Seriois Question: Why Won't My Hair Relax?

SerenavanderWoodsen

SerenavanderWoodsen

SkinnyMe
Serious Question: Why Won't My Hair Relax?

Ugh, excuse my spelling of serious in the title, sorry...

I just recently relaxed my hair again after being natural since 2005. Last May I experimented on the curliest parts of my hair in the back (3b and very frizzy) to see if I could loosen them down to match the rest of my hair which is heat damaged and naturally has a lack of curl pattern to boot. It worked then reverted. Then I did it again some months later. Reverted again. Did it again twice this year so far very close together.
Since May 2011 I have re relaxed that same region FOUR TIMES. The hair has reverted every time and I see it reverting again :lol:!!! Its CURLY again! I'm in disbelief.
The rest of my hair is slowly reverting as well but seems to be maintaining a fairly wavy texture and not curly. I did it the last two times on clean hair and left it for 15 to 20 mins.

I used Silk Elements Mild Lye and then Regular Lye and my hair is laughing at it.
I'm honestly trying to understand how 4a/bc hair has the ability to be straightened with relaxer and my 3b curls laugh at it???? I would think it would be the opposite, that the looser the curl, the easier to relax?
Also my hair isn't coarse textured, its very fly away, and weightless. I'd understand if my hair was coarse like Asian hair but what is going on?
 
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You might just have bionic curls! I know I could go bone straight with a Texturizer...which is why I had to water it down with conditioner & castor oil to keep my curls, and some of the ends Still look straight.
 
My hair is exactly the same way though I do get some curl loosening effect which is why still choose to relax.

But I retexlaxed my whole head last month except for the ends with Silk elements mild. My hair for the first two weeks ways like 3a/3b, It is naturally 3c/4a. My curls hung lower and definitely didn't shrink nearly much. I went from shoulder length curls to apl curls. My hair wasn't as bulky and had less volume. I was in love.

but gradually since then my hair has reverted to 3c. The texture is still looser then my natural texture but has definitely reverted quite a bit. It still doesn't shrink as much though which is good but I can't figure out for the life of me why it was always go back to 3c. And all of last year my relaxers barely took at all. I don't understand why this is
 
candy626 said:
My hair is exactly the same way though I do get some curl loosening effect which is why still choose to relax.

But I retexlaxed my whole head last month except for the ends with Silk elements mild. My hair for the first two weeks ways like 3a/3b, It is naturally 3c/4a. My curls hung lower and definitely didn't shrink nearly much. I went from shoulder length curls to apl curls. My hair wasn't as bulky and had less volume. I was in love.

but gradually since then my hair has reverted to 3c. The texture is still looser then my natural texture but has definitely reverted quite a bit. It still doesn't shrink as much though which is good but I can't figure out for the life of me why it was always go back to 3c. And all of last year my relaxers barely took at all. I don't understand why this is
Click to expand...

I'm so glad this is normal for us 3's. I feel like a freak :lol:. Welp, from now on I think I'll just tex lax with mild since I know for sure now I can't really get straight. I probably could if I left it in for a long time but I might not have hair lol.
 
danniegirl said:
What did you do before going natural in 2005.
Click to expand...

I got my first relaxer at 15 then stopped then started again at 18 then stopped it all in 2005....
I knew nothing about hair and was getting it relaxed at the salon and then touching up myself and basically just had really bad hair that I didn't wear curly so I didn't really know what the texture was.
 
I dunno.
Could it be related to porosity?

Also, how did you prep your hair prior to relaxing? Did you do plenty of WNGs that encourages your hair to curl? Maybe you could try stretching your hair instead (without heat) in preparation for your perm.
 
I've always had the same problem. As a teenager I switched to no lye super strength thinking that was why my hair still had some curl even while dcing after a fresh perm. Finally I found a way to straighten my hair bone straight with a method that involved leaving the relaxer on for too long. 3 touchups and my hair went from a healthy bouncy apl back to sl with splits. That was 3 years ago and thank the hair gods I know better now. Now I realize that if my hair is healthy while relaxed it aol always curl while wet. It straightens well so I've accepted it.

Sent from my HTC EVO using LHCF. any spelling errors should be blamed on auto-correct.
 
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SerenavanderWoodsen said:
I'm so glad this is normal for us 3's. I feel like a freak :lol:. Welp, from now on I think I'll just tex lax with mild since I know for sure now I can't really get straight. I probably could if I left it in for a long time but I might not have hair lol.
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Definitely not alone. My mother and grandmother have the same issue. And mild is best. I used to use regular and still got some reversion, but it just took slightly longer to revert.

Relaxers seem to work like a bkt for some Type 3 hair, it's weird.

There is always the bkt/Brazilian blowout but that looks so involved and it's not budget friendly. Plus your hair still reverts in the end..
 
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SerenavanderWoodsen said:
I got my first relaxer at 15 then stopped then started again at 18 then stopped it all in 2005....
I knew nothing about hair and was getting it relaxed at the salon and then touching up myself and basically just had really bad hair that I didn't wear curly so I didn't really know what the texture was.
Click to expand...

So if your hair was relaxed before the problem is most likely not your hair type or texture.


I personally would do another perm myself I would go to a salon or try a different brand or method on just a really teeny tiny section.
 
danniegirl said:
So if your hair was relaxed before the problem is most likely not your hair type or texture.


I personally would do another perm myself I would go to a salon or try a different brand or method on just a really teeny tiny section.
Click to expand...

@danniegirl No, it was NEVER relaxed straight. When I got it relaxed at 15 I had it done once. Then they had me come back and do a FULL HEAD over a second time, this was like 2 weeks later!!! It still did not give me straight hair :lol:. Then gradually my hair began breaking off badly.... and I stopped relaxing till 18. Again, severe breakage ensued...
Then later I learned about hair care and started doing it myself and didn't have much breakage then I transitioned...
 
It could be that area of your hair has low porosity-- meaning the cuticles are laid tightly shut; and the perm is not getting in there to penetrate and disturb the texture enough to relax it. I think you need to resolve your porosity first; however, I'm not trying to encourage you to re-relax that same area again. If so, you may be asking for a setback
 
virtuenow said:
It could be that area of your hair has low porosity-- meaning the cuticles are laid tightly shut; and the perm is not getting in there to penetrate and disturb the texture enough to relax it. I think you need to resolve your porosity first; however, I'm not trying to encourage you to re-relax that same area again. If so, you may be asking for a setback
Click to expand...

But that hair seems soooo porous and frizzy LOL, it cannot be non porous.

I already did it sooo many times now. I'm done for the time being. All of my is hair reverting slowly lol. I just did it a couple of days ago and the back is curly and the sides are coming back slowly...
 
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SerenavanderWoodsen said:
But that hair seems soooo porous and frizzy LOL, it cannot be non porous.

I already did it sooo many times now. I'm done for the time being. All of my hair reverting slowly lol. I just did it a couple of days ago and the back is curly and the sides are coming back slowly...
Click to expand...

Those were my thoughts exactly. Relaxers never worked for my hair-- it would always revert. So I've been told that means I have low porosity. But I tell ya, my hair gets frizzy n kinky and does everything else like a high porosity head. Its confusing. Its just our hairs way of rejecting the perms :)
 
I've applied two-three BKTs myself and they never WORK. Never had a relaxer though but I guess it's similar. Such a waste of money. I'm thinking it's too porous as mzswift said and the product just penetrates through and straight out of the hair strand.
 
getoffmylawn said:
I've applied two-three BKTs myself and they never WORK. Never had a relaxer though but I guess it's similar. Such a waste of money. I'm thinking it's too porous as mzswift said and the product just penetrates through and straight out of the hair strand.
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I never considered that...
So I guess relaxers were intended for very tightly curled and porous hair and not just curly hair. I thought most curls were porous anyway. I feel I have very porous hair...
 
Hm... Interesting sounds like my nape and crown area.
Did you have troubles with your hair *reverting* when straightening? Was there a difference with your relaxed vs. natural hair when straightening?
 
my hair was relaxed from age 16 to 26, applied by myself, cosmetology professionals, friends, family members. i've used kiddie, mild, and regular relaxers from different brands and my 3c hair was never straight. the relaxer made it easier to straighten but it stayed 3c.

the relaxers made the texture of my hair smoother (except my wack patch in the crown) and took some of the volume out of my hair (which i now love). there were times i would take leftover relaxer and smooth it along the entire length of my wack patch several times a year and it would still be just as frizzy after it was washed and dried.
 
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PinkPeony said:
Hm... Interesting sounds like my nape and crown area.
Did you have troubles with your hair *reverting* when straightening? Was there a difference with your relaxed vs. natural hair when straightening?
Click to expand...

If it's flat ironed to silky straight I won't have much reversion unless I sweat heavily or it's very humid. If it's very humid my hair will swell a bit and get a rough look to it and if I'm sweating the roots will get a little frizzy but overall it stays VERY straight with flat ironing...

Ironically, when I was flat ironing excessively my ends were straighter from heat taming than they are now with a relaxer :lol:. This makes me all the more grateful that I started rollersetting last September, it has made a huge change in the health of my hair. I see now that heat damage needs to be prevented at all costs, it may be worse for me than chemicals...
 
So the relaxer definitely did something because now I can use a bit of mousse and my hair stays down without poofing up even after drying. It's sort of a beachy waves look. I hope it doesn't revert anymore :lol:, I'm liking this.
I just don't like big hair on me, I love it on other people but I feel like a goofball with it.
 
Re: Serious Question: Why Won't My Hair Relax?

SerenavanderWoodsen said:
Ugh, excuse my spelling of serious in the title, sorry...

I just recently relaxed my hair again after being natural since 2005. Last May I experimented on the curliest parts of my hair in the back (3b and very frizzy) to see if I could loosen them down to match the rest of my hair which is heat damaged and naturally has a lack of curl pattern to boot. It worked then reverted. Then I did it again some months later. Reverted again. Did it again twice this year so far very close together.
Since May 2011 I have re relaxed that same region FOUR TIMES. The hair has reverted every time and I see it reverting again :lol:!!! Its CURLY again! I'm in disbelief.
The rest of my hair is slowly reverting as well but seems to be maintaining a fairly wavy texture and not curly. I did it the last two times on clean hair and left it for 15 to 20 mins.

I used Silk Elements Mild Lye and then Regular Lye and my hair is laughing at it.
I'm honestly trying to understand how 4a/bc hair has the ability to be straightened with relaxer and my 3b curls laugh at it???? I would think it would be the opposite, that the looser the curl, the easier to relax?
Also my hair isn't coarse textured, its very fly away, and weightless. I'd understand if my hair was coarse like Asian hair but what is going on?
Click to expand...

SerenavanderWoodsen

There was a thread discussing this same topic recently. I posted in that thread and like you when I relaxed I tried put FOUR relaxers in my 3c (some 2c very wavy but doesn't spiral & 4a in the crown, tiny patch) and my hair bounced back with curls each time!

I think someone said it's because the bonds are more resilient in curly hair vs kinky hair. The *only* time my hair got bone straight was with QOD Max keratin treatment. (had 3.52% formeldahyde). Oh, it also got bone straight when I was texlaxed and I applied Global Keratin 2% to my hair (my first keratin treatment back in 2009).

I know 3's can get bone straight with Japanese Thermal Reconditioning (and dry smooth and straight without a flatiron or blowdryer) but since you used lye you can't get that done.

If you want bone straight hair now you could simply apply a keratin treatment over the relaxer (like actress Vanessa Williams) and you will get bone straight hair.

ETA: I just saw the linked thread discussing this topic mentioned.
 
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MissRissa said:
my hair was relaxed from age 16 to 26, applied by myself, cosmetology professionals, friends, family members. i've used kiddie, mild, and regular relaxers from different brands and my 3c hair was never straight. the relaxer made it easier to straighten but it stayed 3c.

the relaxers made the texture of my hair smoother (except my wack patch in the crown) and took some of the volume out of my hair (which i now love). there were times i would take leftover relaxer and smooth it along the entire length of my wack patch several times a year and it would still be just as frizzy after it was washed and dried.
Click to expand...

This is my hair exactly. Relaxers take out a lot of volume and make my hair smoother and easier to straighten. Curl pattern gets slightly larger but is still 3c. I have also been to professionals and gotten the same result. So weird..
 
I have mostly 3c and my hair doesn't get straight no matter how I try. It just loosens the curl. Matter of fact I don't think relaxers were meant to get the hair super straight despite what people think. So I don't even think about it. It is easier to wear straight hairstyles though.
 
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