I have had relaxed hair, and I did aquire a lot of length, but one day I noticed that I had a lot of breakage...long story short, you have to work at taking care of your hair either natural or relaxed but for me natural is an easier way to prevent breakage, but it can be discouraging because the fruits of your labor(length) are not always easy to see. Oh, and since I am a broke college student, it is much cheaper for me too!