Don’t call it a come back..!
Hello everyone! Yes it has been over a month since I’ve
posted… which is a big no no since I just started… but my best friend got
married in Jamaica and I just got back on track. So, now we are here, and this
is going to be the first in the DIY series of post here on Kitchen Beauticians.
Please let me make this disclaimer first. I am not a
licensed stylist. Any tips given on this blog are tips that have been proven to
work for me, and you take these suggestions at your own risks.
Now that I’ve covered my butt, lol, let’s get down to it.
The first series I am touching upon is relaxed hair. Yes, I am natural, but not
everyone is, and that’s fine. I am not Sistah Souljah, advocating for everyone
to embrace their curls and leave the oppressive white devil view beauty in its
dust. I would never… cause my hair is straight 75% of the time. I DO believe
however, no matter what, your hair should be healthy and you should look you
best and know what’s right for you. I was relaxed from 13yrs old to 25.
 |
| Healthy Relaxed Hair…2009 |
During
that time, I went natural 3 times… My last official perm was October of 2009.
Before then I was a Do It Yourself-er. My hair is weird and hair dressers
(whether Dominican, black, or white), could never do my hair to my best
ability. I spent hours researching (instead of studying) and perfected for me
the healthiest routine when relaxing.
Here are the fundamentals, and you can
tweak it as you go along to your own preference.
Step 1- Pre-treat
(part 1)
Most people thing the relaxing process starts when you put
that creamy crack to your head . Oh no honey. You NEED to prepare your hair for
what’s about to happen. Imagine relaxing your hair like a marathon. You
wouldn’t run one without preparing first right? Right! Your body would go into shock.
Your hair will do the same. Do a protein treatment a few days (I usually did
mine 2 days before hand, but you can do yours the wash right before your relaxer if you aren’t a frequent washer like I was). That could be an Aphogee 2 step
protein, or an Aubrey’s Organics shampoo/Conditioner/leave in treatment (these
reviews will be coming soon). They help strengthen your hair so that way its
ready for what’s about to happen.
Step 2- Pick the
RIGHT relaxer for your hair
Do not just get any ole relaxer because you see Keisha Cole
on the front. No. Please don’t. Know your hair and what it needs. First off,
there are two types of relaxers… Lye and No lye
Lye- The main, active ingredient in a lye-based relaxer is sodium
hydroxide. The pH level is higher in a lye relaxer than a no-lye relaxer
(approximately 12-14 for lye, 9-11 for no-lye, whereas your hair should
generally have a pH of around 4-5). The PH being stronger means its quickers to
work. However, its also quicker to burn. So if you know you hair has a peoblem
“taking” a perm, Lye’s might be the best option for you since it wont sit on
your head and cause damage by being there too long. However, these tend to
rinse cleanly and quickly with a good neutralizing shampoo follow-up.
No- Lye- The main, active ingredient in a no-lye based relaxer is calcium
hydroxide or guanidine hydroxide. Although the pH level of a no-lye relaxer is
typically lower than a lye-based one, no-lye relaxers are often associated with
dryer hair due to potential calcium buildup. These are better for someone with
a more sensitive scalp. However, there is still the potential to get burned and
cause damage. Because of the lower pH sometimes make the mistake of leaving a
no-lye relaxer on the hair for too long, leading to dry, dull hair due to
over-processing. This can be fixed by using clarifying shampoo (or any
clarifying method if you are on a no shampoo routine) once a month or so to
remove calcium deposits and the dulling effects. NO-LYES ARE USUALLY THE RELAXERS OF CHOICE FOR PEOPLE DOING THEIR HAIR
AT HOME SINCE THE PROCESS TIME IS SLOWER AND THEY HAVE TIME TO DO THEIR WHOLE
HEAD.
Another crucial factor is picking the proper strength in a
relaxer. Most Lyes come in Mild, Regular, and Extra Strength. No-Lyes usually
come in the form of Regular and Extra Strength. Again, this is a matter of
knowing your hair. Many people use the wrong strength. And that doesn’t just
include using to high, it can also mean too low. You would feel it’s safer to
get a lower strength, because you don’t want to run the risk of over-processing
and or burning, and if it doesn’t work within the recommended time, just keep
it in a little longer right? WRONG. Going
over the time whether your hair has “took” or not is still damaging. General
rule of thumb, if your hair is considered fine (the actual strand is thinner
than a sharpened pencil point), stick with regular. If your hair is coarse
(same size or thicker than a sharpened pencil point), go for the extra
strength. Mils should be used on Color Treated hair or if you don't want your hair bone straight.
Brand wise, that is preference. I used to use
Mizani ButterBlends as my lye, or Precise/Affirm as my no lye. (I preferred
Affirm no-lye since I was doing it at home).
Step 3- Pre-treat (part
2)
The second pre-treat starts right as your about to perm. We all
know to “base your scalp” by putting a petroleum like protectant as to not burn
your skin. However, there is an additional precaution to take. If this isn’t
your first perm, you should be covering previously relaxed hair with a oil
based protectant. One of the main things you learn about touch-ups is that you
should no overlap on to previously relaxed hair. As a DIY-er that’s not always
the easiest. This helps to give you a little lee-way and room for error. Also,
this helps protect strand when you rinse your hair. There is clearly relaxer in
that water that is now running down the rest of your hair. Just because water
is added doesn’t mean it’s still not a chemical. Especially if the relaxer you
used was lye. Keep your hair covered.
Step 4- Relax!
Begin by sectioning off hair into 4 parts. Start from the part
closest to the crown (middle of your head) for each part. This tends to be the
longest to take the perm, and needs a bit more time. Plus, the
halo/edges/hairline areas tends to be the weakest so putting relaxer on there
first is a recipe for breakage. Each section as you apply the perm should not
be too thin as it will take you longer to apply, but shouldn’t be too thick as
to miss parts. The general idea is about a quart inch thick. If you can, save
your hairline for absolute last. But, that’s can be tweaked to your preference.
Follow instruction on box for preparation and timing.
Step 5- Wash
This is very important. You must rinse the relaxer out
completely. I suggest going to a beauty supply store, or online and finding one
of the color-indicating neutralizing shampoos. That’s the most accurate way to
determine if your hair has been rinsed properly. The color changes based off
the pH, so if its still out of a comfortable range, the color changes as if to
say DANGER!
*Note- If you are adding a rinse, now would be the time. ONLY A
RINSE. Please do not use permanent colors during this time. The DIY color will
be dropping soon.*
Follow up with a conditioner. Then you must deep condition.
Since your hair is really weak after this process, I recommend finding
something with a strengthening or protein property. I also used to add a bit of
my favorite oil (avocado or black Jamaican castor) to give my hair a boost of
moisture. Keep that in for 20 mins (preferably with heat).
Step 6- Drying/Styling
There a few routes you can take with this. I prefer these two as
to make sure you hair doesn’t get too much shock:
-Roller setting, then wrapping tight with a bit of oil or serum instead of blow-drying straight.
-Air drying hair until relatively dry (not damp. You can also
sit under a hood dryer on low-medium heat until about almost dry), then blow-drying
on low to medium heat, and flat ironing.
The less direct heat, the better. Your hair is about as fragile
as wet toilet paper right now, even if it doesn’t seem it.
Step 7- Post-treat
Yup, another protein treatment. Your next wash (more than 2-3
days after relaxing), do another treatment like the Pre-treat part1. As a relaxer, your hair should have protein
in its routine regularly. You need to make sure it’s as strong as possible.
Also, make sure you don’t use too much direct heat, it damages relaxed hair
quicker than hair that isn’t chemically straightened.
I hope this helps ladies! Again if you have
any questions, comments, concerns, need clarification or have suggestions, feel
free to comment and or email me MsCurlyShe@gmail.com or tweet me at
@MsCurlyShe
“A Girl Should be two
things, Classy and Fabulous”- Coco
Chanel
Keep it Cute Ladies!
