Good day people.. Yesterday my mom & I went to Barnes & Nobles which gave me some time to scan thru some of the black hair magazines (there were roughly 3 or 4 there).. As I'm looking at all these books I see beautiful hair and I was just thinking to myself, all black women could be walking around here with gorgeous hair if they knew what to do to it and learn how to care for it. Then as we were leaving, I was still thinking about hair care and what people do wrong.. I know that I'm one of them but I came to these conclusions:
- Relaxers: Yes, you can relax your hair without causing damage; it's all in how you apply it. If it is a virgin relaxer (meaning you have hair that has never had any relaxer on it previously), only then do you comb the relaxer all the way to the end of the hair shaft. Too many times have I seen or heard women overlapping the relaxer on previously relaxed hair, which causes breakage most times or over processed hair.
- The Frequency of relaxing: I know it is said that you are supposed to relax your hair every 6 - 8 weeks. Now I've thought about the actual growth of most peoples' hair is about a quarter of an inch to half an inch a month, relaxing hair at any of those lengths (in my opinion) is too soon! Now possibly within a entire month you get about 2 inches of new growth, then I could see relaxing your hair. But at half an inch, even 1 inch; I would tell my client that they don't need a relaxer, just a good deep conditioning and I would flat iron the hair. Call me crazy but I think the less you relax the healthier your hair appears.(When I was relaxing my hair before, I would go about 4 - 6 months w/o relaxing my new growth and I had a lot with close to NO breakage.)
- Strength of relaxer used: I have never, ever, ever had a super strength relaxer touch my hair, a family member's hair, or a client’s hair unless that is what they wanted to use. I would never suggest a super for anyone!! Now some people would disagree but a super is too strong in my opinion. But then again I guess people like hair that lays flat down, with no body!
- A good hair care regime: After getting a relaxer, you can't just go into braids or not caring for your hair properly. You hair is super fragile now. I personally would wear my hair in ponytails (when I was relaxed) but after abusing my hair with rubber bands, I noticed major breakage in the back of my head, so I stopped wearing them as much and would wear my hair out. I loved the look of a fresh wrap or a roller set. So my top 3 hair styles would be a roller set (which can transition into a wrap), a wrap, and a rod set (it gives off a curly look and lasts for weeks!).
I hope this helps someone who has relaxed hair see where the damage is coming from and try some of my suggestions!! If you have questions please leave a comment!! I will try to answer all questions as soon as I get them!
