How Many of You Would Relax if...

nope! i love my curls!

Not relaxing again because of the damage? How about not relaxing again because we love our texture? My hair was silky smooth with a relaxer...but I can still get it silky smooth and flowing while natural (see signature) AND I can wear an afro, a voluminous twistout, or a WNG as well. Soo many more options with natural hair, IMO. That's why I wouldn't relax again.

If my entire length was as thick as my six or so inches of new growth, I would have my dream hair by now. I don't think I can ever relax again.

I am pretty much guaranteed thickness while relaxed. My hair stayed thick even when relaxed so that's not the issue for me. I would miss my twists and my fro too much

Oh and I have edges. That was something I always had to camouflage when relaxed...though after I have this baby, I can kiss them goodbye for a few months, I'm sure

And OP, I am WL and my hair shrinks to my shoulders It's a nightmare for some, but I'm ok with it. I can stretch my hair out with twist outs and it looks pretty long, if I want.

GreenEyedJen said:

Not relaxing again because of the damage? How about not relaxing again because we love our texture? My hair was silky smooth with a relaxer...but I can still get it silky smooth and flowing while natural (see signature) AND I can wear an afro, a voluminous twistout, or a WNG as well. Soo many more options with natural hair, IMO. That's why I wouldn't relax again.

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This....

Plus in real life big hair looks more spectacular than long (straight) hair imo

I really had no issues with my relaxed hair ... apart from abuse (but it bounced back after finding LHCF)

but Ive been spoiled with the bigness of my natural hair and there is no way my relaxed hair could be as big a my natural hair. I like my lions mane.

and its odd because I HARDLY EVER did curly styles when I was relaxed

pre_medicalrulz said:

LOL!!! also at the comment about running from the rain. LOL!! Who does that?! loloo that tickled me too. I thought girls w/ freshly done weaves ran from the rain; not relaxed haired ladies. But I digress....

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I could never understand that i never ran from the rain when I was relaxed... aint nothing a hair tie couldnt fix lol


Im more wary of the weather now that Im natural because trust me, the rain and a high dew point will mess up my twistout ... then it wud just be a puff and I dont have a problem with that either (as long as I have a headband .... which I usually have in my handbag or the car)

Well i've certainly seen my share of thin-haired naturals, so relaxers aren't the problem.

gabulldawg said:

Well i've certainly seen my share of thin-haired naturals, so relaxers aren't the problem.

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@ gabulldawg

Agreed. But I think relaxers can make your hair appear even thinner if you're already a fine-haired girl

0live0il said:

@ gabulldawg

Agreed. But I think relaxers can make your hair appear even thinner if you're already a fine-haired girl

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So true. My hair is somewhat thin and fine, but you can't tell when I wear it natural.

I am considering it(going natural) i am six months post I have VERY thick hair i only relax three to four times a year I DO NOT run from the rain not since i found this forum a simple pony tail after or two cornrows in the spring and summer and go about my business while out for a nice braid out when it dries I am usually in protective styles so thats why i really do not see the point in relaxing if im always weaved up or in a wig i didnt even realize i made mbl

I'm one of the fine haired naturals but it don't think I would relax again. I'm too lazy to relax and I always felt like there was too much involved with relaxing.

I voted yes, but in order for me to relax I would have to experience 100% retention along with the thickness.

Well, no.
Because I cant do the styles I prefer on relaxed hair, +dont like the feel or look of my hair when relaxed.

And I pretty much always show my length, a big fluffy blowout is my fave texture to style on.

Oh plus, I can almost always guarantee I will have the most unique hair in the room, I love it.

Im natural. About a month ago, I started a new regimen. I blowdry once a week & style on blowdryed hair so I can fully enjoy my length. Im loving it. I feel no urges to fully relax it.

Summer time I will probably go back to wash & gos.

It wasn't thickness that ended my relaxing. It was the burning, time, and other aspects that caused me to stop.

Ive seen my share of healthy relaxed heads and healthy natural heads.
Ive also seen my share of unhealthy relaxed heads and unhealthy natural heads. erplexed
Nothing is guaranteed either way.
I will continue to be entertained on the [non] importance of it all

Nah... I don't miss my scalp being cooked. I'm not against relaxed hair at all... but for me, I'm loving my hair even if it's not everyone else's cup of tea/coffee/diet soda.

Lovingmywaves12 said:

MyAngelEyez~C~U,

I always when I see your avi. I your hair. It's so preweeeeeety

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Lovingmywaves12, thank you! I'm flattered

pre_medicalrulz said:

LOL!!!!! @ the % of NO's. That tickled me. My hair is thick enough as a relaxed head so if I was a natural w/ curls....*yummy*.

Haircrush on YT has my dream natural hair. Sigh... A girl can dream though.

LOL!!! also at the comment about running from the rain. LOL!! Who does that?! loloo that tickled me too. I thought girls w/ freshly done weaves ran from the rain; not relaxed haired ladies. But I digress....

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I did. My hair NEVER relaxed bone straight. If I ran into humidity or rain, it was a wrap. My hair was just a frizzy mess. That's a part of the reason I stopped, along with the fact that my relaxed hair couldn't stand heat. I was relaxing for straight hair, so I figured if my hair wasn't going to stay straight then there was no reason for me to waste time and effort trying. Thank God I actually ended up liking my natural hair.

If I ever relaxed again it would be to reduce shrinkage, so I guess that would be texlaxing.

^^Yeah, rain on my relaxed hair turned into a fro :lol , so I would need to wash it to get it under control. My hair rarely looked relaxed past week 3.

When I was relaxed I never ran from the rain....I'm not even going to lie but I have my moments when I feel like relaxing then I start to think about all the things I don't like about

Idk if I'll ever relax my hair again. I hated getting touchups. I hated the difference in textures. I must confess that I enjoy standing out in a crowd. I'm usually the only person with a golden colored fro. I relaxed for 20 years so I owe it to my hair to at least give my natural hair a chance for a few years.

My hair is still very dense and I'm relaxed but I would go natural to preserve the thickness of the ends, but I would be a straightened natural. Sorry I didnt answer your question. I answered my own question that i made up

I will never relax ever again. I never liked my straight hair I always needed more body and not just thickness. Also I have eczema in my scalp and I always had pussing and bleeding after the relaxer so, no I dont miss it and will never go back to it ever again.

Nah. I was never really crazy about my relaxed hair, just thought it was something I HAD to do.

I am not going to relax my hair ever again. If I want to show length I will just stretch or band my hair. I think my natural curly hair just looks better and feels better on me. I like wash n gos, the poofy/kinky straight look, carefree, easy to style, and big hair.

I am not into getting touch ups, breakage, dealing with NG, relaxer smell, and a myriad of other reasons. Even if it was guaranteed that I would not have to deal with any of the above, I still would not relax.

The thickness is a factor for me. I already don't have thick hair, and have to find ways to make it look thicker when flat ironed.

However I just really like my curly fro, prefer the feel of my flat ironed hair over relaxed hair, not having to do touchups, plus, I'm not fond of relaxer or permanent hair dye hair dye on my skin. The smell makes me wonder what the heck I'm putting on myself.

I just want healthy natural hair and even though I can't show my length all the time I keep on looking forward to a time when my natural hair, in all it's shrunken glory be full and shoulder 'width'. I think that is the beauty of our hair type, that it's meant to be big, full and shrunken, unlike the beauty of straighter hair types that's meant to flow and hang.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

0live0il said:

You could be guaranteed that hair THICKNESS would ensue..

I'm not a natural 'nazi' but one of the reasons why I transitioned back to natural is -- my hair appears much thicker! I know we all love our curls but isn't shrinkage a beast? I'm nearly BSL but my hair still rests on my damn shoulders! Sorry to get all irate, but not seeing my hair's truth length really annoys me. I know some ladies don't mind, but this is the LONGhaircareforum, not See-me-with-shorthair-but-once-a-year-I-straighten it-to-show-its-true-length forum.com

I'm just venting Ya'll. It just hit me that I will probably have to be WL/or tailbone length before my hair can reach BSL unstretched.

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Interesting question OP!!!

You know what....to be honest, I don't think I would want to relax even if I was guaranteed thickness. When I went natural my hair wasn't really "damaged" or anything, in fact my hair looked really GOOD when relaxed thanks to this site!

I think over time I DID get worried about the thinness, the breakage, etc. My hair is just fine overall (even when natural), so it broke easily when relaxed.

But even if I could have THICKNESS when relaxed, I don't think I would do it. As challenging as my natural hair can be at times, I STILL prefer my hair natural for the time being. Idk....for some reason I feel my TRUE natural self now... There's a sense of pride that I feel now that I'm natural that I didn't have when relaxed. I would rather straighten my hair with heat and be a heat trained natural instead of going back to chemicals. Idk why, but NOW when I think about having to go to the salon to get "touchups" and putting a chemical in my hair again, I just shudder.

I'm not saying that I'll NEVER go back to a relaxer....because honestly, there are some days when I DO wonder........ But let's just say...RIGHT NOW, I'm not there yet.

I think I just like the fact that I am completely chemical-free now. Now when I think about chemicals on my scalp or in my hair, I just get a little nervous. I can't even explain it...it's almost as if I don't like the idea of putting chemicals on my hair anymore, and I don't know why....

I'm not against straightening my hair or others having relaxers though. I say...do you!


Oh, and your hair IS long girl! BSL?? WOW! I wish! I'm still about collarbone length. I don't think this forum is taking a measuring stick to everyone's head to determine length. If you have BSL hair when stretched/straightened, then guess what...you DO have long hair! You just can't see it as readily as others, but that doesn't negate the fact that you have long hair lol.