Thursday was relaxer day. Yay! I relaxed one day shy of 14 weeks post and I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil No-lye Relaxer Regular Strength Formula. Here's what my friend did (under my close almost dictatorial supervision).
Step 1: Protection
My best friend Sabrina started off by parting my hair in four sections. She then parted those sections in smaller ones and based my scalp with ORS Olive Oil Scalp Protector. She protected my ears nape and edges with Vaseline. I decided I wasn't going to relax my napes because not only are they very fine, they also grow at a slow rate. I barely had any new growth there so I had my friend cornrow that section of my hair and apply Vaseline to it. She then proceeded to protect my already relaxed ends with Roux Porosity Control Conditioner and some CHI Silk Infusion on top of it. She then clipped each section up.
I rinsed out the relaxer for about 2 minutes. Before neutralizing I did a mid-step protein treatment with Joico K-PAK Revitaluxe Bio-Advanced Restorative Treatment (whew, that's a mouthful!). I received a sample when I bought my Joico Moisture Recovery Shampoo & Conditioner and I had been saving it for that purpose. I made sure I got all of my newly relaxed hair covered with it, then got some on my ends, put a shower cap on and rinsed it out after 5 minutes. I started neutralizing with Isoplus Neutralizing Shampoo and not the one that came in the box because of the color alarm in the Isoplus Shampoo. I then switched to the ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo that came with relaxer because it neutralizes AND chelates (removes calcium deposits left on the hair by the relaxer). I applied Roux Porosity Control for about 2 minutes and neutralized again. I neutralized about 10 times and left the shampoo on for about 15 minutes the last time. I stopped when the Isoplus Shampoo stopped being pink. By that time my hair was feeling soo stripped! Quite an unpleasant feeling.
Step 1: Protection
My best friend Sabrina started off by parting my hair in four sections. She then parted those sections in smaller ones and based my scalp with ORS Olive Oil Scalp Protector. She protected my ears nape and edges with Vaseline. I decided I wasn't going to relax my napes because not only are they very fine, they also grow at a slow rate. I barely had any new growth there so I had my friend cornrow that section of my hair and apply Vaseline to it. She then proceeded to protect my already relaxed ends with Roux Porosity Control Conditioner and some CHI Silk Infusion on top of it. She then clipped each section up.Step 2: Relaxing
If you've read my last few posts than you know I decided to transition to texlaxing. In order to do that I added about 1/4 of a cup of olive oil into the relaxer to dilute it. My friend parted my hair in small sections and applied the relaxer to my new growth only with a tint brush. She then proceeded to smooth my hair. Since it was my first time texlaxing I didn't really know how long to leave it on and I was terrified I was going to over-process my hair. I didn't. We ended up rinsing it out after 23 minutes. I took over from there.
Step 3: Neutralizing
I rinsed out the relaxer for about 2 minutes. Before neutralizing I did a mid-step protein treatment with Joico K-PAK Revitaluxe Bio-Advanced Restorative Treatment (whew, that's a mouthful!). I received a sample when I bought my Joico Moisture Recovery Shampoo & Conditioner and I had been saving it for that purpose. I made sure I got all of my newly relaxed hair covered with it, then got some on my ends, put a shower cap on and rinsed it out after 5 minutes. I started neutralizing with Isoplus Neutralizing Shampoo and not the one that came in the box because of the color alarm in the Isoplus Shampoo. I then switched to the ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo that came with relaxer because it neutralizes AND chelates (removes calcium deposits left on the hair by the relaxer). I applied Roux Porosity Control for about 2 minutes and neutralized again. I neutralized about 10 times and left the shampoo on for about 15 minutes the last time. I stopped when the Isoplus Shampoo stopped being pink. By that time my hair was feeling soo stripped! Quite an unpleasant feeling.Step 4: Deep Conditioning
I chose to deep condition with a mix of L'Oreal Absolut Repair Cellular Mask (for ceramides) and ORS Replenishing Conditioner (for proteins). I left the mixture on for 7 seven hours while I did things around the house, wrote my history mid-term paper and took a nap. I didn't plan to deep condition for that long, it just happened. I detangled my hair and rinsed out the conditioner. By then, my texlaxed curls were looking nice.
Step 5: Styling
I gently patted my hair with a towel to remove excess water and applied my leave-ins. I sprayed my hair with Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Reconstructurizer, mixed my HE leave-in with my Giovanni and massaged it through my hair, concentrating on my ends. I finally added my CHI Silk Infusion and a little bit of Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum (not pictured). I tied the front of my hair with a scarf and left my hair to air dry overnight. The morning after, I sprayed on some Tresemme Heat Tamer Spray (not pictured) and flat ironed on a low setting.
The Verdict: So far my hair feels smooth but also really strong, probably from the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment I did last week. I got my hair texlaxed and not relaxed bone straight, as I wished. However, I think I might leave the relaxer on for 3-5 minutes longer to get a looser curl pattern next time. I'll see how my hair looks and feels after a couple of washes before I decide. As for growth, I definitely see some, even if I cut some off some of my damaged ends recently. Unfortunately, my friend didn't have time to take some shots of my hair, but I'll try to do it myself on my next wash day. Can I just say how much I love that my hair looks thicker? I love it!
