I usually use my fingers with gloves, but a recent thread brought attention to those who relax without gloves, like shunemite. I'm scared to not use gloves, but I am curious and will probably be trying it in January in conjunction with the back of a fine toothed comb.
Yeah I know what you mean about being a little apprehensive about doing it without gloves.
I started a thread asking about women who already relaxed without gloves and asked them if they have ever tried using "Gloves in a Bottle". The reaction was so strongly mixed with women who said that they would never think to use just their hands (saying it would mess up their fingertips), to women who use their hands and thought that the extra protection would be good (They said that relaxing 3 times a year wouldn't ruin their hands) and those women who only used their hands but were hesitant about using G in a B because they wondered if it would mix in wih their relaxer. All had good points.
As for me, I haven't done a self relax in awhile and when I did I underprocessed so I'm going to try some new things. Before I used a brush and I also used medium or regular relaxer. Now I think I am going to use a mild (for more time to apply) or Mizani Butter Blend and then try to find a way to apply it with an applicator bottle because it seems like it would make the application quicker and more accurate. As for smoothing, I think I might step out on a limb and try using the Gloves in a Bottle when I do that.
I'm stretching now but I'm going to post after I do it to let people know how it goes.
~ Ms. Kain