Relaxing Again After A 10 Month Stretch

EbonyMajesty

EbonyMajesty

Member
My last relaxer was in the beginning of June 2010, and I am about to relax again. I am a self-relaxer and now I am confused about where the line of demarcation is, since I recently flatironed my hair and the two textures seem to blend seemlessly. The only way I can think of to bring back the demarcation line is to wash my hair, but I have always heard that it is better to relax on "dirty" hair, rather than recently washed hair. I don't want to overprocess my hair, and was wondering if you all have advice on how I can avoid this.

Has anyone out there stretched this long in the past and self-relaxed?

Thanks.
 
EbonyMajesty said:
My last relaxer was in the beginning of June 2010, and I am about to relax again. I am a self-relaxer and now I am confused about where the line of demarcation is, since I recently flatironed my hair and the two textures seem to blend seemlessly. The only way I can think of to bring back the demarcation line is to wash my hair, but I have always heard that it is better to relax on "dirty" hair, rather than recently washed hair. I don't want to overprocess my hair, and was wondering if you all have advice on how I can avoid this.

Has anyone out there stretched this long in the past and self-relaxed?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

can you just rinse your hair with water instead and let it airdry? Then just relax tomorrow. Or hit your hair with a blowdryer on cool, just so that its dry, that way you'll be able to see your line of demarcation but not be relaxing on wet or "clean" hair.

But congrats of being able to achieve such a seamless flat iron job 10 months post
 
You could use a water bottle and mist your hair well. The line of demarcation should pop up easily as it air dries.......
 
Thanks for the misting / wetting ideas. I have never had to deal with this much new growth [4-5 inches], so I almost feel like I am about to relax a virgin head of hair. But now I am realizing it is harder when the hair gets this long because it might be easier to accidentally overlap the hair.
 
it's not good to wash your hair before relaxing, since you are opening your pores, which can cause scalp irritation, from the friction of washing.
 
shortdub78 said:
it's not good to wash your hair before relaxing, since you are opening your pores, which can cause scalp irritation, from the friction of washing.
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Thanks for that info. I had always heard that it was not good, but no one ever explained why. This is helpful. So, do you think this would happen if I misted my hair, instead of washed it?
 
I always mist with water and SAA the day before relaxing. Misting won't cause any harm.
 
Put a cream on your hair. THey are usually water-based and will bring out the curls in our new growth. I've used QH Cholesterol before.

ETA: Way to go on the stretch! How exciting :)
 
Ringing and misting should be cool. I think the key here is not to irritate the scalp. My old stylistic mister me for my corrective to get a better view..all was well with me...no burning involved :yep:
 
Can't you just wash and condition your hair and wait a 4-7 days to relax without disturbing your new growth?
 
Thanks for all the props on me stretching for so long. I'm pretty proud of myself. Now I think I'm going to stick to relaxing once every 6 months. It's very doable once you DC a lot, which I do once a week. at 10 months, the natural hair really starts taking over, and if you like a straight look, which I do, you have to fight the urge to use a lot of heat. I think I would have had even better results if I had cowashed, but I couldn't bear it in the winter months. I'll probably do it in the summer, especially since I live in DC, where it is ridiculously humid in the summer.

Thanks for the cream idea. That will probably be good as a light protectant from the chemical process too. Soo many great ideas. Thanks ladies!
 
kblc06 said:
Can't you just wash and condition your hair and wait a 4-7 days to relax without disturbing your new growth?
Click to expand...

I could do that, but I'm impatient and don't want to wait that long. Plus, since I like to wear my hair straight, I doubt it would solve the problem of not being able to find my demarcation line, since I'd likely flat iron after washing.

But thanks for the input.
 
EbonyMajesty said:
I could do that, but I'm impatient and don't want to wait that long. Plus, since I like to wear my hair straight, I doubt it would solve the problem of not being able to find my demarcation line, since I'd likely flat iron after washing.

But thanks for the input.
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Better safe than sorry. :yep:
 
Just finished a 8 month stretch as of last week, I shampooed hair then air dried and relax 2 days later...
 
beauti said:
transition to natural :giggle:
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I totally chickened out of relaxing. :hair:

With all this newgrowth, now I am wondering if I should just transition to natural. Ugh, decisions, decisions. I mean I have already come this far, right. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. :help:
 
EbonyMajesty said:
I totally chickened out of relaxing. :hair:

With all this newgrowth, now I am wondering if I should just transition to natural. Ugh, decisions, decisions. I mean I have already come this far, right. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. :help:
Click to expand...

:woot: I'm biased but I'm all for it :grin:
 
Nasdaq_Diva said:
:woot: I'm biased but I'm all for it :grin:
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I am really torn, because I have come this far and it has been fine for the most part. I am starting to see more breakage now, but nothing alarming. I think that may have more to do with my detanlging technique or lack of one. Anyway, I put some cornrows in for right now while I think about what I am going to do.
 
I understand. Been stretching since September. On the fence about going natrual.
Getting tree braids in two weeks so I can really think about it
 
After thinking about it for a while I decided to relax on Friday, and I'mn happy about the whole experience. Now that I have done the longest stretch I've ever done, I have some clue as to how to handle my natural hair for if/when I decide to transition. I know some of you were rooting for me to BC or continue transitoning. Sorry. I love my relaxer results, and think I benefitted from the long stretch. I may not do 10 months again, but I can definitely see myself relaxing every 6 months from now on. Thanks for all your advice ladies.
 
EbonyMajesty said:
After thinking about it for a while I decided to relax on Friday, and I'mn happy about the whole experience. Now that I have done the longest stretch I've ever done, I have some clue as to how to handle my natural hair for if/when I decide to transition. I know some of you were rooting for me to BC or continue transitoning. Sorry. I love my relaxer results, and think I benefitted from the long stretch. I may not do 10 months again, but I can definitely see myself relaxing every 6 months from now on. Thanks for all your advice ladies.
Click to expand...

EbonyMajesty
And not a pic to share?? :cry4:
 
NJoy I'm still trying to figure out how to make my pics smaller so they can fit, but in the meantime I have my relaxer pics in my 2011 album of my fotki page. It should be dated 4/15/11 relaxer.
 
Your hair turned out really pretty, and you had great progress!! Your new growth looked so pretty!!!
 
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