Black women do any of you still relax your hair? (guys, salon)
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I am natural for 4 years and I am giving up. Going back to relaxers. I haven't been able to get my hair to look halfway decent in over a year. I have tried switching products with no luck. I need my hair to look presentable and I am not going to be walking around looking a mess. As soon as I step outside, my hair turns into a mess. The humidity is awful. It sucks to spend so much time washing, detangling, conditioning, deep conditioning and styling only to have it poof back up the moment you leave the house. As soon as I locate a good stylist, I will be getting a relaxer and a hair cut, probably a bob.
I haven't relaxed my hair in a little over two years and never plan to again. I did not do any heat styling for the past two years, but I recently got my hair flat ironed at a salon and I liked the result. I don't plan to use heat any more often than once every two weeks so I hope that will be enough to prevent heat damage. As long as my hair shrinks up after every shampoo (I have incredible shrinkage), I won't worry too much. It would be nice to do a twist out every now and then, but I never really mastered that style. Right now, my hair is healthier and longer than it was when it was relaxed, so I definitely want to keep it that way.
I am growing out my relaxer, with a blowout to manage the in new growth (less harsh brazillian blowout, not permanent re-texturizing).
It has been tricky because due to damage the back of my hair is really short. Now that it is pretty much all new growth it is trickier to manage. This phase is sort of annoying, though I don't think super short hair will look cute on me. I am hoping to grow out my relaxer without too much hassle then evaluate from there.
Nope, I said goodbye to the creamy Crack almost ten years ago and haven't looked back. I started my locs about 8 years ago and that's how I plan to always wear my hair. Now I wonder why I ever put that toxic mess in my hair. It looks so much better in its natural state.
Yep!
Locked for 8 years now. My hair is longer and fuller than it ever was relaxed.
I cannot relate to people who say that natural hair takes more time than relaxed hair.
When I had a relaxer, I would literally spend half of my Saturday in the salon. Now, I spend only three hours with my loctician - and only because my hair takes a long time to dry.
And don't even get me started on working out - I would have to wrap my hair and then pray that I didn't sweat too much - lol.
I don't need to stand out. I'm just me. And It is harder for me to manage my hair when its nappy/coily/whatever you want to call it. I also don't need to like something because other black people do. I absolutely HATE the way locs look, afros second to that.
I just have to do the best I can with it while still relaxing. I had it growing nicely while still getting relaxers (but stretching them) until it was messed up by a hairdresser. It's growing back out now so I will just do what I was doing before the hairdresser got ahold of it.
Why in the heck did you reply to this thread if you hate natural hair so much?
I thought this sort of self-hatred disappeared years ago.
Locked for 8 years now. My hair is longer and fuller than it ever was relaxed.
I cannot relate to people who say that natural hair takes more time than relaxed hair.
When I had a relaxer, I would literally spend half of my Saturday in the salon. Now, I spend only three hours with my loctician - and only because my hair takes a long time to dry.
And don't even get me started on working out - I would have to wrap my hair and then pray that I didn't sweat too much - lol.
It depends on the salon. I've waited hours (relaxed and natural) when my stylist had lots of other clients but it never takes that long for me if the stylist isn't overbooked. I think natural hair can definitely take more time than relaxed hair depending on your skill level and what you're trying to do with it.
I haven't relaxed my type 4 hair in over 8 years and I love it! My hair is stronger, thicker and longer than it ever was with a relax.
It took some time to learn the true nature of my natural hair but its important to take the time to understand what one's hair does and does not require for optimal health. I always do braid outs and twist outs put into in protective styles to protect my ends.
For me, the key to strand health and length retention is MOISTURE, MOISTURE, MOISTURE! And sealing in the moisture. So I do moisturize with a rose water and HS 14-in-1 mixture and then sealing with a shea butter/EVOO/argan oil mixture. My hair also loves protein so I do the Aphogee 2-step treatment every 3-4 months.
I like my hair best when it's 2-6 weeks from being relaxed (first two weeks it's too flat for my taste). And I definitely don't want natural hair. It works for and on some women, but it's not for me.
I like my hair best when it's 2-6 weeks from being relaxed (first two weeks it's too flat for my taste). And I definitely don't want natural hair. It works for and on some women, but it's not for me.
I totally understand that some women prefer to relax, but considering the bad shape my hair was in and the possibility that relaxers could be linked to uterine fibroids (which I have and don't want to make any worse), I just refuse to ever relax again.
Yeah but what's the point in being natural if you wear your hair straight all the time? Or wear weave, wigs, and hide your natural hair?
It's hypocritical to claim being natural when you don't even wear your hair "natural" and people only see weave or straight hair.
A couple of my friends tried being natural and went back to relaxers because they had more options when styling their hair and they got tired of having to keep cutting their hair because of heat damage from burning it straight all the time. Contrary to what people like to say, you can have damaged natural hair the same way you can have relaxed hair and it be healthy. Now that their hair is relaxed, it looks great! Its long and they don't have any issues because they go to the salon and don't use those box relaxers.
Any chemical can damage your hair if it's not applied and maintained properly. My hair is colored which is the same chemical strength as a relaxer but my hair isn't damaged. However it can become damaged if it's not cared for and maintained properly and there are a lot of naturals who color their hair so technically they're not really "natural" because natural is virgin hair but I get being natural is more so about wearing your hair in the natural texture.
However you can't be downing those that relax when coloring your hair is no different because you are chemically altering the cuticle which is the same thing a relaxer does and there are tons of naturals who dye their hair. When you don't properly care for your hair it doesn't matter whether it has chemicals in it or not, you will get damaged hair natural or not.
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