Re: Relaxed Heads: How many weeks post relaxer are you and when is your next touch up
1 year post. how many inches of ng do you have, did you retain ll your growth? what is your regimen and technique after 5 months post? what products do you use?
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NicoleSelah @brklynbornnbred
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PureSilver @
divachyk
Sorry it took so long to respond but I waited since I can't tag from my phone.
I'm sitting with conditioner right now. Today I'm 53 weeks post.
I have between 5-7 inches of new growth. Most spots are 5 inches but some spots are as long as 7. I swear my hair grew faster when I was relaxed but this has not been a normal year for me.
I would have to say I've retained some growth but not at the percentage I would normally find acceptable. Since I was at BSL I should be at MBL by now but it seems I'm hanging around at BSL. I know being on here makes me not see my hair the way others do and I get compliments on the rare occasions I've done my hair and shown it.
I did not start this stretch with intention of transitioning. I had an injury that made it hard to wash my hair often and it made no sense to get perms on my regular schedule when all I was doing was pulling it into a ponytail or bun. I also have to look back through this thread when I have time to write down exactly when I was relaxing. I did a corrective at least 1 1/2 years ago and looking back now I think I messed up. My hair has not been taking to the perm correctly for a while now (I used to perm straight not leave any texture) so the long stretch was also initially done to make sure I had enough new growth to go back to my old stylist so she could do one good fix and the length of the "new growth" would cover any cut she may have to do in the back. Instead this year and my therapy flew by and here I am one year post and all these curls I never knew I had. I've done long stretches before but I don't know if my chemistry has changed or what but my hair was not like this when I was younger.
Trying to avoid the typing stuff since I'm really not sure. My mom is natural and I'd say she is 4c (zig zag with no curl). My new growth has curls/ringlets some bigger than others so I think its a mix of 4a/b but not sure. My stylist told me years ago that we had different types hair but I was into the perm matrix back then I wasn't hearing her at all but I don't remember it being this different. I didn't get first relaxer until I was 15.
So while I have all this new growth my hair is basically the same length (to me) hovering just past BSL. When I pull some pieces in the back they are almost all new hair so I know something went wrong during my long stretches of past years but at least its growing in. I'm tempted every time I wash my hair but I don't like my hair short although I've done the "Halle Berry/Nia Long" cut more than once I just don't have the energy to deal with my hair at that length during the winter so for now I'll just keep stretching and make a decision in the spring unless ya'll kick me out of here into the long term transitioner one.
I've been very basic -
Wash: Clarify with ORS Olive Oil green shampoo (when needed)
Cream of Nature Argan Oil Shampoo or
Kera Care Moisturizing Shampoo (or Dandruff one)
Condition ORS Nourishing Conditioner (Banana)
Elasta QP DPR11 or
ORS Hair Mayonaise + hot oil when needed
Leave In mix of Infusium 23/Fantasia IC Leave in Moisturizer
KeraCare Leave in (sometimes)
Then next step depended on what I was doing. When I was healthy I did mostly roller sets and just sprayed heat protectant on it. When I could no longer do that I'd let it air dry partially and then blow it out with hand dryer. I have a mix of protective stuff depending on which heat I was using. If I did a twist out I'd throw some loc and twist gel with some oil on it. That got to be too much manipulation for my shoulder so my fall back was quick and dirty high heat blow outs then slick it back in buns for a while.
This last year my focus was just to keep my head and scalp clean. My past pj'ism is gone. Since I've gone this far I feel like I owe it to myself to keep going at least until spring and re-evaluate in March/April what I will do. For the next few months I will return to my healthier habits and see if that affects growth/retention any. I've been semi cleared to work out so I'm sure that will be a positive. I will also put that dang blow dryer down and either wig it up or braid it and dry it indirectly.
