before touchups
Silk Sleep Bonnet

I probably should, but I don't do much protective styling. I wear my hair out about 50% of the time. When I wear a bun or clip, it's only b/c I want my hair off of my neck.

Pics:

This picture is from February.
cf2689f1-c43f-acc1.jpg


This picture is from April.
cf2689f1-c2e1-fb03.jpg


My hair has grown a little since then. It's about time for me to do a length check. I want to do one this week or next week.



Sent from my iPhone 4 using LHCF
 
Oops... I just read the "fully relaxed" disclaimer. Does that mean women who are relaxed bone straight?

IMO, because a relaxer has touched every strand of my hair... I am fully relaxed :)
 
This is an awesome thread. I feel like the ugly duckling of the bunch :lol:

Before you began your HHJ, what did your hair look like?
A hot mess:
unhealthy.jpg

(my mom would relax all the hair, including the previously relaxed hair, which left me with neck-length, damaged hair)


healthier.jpg

I began to start taking care of my hair and it started looking decent, but it was still limp and still had no hair in the back (c. 2001-2003). :sad:

What do you think contributed to your thick hair?
1. Relaxer application: I don't tex-lax my hair because I wasn't getting uniform results. However, I do not consider my hair relaxed bone straight. (my favorite right now is Linange Butter Relaxer). I relax about 4-5 times a year. I do what I can to prevent overlapping by applying a conditioner to my previously relaxed hair and ends. Even before I was using this brand, I would always use a deep conditioner or neutralizing conditioner immediately after rinsing out the relaxer.

2. Styling: I do not own a blowfryer. That's not a typo... Just say no. :lol: I also can count how many times on one hand that I use a brush per year. I only flat iron the new growth of my hair. I love roller setting or air drying in a bun. I wrap my hair sparingly.
miss.jpg

(old pic of a rollerset c. 2007?)

3. Conditioning. I always make sure I use a quality deep conditioner (like Aubrey Organics GPB) that will give slip. I usually condition my hair in sections and leave it on for at least 10 minutes with heat before rinsing. I detangle my hair with a shower comb while rinsing. I like doing pre-shampoo treatments and massage with food items like mayonnaise, oil, eggs, honey, etc.-- it immediately started looking healthy and thicker just after one application of mayo! I also do not lighten my hair.

4. I wear my hair big - I guess it's like an optical illusion, my hair looks longer when it's big so I try to wear it curly as much as I can :rofl:

100_1818.jpg

(one of my most recent pictures)
If I can think of anything else, I'll be sure to edit this post.
 
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Bumping..

My next relaxer date is creeping up on me, so I'm re-reading a lot of threads....

Sent from my Comet
 
I relaxed my front yesterday (first time I self relax). My hairstylist is sick and will be for some time, so as it's been 10 weeks after my last relaxer, I relaxed the front, parted from ear to ear. I can handle the back better with rollers and a flat iron. I want to hold on like this until end of October that way my hair in the front will have a 2 month newgrowth and 4 months in the back. Crazy! but I did it :)
I based my scalp, used Mizani Honey Shield in the lengths and also on the exposed hair on the back that was not going to be relaxed. I used my Affirm Mild relaxer.
 
Spin - I never went through with the Phyto after reading mixed reviews. I have been using Design Essentials for about 3 yrs now.
 
Spin - I never went through with the Phyto after reading mixed reviews. I have been using Design Essentials for about 3 yrs now.

Thanks. I was researching Phyto and I saw some of your old posts. I have been using Design Essentials as well.
 
Before you began your HHJ, what did your hair look like? It was long and thick, until I started going to the salon. Later, it became dry and my ends were always split.

What do you think contributed to your thick hair? I’ve always had thick hair, but it’s gotten thicker and longer due to: deep conditioning, air drying, stretching, keeping it moisturized and being my own stylist.

Any other tips/tricks/techniques you can think of? I tried henna a few times, but my hair became too thick. Also, products with Panthenol as one of the top ingredients makes my hair appear thicker...I avoid these. I also eat a lot of salmon, fruit & veggies, exercise, vitamins and drink lots of water.
 

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