July 2012 Relaxer Process

I know that I was already supposed to have my Relaxer Process posted, but I had an Organic Chemistry exam that I absolutely had to study for. Now that is out of the way I have a little time before I have to study for my final exam next week.

::Background::

Like I said earlier, I used a different technique to relax my hair. Since I started self relaxing in November 2011 I've been applying Silk Elements Mild Relaxer with a pliable squeeze bottle. The one I use is a color applicator bottle from Sally's Beauty Supply. I didn't use it this time because I left it at my mother's house thinking I would relax again when I went back.

The mild relaxer left my hair still very curly, which I liked but now wanted a straighter texlax look. Once my hair is completely texlax I may go back to a curlier version if I am unable to have a decent wash-and-go look, which is my goal for my texlaxed hair.


:: The Relaxing Process ::
NOTE: A photograph summery is posted at the end.

1. Section off hair:
I sectioned my hair into six sections.


2. Protect the length of your hair:
Putting a barrier between your hair and the excess relaxer will slow down the process of relaxing previously relaxed hair. Because you are minimizing overprocessing your hair it will help it remain stronger and have more elasticity.

In order to protect the length of my hair I detangled each section and applied Creme of Nature Lemongrass & Rosemary Leave-in Conditioner. For added protection I finely coated my hair with Petroleum Jelly, focusing on the ends. The ends of the hair are the oldest and weakest part of the hair, so they need as much protection from relaxer runoff as possible. Also I applied the petroleum to my hairline and ears.


3. Optional: Mix Relaxer and Oils/Conditioner:
In order to texlax their hair some people mix oils and conditioners into their relaxer to weaken the strength and allow them more time to apply and process the hair before it becomes completely bone straight.

I mixed 5 spoonfuls of Silk Elements Regular Relaxer, 7 spoonfuls of Silk Elements Mild Relaxer, and 3 spoonfuls of Africa's Best Ultimate Herbal Oil.


4. Apply relaxer to hair:
I suggest first applying the relaxer to the coarsest area of hair. This will allow it to process longer so it can obtain a similar texture to the rest of the hair. Depending on how straight you want your edges will dictate when to apply the relaxer to the hairline. I wanted my edges straighter (almost bone straight basically) so I applied the relaxer to my edges right after applying the relaxer to the front sections of hair but before the back sections.

5. Smooth and Wait
After applying the relaxer throughout the hair smooth the roots if you want a straighter look. I use my fingers to smooth because I feel as though the comb would make it too straight. The entire relaxing process took me 25 minutes this time. This is a record for me!

6. Rinse and Neutralize
Rinse out the relaxer using warm/hot water. Some women like to apply a protein conditioner right before Neutralizing, but I didn't do that this time because I did a hair protein treatment the wash before and didn't want to have an overload. Neutralize with your favorite neutralizing shampoo. I used Silk Elements Megasilk Neutralizing Shampoo for my hair and Isoplus Neutralizing Shampoo for my body. Because I jump into the shower to rinse and neutralize I use a neutralizing shampoo on my body to deactivate the relaxer runoff.

7. pH Balance (optional)
I then used French Perm Stabilizer Plus to balance out the pH of my hair. This product can also be used as a neutralizer, but prefer to use a neutralizing shampoo.

8. Deep Condition
Apply your favorite deep conditioner(s). I used a two step process. First I deep conditioned with a mixture of LeKair Cholesterol and Mane 'n Tail for a light protein. Then I deep conditioned with Ganier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner.

9. Drying
Apply leave-in conditioners, dry hair in whatever fashion you please, and style.

I used Garnier Fructis Daily Care conditioner as my leave in as well as ApHogee Keratin and Green Tea 
Restructurizer. I then used the scarf method and air dried my hair because I wasn't planning on straightening my hair.

How to grow long healthy hair

African hair can be very hard to manage because of so many different reasons that I will not be getting into right now. But once you get the hang of your hair it will grow to extraordinary lengths. It does take a lot of time and effort to get your hair to a healthy state and then to maintain it, but in the end you will be so much happier. Throughout your journey you will learn new tips and techniques that will make the process easier.

While surfing the internet I stumbled upon the video below. In her video, EverythingMich has given her viewers a few tips that worked for her in her journey to healthy long relaxed/texlaxed hair. These tips, along with many others, are exactly was is needed to grow both natural and chemically treated hair.





Video Recap:
1. Follow a Healthy Lifestyle
       ~ Diet and Exercise
       ~ Daily Vitamins
2. Minimum to No Heat
       ~ Can cause heat damage
       ~ Use indirect heat
       ~ Always use a heat protectant
 3. Protective Styling
       ~ Don't have hair rubbing on clothes because it will cause ends to break off
       ~ Buns
       ~ Keeps frigile ends tucked away
4. CONDITION!!!
       ~ Deep Condition once a week
       ~ Use protein to balance moisture
       ~ Use moisturizing conditioners
5. Protect your hair for bed
       ~Use a satin pillow case or head wrap

July 2012 Relaxer Update

Hello Beautiful People!

I have relaxed my hair at eleven weeks and one day. I know that I said I was going to wait, but that was because I was going to keep my Patra Braids in longer. Since I took them out every thing was pushed up a few weeks.

I used a different technique to relax my hair this time, and I don't think I like it. The technique I used is one that most people use and that is using a comb to apply the relaxer. I ended up applying more relaxer to my hair than I normally do so my hair ended up processing bone straight. Another reason for it becoming so straight could be that I mixed Silk Elements Normal with the Mild relaxer in hopes of getting a straighter texlaxed look.

Next time I will be using less of the Normal relaxer and more of the Mild relaxer and will be applying again with my squeeze bottle. The only reason why I didn't use it this go around is because I left it at my mother's house because I wasn't planning on relaxing my hair until I went back for break.

My hair is still very thick, when air dried, because I have a few inches of texlaxed hair. But after this relaxer parts of my hair follow this pattern: Bone Straight --- Texlax (curly/wavy) --- Bone Straight.

It's a good thing that only a small portion of my roots are bone straight and will be easily grown out in a few years. I just have to be careful with my hair because now I have 2 permanent lines of demarcation and when my hair grows in I'll have 3 lines of demarcation. Breakage now is a great possibility, but I'll keep you all posted on what is working and what isn't. Also I'll tell you about the different techniques that help minimize breakage.

Tomorrow I'll post about the actual relaxing process. The reason why I'm not posting it now is because I've noticed that some of my post, especially the ones dealing with relaxers, can be very lengthy. I know that you all have a busy life so I want to make each post as simple and too the point as possible. The actually relaxing process is a different topic from the relaxer update so I am making it it's own post. Tell me how you feel about that, and I'll try my best to accommodate everyone.

Patra Braids Take Down

Hello Beautiful People!

I have taken down my Patra Braids. I know that I said I was going to take them out the end of this month, but my mom kind of scared me when she reminded me about hair breakage. I didn't want to leave my hair in the braids for a long time and risk my hair breaking. The take down and the wash wasn't too bad and my hair didn't break as much as before.


Braid Take Down Process
1. Section braids into fours

2. Work on 1 section at a time: Remove the braids and detangle with a wide tooth comb a long the way. Use a finer comb or denman/denman-like brush to detangle the roots.

3. Place hair back into the section after all braids have been removed.
Note: For the braids at my edges I sprayed them with Sta-Sof-Fro and detangled with my hands. I did this only if there was a lot of product build up because the comb didn't want to go through and I wasn't about to rip out my edges.


Shampoo Process
1. Work on all four sections separately. Apply shampoo to roots and hold hair midshaft with one hand while the other is massaging the scalp. (If you have long hair then adjust the placement of your hands to a position that is more comfortable. Another thing you can do is braid the hair into a plait.) Periodically run the shampoo throughout the length of the hair to allow it to also be cleaned. I find this useful because it helped prevent my ends from tangling up, which would then cause more breakage.
Note: Shampooing my hair in sections is best option for me because at this point in my hair journey have 3 different hair textures (natural, texlax, and bone straight) and 2 possible points of breakage (both lines of demarcation)

2. After shampooing all four sections use a conditioner of your choice. Gently remove knots using your hands.


Deep Conditioning Process
1. Apply your protein deep conditioner to all the sections of hair and allow it to sit for the recommended time. I used the original Silicon Mix Deep Conditioner and had it sit in my hair for 2-3 minutes. At this point I combined the back two sections of hair because Silicon Mix makes my hair easier to detangle. I still wasn't using a comb to detangle and remove more knots, only my hands.

2. Rinse out your Protein Deep Conditioner and apply your Moisuturizing Deep Conditioner and allow it to sit on your hair for as long as you want. Mine sat in for 2.5 hrs under two plastic bags. You can use only one if you would like.

3. Rinse out the conditioner. and remove hair from sections while also continuing to remove knots that formed from the extension braids.

4. This step is optional: I have porous hair so I bought a new products that I hope would help. I applied a generous amount of French Perm Stabilizer Plus and let it sit in my hair for 1 minute. Rinse out and towel dry hair.
Note: French Perm Stabilizer Plus gives no slippage to the hair so do not use a comb in this process. You may add conditioner to help detangle the hair. When applying French Perm Stabilizer Plus use your hands to run it down the hair shaft and do not rub hair vigorously, otherwise you may cause tangles and ultimately breakage.


Drying
1. Apply your leave-ins. I used ApHogee Keratin and Green Tea Reconstructurizer and Garnier Fructis Daily Care Conditioner

2. Optional: Apply a Straightening Balm

3. Air dry your hair using any method. I just let my hair out because I was going to straightening it.

Straightening
1. Section hair into as many sections as you would like. I used four sections.

2. Apply a heat protectant.

3. Begin straightening small sections of hair with your flat iron and comb. I used both a comb and conair styling brush (depending on the section of hair) to detangle the hair as i ran the straightener through.


Products Used (in the order I used them)
1. Sta-Sof-Fro Moisturizing Spray
2. Cantu Shea Butter Moisturizing Shampoo
3.  V05 Conditioner
4. Silicon Mix
5. Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Fortifying Conditioner
6. French Perm Stabilizer Plus
7. ApHogee Keratin and Green Tea Reconstructurizer
8. Garnier Fructis Daily Care Fortifying Conditioner
9. Garnier Fructis Blow Dry Straightening Balm
10. GVP Silk Remedy
11. Straightener: Infinity Pro by Conair

Patra Braids Styled- Chryssa

Hello Beautiful Hair Lovers!

If you thought Chrystal (the Patra Braid Hairstyle) was adorable meet her twin sister Chryssa.

Chryssa is the double twist version of Chrystal. Do two flat twists on each side of your head and use a rubber band to make a ponytail. Take the ends of the ponytail and flip it around the ponytail holder as many times as you like until you get your desired look.

Patra Braids Styled- Chrystal

Good morning healthy hair seekers!

Wanted to start your day off with another Patra Braid Style.

I call her Chrystal.

She is simply a side braid with both sides of hair pulled back into a pony.

Be sure to check back to meet her equally adorable twin sister Chryssa.

Patra Braids Styled - Lauren

Hello Beautiful People!

This has got to be my favorite style with my Patra Braids. I am naming her Lauren because the first person to complement the look is named Lauren.

Lauren is very simple to do so if you would like I can post the instructions or try to make a video recreating her. Just leave a comment letting me know.

Patra Braids Styled- Jenna

Hello Hair Beauties!

Since having my Patra Braids in I've done a few hairstyles. The one I'm going to show you today is called Jenna. I wore her last month and she is very simple to do. The only problem I had with her was that she got a bit heavy.

Steps
1. Put hair into a high ponytail.
2. Take a small section of hair and twist around the pony tail.
3. Make a simple braid with the remaining hair.
4. Tuck ends under and bobby pin down.
5. Secure the braid with bobby pins.

I told you it was simple!! If you would like you can use a gel of you liking to slick down your edges.