Thinking Of Relaxing

[PatTodd]

I big chopped over 5 years ago and have been a short haired natural ever since. My hair is a super tight and defined 4a. I only wear wash and go's and I have never straightened my hair since I big chopped.

I have this urge lately to relax my hair. I feel like I would have the versatility of being able to wear my hair straight as well as in a wash and go with looser curls.

Am I crazy?

 

[PatTodd]

Or -- Maybe what I want is a keratin treatment.....things have changed so much since I last got a relaxer LOL!

 

[frizzy]

I'v been thinking about a tapered cut or a lye texturizer myself. I clipped some ragedy ends today, so depending on the results when I style it tomorrow....we'll see what happens.

 

[sunflora]

Girl, you ain't crazy.

If you've been natural for 5 years and it's not working, switch it up.

*MY* advise is to go for something temporary BEFORE you make the jump to something permanent (of course, that also depends on how long your hair is and how much you're concerned with length). You can try heat straightening, then move to BKT, and if you feel that permanent straight hair is where it is, go ahead and relax. I only suggest that because it sucks to make a permanent decision and regret it. You can't undo it. Like that time I cut my CBL (that is almost the longest my natural hair had ever gotten) hair into a pixie cut. Still natural btw, buzzed in the back and everything. I learned a very valuable lesson there....

ANYWAY, with the incredible advancement of technology and the internet, anything you do can be successful. There are plenty of healthy relaxed, texlaxed, BKT heads on this forum alone. Life is short and being bored of hair sucks. Just be careful not to do anything too crazy too quick

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

I agree with Sunflora. It’s okay to do anything you want to your hair as long as you keep it healthy. Just sleep on it a bit before you make the jump.

 

[blackmaven]

Go for it!
I have been loving weaves which is something new for me.

 

[MzSwift]

IA with ladies, maybe try some less permanent options like BKT first, if you haven’t already.

I texlaxed after 4.5 years natural and I don’t regret it at all. I learned as a natural that stretched hair meant less damage from manipulation and stress on my strands. I now have a blow out texture by just airdrying without all of the excessive manipulation. Wash days are shorter, my hair doesn’t revert as quickly the few times I do straighten and I have the option of rocking textured styles with less shrinkage and SSKs, which I prefer.

GL with your decision!

 

[greenmetro99]

You should wear what ever hair style that makes you happy. Relaxed hair can be healthy when properly taking care of

 

[PlanetCybertron]

You’re definitely not crazy.

After 10 years being natural I actually chopped it all off to my ears and relaxed.

Do whatever you wish to do hun.

 

[waff]

Just sleep on it like the ladies said. I texlaxed years ago on a wim and I regretted it so much (I still do). I am not trying to discourage you, I am just sharing my experience. While I enjoyed it at first, It was very hard to get the new growth processed similar to the older texlaxed hair. This created many demarcation lines in my hair shaft witch eventually led to breakage of course. I know that there are many people who texlax successfully, but not all heads of hair is the same. depending on the hair's porosity and texture it could have completely different results.

My hair broke off and it lost so much thickness. It made me so sad watching my hair shed like crazy every wash day. I lost half of my hair's thickness in a year and it was devastating for me to watch. I wanted to wear wash and gos with a looser texture. But it never looked right because the curls were not uniform and some pieces were straight and some was curly. I am transitioning from my texlax for the last two years and the different textures are driving me nuts.

Take your time and think about it because once you put the relaxer in your hair it's permanent unless you transition again. If you are thinking of wearing your hair straight, maybe play around with heat styling first before you commit to a relaxer.

 

[bellebebe]

Life is short!!! Do what makes you happy. If you change your mind later, simply transition again. Don’t forget our hair grows “naturally”. We worry too much about our hair.