Ladies who go 16 or more weeks between touch-ups..

[Lindy]

I'm getting my touchup next Tuesday, after 16 weeks... (I've waited 16 weeks for the last 3 touchups

)

Do you all find that the longer you go between touch-ups, the longer you feel you can go?? Last week I was seriously thinking of trying to stretch it to 20 weeks!!

But then there are days like today, when I look in the mirror and my new growth looks all thick and I feel like I can't wait til they slap the relaxer in my hair next week!!

As I'm looking at my hair now I'm wondering if I'm fooling myself!! Are people looking at my hair and thinking "Why doesn't she go & get her hair done??!!"

I had my hair in a ponytail one day this week and my daughter commented "you have a lot of new growth!!" I honestly didn't think it was that obvious!!

I wonder if there really is any benefit in going the extra month, or if I should just stick with my every 12 week touch-up... (doing it before the roots get noticeably thick-looking)

 

[Armyqt]

I have my days too Lindy. Honestly I think I'm gonna start touching up based on the amount of newgrowth I have. That number for me is 4 inches. Once I accomplish that, it'll be time for a retouch. Deep down inside I know I can go longer, but it would invlove a little work. I don't mind the newgrowth since I wear a bun mostly. People always comment on my waves and say I don't need a perm. If they only knew

.

All in all I would say, to do what's most comfortable for you. if you have a good amount of newgrowth to minize overlapping then go for it.

 

[HairFanatic01]

I think that every 16 weeks is great. I wear braids for two months, get a perm, wear my own hair for 3-4weeks, then get braids for two 1/2 months again.(roughly 3-4 months). It doesn't matter what other ppl think. As long as you look decent then it shouldn't matter. Personally I think that 16 weeks is good. I don't go that long. Mine is between 12-14 weeks, but I think its excellent. When you get to your hair goals ppl are going to be asking questions of how you got there. And then you might notice them having lots of new growth.(lol) Personally I think 16 weeks is fine as long as you don't see excessive breakage.

 

[ChasingBliss]

Im getting used to it. I look forward to seeing how much longer my hair has grown after waiting for so long. Ive resolved myself to how it's going to look in the mean time. When I smooth it down with leave ins and oils and my scarf, it looks so shiney and wavey I often contemplate going natural again. But those first waves always look pretty,who knows what it would look like if it was ALL natural, so I chicken out.
If you can deal with going longer and your hair doesnt break, go for it. The longer a chemical stays away from your hair and scalp has to be better anyway

 

[Nyambura]

Lindy, your Avatar is cute!

Yes, for a while there I had no desire to get a retouch. Now, I can hardly wait!!!! Uggggghhhh!! It's been almost 7 months since my last retouch (no, that's not a typo, lol) and I perfectly understand why many transitioners either resort to braids or cut off the relaxed growth. My hair looks a hot mess with the two textures and there doesn't seem to be any style I can do at this stage to make my hair look decent.

 

[BrEE]

i have the same dilemma, the longer i would hold out the more i wanted to wait. i know what you mean about the new growth, a friend of mine who has a class with me who is also a cosmetologist said to me the other day, "wow, there's no way of overprocessing that".i thought it was pretty funny.

 

[Nyambura]

[ QUOTE ]
bree said:
...a friend of mine who has a class with me who is also a cosmetologist said to me the other day, "wow, there's no way of overprocessing that".i thought it was pretty funny.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hee!

 

[BMoreFlyy]

I say more power to you, I do good if I can ease past 2 months without my hair not wanting to lay down after being tied up all night.

 

[calbear]

I usually go 15 weeks but based on my calculations I have to go 18 weeks to even out the timeframe between my last perm and my birthday (important to time the perm around the birthday). I'm at 13 and a half weeks now and everything was going really well til my last conditioner wash. I switched conditioners and the detangle process was not too kind. I am trying to not 'rethink' the stretching process because my hair does so well when i do. I am concerned about shedding/breaking. But I'm unsure if it's seasonal and that horrible detangle process.

I guess next week will be the true test if it's time to process - if the detangle doesn't go well - then we'll start with a blowdry and if that doesn't stop the drama - to the beauty shop I go.

ps I've been doing airdry braid outs with conditioner washes every week - no heat.

 

[Ayeshia]

I went 25....i wore spiral sets and braid out all the time.

 

[lunalight7]

I'm w/ calbear...sometimes I feel that I can go longer than 12 weeks, but then the timing of things get in the way...like a special event that I want to be 'swinging' for! So I go ahead and touchup. I feel that the knowledge that I've gained from you ladies has helped my hair health and growth tremendously so even if I can't hold out as long as others, it's still an improvement over relaxing every 6 weeks like I did back in the day.

 

[Kaela]

Okay...this is motivation for me to hold out. I wanted to touch up my hair today (it has been 11 weeks) but I will wait. I asked my BF if he thought I should touch up and he said "why, I like how it looks; you should wait". What a sweetie

. I'm not sure he understands the concept of stretching relaxers but at least he's being supportive.

 

[MissMarie23]

I just relaxed after about 15 weeks because I could NOT take it anymore. I am perfectly fine when I condition wash at night, and ponytail it to dry, but if I try to stretch it to two days, it gets poofy, and I feel self-conscious.

My goal for my next relaxer is in about 3 months, which I think is a good time for me.

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

I do feel like I can go longer. I was going to relax on 3/5 but due to medical issues, I didn't. Now because I don't want to have a lot of new growth for my family reunion at the end of July, I'm not relaxing it until probably Memorial Day weekend, end of May. I don't want to look *too* bad at my daughter's birthday party at the beginning of June. That will put me at 10 1/2 months. But I'm seriously thinking about just texturizing it. I'm just afraid that my kinky straight sections will get straight and my hair will look a hot mess with some curls and some straight. Of course, I have all these relaxed ends and I guess it won't look too bad with part curly and part straight. But I might be kidding myself. I might be wearing braidouts for the next 2 or 3 years until I trim these relaxed ends off.

And yes, I did have a co-worker tell me that I needed to get a retouch. But then she told me that I should go natural. But that I should go natural after I get it relaxed straight so she can see how long it is now. I laughed at her because that made absolutely no sense - like I would wait 8 months to get a retouch and then go natural.

 

[Lindy]

Wow!! Thanks for your input, ladies... I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with conflicting feelings about stretching the relaxers out longer...

I also like the little waves I have now when I wear my hair back, but like someone else said, I don't know how I would feel if ALL my hair was that texture...

I'd probably be feenin for straight hair, knowing me!!

Well, my appointment is Tuesday and now I'm starting to stress about the inevitable trim. It's been 4 months, so I know I need one, but I get SOOO nervous!! I think I actually hold my breath through the whole trim, while also praying that my stylist isn't in his scissor-happy mood!!

I'll be so glad when my hair is a couple of inches beyond bra-strap, so then I won't have to stress out so much about the trims...

 

[Boadicea]

I've waited 20 weeks between relaxer touch-ups plenty of times (since '96). I wore my hair in a ponytail or a bun. It was trying, though. I don't think I want to wait that long anymore. I'm thinking about every 3 months, now.

There may not be any real benefit in waiting an extra month. By the next month, you'll still have two textures anyway; just less of one and more of the other.