Self-Relax Support Thread

[GodsGrace]

EWilliams looks like you did a fantastic job, I hope to self-relax in December for the first time with Silk Elements Lye. Your hair looks great, good job!

 

[SelfStyled]

I did it! I did it! I did it!

on the left is the stylist and the right is my results



not as silky and underprocessed some, but I'm okay with it

http://public.fotki.com/TopOfThaLineChicc/hair/self-relax-results/relaxcomparison2.html

http://public.fotki.com/TopOfThaLineChicc/hair/self-relax-results/relaxcomparison3.html
the front took well

http://public.fotki.com/TopOfThaLineChicc/hair/self-relax-results/.
I didn't use my usual Silk elements-lye instead I tried Revlon realistic lye
I thought I did good, I'm happy with the results

You did a great job. You will just keep getting better. The first few times I self relaxed I had lots of underprocessed parts- but I was determined, and kept on tweaking my technique until I got better.

Why didn't you use silk elements? You were one of the main reasons why I decided to try SE.

 

[Extremus]

You did a great job. You will just keep getting better. The first few times I self relaxed I had lots of underprocessed parts- but I was determined, and kept on tweaking my technique until I got better.

Why didn't you use silk elements? You were one of the main reasons why I decided to try SE.

Being a PJ

 

[morehairplease]

E your hair looks FANTASTIC! Do you think you are going to continue to use the Revlon or go back to SE?

 

[Extremus]

E your hair looks FANTASTIC! Do you think you are going to continue to use the Revlon or go back to SE?

Thank you

bolded: Oh noooo! It was pretty drying and it was taking forever to "process/straighten". I was working pretty fast, and I smoothed the crown/back about 3x, it still came out unprocessed.

I think I'll go back to SE, since I know it works well and I'm broke. Can't be a PJ right now

 

[morehairplease]

Thank you

bolded: Oh noooo! It was pretty drying and it was taking forever to "process/straighten". I was working pretty fast, and I smoothed the crown/back about 3x, it still came out unprocessed.

I think I'll go back to SE, since I know it works well and I'm broke. Can't be a PJ right now

I hear ya.....I am going to buy a jar since it is on sell at Sally's this month and put it up for my corrective in December.

 

[Aggie]

I did it! I did it! I did it! I've relaxed hair before, but never my own, so I know somewhat of how to relax hair.

on the left is the stylist and the right is my results


much thicker when I did it



not as silky as the stylist results and underprocessed some, but I'm okay with it


the front took well

.
I didn't use my usual Silk elements-lye instead I tried Revlon realistic lye
I thought I did good, I'm happy with the results

See? I told you, you could do it. Congratulations on your successful self-relaxing.

 

[Healthb4Length]

E! Get 'em gurl! You did a great job! IMO your results look better than the "professional" results!

 

[Extremus]

E! Get 'em gurl! You did a great job! IMO your results look better than the "professional" results!

Wow! Are you serious? Thanks!

 

[Aggie]

I'm exactly 10.5 weeks post my last relaxer today and my hair really does look like a ham so I will relax my hair this afternoon. I have both regular strength Design Essentials and mild strength Mizani Butter Blend. I think I'll use the Mizani BB becasue I don't really want a bone straight look just yet, but when I relax in December for Christmas, that's when I want that bone straight look. I really wanted to stretch another 7 weeks but my hair is breaking at the demarcation line and certainly not worth it.

Wish me luck girls.

 

[SelfStyled]

I'm exactly 10.5 weeks post my last relaxer today and my hair really does look like a ham so I will relax my hair this afternoon. I have both regular strength Design Essentials and mild strength Mizani Butter Blend. I think I'll use the Mizani BB becasue I don't really want a bone straight look just yet, but when I relax in December for Christmas, that's when I want that bone straight look. I really wanted to stretch another 7 weeks but my hair is breaking at the demarcation line and certainly not worth it.

Wish me luck girls.

Good luck Aggie

 

[Aggie]

Good luck Aggie

Thanks for the encouragement honey, but I was too tired to got through with my relaxer yesterday and today I came home wayyy too late to do it, now I think I might as well wait until my 12 weeks as I am almost there anyway. So another 10 days to go before I relax.

 

[locabouthair]

I think I am going to try to self relax again. Sigh. I think my stylist overprocessed me. I've had this happen to me before and right now I'm just tired of stylists, I feel if I keep leaving my hair in their hands, it will never be healthy let alone long.

I self relaxed before and my hair came out very underprocessed but I also didnt apply enough relaxer and I didnt make the parts small enough. I'm really discouraged because I can even do a decent rollerset, or flat iron my hair. I'm very challenged when it comes to styling plus I think I have hard water. Everytime I wash my hair as home it always comes out very brittle, even if I DC, clarify, airdry or sit under the dryer. I dont know what to do yall.

I need to make a decision fast cause my new growth is already getting pretty thick.

 

[cocoaluv]

I think I am going to try to self relax again. Sigh. I think my stylist overprocessed me. I've had this happen to me before and right now I'm just tired of stylists, I feel if I keep leaving my hair in their hands, it will never be healthy let alone long.

I self relaxed before and my hair came out very underprocessed but I also didnt apply enough relaxer and I didnt make the parts small enough. I'm really discouraged because I can even do a decent rollerset, or flat iron my hair. I'm very challenged when it comes to styling plus I think I have hard water. Everytime I wash my hair as home it always comes out very brittle, even if I DC, clarify, airdry or sit under the dryer. I dont know what to do yall.

I need to make a decision fast cause my new growth is already getting pretty thick.

If you do this I can be there for moral support!

 

[Lady Esquire]

i have come to the realization that my hair responds better to the half & half method.
the last 2 applications were underprocessed.

i need a corrective, in another month or so, making that my 3rd relaxer this year...not bad. everytime i underprocess, the hair gets more difficult to manage. so this time, i will permanently return to the half & half, which was my most successful self-application to date.

 

[sheba1]

Good for you, LadyEsquire! Your hair is BEAUTIFULLLL.

I would like to request relaxer advice from whomever wants to give it. I have a head full of beautiful natural afro puff! And I wanna relax it! I haven't had a relaxer in over 10 years! I'd love to know what my length would have been if I'd been taking care of it all this time. Wow, I can only imagine. I got sick of my natural tresses about 2 and half years ago and completely buzzed it. You all should have seen it; I was wearing these thin micros; and I was tired of hiding my hair, and I didn't know what to do with it all. I just picked up each braid and cut it right at the base. I put some gel in it and went to a cook out!

Anyhow, after LHCF, I can see that I can have healthy, long, relaxed locs. I see now that I only went natural out of fear and disgust for my 4a fine strands. Well, bump all that! I'm ready to relax again, and this time my hair care regimen will nurture health, length and beauty.

My issue is I absolutely abhor stylists. I don't feel that I've ever had a stylist that listened to my wants or desires; or cared about my hair's needs, either. I've never been to the same stylist more than once. It would seem that my best bet is to take complete control of my own hair care journey. But back to this natural puff, I've got here! I would feel completely able to self relax my new growth, but my virgin head?! What do you guys think? Self relax from jump using all the info in these boards? Or let a pro do the honors for this first one? I'd really like to know what you think.

My fears are legion! Will I chose the right relaxer? I'm going to use lye but that only makes me even more frightened. What if I over process?! What if I under process?? What if, with that very first relaxer, even if I do everything right, I end up with that same limp fine hair that I had way back when, even though I have a beautiful thick (appearing, anyway) head of natural curls? It's scary... and frustrating, because I want to see my hair hang. It's between my shoulder blades, stretched, and it will be a true thing of beauty if I could just decide... erplexed

All responses are welcome.

 

[locabouthair]

MY SECOND TIME SELF RELAXING

This time I didnt try to relax my whole head at once. I did the half and half method. But I relaxed half my hair one day and the other half 4 days later. Dont laugh I tried doing the London Divas half and half method but I just didnt trust myself to not get the other section wet.

Overall my hair came out much straighter than the first time. So I will say doing it in halves especially if you are a beginner is a good way to go.

Another thing that helped was parting and separating my hair prior to applying the relaxer. This saved me time parting my hair during the application process. I separated the parts by making twists to each section. It was tedious but worth it.

Some parts came out a little underprocessed but its not so bad to the point where I need to get a corrective as soon as possible and I think that was because I didnt smooth enough. Overall I'll give myself a B for my second time.

Oh and applying enough relaxer definitely helped my hair come out straighter.

I think each time I do it my results will get better and better.

For once in my life, I finally feel in control of my hair.

 

[Extremus]

MY SECOND TIME SELF RELAXING

This time I didnt try to relax my whole head at once. I did the half and half method. But I relaxed half my hair one day and the other half 4 days later. Dont laugh I tried doing the London Divas half and half method but I just didnt trust myself to not get the other section wet.

I think I may try this way. I'm scared I'll get my hair wet too if, I do it LondonDiva's way.

 

[JerriBlank]

I can't see londondiva's tutorial
Anyhoo,on average,how many inches of ng are you ladies working with?

I am due to relax in at the end of December,so my hair will be purty for my b-day in Jan.,but i think i wanna go ahead and stretch until Feb

My last relaxer was on Aug. 1 08.


The last time i stretched for more than four months i was SEVERELY underprocessed
The relaxer didn't take at all,and i blame it on working with more hair than i anticipated,as well as adding too much oil to the relaxer.

This time around,i wanna be all the way ready!

 

[locabouthair]

Anyhoo,on average,how many inches of ng are you ladies working with?

Honestly I only grow 1/4 inch a month (so about 3/4 inch when I relax) BUT my new growth comes in VERY thick to the point where I cant see my scalp if I part my hair. every stylist ive been too complaints about the thickness of my ng.

 

[Blessed_Angel]

Funny Story: I thought about self-relaxing my hair last night, for the first time in about 4 years.

I then dreamed last night that I was self-relaxing and had an old friend of mine was there to help me. Now, this is one of my childhood friends who should have never been my friend in the first place...so why would I ask her to help me relax my hair? I obviously lost my mind in that dream...lol.

Anyway, it was a disaster! She was all over the place, and was hardly there when I needed her; and she was holding the relaxer! I kept running after her to apply the relaxer over and over again . Needless to say, my fear of me messing up my hair was overexaggerated in my dream. The fear of damage being done to my hair is so haunting.

 

[JerriBlank]

Honestly I only grow 1/4 inch a month (so about 3/4 inch when I relax) BUT my new growth comes in VERY thick to the point where I cant see my scalp if I part my hair. every stylist ive been too complaints about the thickness of my ng.

So your thick ng has something to do underprocessing,or is it solely just due to not smoothing enough?

How much relaxer do you use(what size container)?
I used no lye last time i stretched this long with this much growth and i ran out of relaxer

 

[-Love Love*]

I need to desperately find a relaxer to stay with. I've always used no lye. That article said that after getting a relaxer you have to wait to 2 weeks before using a hard protein which is kinda iffy for me seeing I'm [about] to start using Mega Tek. I just need a staple relaxer. Any suggestions?

 

[Extremus]

I can't see londondiva's tutorial
Anyhoo,on average,how many inches of ng are you ladies working with?

1.5 inch .....

 

[Je Ne Sais Quoi]

I will be 11 weeks post this Friday I've already purchased my mild lye silk elements for my 1st touch up since texlaxing for the first time in September. I'm not sure how much longer I will stretch, definitely at least one more week but possibly another 2-4 weeks after that.

 

[locabouthair]

So your thick ng has something to do underprocessing,or is it solely just due to not smoothing enough?

How much relaxer do you use(what size container)?
I used no lye last time i stretched this long with this much growth and i ran out of relaxer

I think the underprocessing might have been due to not smoothing enouhg but even when I went to the stylist some parts would be a little underprocessed.

I use ors no lye, I bought two jars because I relaxed both halves days apart. so I didnt run out of it.

make sure you buy another one just in case.

good luck!

 

[JerriBlank]

I think the underprocessing might have been due to not smoothing enouhg but even when I went to the stylist some parts would be a little underprocessed.

I use ors no lye, I bought two jars because I relaxed both halves days apart. so I didnt run out of it.

make sure you buy another one just in case.

good luck!

Oh definitely

Thank you!!

1.5 inch .....

Thank you!

 

[divinefavor]

Subscribing to this thread. I'm thinking about relaxing my hair this evening.

 

[Aggie]

Subscribing to this thread. I'm thinking about relaxing my hair this evening.

Good luck divinefavor with your self-relaxing efforts. Let us know how it turns out, okay?

 

[divinefavor]

Thanks Aggie!

I decided self relax my hair today, because I have yet to find a stylist since moving to SC. I don't have the time to drive 2 hours to Atlanta to get my hair done. Also, I figure since I've started working out anyway, why pay $90 for a touch up for it to just get sweated out anyway. I am somewhat pleased with the results. I do have some underprocessed areas. I think that is due to not leaving it on as long in fear of that some areas will get over processed. I think I could have combed it through a little, but again fear got in the way. I hope the underprocessed areas dont' cause me problems. I have had underprocessed areas before when going to the salon or when having an in home stylist do it. I think I should be ok if I take extra care of those parts. I used ORS no lye, which what I've been using for years. My last touch up was in the middle of August at Salon Balisi (member here). She used Silk2 relaxer then, but my friend who used to be a stylist, has been using ORS no lye on my hair on the times that I don't go to the salon.