Silkener - WHo's Done It?? Who's Thought About It?

[Syrah]

I've been natural for about 2.5 years and am seriously considering a silkener treatment. I love the curly hair but am a bit frustrated with the ridiculous shrinkage that occurs - put it this way:

Blow-dried straight my hair is bra strap length
Wet and fresh out the shower my hair is shoulder length
Dried (with Curly Pudding and/or Fantasia IC Gel) my hair is just below my ear lobe.

Curly hair is a fun change from the relaxed hair - although I do miss my rollersets, but I"m getting frustrated.

Is there anything NON-Chemical I can do to reduce the amount of shrinkage that occurs?

Have any ladies out there had the silkener treatment, or something similar (for those that don't know what I mean by silkener, click here).

I'm not so frustrated that I"m ready to go back to 100% relaxed hair - plus before that happens I'll take the advice of some ladies and get some braids - I'd just like to have a few more options with my natural hair.

What's the word?

 

[cmw45]

You should try using the search function for more advice. You can search: Ms. Jessie's, Curve, or Silkner.

The consensus on the forum (at least from what I was able to perceive) is that a silker is a type of texturizer...a chemical. I believe So1913 goes there for her cuts and has possibly had a silkner...although, she is natural now.

I think that you might want to try banding or twist outs. I do this. If you have really curly hair, try braiding your hair and letting it curl up on the ends. Braid the hair while it is damp and butter the ends (and the hair while braiding) with shea butter. When you take your hair out (overnight...hair must be completely dry) the hair will be stretched curly hair. Make sure to part the braided sections as you take them down for volume. I usually do four parts. You can wear your hair like this for a week or a week and a half. (just make sure to sleep in a silk scarf or satin pillowcase. This is also great because the hair style looks better as it gets older.

 

[PinkSkates]

Hi MsNadi,
What's your take on Miss J's curly pudding? I notice we're both natural and our hair is about the same length; I am thinking about buying it. Does it stretch out your curls at all; Or does it just make your natural curls softer?

 

[glamazon386]

I hate shrinkage too. I understand how you feel. Well a silkener is a chemical... The one at Curve salon is nothing but Affirm Fiberguard Relaxer mixed with some kind of protein or oil (im not sure which one) Have you tried banding your hair?

 

[SSBD]

i thought about it but i really wanna stay natural...i feel u tho...i wanna grow my hair long and curly so i thought about using the milk and lime tecnique to loosen the curl pattern naturally...do a search on the thread and see what u find...

Does anyone else know away to loosen the curl pattern naturally????

 

[GirlywithCurlies]

I've had a silkner at Curve 2 years ago. It is a Affirm Fiberguard mixed with protein conditioner and oil. Although I was initially in love with the after pictures (when I was a little girl I wanted hair just like Freddy in A Different World), I noticed that as it got longer and longer is started to look more and more like LaToya Jackson's 80's stringy hair. You can have them control the amount of "straightness" if that makes sense. They can process it to look more natural if you'd like.

You just have to be ready for the committment. Personally, I wasn't. Since it looked "natural" I was caring for it as if it were, rather than caring for it as the relaxed hair it was. Since then I've gone completely natural and have learned ways to combat shrinkage (twist-outs, braidouts, flat twists, roller sets). It really depends on you though. If you don' thave time for the above, then a silkner would be a good bet.

HTH!

 

[Syrah]

What's banding???

...looks like I've been sleepin...

 

[Syrah]

Hi MsNadi,
What's your take on Miss J's curly pudding? I notice we're both natural and our hair is about the same length; I am thinking about buying it. Does it stretch out your curls at all; Or does it just make your natural curls softer?

Curly Pudding?

My take: It controls some of the frizz and helps me define the curl pattern on the "ring" of my head (in other words the entire area around my head except for the crown).

But for whtever reason is does NOTHING for the crown of my hair, which when I get out the shower is curly, but by the time it dries a couple hours later has a looser curl and some added frizz.

I dunno - I think I'm just getting over that "hair hump". I've been natural for a bit and while I'm loving the natural hair, I'm missing some of the versatility I had with relaxed hair (roller sets etc). But a love the ability to literally wash and go.

Maybe I should try some twist outs and the shingling technique. The one thing I've realized is that when it comes to STYLING, i've become SOOOO lazy because I've gotten use to being able to walk out the shower and go. If I ever relax again, I'ma have some re-learning to do.

 

[PinkSkates]

Thanks for the review; I think I will pass on miss jessie's curly pudding. The crown area is what I have problems with too, when it comes to loosening my kinks

 

[turnergirl]

What's banding???

...looks like I've been sleepin...

Banding is done by taking sections of your hair and wrapping hair bands around the length of the hair every couple of inches. It forces the hair to remain stretched as it dries. I band my hair from time to time when I am trying to keep my wash and go's from shrinking too much.

 

[so1913]

You should try using the search function for more advice. You can search: Ms. Jessie's, Curve, or Silkner.

The consensus on the forum (at least from what I was able to perceive) is that a silker is a type of texturizer...a chemical. I believe So1913 goes there for her cuts and has possibly had a silkner...although, she is natural now.

I think that you might want to try banding or twist outs. I do this. If you have really curly hair, try braiding your hair and letting it curl up on the ends. Braid the hair while it is damp and butter the ends (and the hair while braiding) with shea butter. When you take your hair out (overnight...hair must be completely dry) the hair will be stretched curly hair. Make sure to part the braided sections as you take them down for volume. I usually do four parts. You can wear your hair like this for a week or a week and a half. (just make sure to sleep in a silk scarf or satin pillowcase. This is also great because the hair style looks better as it gets older.

Nope, I've NEVER had a silkener or any other chemical since I stopped relaxing in 2002. But. I USED to go to the salon for my cuts and my manager used to go to get a silkener. It's basically a texturizer.

 

[so1913]

You should try using the search function for more advice. You can search: Ms. Jessie's, Curve, or Silkner.

The consensus on the forum (at least from what I was able to perceive) is that a silker is a type of texturizer...a chemical. I believe So1913 goes there for her cuts and has possibly had a silkner...although, she is natural now.

I think that you might want to try banding or twist outs. I do this. If you have really curly hair, try braiding your hair and letting it curl up on the ends. Braid the hair while it is damp and butter the ends (and the hair while braiding) with shea butter. When you take your hair out (overnight...hair must be completely dry) the hair will be stretched curly hair. Make sure to part the braided sections as you take them down for volume. I usually do four parts. You can wear your hair like this for a week or a week and a half. (just make sure to sleep in a silk scarf or satin pillowcase. This is also great because the hair style looks better as it gets older.

Nope, I've NEVER had a silkener or any other chemical since I stopped relaxing in 2002. But, yes, I did use to go to the salon for my cuts before the closed the salon. My manager used to go there to get a silkener. It's basically a texturizer and yes, it is chemical. You'll have to treat your hair the same way you would any chemically treated hair. My manager actually suffered damage and breakage from the combination of having color and a silkener.