I really need help with relaxers

zoj2

New Member
Hello all, here is a little history on my relaxing choices:
January-March: used Dark and Lovely, impressed with results but hair was consistently breaking. Joined LHCF, read about lye relaxers and switched to PCJ original (lye)
April-June: used PCJ, did not straighten hair, hair is frizzy, underprocessed, but thicker and retains some curl pattern
July: Switched to Revlon Realistic, still hair is underprocessed, but smoother.

In the end, my hair has become much thicker since I switched to lye relaxers, and I think the breakage has decreased, but my hair is frizzy. Now I am debating going back to no-lye, because at least then my hair was easier to manage. Or, should I just run revlon through my hair at the very end of relaxing to fix what the PCJ did. I self relax (SouthernGirl's method!) and will be doing this in two weeks. I did go to an upscale salon in NYC this past weekend and the guy that did my hair recommended that I leave the relaxer on longer (i usually leave it on for 20-25 mins) and switch to soft and beautiful. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Hair: 4a/b, back reaches shoulders, side are an inch past chin
 

hairmaster

New Member
zoj2
what result are you looking for? Bone straight will take all the bounce out and trength
out of your hair. Relaxers are only suppose to relaxe the hair not straighten the hair.
The people who started printing on the relaxer box STRAIGHTENER do so to get you to buy more.
 

zoj2

New Member
My hair is very frizzy and only heat will smooth it down. Before I used lye relaxers I didn't have to used heat to get my hair smooth. I always rollerset and air-dried in a bun and had great results, but my hair was not as thick as it is now (which I attribute to switching to lye). I am wondering if I should switch back to no-lye, or if I am doing something wrong with the lye. I started using Revlon realistic since the board had only good things to say about. I've only used it once, and only on the new growth which is not as frizzy as the PCJ relaxed hair. I'm wondering if the next time I relax if I should relax the PCJ relaxed hair as well.
 

jasmin

Well-Known Member
Are your ends still no lye? When I switched to lye my hair was soft on top of my hair but I still had the left over no lye hair on the ends. It's going to take time to grow out of the no lye.
 
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