Is it possible. . .

Belle Du Jour

Belle Du Jour

Well-Known Member
That a person might grow better with relaxed hair than natural hair?

I know that relaxing breaks down the bonds of the hair, etc. But for hair that is prone to tangling, knotting on the ends and splitting (like mine), I've been thinking that maybe I would retain more of my hair and be able to care for the ends better if I was relaxed. What do you guys think? TIA.
 
ive tried both and IMO my hair strived better when natural than when relaxed so im going back to natural. I mean, when my hair was natural, i didnt have any problems with it and i had the 2nd longest hair in my area. my relaxed hair just looked jacked up and thin.
 
Dolapo said:
ive tried both and IMO my hair strived better when natural than when relaxed so im going back to natural. I mean, when my hair was natural, i didnt have any problems with it and i had the 2nd longest hair in my area. my relaxed hair just looked jacked up and thin.
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Thanks Dolapo.

The thing is, I never tried to grow my hair when it was relaxed. I kept cutting it short. Now, that I'm trying to grow it, and it's natural, it should be at its healthiest, but it's not making ANY progress.
 
Just like dolapo my hair faired better when it was natural. In 18 yrs. of being natural, I never experienced the problems that I have in the 5 yrs. I've spent being relaxed. If you find out what your hair likes and have a good regimen with good products, you may be successful with a relaxer. It's just that in my experience I had better results being chemical-free. Hope this helps. :)
 
classimami713 said:
Not really! I want results! :lol:
Click to expand...
well... it depends... several factors play a role in hair growth:
*genetics
*how you take care of your hair (whether relaxed or natural)
*what you eat & how you take care of your body
...and I'm sure there's more!

So if your hair grows better with relaxers, go for it! If not, don't!

HTH!:)
 
The only time my relaxed hair was healthy was when I could afford to go to a salon every couple of weeks. With this particular stylist my hair was thriving. When I started to do box relaxers with fewer visits to the salon I always had problems. When I was in grad school I went to a salon from time to time and had them relax my hair I had nothing but shedding and breakage. Since then I decided to grow out my relaxer and stop using the flat iron, etc. And my hair is becoming healthier. I haven't cut out all the relaxer but I have less shedding no breakage.

So, for me I have found that relaxers give me nothing but breakage and split ends so any growth is cut off. Since I've been transitioning my hair is much healthier and I'm not forced to trim my hair as often thus keeping length.

Good luck with you decision
 
I think either way it depends on how you take care of your ends. I don't think it would be more or less. It theoretically should be about the same. I was able to retain my relaxed ends (before I moved to an area with awful water). I'm doing fine retaining my ends as a natural as well which I was as much in the beginning but since I've gotten the products that work best for my ends, I retain a lot of growth and don't have to trim as often. It just depends on the look you are going for. :)
 
nurseN98 said:
I think either way it depends on how you take care of your ends. I don't think it would be more or less. It theoretically should be about the same. I was able to retain my relaxed ends (before I moved to an area with awful water). I'm doing fine retaining my ends as a natural as well which I was as much in the beginning but since I've gotten the products that work best for my ends, I retain a lot of growth and don't have to trim as often. It just depends on the look you are going for. :)
Click to expand...

I agree. Your hair should grow the same rate whether relaxed or natural and how long it gets will depend on how well you can RETAIN your length. That is, *growth rate* remains the same and is constant regardless of what you do to your hair but *length retention* is something else and some folks may have better results caring for and retaining natural hair and some may actually do better retaining lenght with relaxed hair.

I have been pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) during last year or so since I've eliminated heat entirely from my regimen and my relaxed 4b hair has NEVA, I say NEVA been this healthy and is actually growing like weeds. I do other good things too, but I think the single most important reason for my relaxed hair to finally grow beyond shoulder length is because there's no heat in the mix . . . HTH
 
As long as you dont over process your hair or damage your scalp you should be ok. You just need to maintain the moisture level and make sure you have enough protein w/o over doing it. (Definitely get BBD stretch if you go this route.) Growth should be the same but it may appear to grow faster since it will be straight and you can see the actual length. Be careful of your nape area, I didnt realize it at the time but mine never grew, now its longer than ever. I know some women dont relax their nape if its much finer. Make sure you keep your ends protected. My natural hair doesnt knot as bad doing wash n goes. When I try to keep it in a fro thats when I have problems.

Good luck whatever you decide!!!
 
I totally agree with nurse, neroli and Enchantmt it all boils down to how well you take care of your hair. But I understand you dilemma. I'm considering a relaxer in dec if I meet my goal. But I'm making sure that my hair will be healthy as possible first.
 
Do what makes you happy. Just make sure you know what you really want from your hair before you make that decision.
 
My hair grows better natural. For one, relaxers hurt my scalp and I know that scalp burns can't be good for growth. Two, my relaxed ends always look thin and pathetic which means more trimming. I think relaxers make the ends weaker.
 
ChocoKitty said:
But I understand you dilemma. I'm considering a relaxer in dec if I meet my goal. But I'm making sure that my hair will be healthy as possible first.
Click to expand...

I love your curly pics!!!
 
You need to take time for your hair, you don't say what you use on your hair like
Shampoo? How often?
Conditioner? How often?
Deep-Conditioner? How often?
How Often do you Trim ends?
 
Neroli said:
I agree. Your hair should grow the same rate whether relaxed or natural and how long it gets will depend on how well you can RETAIN your length. That is, *growth rate* remains the same and is constant regardless of what you do to your hair but *length retention* is something else and some folks may have better results caring for and retaining natural hair and some may actually do better retaining lenght with relaxed hair.

I have been pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) during last year or so since I've eliminated heat entirely from my regimen and my relaxed 4b hair has NEVA, I say NEVA been this healthy and is actually growing like weeds. I do other good things too, but I think the single most important reason for my relaxed hair to finally grow beyond shoulder length is because there's no heat in the mix . . . HTH
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
Do you want to relax no matter what or do you want to relax if your natural hair doesn't show any progress? If it's the latter, please share what you do to your hair.

How often do you deep condition?
How often do you trim?
Are you using to many harsh protein causing your hair to become brittle and break off?
How are you handling your hair when combing
How often do you comb?
Is your hair colored?
How often do you use heat and what kind?
Do you have really hard water,if so would you be willing to get a shower filter?
Are you using pore-clogging pomades or oils?
 
My hair was much better when it was in its natural state. When I got a texturizer I started experiencing so much breakage and split ends that I wanted to cry. Each time I went to the salon, she had to cut. My hair has never been this short. Never. I am in the process of transitioning right now. 14wks post. WOO-WOO
 
ChocoKitty said:
I totally agree with nurse, neroli and Enchantmt it all boils down to how well you take care of your hair. But I understand you dilemma. I'm considering a relaxer in dec if I meet my goal. But I'm making sure that my hair will be healthy as possible first.
Click to expand...


11 years natural is a long time....

i hope u consider to stay natural...

but its ur decision...

but to answer the topic...my hair doesnt need trimming near as much as when i had a relaxer..it grew then but i had to keep trimming cuz of split ends...i didnt know how to take care of my hair back then and definitely wasn't into hair as much as i am now...but i wouldnt chance it with my hair with gettin a relaxer...one thing with natural hair...sometimes if not most times its gonna be shrunken or clumped together to some degree....but i wouldnt loose my natural hair for a relaxer...i juss wouldnt want to start over again if i wanted to switch back to natural...a relaxer is too permanent...
 
I was natural for 22 years. I got a texturizer in 2003. When my hair was natural it grew really well, but I kept my hair pressed. My natural hair never grew past bra strap. Now with my texturized hair its almost at my waist. Of course my pressed hair was a lot easier to take care of than my texturized hair, but my texurized hair is healthier because I only use heat maybe once a year. Also when my hair was natural I would get a lot of hair out in my comb. Now I barely get breakage. I am very happy that I texturized my hair.
 
hairmaster said:
You need to take time for your hair, you don't say what you use on your hair like
Shampoo? How often?
Conditioner? How often?
Deep-Conditioner? How often?
How Often do you Trim ends?
Click to expand...

I proimise you all that I take excellent care of my hair, but you would never know it. . .I've come to the realization that my growth rate is slow. But I should be retaining more than I am. To answer your questions:

-I don't shampoo.
-I cw daily but am going to do it every other days to give my growth products time to work.
-I deep condition EVERY WEEK.
-I dust my ends frequently. (at least once a week since my hair is prone to splitting)
 
Kikootie said:
My hair was much better when it was in its natural state. When I got a texturizer I started experiencing so much breakage and split ends that I wanted to cry. Each time I went to the salon, she had to cut. My hair has never been this short. Never. I am in the process of transitioning right now. 14wks post. WOO-WOO
Click to expand...

I know that when I first went natural, I though my hair would be down to my back in 3 years. It's embarrasing, but I'm pretty much at the same length that I started with. :ohwell:
 
It's just frustrating when I see people who could care less about haircare grow their hair faster. I've seen people BC to a shorter length than I started with pass my hair in terms of length! Maybe I should just do "whatever" to my hair, and then it will pick up.

Okay. I'm going to stop whining now!
 
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