Hi. This is my first blog post. By the end of july 2018, i had relaxed my hair for the first time since reaching adulthood. My goal is to grow my now 2" hair to waist length, and this blog has been created for the purpose of tracking and sharing that progress. I have done a lot of reading about relaxers, and have watched countless videos on the internet of ladies with relaxed hair showing their hair care routines. So far, i haven't even told my spouse that i've relaxed it, because he is not a fan of relaxers. I've gone back and forth on the idea of relaxing my hair, off and on ever since about 2011. Why, i'm not sure, really. Im a spontaneous person, and i relaxed it on a whim early in the morning in a frantic attempt to keep myself from putting scissors in my hair. I'm very scissor happy, and one impulsive way of me dealing with the urge to not chop what little bit of hair i have off again was to relax it. I dont think i'll regret the decision, as this is somewhat uncharted territory for me.
I feel confident that i know how to keep my hair from breaking. For one, i am going to be following the conventions of natural hair care. Natural hair is what i know and am used to, but i think that there can be overlap with regards to the fundamental tenets of hair care. My plan for keeping my hair on my head and not on the floor entails:
1) moisturizing my hair frequently (probably daily)
2) wrapping hair at night or at least covering it with a satin/silk scarf
3) Spacing out touchups between 6 and 12 months
4) going every month or every other month to a salon to get protein treatments, deep conditions and roller sets
5) NEVER putting direct heat (i.e flat irons) on my hair
6) styling hair as i would a natural hair wash n go on the days i dont feel like wrapping it
7) limiting manipulation; relying on finger detangling and smoothing of the hair rather than combing/brushing it
8) as hair gets long enough for this to apply- keeping it off the shoulders so it the ends don't rub on fabric.
9) resisting the impulse to trim; my goal is to stave off trims for once yearly
10) washing hair once per 7-10 days
What i find interesting is that when i put the relaxer in, the people that i work with didn't even seem to realize i had relaxed it. That is because when i relaxed it, i didnt' proceed to straighten it the way many other women do. I simply treated my relaxed hair the way i would my natural hair- which is to basically WNG. I put in my leave-in and left it to air dry, and so it began to revert to a curly straight. Naturally my hair is a 3c curl pattern, but relaxing has removed the kinkiness and replaced it with a 3a/b pattern. I can't wait to see how it will look as it grows out to longer, more impressive lengths.
The difference between my natural hair and my relaxed hair to me is like night and day. When i first rinsed out the relaxer product, my hair barely felt "there"; because it had gone so straight and flat. My fingers didn't even recognize it!
This is a very good thing, because i had taken to plucking out my natural hair via ripping with my fingers through the kinks on the ends, as the result of a nervous disorder i've had since childhood. This is what initially prompted me to relax, was from realizing that straightening my hair was the only way i could dismantle that tactile satisfaction i would get from playing with and tousling my kinky curly hair. I had serious HIH syndrome, and since i relaxed a couple days ago, i feel that this psychological kick is now gone, and i feel quite relieved! There's not much to grab up top, with my hair being naturally thin in terms of density anyway, coupled with my new texture feeling feather light and airy.
I'll be taking pictures and uploading them, as i am excited to experience this transition.
