Relaxed -> Natural -> Relaxed

[Bublin]

...what have you learned along the way?

1. First time round i was not moisturising my hair with the right products and often enough.
2. I used too much heat and stretched for too long which caused breaking. I didn't realise my natural hair was so curly and tangly.
3. I didn't get a trim often enough.
4. Never ever protected my ends.
5. The reason why my hair got frizzy so easily was because it was dry.
6. Never heard of protein treatments and didn't have LHCF for advice.

Being natural made me realise that i have naturally very dry hair and scalp. It had nothing to do with the relaxers. I am now only going to use a Lye relaxer as its not as drying as a No-Lye and no water -based products on my hair inbetween washing as this causes frizzing for me.

 

[bbdgirl]

I have been on the same road and I m ust say that I have learned alot about taking care of my hair. I see now that it doesnt matter if my hair is natural or relaxed the only that matters is what I do. I now do things to my relaxed hair that I would only do to natural hair:
1. moisturize my ends morning and night
2. Condition my hair alot, Deep Condition
3. Low manipulation, period
4. frequent washing
5. no combing
6. relaxed hair need protein boosts, who knew

Thre results are evident and fantastic! I thought my hair grew so long cuz it was natural, as it turns out it was all the my treatment

 

[MJ]

For me it was:

Natural ---> Relaxed ---> Natural ---> Relaxed ---> Natural

I don't really have an answer for you bubblin because I didn't seem to learn much .

 

[silvergirl]

ive been relaxed / natural/ relaxed/ transitioned/ relaxed/ natural and now im really thinking of getting a relaxer... (for reasons i posted in another thread, not because i dont want natural hair)

i ve learned i need to just let my hair be...
scissors are not my friend
co-washes are godsent
my hair doesnt like oils
i cant flatiron relaxed hair often
i wont be using colors unless its salon quality and only once in a blue moon
my terminal lenght is not shoulder length ( as i believed when i was previously relaxed)
my hair grow if i leave it alone.

 

[CHEEKQUEEN]

Natural-Relaxed-Natural-Relaxed

I learned that my natural hair would have been more managable if I knew what products worked well for my hair type. I only used vaseline and water most of the time and I didn't wash my hair often. When I go back natural in the future I am loaded with information on how to make it successful. I loooooove natural hair.

I have learned with my relaxed hair that moisture is the key. I protect my ends, only trim every 6 months, dust my ends every 3 months, baggy my entire head once weekly, use lots of protective styles, and my hair doesn't like heat often. I also have fine/thin hair and I think texlaxing will leave my hair with needed texture/thickness. I see that with proper care I can stretch my relaxer to 6 months at a time. I hope to learn much more about my hair and how to maintain its health.

 

[Bublin]

Great responses.

Bump

 

[locabouthair]

This was me too.
I learned:

-No lye relaxes my hair straighter and to use a chelating shampoo regularly to remove mineral deposit from the no lye
-Moisturize your new growth as well as your ends
-DO NOT use fine tooth combs
-If you want curls, use caruso or vidal sasson steam rollers, to avoid heat
-Give yourself a protein treatment the week before your relaxer
-Protect your ends while relaxing by putting conditioner on them
-If your hair has been breaking consistently for a couple of months, get a trim
-DO NOT od on aphogee or emergencee, use them as needed and make sure you balance between protein and moisture

There are probably more but I just cant think of them right now.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

What I learned in my many trials and errors is:
No more salon relaxing- I'm doing it myself because they are not interested in how relaxed I want my hair to be (The beyach bonelaxed me when I wanted to be texlaxed)
Mineral oil products make MY hair happy
Roller sets are my friend.
Air dry- 99% then lightly fluff hair completely dry. Lessens my breakage
Wrapping only after my hair is dry& roller set- wastes less time doing it that way. Conditioner washes don't work for me. Lastly- being happy with healthy relaxed hair is not impossible, it just takes a lot of effort.

 

[FemmeCreole]

I moisturize more
I make sure I use my silk wrap to bed
I do more cowashes
I DC much more often
I now do protein treaments
I pre poo....never did that before

All in all I take care of and pay more attention to my hair than ever before.

 

[prettypuff1]

I am going for relaxed-> natural->relaxed(unsuccessfully)-> natural for good.

I didnt really learn anything except how i went wrong as natural head. My relaxex hair isnt going well because to call it fine would be an improvement...

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I moisturize more
I make sure I use my silk wrap to bed
I do more cowashes
I DC much more often
I now do protein treaments
I pre poo....never did that before

All in all I take care of and pay more attention to my hair than ever before.

OK, I need your help. How do you make co washing work? It failed me when I was natural. Please also help me with how to do protein treatments. I'm so lost.

 

[RegaLady]

I went from Natural-relaxed-natural-relaxed-transtioning back to natural...
I'm trying to find what works for me. It seems relaxers have failed me.
But co washing really helps
DC is great
Hiding hair away is helping me retain length
Moisturize,Moisturize,Moisturize
This is helping me out!
But, I am still working on it!