Relaxed Hair Thread

[sunnieb]

I love Google! I couldn't find my FOTM, but I did find my answers to similar questions on a hair blog from 2011. Man! I was on it with my hair care back then! 2 dcs a week AND 2-3 cowashes??? One thing is for sure. My hair loves water and conditioner. Lemme go do a quick cowash......

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What made you decide to begin your hair journey?

I got tired of my hair growing to shoulder length and breaking off. This happened to me for years. By late 2008, I’d had enough of this cycle and started searching the internet for help. I was amazed at all of the information and blogs related to black hair care! Women who looked like me with my hair texture were growing their hair to great lengths. I gained hope that if they could do it, so could I.

Are you relaxed, texlaxed, transitioning, or natural?

Fully relaxed

What is your regimen and what products do you use in your regimen?
My Regimen

• Shampoo/DC 2x a week
• Co-wash 2-3x a week
• Always airdry
• No direct heat
• No brushing (combs only)
• Self-relax with Design Essentials Sensitive Scalp every 14 weeks

My Products

Shampoo: Suave Daily Clarifying(2x a month); Nexxus Therappe (weekly)

Deep Conditioners : Nexxus Humectress/Motions CPR Protein Reconstructor (always add 1tbsp honey and evoo )

• I apply my deep conditioners like Hairlicious in this video:

• Only difference is that I no longer twist, I just lay my hair over to the side.

• I do my protein deep conditioner on dry hair. It makes a difference! My hair is softer and has more bounce. I then follow up with Nexxus Therappe and airdry with my regular leave-ins.

Co-wash Conditioners: Garnier Fructis/Herbal Essences – all varieties.

Leave Ins: ORS Carrot Oil, African Royale Hot Six Oil, Castor Oil, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, NTM Silk Touch Leave-In, Rusk Smoother

How have you styled your hair throughout your journey thus far?
I wear buns 5 days a week. On the weekends, I wear ponytails or some sort of half-up/half-down style.


Who are your hair inspiration(s)?
I would have to say Sylver2 is the first head of hair I saw that made a believer out of me. I lived in her Fotki for a month! She’s the reason I use Rusk Smoother to this day.

Sunshine from Hairlicious also inspired me with her videos and tutorials. It’s because of her that I add honey and EVOO to my deep conditioners.

What are your hair goal(s) and how do you plan to achieve them?
I want my relaxed hair to grow as long and healthy as it’ll grow! I want it all! I plan to stay the course by not getting lazy with my hair regimen, drinking 100oz water daily, being consistent with my vitamins, eating better, and regular exercise.

Do you have a hair album, blog, or youtube channel?
Here’s my album:
http://members.fotki.com/sunnieb/about/

What hair appliance, tool, or product could you never live without?

Only one???

I guess my silk scarf because I use it nightly to keep my hair moisturized and neat while I sleep.

My hair is beautiful because…..it shows off all of my hard work and proves that with proper care, my hair type can and will grow healthy and long.

 

[MzSwift]

Alright, texlax all done. I'm still airdrying and tired from little man putting up a fight with sleep tonight.

I think this one turned out much better than the Vitale IDEAL. My hair feels normal again. I didn't do the midstep protein instead I mixed the protein and moisture DC and used them after I neutralized. I do miss using my ACV rinse and I will reincorporate that into my neutralizing step.

Lastly, I dunno why I keep listening to ladies about detangling in the the shower. That's a no-go for me. Maybe if I were bonelaxed but not while texlaxed. It was tedious and I stopped 1/4 of the way through. My hair doesn't cooperate "under the force of the shower water" like some others. It didn't when I was natural either. What works for me is to wait until after I rinse out the final DC and separate my "clumps" with my fingers as my hair is air drying. I lose so much less hair that way.

My results are nothing spectacular because I didn't blow out and flat iron like I usually do on relax day. I'm trying to only do it once or twice a year to do length checks and to trim/dust. But I am very happy with my blow out texture. So now, let's see if these pix show up because I'm trying to use Fotki again. Lol.

Relaxer Prep-
View media item 129759

Relaxer application-

View media item 129761
Results. Texture, about 60% Air dried-

View media item 129763

 

[MzSwift]

Wow, those are HUGE!! But it was so easy to attach them. Guess I have to upload to this site and post from my album so that they aren't so big. Sigh.

 

[sunnieb]

@MzSwift I love it! Nice and thick!

You are why I'm thinking of texlaxing.

 

[MzSwift]

@sunnieb

Aww shucks.
I can’t wait to see! Your buns and ponytails are already thick as a bonelaxed lady!

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

@MzSwift I love it! I think I’m definitely going back to texlaxing. I don’t think my hair can handle bone straight even though it’s the easiest for me. Did you mention your steps some where in your content history?

 

[sunnieb]

I guess with texlaxing you have to relax for the exact same time each time to get consistency? I don't think I'll relax for only 5 minutes though.

I'll probably only let the relaxer process for 10 minutes or so. Not long enough to be bone straight, but long enough to process.

I don't know. I'll see how I feel on relaxer day.

 

[MzSwift]

@ItsMeLilLucky

Thanks so much, sis!
*hangs head in shame* Nope, I don’t document it anywhere except in my posts. So Imma try to put it here. Lol

I always use a mild lye relaxer. But I’ve seen ladies get good results with no-lye. For the past 4 years I’ve alternated between adding oil/condish to the relaxer or adding oil/condish to my hair instead. I think I favor the results and simplicity of adding them to my hair because I can better control my texlax results by leaving the relaxer on longer or shorter and by smoothing or not smoothing. I hope that makes sense.

I borrowed the pre-parting and twisting sections idea from @sunnieb and that has made relaxing long hair so much easier. I prefer to do larger parts to prevent my hair from getting bone straight. I applied the relaxer to my whole head in just under 5 minutes! I use my hands to apply and then lightly smooth each section once, maybe twice in areas where the perm is not taking as much.

I rinse as soon as I’m finished applying and cleaning up the supplies so it stays on about 3 minutes after application. I rinse thoroughly and massage in neutralizing shampoo and leave that in for 5-10 minutes. Then I rinse and pour on an ACV/water mix. That helps to restore my pH and to heal any scalp burns. I leave that on for at least 10 minutes then massage in some neutralizing poo before rinsing. I wash with neutralizer 1-2 more times after that to be safe then move on to DCing with protein and moisture.

I hope this is what you were asking about. If not, let me know!

 

[MzSwift]

I guess with texlaxing you have to relax for the exact same time each time to get consistency? I don't think I'll relax for only 5 minutes though.

I'll probably only let the relaxer process for 10 minutes or so. Not long enough to be bone straight, but long enough to process.

I don't know. I'll see how I feel on relaxer day.

Yeah, I actually did let it sit for about 10 minutes. My strands are fine though so it would probably process too much for me if left on any longer. I find that it’s easier to do whatever works for your hair when texlaxing. Sometimes I stretch longer so I may process longer or smooth the sections more.

 

[Sosoothing]

@ItsMeLilLucky

Thanks so much, sis!
*hangs head in shame* Nope, I don’t document it anywhere except in my posts. So Imma try to put it here. Lol

I always use a mild lye relaxer. But I’ve seen ladies get good results with no-lye. For the past 4 years I’ve alternated between adding oil/condish to the relaxer or adding oil/condish to my hair instead. I think I favor the results and simplicity of adding them to my hair because I can better control my texlax results by leaving the relaxer on longer or shorter and by smoothing or not smoothing. I hope that makes sense.

I borrowed the pre-parting and twisting sections idea from @sunnieb and that has made relaxing long hair so much easier. I prefer to do larger parts to prevent my hair from getting bone straight. I applied the relaxer to my whole head in just under 5 minutes! I use my hands to apply and then lightly smooth each section once, maybe twice in areas where the perm is not taking as much.

I rinse as soon as I’m finished applying and cleaning up the supplies so it stays on about 3 minutes after application. I rinse thoroughly and massage in neutralizing shampoo and leave that in for 5-10 minutes. Then I rinse and pour on an ACV/water mix. That helps to restore my pH and to heal any scalp burns. I leave that on for at least 10 minutes then massage in some neutralizing poo before rinsing. I wash with neutralizer 1-2 more times after that to be safe then move on to DCing with protein and moisture.

I hope this is what you were asking about. If not, let me know!

I do this too but it's mostly out of laziness coz sometimes it takes forever for the shampoo to stop turning pink.

 

[sunnieb]

Reading through my copious notes from when I was about 2 years in my hair journey. Water hit my head 6 days a week on average. I need to face it. My hair needs water. A lot of it.

Good thing I'm a coupon queen. I'll start loading up my stash of Garnier and Herbal Essence for cheap. I already have 8 bottles.

 

[betteron2day]

I relaxed my hair March 30. I'll see how long I can stretch this time.

 

[ItsMeLilLucky]

@MzSwift Fabulous! It’s okay Sis, it’s recorded for posterity’s sake now

I definitely think I’m gonna pre part and twist since I have a lot of new growth. This’ll take a lot of time off, since I’m slow lol. Also I need to have a little texture in my hair, now I have to play around with the time and if I wanna add conditioner or oil. I’m thinking conditioner cause it’s cheaper.

Edited to ask: is your acv mix 50/50?

 

[LushLox]

Reading through my copious notes from when I was about 2 years in my hair journey. Water hit my head 6 days a week on average. I need to face it. My hair needs water. A lot of it.

Good thing I'm a coupon queen. I'll start loading up my stash of Garnier and Herbal Essence for cheap. I already have 8 bottles.

Yeah I recall reading that you used to co-wash quite a lot. Do you know why you stopped (or reduced) it?

Sometimes I look at my hair of yesteryear and sigh because it was so much better then, health and lengthwise than it is now. I didn't take any notes though so I can't really pin-point on key things. The only thing that I did consistently was DC twice a week, whereas I don't always do that now; maybe I need to revisit it.

 

[sunnieb]

@LushLox I took my hair for granted and thought it was unbreakable. So much for that.

Good news is that my hair is growing in at a good pace. I'll have a whole new head of healthy hair in a few years and I'll treat it like fine silk.

 

[MzSwift]

@MzSwift Fabulous! It’s okay Sis, it’s recorded for posterity’s sake now

I definitely think I’m gonna pre part and twist since I have a lot of new growth. This’ll take a lot of time off, since I’m slow lol. Also I need to have a little texture in my hair, now I have to play around with the time and if I wanna add conditioner or oil. I’m thinking conditioner cause it’s cheaper.

Edited to ask: is your acv mix 50/50?

Yes ma'am, it's a 50/50 mix.

 

[MzSwift]

I baggied overnight so my hair was still damp from my M&S session last night. I've always been iffy about bunning because I never felt like my ends were properly protected. I usually either make a ponytail and then twist and pin my ends under; make a bantu knot and put a band around it; or I make a ponytail and pull my hair halfway through on the second pull. The ponytail ones don't really seem very protective for me but I could be wrong. And the knot bun makes me look like I have no hair. As my hair has gotten longer, I roll my hair under as if it's in a hair roller and then secure the roll with a band. But that makes my bun look so tiny.

I remember seeing something way back when I started lurking the hair boards called the Southern Tease bun. It was simple (check), quick (check), seemed to be low tension (check), made the bun look full (check) and it covered the ends (check). So I tried this bun today.


I feel so much better about this bun! My ends feel tucked and protected. The only issue I have is that my hair is longer so the bottom of the bun kept rubbing on my neck. I ended up putting a small band around the bun to pull the bottom up. I think I'm going to try this bun method in different locations on my head to see if it works as well everywhere.

 

[MzSwift]

I'm planning to alternate between bunning (with and without phony ponies) and banded ponytails this spring and summer until about 6 weeks into my stretch.



I bought these bands from Amazon a couple of months ago and so far I love them!



After 6 weeks I will rock cornrows and wigs and maybe throw in some mini braids (those things take FOREVER).

 

[sunnieb]

I'm dropping my weekly honey/castor oil treatment for the rest of this stretch. I'll stick to cowashing more often like I used to.

I found more of my hair notes from 2011. It's amazing how I used to be so into my haircare. No wonder my hair blossomed! I never got tired or lazy. Taking care of my hair was like brushing my teeth or taking a bath - just a regular part of my daily routine.

I hate it took losing half my hair to realize this. Learn from my mistake ladies! Don't get lazy!!!!

 

[CurlyWhoCrux]

I baggied overnight so my hair was still damp from my M&S session last night. I've always been iffy about bunning because I never felt like my ends were properly protected. I usually either make a ponytail and then twist and pin my ends under; make a bantu knot and put a band around it; or I make a ponytail and pull my hair halfway through on the second pull. The ponytail ones don't really seem very protective for me but I could be wrong. And the knot bun makes me look like I have no hair. As my hair has gotten longer, I roll my hair under as if it's in a hair roller and then secure the roll with a band. But that makes my bun look so tiny.

I remember seeing something way back when I started lurking the hair boards called the Southern Tease bun. It was simple (check), quick (check), seemed to be low tension (check), made the bun look full (check) and it covered the ends (check). So I tried this bun today.


I feel so much better about this bun! My ends feel tucked and protected. The only issue I have is that my hair is longer so the bottom of the bun kept rubbing on my neck. I ended up putting a small band around the bun to pull the bottom up. I think I'm going to try this bun method in different locations on my head to see if it works as well everywhere.

This bun looks great! I wonder if I can get it to work in my hair. My hair is longer than the woman in the video and I’m natural but I’m gonna give this a try one day. I need to get one of those hair sticks she used. I only ever wear buns.

 

[LushLox]

I'm dropping my weekly honey/castor oil treatment for the rest of this stretch. I'll stick to cowashing more often like I used to.

I found more of my hair notes from 2011. It's amazing how I used to be so into my haircare. No wonder my hair blossomed! I never got tired or lazy. Taking care of my hair was like brushing my teeth or taking a bath - just a regular part of my daily routine.

I hate it took losing half my hair to realize this. Learn from my mistake ladies! Don't get lazy!!!!

Same thing happened to me, my hair flourished and I then I got majorly complacent and lost most of it.

But you had the health and length once, so you can get it back again.

 

[LushLox]

I'm planning to alternate between bunning (with and without phony ponies) and banded ponytails this spring and summer until about 6 weeks into my stretch.

View attachment 428071

I bought these bands from Amazon a couple of months ago and so far I love them!

View attachment 428073

After 6 weeks I will rock cornrows and wigs and maybe throw in some mini braids (those things take FOREVER).

I love this style, a tutorial would be great!

 

[MzSwift]

I'm dropping my weekly honey/castor oil treatment for the rest of this stretch. I'll stick to cowashing more often like I used to.

I found more of my hair notes from 2011. It's amazing how I used to be so into my haircare. No wonder my hair blossomed! I never got tired or lazy. Taking care of my hair was like brushing my teeth or taking a bath - just a regular part of my daily routine.

I hate it took losing half my hair to realize this. Learn from my mistake ladies! Don't get lazy!!!!

Yay! I'm happy to hear that you're feeling hair revitalized! Lol. I totally understand.

And IIRC you had major life stressors going on. That's not just laziness! Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm excited to see your progress!

 

[MzSwift]

This bun looks great! I wonder if I can get it to work in my hair. My hair is longer than the woman in the video and I’m natural but I’m gonna give this a try one day. I need to get one of those hair sticks she used. I only ever wear buns.

Sure you can! Back then, ladies with shorter, NL hair were doing this bun.

 

[MzSwift]

I love this style, a tutorial would be great!

I gotchu, sis.
I used to rock this style when I first texlaxed. I think it would be a good alternative to bunning and I could wear it a couple of days in a row without having to redo it. Yay, low manipulation! I would just take out the top ponytail holder at night and cover my hair with a sating bonnet. Re-smooth the next day, put the ponytail holder back in and done.


^^She's so cute to me. I used to send her children's haircare videos to my White foster/adoptive parents with Black girls. Having said all of that, y'all know I watch YT vids on mute so I have no idea about the music, what she's saying or whatever she's selling in this video. Lol

 

[sunnieb]

Thank you for your kind words @MzSwift. I really appreciate it.

 

[MzSwift]

So I'm dragging a bit this morning because my little man refuses to nap (20 freaking minutes!!!). So I'm gonna post up a little hair inspo. I need to keep this momentum going. Thank you to all of these ladies who have shared your wonderful progress!

Some of them show recovery from damaged hair, some show thickening and some show growth. Hope someone else finds it inspirational!

Length goal!!

^^That's gonna be me in a few length checks from now. I'm claiming it. Lol

 

[sunnieb]

@MzSwift those photos are awesome!

 

[sunnieb]

glad I posted my notes from that website. I forgot all about doing my protein dc's on dry hair. Doing that now.

 

[Wenbev]

those photos are definitely inspirational. I've been dealing with breakage at the nape. Its so bad, it looks like I got an undercut
Anyhow, I did a hard protein treatment a couple weeks ago and decided to not use heat for the remainder of my stretch. I've been cowashing 2x a week and shampoo and dc roughly every 7-10 days.
Tomor after the gym, I'll do a prepoo my mom did as a child, two eggs, blackstrap molasses, castor oil and some EOs bc I hate the smell of eggs. I'll wash out and dc with moisture.
I'm also thinking not to relax during the summer if I can maintain moisture properly. My last relaxer was 2/14 so that would be several months. Maybe I'll do one more the end of this month which would take me to 11-12 weeks and then stretch through the summer since i'll definitely be doing only wash n twistouts