Present/past Design Essentials regular lye relaxers users

morehairplease · Mar 18, 2011

can your share your experience/thoughts of this relaxer with me? I am considering this relaxer for self-relaxing. I have fine, medium density, somewhat coarse strands and would prefer to relax bone straight or as close to it as possible.

Thanks in advance for your responses

divachyk · Mar 18, 2011

Kinda OT rambling as this may not really answer your question.....I never self-relax. My stylist used DE Sensitive Scalp and my hair loved it. Once I started stretching, I started becoming underprocessed. I wasn't happy with where my hair was headed so I left that salon. My new stylist uses DE Regular. I don't think it corrected my underprocessed areas. I've only been to this stylist once. I will give her and DE Regular one more try and if she doesn't get it right the 2nd time, then I'm moving on. I'm unsure if it was the product or the stylist or that my hair was severely underprocessed, thus requiring more than one TU session to get it right.

morehairplease · Mar 18, 2011

divachyk said:
Kinda OT rambling as this may not really answer your question.....I never self-relax. My stylist used DE Sensitive Scalp and my hair loved it. Once I started stretching, I started becoming underprocessed. I wasn't happy with where my hair was headed so I left that salon. My new stylist uses DE Regular. I don't think it corrected my underprocessed areas. I've only been to this stylist once. I will give her and DE Regular one more try and if she doesn't get it right the 2nd time, then I'm moving on. I'm unsure if it was the product or the stylist or that my hair was severely underprocessed, thus requiring more than one TU session to get it right.

Hi there,

Thanks so much for your response. Please do let me know your results this time around. I can not decide between the DE regular or the Mizani regular. I do remember liking Mizani although it seems to process too fast and gets the hair stick straight. My hair was limp and lifeless wit Mizani but it was processed bone straight.....there wasn't a curl/kink to be found.

divachyk · Mar 19, 2011

morehairplease, I will do. I'm not due for TU anything soon. Matter fact, I just got the DE Regular TU I was mentioning roughly 3 weeks ago. I usually stretch to 10 weeks. I'm looking for as close to bone straight without over processing as possible. At one point I thought I would like some texture left behind but it just becomes a hassle and I hate fooling with the varying textures. Keep you posted.

morehairplease · Mar 19, 2011

divachyk said:
morehairplease, I will do. I'm not due for TU anything soon. Matter fact, I just got the DE Regular TU I was mentioning roughly 3 weeks ago. I usually stretch to 10 weeks. I'm looking for as close to bone straight without over processing as possible. At one point I thought I would like some texture left behind but it just becomes a hassle and I hate fooling with the varying textures. Keep you posted.

co-signing completely..... :yep:

. With having fine strands, the ssk's are just brutal with two textures. I am also researching the SE lye regular relaxer this morning while my little one sleeps in.

LaFemmeNaturelle · Mar 19, 2011

My stylist used DE regular. I don't have many details to give except that the relaxer agreed with my hair. My hair is not, however, relaxed bone straight. It could just be because my hair is resistant. I'm not sure, but it still has some texture to it and I've never been able to airdry loose without getting puffy hair. Other than that, it was fine. As far as I know, it didn't cause any breakage or anything. FYI I have medium strands.

divachyk · Mar 19, 2011

morehairplease: I have medium strands also. What I don't like about my hair right now and the two textures is one texture moisturizes easy and the other is resistant. One textures is easy to comb through and the other isn't.

morehairplease · Mar 19, 2011

divachyk said:
morehairplease: I have medium strands also. What I don't like about my hair right now and the two textures is one texture moisturizes easy and the other is resistant. One textures is easy to comb through and the other isn't.

Exactly.....this is the problem that I am having too. I have the Mizani lye for fine/color treated hair and the lye for medium/normal hair in my cabinets and will be testing shed hairs this week to see how they process. Since my hair is somewhat delicate around the hairline, I am leaning towards the fine/color treated formula and processing it for 20 min. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve bone straight or close to it results.

sunnieb · Mar 19, 2011

Hi there!

I just self-relaxed for the first time yesterday! :grin:

I used Design Essentials Sensative Scalp and I was able to get my coarse hair very straight. Even straighter than when my stylist used to use it.

I decided to self-relax because my stylist switched to Affirm Lye without warning me. :nono:

My hair did ok, but I like Design Essentials.

I made a self-relax album in my fotki if you want to look at it. I got some shots of my hair texture before I relaxed.

I don't know if I answered your question.... :look:

sunnieb · Mar 19, 2011

divachyk said:
@morehairplease: I have medium strands also. What I don't like about my hair right now and the two textures is one texture moisturizes easy and the other is resistant. One textures is easy to comb through and the other isn't.

This is me! My 4b hair is a dream! It moisturizes easily and I can comb it. My 4a hair is rough and resistant. :ohwell:

morehairplease · Mar 19, 2011

sunnieb said:
Hi there!

I just self-relaxed for the first time yesterday! I used Design Essentials Sensative Scalp and I was able to get my coarse hair very straight. Even straighter than when my stylist used to use it.

I decided to self-relax because my stylist switched to Affirm Lye without warning me. My hair did ok, but I like Design Essentials.

I made a self-relax album in my fotki if you want to look at it. I got some shots of my hair texture before I relaxed.

I don't know if I answered your question....

That's awesome! Thanks so, so much for your reply. Off to take a look at your fotki. Do you mind me asking how long you process for? Also, did you use the companion relaxing products(sensitive scalp base creme and protect pre chemical treatment)? BTW, congrats on being a DIYER...it is such a relief to not have to depend on stylists.

thanks in advance for your response,

sunnieb · Mar 19, 2011

morehairplease said:
That's awesome! Thanks so, so much for your reply. Off to take a look at your fotki. Do you mind me asking how long you process for? Also, did you use the companion relaxing products(sensitive scalp base creme and protect pre chemical treatment)? BTW, congrats on being a DIYER...it is such a relief to not have to depend on stylists.

thanks in advance for your response,

I took all day (10:30am to 4:30pm). But, I was at home in my jammies and I was slow on purpose. It felt so good not to have to get dressed and go to the salon!

The relaxer kit I bought contained the relaxer only. I was able to use products I already had to complete the process.

Sent from my Comet using Long Hair Care Forum App

morehairplease · Mar 19, 2011

sunnieb said:
I took all day (10:30am to 4:30pm). But, I was at home in my jammies and I was slow on purpose. It felt so good not to have to get dressed and go to the salon!

The relaxer kit I bought contained the relaxer only. I was able to use products I already had to complete the process.

Sent from my Comet using Long Hair Care Forum App

Being comfortable is always a good thing in my book. Is the DE sensitive scalp relaxer no lye or lye?

sunnieb · Mar 19, 2011

morehairplease said:
Being comfortable is always a good thing in my book. Is the DE sensitive scalp relaxer no lye or lye?

I believe it no-lye because the box states that it not as drying as traditional no-lye relaxers.

sqzbly1908 · Mar 19, 2011

DE Sensitive Scalp is no-lye...any relaxer that indicates that it's "sensitive scalp" is a no-lye...HTH

Solitude · Mar 19, 2011

I recently had my hair relaxed with Design Essentials time-released formula. I switched after a very long time with Phyto because I wanted to go bone straight. I still came out texlaxed and it did burn, even though I had it done by a professional, she didn't base me very well.

So if you're looking to correct underprocessed hair, based on my experience, DE isn't the greatest.

morehairplease · Aug 26, 2011

divachyk By chance, have you gotten your touch up? If so, how were your results?

Thanks in advance for your response,
tishee

divachyk · Aug 26, 2011

morehairplease - I got a TU 15 Jul with DE Regular. My hair didn't take how I wanted (or so I thought) but days later, I had a much needed epiphany.

Background:
Before LHCF, I was using heat on my hair every wash day, be it flat iron or roller set. My hair always felt nice and smooth. I didn't have any coarse patches and no wavy texture.

I started my HHJ in Feb 2010 and quickly adopted air drying. Around, Oct 2010 and continuing through July 2011, I complained of under processed hair. The various stylists said I wasn't under processed but I didn't believe them.

After my 15 Jul visit I wasn't happy with how my hair still felt a bit wavy when I air dried so I said bump it, I will go back to roller setting. After incorporating roller setting back into my regi, I noticed how great my hair felt. It felt so nice and smooth. Here's the epiphany, what I considered under processed is simply my air dried texture. I never air dried prior to LHCF so I've never experienced that feeling before. And when I did, I thought it was under processing issues I was dealing with. :look:

A bunch of rambling to say, my under processed issues have pretty much self resolved.

SN: DE Regular burns my scalp too much and I will try to go back to the DE Sensitive Scalp now that I know my hair is processed correctly.

msjayy · Oct 17, 2012

Hello, I'm a newbie to LHCF. To answer your question from my experience. I've been going to a hair stylist for about a year now and she uses DE relaxers in my hair. I have 4a type hair and she has gotten my hair very straight. I usually get a roller sets afterwards and sit under the dryer (my hair can't tolerate heat from the flat iron without it resulting in severe breakage). I really love the Design Essential's relaxer. I've not had any problems with the product. My hair always turns out silky with lots of body. I was one that used boxed relaxers for years and couldn't figure out why my hair was always so dry and brittle. My stylist shared with me the difference between no lye box relaxers and salon relaxers. There's a huge difference in the texture of my hair where the DE relaxer is versus the box brand (Organic Root Stimulator). To me DE is a godsend!!!

sunnieb · Oct 20, 2012

I'm still self-relaxing with Design Essentials Sensitive Scalp. :yep:

Supergirl · Oct 20, 2012

sunnieb said:
Hi there!

I just self-relaxed for the first time yesterday! I used Design Essentials Sensative Scalp and I was able to get my coarse hair very straight. Even straighter than when my stylist used to use it.

I decided to self-relax because my stylist switched to Affirm Lye without warning me. My hair did ok, but I like Design Essentials.

I made a self-relax album in my fotki if you want to look at it. I got some shots of my hair texture before I relaxed.

I don't know if I answered your question....

Sensitive scalp relaxers are no-lye relaxers (just for the OP's info) and are always going to straighten better than lye relaxers.

I have had the DE lye relaxer. It's my favorite professional lye relaxer. I self relax now and use SE but if I could get DE I would switch back to that in a heartbeat.

divachyk · Oct 18, 2013

Supergirl said:
Sensitive scalp relaxers are no-lye relaxers (just for the OP's info) and are always going to straighten better than lye relaxers.

I have had the DE lye relaxer. It's my favorite professional lye relaxer. I self relax now and use SE but if I could get DE I would switch back to that in a heartbeat.

@Supergirl, what relaxer are you using now and do you still self-relax? As I near my relaxer touch up date, I always dig up old threads to see what I said about this or that to avoid making the same mistakes. This time around, I'm thinking of texlaxing but not totally sure.

Supergirl · Oct 18, 2013

divachyk said:
@Supergirl, what relaxer are you using now and do you still self-relax? As I near my relaxer touch up date, I always dig up old threads to see what I said about this or that to avoid making the same mistakes. This time around, I'm thinking of texlaxing but not totally sure.

Hi divachyk

I am still using Silk Elements Regular, and I still self relax.

divachyk · Oct 18, 2013

Supergirl said:
Hi @divachyk

I am still using Silk Elements Regular, and I still self relax.

Thank you Supergirl. Do you follow a particular self-relax method? I've been debating making this leap for a while. Ever have processing (uniformed textures) issues?

Supergirl · Oct 18, 2013

I just relax in four sections, starting with the front two sections. Yes, I always have some underprocessing. It's mostly in the crown, seems to happen no matter what I do. I've learned to live with it. I'd rather under than overprocess it.

Evolving78 · Mar 29, 2017

I use ORS and it leaves my hair dry. I am Going to go back to Mizani, or try Silk Elements. Mizani has gotten my hair much straighter than ORS regular. I remember I hated Mizani butter blends. I didn't like the smell!
lye relaxers will never process hair bone straight.

Evolving78 · Mar 29, 2017

Supergirl said:
I just relax in four sections, starting with the front two sections. Yes, I always have some underprocessing. It's mostly in the crown, seems to happen no matter what I do. I've learned to live with it. I'd rather under than overprocess it.

Hey! What relaxer system are you currently using?

Supergirl · Apr 3, 2017

shortdub78 said:
Hey! What relaxer system are you currently using?

I use Silk Elements from Sally's. I've been using it for a long time now.

divachyk · Apr 3, 2017

I'm natural now but Design Essentials started giving me issues.

Present/past Design Essentials regular lye relaxers users

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