Virgin relaxer came out underprocessed, can I relax it again?

Azarath

New Member
Hi!

So as the title said, yesterday I was fully natural then came home and used the ORS lye relaxer on my virgin hair. I spent the whole week doing my research on how to apply relaxers to virgin hair. It started with my crown since it's the most resistant area, then moved to the back, then the front, then the edges last. I applied it first the the shaft of the hair all around, then went back and applied it to the ends and the roots since the roots process quicker due to body heat and same for the ends since it's more porous. The maximum time recommended for the ORS lye relaxer is 15 minutes so I set a timer and finished around that time but I left it on an extra 3-5 minutes because I needed to go back and smooth everything down. I didn't have much time once I started the smoothing process because once I get relaxer on my roots the burning start soon after (btw, yes I based the heck out of my scalp, the day before and right before the relaxer. In all of my life of getting relaxers I have never not burned no matter how protected my scalp is and even as a natural my scalp gets itchy and burny after 4 days so I have to wash my hair more often anyways. I just have a sensitive scalp. Also, I understand the lye relaxer is more harsh on the scalp, but I thought at least it takes less time to process the hair which means I can rinse it out sooner. Even though the no-lye relaxer is supposed to be gentler on the scalp, in my experience there was no difference for me. They both burn the same no matter what I do and I used to get major chemical burns with the no-lye do to having to leave it in longer for the hair to process while my scalp was burning. Never again.) Anyway, I rinsed it out immediately once my scalp started burning too much but overall the relaxer was in my hair for about 20 minutes. When I was rinsing the relaxer out my hair felt very straight initially but the more I neutralized it and then deep conditoned it the more curls I felt coming through. By the time it dried my hair still looks natural, just with less shrinkage.

So, I want to basically do a corrective relaxer. My hair is under processed so I basically want to go back in and finish letting my hair process with the relaxer. How long do I need to wait to do this? Also, what tips do you have for doing a corrective relaxer? Thank you!
 

LiLi

Well-Known Member
You can do a corrective. There are a lot of threads on the board regarding the corrective process. Just know that underprocessed doesn’t mean that it isn’t straight. It’s when your hair has a very frizzy, rough texture. A lye relaxer isn’t meant to give you bone straight hair which is a good thing. Also, be careful with the deep conditioning process. Too much protein is not good directly after relaxing.
Make sure your hair doesn’t have a lot of build-up and only leave the relaxer on for 5-8 minutes if you find that you do need a corrective. Make sure the neutralizer sits on your hair for 5 minutes. So basically you do a rinse, neutralize for 5 minutes and then run the neutralizer through again just to be sure you got everything. I will try to find some threads for you a little later today. We talked about correctives alot back in 2003-2005. I’m not a professional and am also now natural. But I did my own relaxers once I started my hair care journey in 2001.
 

WaistLengthDreams

Well-Known Member
I agree with the previous posters about lye not getting your hair bone straight. Did you try styling it? How did it go?
Also a protein treatment before the corrective is a good idea. It doesn't have to be super strong. Just something to fortify the hair.

I would wait 4 weeks before doing the corrective, especially since you have sensitive skin. Since you've already processed the hair once, I would apply the corrective like a regular touch up (roots only) and then with the last 5 minutes (+/- 3 minutes) spread the relaxer to the length of your hair.
 
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