lovelymissyoli
New Member
I can no longer keep quiet…ladies I had to do it…I could no longer transition and in all attempts to prevent myself from relaxing, I gave in and relaxed on August 24, 2004!
So here’s the story:
I was posting on and off because I was vacationing in Baltimore but I am back in California now. It was in Baltimore that I came to the conclusion that transitioning was not going to work for me. Why you ask??? My reasons:
1.) I’m wasting money!!!!
On the Salon discussion board someone had mentioned they had found a Dominican Salon in Baltimore. I knew I was coming out to Baltimore and I broke my “No Heat” pact with myself because I knew I would never be able to get a Dominican blowout in California so I jumped in a cab and went to the salon (Manuella’s). The stylist did a great job (it was so silky and smooth) but in no time did my hair poof up. On another note, when I got my Dominican blowout the stylist used Salerem (sp?) 21 on my hair. BIG MISTAKE!!! I believe that was another reason why my hair poofed up. You don’t know how upset I was
! Not only did I waste my money but when I saw my uncle for the first time I don’t think he even realized that I got my hair done because he asked me: “What did you have done to your hair at that salon?”
But this isn’t the first time this has happened since I took my braids down. In the avatar picture of my hair that style only lasted for a day (actually a couple of hours) because it too poofed up as well. I don’t put a lot of heat in my hair, I’ve even went weeks on end without putting it in since I took it down, but when I do decide to put heat in my hair again I want the style to last! I really can’t stand forking $20-$70 for a salon visit and not having it last.
2.) I love the thickness but sometimes I doesn’t help the situation…
Since my hair was really thick I wasn’t able to use my products (i.e. Surge & other water based products) like I wanted to. Because 4-6 inches of my hair is natural, spraying Surge regularly causes it to poof up. I want to be able to use Surge as well as many of my other water-based products on my hair without it turning into one big mess.
3.) Style, style, style…
I’ve scarified a lot of styles trying to transition without braids. When I tried to achieve certain looks my attempts failed because my hair reverted back to it’s natural texture. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate my natural hair, but there are only so many failed attempts at style I can take.
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Now I didn’t just rush into relaxing, I weighed my options. There were some worries I had about relaxing. Since I had begun to transition through braids my hair was growing like a weed and I was retaining a lot of length. Before my decision to relax I was afraid that my hair wouldn’t grow the same. It was when I stopped relaxing that my hair grew, but then I began to realize that I mistreated my hair when it was relaxed and I only washed it once a month (if that), constantly used heat, and globed petroleum based products in my hair so that could have been another why it never grew
. Anyways, I was also afraid of having bone straight hair, but then I realized it would just be the new growth so that calmed me down a little. Then there were the worries of over processing, under processing, or having to continually relax my hair to keep up with my new growth (even if I stretch out relaxers), but from the instructions I received here about self-relaxing, I pushed those thoughts aside.
So in conclusion, I think my reasons for relaxing outweighed my worries. I self-relaxed on August 24, 2004 and I have no regrets!!!
Since I have to mimic natural styles anyway (i.e the puff, because I’m still holding on to relaxed ends) I didn’t feel like I was making a permanent decision. The outcome of the relaxer was great but I don’t plan to relax again until next year in January when it comes time for my birthday and my next hair goal!!! I’ve posted pictures of the outcome of my hair and although I don’t know if my hair has grown any, this is definitely a starting point for progress.
I was posting on and off because I was vacationing in Baltimore but I am back in California now. It was in Baltimore that I came to the conclusion that transitioning was not going to work for me. Why you ask??? My reasons:
1.) I’m wasting money!!!!
On the Salon discussion board someone had mentioned they had found a Dominican Salon in Baltimore. I knew I was coming out to Baltimore and I broke my “No Heat” pact with myself because I knew I would never be able to get a Dominican blowout in California so I jumped in a cab and went to the salon (Manuella’s). The stylist did a great job (it was so silky and smooth) but in no time did my hair poof up. On another note, when I got my Dominican blowout the stylist used Salerem (sp?) 21 on my hair. BIG MISTAKE!!! I believe that was another reason why my hair poofed up. You don’t know how upset I was
2.) I love the thickness but sometimes I doesn’t help the situation…
Since my hair was really thick I wasn’t able to use my products (i.e. Surge & other water based products) like I wanted to. Because 4-6 inches of my hair is natural, spraying Surge regularly causes it to poof up. I want to be able to use Surge as well as many of my other water-based products on my hair without it turning into one big mess.
3.) Style, style, style…
I’ve scarified a lot of styles trying to transition without braids. When I tried to achieve certain looks my attempts failed because my hair reverted back to it’s natural texture. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate my natural hair, but there are only so many failed attempts at style I can take.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now I didn’t just rush into relaxing, I weighed my options. There were some worries I had about relaxing. Since I had begun to transition through braids my hair was growing like a weed and I was retaining a lot of length. Before my decision to relax I was afraid that my hair wouldn’t grow the same. It was when I stopped relaxing that my hair grew, but then I began to realize that I mistreated my hair when it was relaxed and I only washed it once a month (if that), constantly used heat, and globed petroleum based products in my hair so that could have been another why it never grew
So in conclusion, I think my reasons for relaxing outweighed my worries. I self-relaxed on August 24, 2004 and I have no regrets!!!
