Since I have thick curly hair a lot of people have asked me how I do my hair and/or if I chemically straighten it everyday etc. The answer is no of course, as no chemical substance should be applied to the skin on a daily basis. Some of you have seen Chris Rock's movie Good Hair but still don't understand everything. That's okay though. Some wonder why people use those chemicals on their hair, while they never ask they same thing from blonde-haired ladies. The chemical (bleach) is almost equally as strong as a relaxer and while black people normally do this every eight weeks, I've seen caucasians bleach their hair with an almost equally strong chemical every four weeks. My point is that ALL of those things can do harm if not used professionally and one should never do them if it's not necessary.
I do this every 13 weeks now instead of eight, just because I can handle my thick hair better than before and therefore do not find it necessary to do this as often as I used to.
What I use for the entire process:
- Chemical relaxer: enables you to chemically alter the structure of the hair (I use Organic Root Stimulator)
- Neutralizing shampoo: used to stop the relaxer from processing the hair (I use Maven)
- Hair mask: softens and strengthens hair after the entire process (I usually mix whatever brands I have at the moment)
- Gloves
- Plastic combs and brush or spatula
- Protective base: to protect the scalp, ears, hairlines from burning (I use Maven)
- Hair clips: to keep hair in parts
I normally start by applying a thin coat of the protective base all over my scalp, hairline and ears. Unfortunately I didn't have enough left, so did it without it this time. Next I divided my head into four square parts (quadrants), braided them and clipped them out of the way. Normally I start in the back, but because I also wanted the length (excluding the ends) of my hair a bit straighter I started in the front to be able to rinse it out in the sink.
I applied the relaxer on the first two centimeters of hair from my scalp (so on the new grown hairs) on the first quadrant. Immediately after that I applied some on the length of my hair and combed it a bit with a wide tooth comb to get it more straight. As I was doing one quadrant at a time, I kept smoothing the hair with my fingers to help with the straightening process. As soon as my scalp started to tingle a bit, I quickly checked if my hair was straight enough with a fine tooth comb. When this was the case I quickly rinsed that quadrant until none of the chemical relaxer was left in my hair. Next I applied some neutralizing shampoo (left it in my hair) and repeated the same steps with the other quadrants.
When all quadrants were done I washed my hair once more with the neutralizing shampoo and after rinsing I applied a protein based hair mask for a few minutes. After that I washed my hair about three times more with the neutralizing shampoo until the foam color turned white (the shampoo has a color indicator which shows whether or not there is still some relaxer left in the hair). Next I used a moisturizing hair mask for a few minutes as the shampoo can be a bit drying for my hair. After this long process I just proceeded to dry my hair.
Important Do's and Don'ts:
Do's:
- Work really fast; the relaxer starts working immediately when you apply it, so this is a must to get uniform results and avoid chemical burns on the scalp
- Keep all of your necessary items for the entire process ready
- Use gloves to protect your skin as the chemical will otherwise sink into your hands and this is unnecessary and not healthy especially if you do this every time
- Shampoo your hair at least four times with a neutralizing shampoo, letting it sit in the hair for 2-3 minutes each time
- Use plastic utensils as metal parts could possibly cause a chemical process with the relaxer and we're no chemists so it's a no no
- Use a protective base on your scalp especially if you have sensitive skin
- Protect the length and ends of your hair with a silicone and/or oil based substance (I've used Pink lotion and oil over that as well)
- Use a hair mask after as this will help smooth the hair again since the shampoo can be a bit drying
Don't's:
- Scratch your scalp in the week before your relaxer (I'm guilty of doing this one though)
- Leave the relaxer on too long just for the sake of getting your hair as straight as possible
- Wash your hair with a normal shampoo as this will NOT wash the chemicals out of your hair and scalp
- Use these kind of products if you are not a professional, these are heavy chemicals and one should be cautious
Note:
This treatment should be done professionally. I have worked in salons for a while so I know how to do this on my own hair. Everyone is responsible for their own decisions and I am in no way telling you to do it the way that I do it. I'm merely informing those who were wondering.
If you any questions that I failed to answer, please ask them in the comments below.
Xoxo WyoniAlyssa
