Self relaxing - need advice

[Inquisition12]

Hi Ladies!

I'm preparing to self relax within the next couple of days, and I am wondering what steps I should take beyond the instructions on the box (e.g. deep conditioning, protein treatments, etc).

I haven't had a touch up in 6+ months. I've done my own before, but in the time I've been lurking , and in the short time I've been a member here, I've heard hints of additional steps to take when you self relax.

I appreciate your thoughts!
TIA

 

[Radianthealth]

Here is what I typed when I did my own self relaxer:

1. I applied a mixture of olive oil and castor oil to my pre-relaxed strands to act as a barrier.

2. I applied petroleum jelly to my scalp to avoid burns

3. I added about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the Silk Elements relaxer and applied starting in the crown of my head because this is the most coarse area of my head. My old stylist used to start at the nape of my neck despite the fact that this is the straightest part of my head and needs very little relaxing .

4. It took about 5 minutes to apply to the middle of my head, then I began to apply to my edges. I smoothed through for about 5 more minutes and let the relaxer sit for an additonal 5 minutes...So the relaxer was in my hair for 15 minutes (I used the stop watch on my cell phone to time everything).

5. I rinsed the relaxer from my hair and applied the hair mayonaise prior to the neutralizing shampoo. I read on a couple of hair boards that this is the best time to do a protien treatment to restore some of the protien that was broken down during the relaxer and add strength to your hair while the cuticle is still open. (I hope I got this right )

6. I let the hair mayonaise sit for about 5 minutes. Then rinsed it out and used the neutralizing shampoo. I used the neutralizing shampoo twice, the first time I let it sit for about a minute. The total relaxer time including the mayonaise protien treatment was 20 minutes.

7. I mixed the Silk Elements moisturizing conditioner with the ORS conditioner pack, applied to my hair and sat under my heating cap for about 45 minutes.

8. I rinsed out the conditioner and applied Silk Elements moisturizer.

I am very happy with my results. Here are some of the benefits:

A. Silk Elements was economical. It cost 1/3 of what Mizani costs online and 1/3 of what my old hair stylist used to charge me.

B. Silk Elements did not have any smell. My husband (Who is clueless about hair) didn't even know that I was relaxing. I think he thought I was just doing something else weird to my hair... he just looks at me for a couple seconds with a puzzled look on his face... then he goes and watches ESPN

C. I didn't feel any burning. The Mizani that my stylist used to apply burned because I think she left it in too long. It seems like she would only rinse when I told her it was burning, and sometimes even if it was burning she would make me wait a couple minutes before rinsing. The last and final staw was when she did my last relaxer she had the nerve to use a tingling peppermint conditioner after neutralizing...WTF!!! My head was burning soo bad...common sense would tell someone not to use a tingling peppermint shampoo on someone that just got a relaxer I decided I am not giving her anymore of my money and now I can do my own hair on my own schedule at a fraction of the cost.... How EMPOWERING

Here are some of my concerns:

A. I am pretty sure that I overlapped onto some of my pre-relaxed hair. It was really hard not to, I know that my stylist used to overlap all the time. In the smoothing process some of the relaxed hair gets matted down with the virgin hair so hopefully my olive castor oil barrier helped me out.

B. I got a good ammount of shedding (I think because they were long strands). I will continue to treat my hair "like silk" and start using garlic oil mixed in with my conditioner to minimize the breakage.

In conclusion I am very happy because my 12 week stretch resulted in about 2 inches of newgrowth. I was 8-9 inches in May now I am 10-11 inches. I should be full shoulder length or beyond by December. This is the longest my hair has EVER been.

Good Luck!!!