Stretchers Four, Five, Six Months! Yaye or Naye?

[chicacanella]

traycee, the best advice for newbies is to add 1-2 wks at a time, so it does not get overwhelming and you can deal with it step by step.
for me prior to joining this board i usually relax my hair once in 3 months, so stretching for 4-5 months is o.k.
right now though i will be doing this long stretches till i reach healthy full BSL (with trims and all), once i get to this length will settle for relaxing 3 times a year.

Yeah, that is what I plan to do too. When I get to BSL, I will then get relaxers twice a year. I am giving myself until December 2008 and when I get to MBL, I will relax three times a year.

 

[chicacanella]

After reading the replies to this thread. I have come to the conclusions that long stretches post 4 months, can truly be beneficial if it is completely at a low manipulation state. I will be four months post around christmas. Now I am thinking I want to go longer, but I will see how this turns out and from then on I will stretch longer.

Thanx everyone for their insight. I :: LHCF

Yeah, I did my stretches mostly by wearing braids.

 

[chicacanella]

I guess I am an exception. I stretched for 5 mos with braidouts, and my hair seriously flourished. Now, I've never had long hair, but it was longer than it had ever been before. It still is. I'm going to do 4 mos this time. I only stretched 3 mos last relaxer. I had an epiphany recently. It's nonsensical to relax too much, if your hair only grows .25 inches a month. At 3 mos, I only have .75 inches of ng. I think most people should at least have an 1 inch of ng, so I can not relax any sooner than 3 mos. Perhaps my beliefs are odd. My mother sure thinks so.

I think this makes perfect sense if you look at how fast your hair grows. It shouldn't necessarily be a set time to do relaxers, especially if your hair may grow slower than avearage. Touch-ups should be according to how much new growth you have, not the time.

Just like the rule about getting your ends cuts every 4-6 weeks. That is for someone who does abusive things on a regular, not likely for most of us LHCF girls.

 

[kbfluff]

Yes, I stretched for about 4-5 months and went from a 1/2 inch past collarbone to the pic below!! That is why I plan to stretch for the entire year of 2008!

 

[mrsjohnson75]

I'm actually doing it by mistake.

I usually relax every 12 weeks, but during my last relaxer..I tried to self relax and I ran out of perm when I got to the back half of my head! The back did not get processed at all. So now its been 22 weeks for the back and 9 weeks for the front. I will relax in 2 weeks and I hope to have long flowing APL hair !!

I will then go back to the usual 12 week schedule.

 

[sexyeyes3616]

This month will be a 5 month stretch for me. And my ends look very thin. I have had moderate breakage. But i will only be stretching every 3 months next time.

 

[SleepyJean]

MY SETIMENT exactly without 1 inch of newgrowth, you will overlap, even with 1 inch you can still overlap. At 4 month I have 2.5in of newgrowth, so for me no relaxing before 4 months.
With successful stretching hair appears thicker, and I think its because of less overlapping.
If you get 1in a month as some people do then surely its ok to relax every 2 months.
I remember reading in one of the hair books, that its better to relax every X inches of newgrowth than every X number of months, and i think this makes sense.

ITA!!! I think people should rely on their ng not the time! I think many black women would have longer hair and healthier scalps if they followed this method. Who knows...

 

[Gemini350z]

Thanks for this tread! I am starting another stretch it has only been around three weeks so far, but plan to stretch as long as possible, and all the advice you have given has been great.

 

[bravenewgirl87]

I stretch for 4 mos. without any braids. i just did what I normally do and rollerset.

I've also stretched for years with braids and weaves as my protective style.

I am currently stetching for 3 mos.