The stylist reccommended NOT to get a relaxer more than 2x a year!!

my stylist is white and actually told me the same thing. when i used to relax, my hair was still curly/wavy and he's a pro at cutting curly hair. he must see a lot of sistas too cause he sounded pretty experienced with black hair. and he actually introduced me to coconut oil too!!! so i was using it pre-LHCF. i'm seriously thinking about going to him to get my BC once i have enough NG. he's great and not all about his money because he even encouraged me to grow out my hair for a few months before coming back. and when he cuts he only "dusts" (trims very little) unless i tell him otherwise. so don't knock the white stylists if you can find one who's experienced!
 
Gosh, I'm really tempted to try this "relaxing 2X a year" thing...that would be so great for my hair; now I relax every 8-10 weeks. When I first started my hair journey, I stretched for 14 weeks, and my touchup was a nightmare...my new growth was so tangled and matted.:nono: But I think I understand more now about caring for my hair while stretching, so I might just try it again.

My next relaxer is this weekend (5/9), then I'm gonna see if I can go for 6 months...
 
Wow! :shocked: I never ever heard a stylist say anything like that before. That's very encouraging. I relax every 6 months too. It can be done but it's a pain finding out what works and what doesn't.
 
Wow that's awesome! :up:

I wish I had a stylist that actually ENCOURAGED stretching. Actually, I had one that would always recommend relaxing ONLY when I had "a lot of new growth". But there were other reasons why I stopped going to her (oh well...). But I wish more stylists encouraged stretching relaxers.

When I tell people that I don't relax my hair unless I'm at least 12 weeks post, they usually look at me like I'm crazy! :dizzy: LOL! Whatever, I know my hair. My hair is fine-textured too, so I probably really shouldn't be relaxing that often anyway!

I may not be able to go 6 months, but I'm going to try to stretch for 4 months (16 weeks) and see how it goes. The LONGEST I went was 15 weeks, and boy was THAT a disaster! :shocked: But then again, that was about 2 years ago, when I didn't have all these new tips at my disposal.

Hmmmm...we'll see... :scratchch If 16 weeks post works well, I may steadily increase the stretching time. :yep:
 
I could probably go 6 months easily. I never realize I'm overdue for a retouch until my hair is dry and I attempt to comb it from the root and the comb doesn't 'glide' through it as usual. Then I look at the calendar and notice it's been 4 months going on 5 since my last retouch.
 
This is great--please give her a big hug on behalf of LHCFers who wish more stylists out there were like her! I hope her business will be very prosperous. :)
 
I like her honesty and the fact that see isn't trying to take you money and leave you with chemically damaged hair.

I stopped going to salons when I saw my money leaving, right along with my hair. I know people who get their relaxers every 6 weeks and my hair is almost twice as long as theirs. ( I'm natural now) Now that shouldn't be.

Once I reach my goal I may Texlax, so if anyone knows a stylist like this in Chicago, please let me know.
 
Sha76 said:
I have heard this before. I have also heard that frequent relaxers is why the average blck womans hair is not so long now as compare to the old days.
Click to expand...

I can just about believe this, because all my aunts and cousins have thick, healthy hair and they dont relax that often; or the only press their hair.

I am so glad that your hair stylist spoke the truth. That's all that I can say.
 
I remember saying this when I was younger, about 12 years old. "I thought I was only supposed to relax every 6 MONTHS not weeks!" My male cousin laughed at me, like "your permed hair will be on top of an Afro!"

And in middle through high school, it seemed other girls couldn't stand looking at my head when I stretched a perm. (Stretched not because I knew what I was doing, only because my mom was too busy or we didn't have the money). When I finally did get a perm, some girl looked at me and said "finally." Was it even her business?

Anyway, thank goodness I was right! But it doesn't matter now, because I'm natural. :yep:
 
My 'sometimes beautician' has implied the same thing.

And it makes sense.:yep:
Seems like relaxing every 6 weeks would make overlapping MORE likely (especially on the nape)...because even if it hair grows at a 1/2 or a full inch it's still not THAT long in a single mth to be constantly relaxing like that.

....And it ain't like 2 extra weeks will make that much of a difference.
 
Wow. I would love to try that but that would be really tough maybe I will try it since I just relaxed less than two weeks ago. I used Mizani Butter blends too.
 
You should invite your stylist to LHCF. But this GREAT to know. I may have to try this 6 month relaxer. I really do not think relaxing twice a year will be really hard.

Maybe we should make this into a CHALLENGE and see how it goes.
 
TriniStarr said:
You should invite your stylist to LHCF. But this GREAT to know. I may have to try this 6 month relaxer. I really do not think relaxing twice a year will be really hard.

Maybe we should make this into a CHALLENGE and see how it goes.
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I may have to do this, especially since my hair is short. And I agree, I don't think it will be that hard.
It just requires being extra dedicated to protective styles.
 
princezz said:
Today I went to the salon for the first time in 3 1/2 months.

I allowed my friend to give me a home perm (olive oil) after a 15wk stretch then I went to the salon to get a wash and set.

The stylist asked me how often I get a relaxer, I told her every 12 -15 wks. And braced myself for the expect response of " why do u stretch that long, your hair will break.. blah blah blah". BUT I was pleasantly surprised when she instead said, "well you should really not be getting a relaxer more than every 6 MONTHS!! This is what we learn in hair school, your hair really needs time to rebuild after, a relaxer is a really strong chemical... plus you should do a strand test before you get a relaxer, and see if your hair is strong enough to take a chemical at that time."

I couldn't believe my ears. I am used to stylist complaining about my hair when i go in for a wash and set after 10wks post, talking me that i need to get a relaxer. And I told her this.

She said those stylist just want to make more money, because all you need is some wash and sets, frequent treatments (which she encouraged me to do at home by myself) and you will be all set.

ok that is all for my long post.. I just had to share.

Thanks!


PS. she also said mizani has a new relaxer out which comes with all these things to protect your hair shaft from the relaxer, and prevents overlapping. Any one ever heard of this?
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I just loooooooooove to hear about positive stylist experiences. The good ones are out there. :yep::yep:

The Mizani Butter Blends was all the rage a few months back. Allandra did a really good review on it, and so did several other ladies. I was even tempted.

The few people who I know with waist length hair, all are major stretchers...one stretches for about 6 and another girl stretched for about 8 months or so, and only relaxed for the summer months. It gives the hair and scalp time to breathe, heal, and get stronger. I am currently on my second 6-month stretch...it gets easier each time.
 
princezz said:
Today I went to the salon for the first time in 3 1/2 months.

I allowed my friend to give me a home perm (olive oil) after a 15wk stretch then I went to the salon to get a wash and set.

The stylist asked me how often I get a relaxer, I told her every 12 -15 wks. And braced myself for the expect response of " why do u stretch that long, your hair will break.. blah blah blah". BUT I was pleasantly surprised when she instead said, "well you should really not be getting a relaxer more than every 6 MONTHS!! This is what we learn in hair school, your hair really needs time to rebuild after, a relaxer is a really strong chemical... plus you should do a strand test before you get a relaxer, and see if your hair is strong enough to take a chemical at that time."

I couldn't believe my ears. I am used to stylist complaining about my hair when i go in for a wash and set after 10wks post, talking me that i need to get a relaxer. And I told her this.

She said those stylist just want to make more money, because all you need is some wash and sets, frequent treatments (which she encouraged me to do at home by myself) and you will be all set.
Click to expand...

That's surprising coming from a stylist!
 
Wow!! That is awesome advice coming from a stylist. I wonder where she went to school. Anyways, I want to try only relaxing twice or just three times a year. That will be my new goal for 2009.:grin:
 
Great stylist, great advice!
I personally relax every 6 months, and wouldn't do it any other way. IA with her, in that I do believe hair does need time to rebuild (through protein treatments) and doesn't need so much exposure to chemicals.
Now, if I can only convince my sister to do the same :rolleyes: ...
 
i think that makes perfect sense especially when u see some transitioners who have transitioned for over a year and didn't have any major breakage and still maintained length.
 
beautifulisaunderstatment said:
WOW! I hope more stylists start catching onto this site...
Click to expand...


Ok ladies, I'm going out on a limb here. ( don't beat me up ):lachen:I will say your stylist gave you great advice , & I can say from working in several salons, there are some stylist with horrid practices:yep:, unfortunately everyone who can style hair , can't care for hair, I'm sorry to hear so many ladies have had bad experiences , it's like going to the Dr.to care for your body , you trust this person to care for your hair, and when they don't.......well lets just say it kinda gives us all a bad rap. I will say with all the wonderful progress you ladies have made, PLEASE DON'T TRUST YOU HAIR TO JUST ANYONE!!!, it's OK to ask questions & lots of them, until you feel comfortable, :yep: have someone else with beautiful hair refer you to their stylist, but I can honestly say we're not all scissor happy & money hungry:nono:, As far as stretching goes, my hair personally does not like when I go beyond 10wks. As another poster stated, it gets kinda weird dealing with 2 textures, plus my hair weakens at the line of demarcation, I think it will be easier when my hair gets longer. I'm barely making a pony now as it is!! However , after listening to all the suggestions you ladies have made of how to tame the beast called NG:lachen:I will see how much longer I can go next time around.
 
Its wonderful to know there are good stylist. I also met one too. She isthe owner of a Dominican salon. She said the same to me too. Its should be every 6 months or more. The funny part was, it was when she saw me tell one her stylist not to detangle my hair let me to it myself. She came running and did my hair herself. I told her I was 20 something weeks post. We then started to exchage ideas she knew not to use the fine rat tail for roller sets. Now whenever I need a stylist I go to her.
 
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