Color vs. Relaxer: Do we REALLY have to choose ONE OVER THE OTHER?

[Ms. Martina]

So most of my life I have been told having both a color and a relaxer is a bigggg no no. I have only met very few people who have been able to successfully have both. I've seen women baby/nourish their dyed and relaxed hair only to have it still fall out anyway. My mom and sisters fall into this category. My mom has had her her dyed a few times and it looked lovely initially...but then it fell out/broke off. She took care of her hair each time, and it is always in GREAT shape when there is no dye involved...lol. After a few failed attempts, she gave up on trying color and has remained a color 1b for the past 10-12 years with her relaxed strands. She is even afraid to try highlights bc of how bad her hair fell out in the past.

My sister's hair is the same way! It doesn't fall out, but her hair sheds a lot when she gets highlights. She has decided to just stop highlighting all together. I have always wanted color, but their experiences have led me to believe we(the women in my family) are genetically prone to hair damage if we use dye while relaxed. I've been a 1b my whole life, and trying color 4/27 lacefront wigs this summer made me want to actually dye my real hair even more!

Part of the reason I'm even going natural is so I can finally experiment with color safely(I also miss my natural curl pattern as well though). My hair is completely healthy relaxed and etc, so I know my hair can take one chemical at a time without falling out.

So my question is this. Do you all think my hair would be okay to dye once it is natural? Is it safe to say my hair is strong enough to handle at least one chemical at a time since it has pretty much been healthy while relaxed??? I mean, my hair has been pretty strong thus far. I can use heat regularly(weekly or even daily if I want to). I don't need to do protective styles or anything else, and I can still maintain length. So what do you all think...could my hair handle being dyed? Should I risk it???

Oh, and here is the color I would like to ultimately be...


1.) Me wearing the "Tori" lacefront wig

2.) Here's a natural/kinky youtuber with an awesome dye job!

 

[blessedandlucky]

you'd probably be okay doing it on natural hair. it's the double processing that kills i got highlights once with no problems at all. then i got them again and the color wasn't right, so i got them rehighlighted and experienced breakage.

i got them again (4 years later) in september and i've been experiencing a lot of shedding. i didn't connect it to the highlights until i read your post. the shedding is really freaking me out. i have been taking good care of my hair too. it's surprising that the first time i got highlights with no problems that i wasn't bothering to do protein treatments because i didn't know that i should.

anyway, my 2 cents is that you would be fine with color on natural hair. i have a lot of friends with natural hair who color and highlight with success.

good luck (and post pictures)!!

 

[Janet']

For the type of color that I want (have) AND the length that I'm going for: YES, I had to choose!

eta: The question that you are asking is do we have to choose relaxer or color, correct? Because for me, I chose color and went natural to be able to color my hair the way I want to...Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question...

 

[outspokenwallflower]

In my opinion AND PERSONAL experience, No, you dont have to choose. For YEARS, when I went to the dominican salon every 1-2 weeks, I had long, thick hair AND highlights; on one occasion I even had a full head color.

I didnt do any particular things to take care of it though; I would get highlights every 6 months or so (really, until they'd grown out quite a bit) and I would get my hair relaxed about every 8 weeks. I always got a heavy deep conditioner treatment and only had my roots blown out until the last 3 weeks before a relaxer because I wanted the full length of my hair to be smooth. Of all the years (over 6 years) I had a shedding problem maybe twice? but it would stop. My hair prospered, grew quickly (I constantly got bored and would cut my hair into a bob once in a while; it grew back FAST!) and was *sniff* beautiful when it was double processed. I suppose my hairdressers just knew what they were doing.

eta: you should have no problem coloring with natural hair.

 

[Ms. Martina]

you'd probably be okay doing it on natural hair. it's the double processing that kills i got highlights once with no problems at all. then i got them again and the color wasn't right, so i got them rehighlighted and experienced breakage.

i got them again (4 years later) in september and i've been experiencing a lot of shedding. i didn't connect it to the highlights until i read your post. the shedding is really freaking me out. i have been taking good care of my hair too. it's surprising that the first time i got highlights with no problems that i wasn't bothering to do protein treatments because i didn't know that i should.

anyway, my 2 cents is that you would be fine with color on natural hair. i have a lot of friends with natural hair who color and highlight with success.

good luck (and post pictures)!!

Thanks for the feedback! I will probably do my BC in June at my 12 month post mark. I will more than likely get the color done then. Although, I have to admit it is tempting to either highlight or color sooner. That way if it does damage my new growth, it will just be a small amount. I would hate to grow out a full head of natural hair and then turn around and damage it. Decisions decisions...

 

[Ms. Martina]

For the type of color that I want (have) AND the length that I'm going for: YES, I had to choose!

Thanks for the info. I have to admit, I have looked at your Fotki in the past, and I LOVE your hair color!

 

[blessedandlucky]

In my opinion AND PERSONAL experience, No, you dont have to choose. For YEARS, when I went to the dominican salon every 1-2 weeks, I had long, thick hair AND highlights; on one occasion I even had a full head color.

I didnt do any particular things to take care of it though; I would get highlights every 6 months or so (really, until they'd grown out quite a bit) and I would get my hair relaxed about every 8 weeks. I always got a heavy deep conditioner treatment and only had my roots blown out until the last 3 weeks before a relaxer because I wanted the full length of my hair to be smooth. Of all the years (over 6 years) I had a shedding problem maybe twice? but it would stop. My hair prospered, grew quickly (I constantly got bored and would cut my hair into a bob once in a while; it grew back FAST!) and was *sniff* beautiful when it was double processed. I suppose my hairdressers just knew what they were doing.

eta: you should have no problem coloring with natural hair.

how did you get the shedding to stop? how long did it last?

 

[JDenni81]

I've been relaxer free for almost 2 years and I would like color, but I am scared!

 

[KurlyNinja]

I had a relaxer and my hair dyed before my HHJ and I would say that I'm lucky I'm not bald because I use to flat iron my hair almost daily. So I think it would definitely be possible if you are taking care of your hair really well. I think I've seen a few people on this board who have their hair highlighted or fully dyed who are relaxed with a lot of hair. I dont know who they are but I remember seeing their hair in their siggy.

 

[tapioca_pudding]

queen_t is like the holy grail of color + relaxer for me... My girl T has AMAZING hair, and she has color/highlights and is relaxed bone straight!! You can see her hair in her avatar pic..

I personally think it's about 3 factors:

1. The process used to lift your hair (a very knowledgeable colorist is needed).
2. The health of your hair PRIOR to coloring (hair MUST be healthy before double processing)
3. How well you take care of your hair afterwards (little to no direct heat, moistureproteinmoisture, etc)

I do notice that ladies with fine hair do have a harder time being double processed. But regardless, I think your hair has to be in optimal shape BEFORE you add color to relaxed hair. And leave all chemical treatments (color & relaxer) to a professional that you trust .

Danggit I fell off my soapbox....

 

[outspokenwallflower]

how did you get the shedding to stop? how long did it last?

The ladies at the salon would sometimes mix treatments to counter it until it stopped. I know for a fact that one of the deep conditioners they used was the alter ego garlic conditioner, and they would use a little mizani nighttime h20 treatment. After a few weeks, the shedding was curbed.

 

[Lovelylocs]

Garlic and olive oil stops shedding every time!

 

[africanqueen456]

bumping********

 

[mzteaze]

I used to have color and a relaxer years ago....with highlights and my hair was the longest it had been considering I really didn't take care of it myself (waaaaay pre-LHCF). I have fine hair but always a nice density.

 

[motherpopcorn562]

Well, my mom always had thin blonde APL hair but she spent a ton on products! and did her own hair.

I always had semi perm over my relaxer, but depositing color ( going darker) is less stressful than stripping ( going lighter)

you may get away with highlights. but relaxer and color is too much for the hair -- too BE healthy. It can appear healthy but you will have to step up your product game !

 

[NaturalBoss]

OP, I think it's fine to color your natural hair. Color is one of the MANY reasons why I went natural.

I relaxed and colored (highlights) for many years. Yes, I could get to BSL and MBL, but my hair wasn't near as thick as it should have been, therefore I always ended up getting it trimmed.

 

[Lady S]

Honestly, I think color is less rough on the hair then relaxing hair. I colored the crap out of my hair the first time I went natural. I have pretty strong hair, though.

I do believe you can color & relax, but I do think you have to stick w/ dye formulated for women of color. You also have to be really good to it. Like mega conditioners, protein treatments, running away from flat irons, protective styles, etc. I'm skeptical about being able to go longer then shoulder length with hair that's both relaxed & colored, though.