So relaxer day has come and gone I touched
up at exactly 22 weeks post yesterday (Sunday). I intentionally texlaxed this time I say
intentionally because I have accidentally texlaxed in the past only then I was not aware there
was a name for it I always thought my hair did not “take well”. For those who
don’t know texlaxing is when you intentionally under process your hair during
the relaxing process to leave it with some texture as opposed to relaxing bone
straight. This can be achieved by cutting the recommended relaxing time by half
or adding oils and conditioners to the relaxer to slow down the process. I
added about a tablespoon of olive oil to achieve this but I think I washed out
a little bit too early, next time I will keep the relaxer in for maybe three
more minutes, go back to relaxing from the back and add some more oil to achieve the texlaxed texture that I want.
My very first perm when I was around 19
going on 20 was done using Dark and Lovely and it is what I have mostly used
ever since. I tried other boxed relaxers every once in a while but Dark and Lovely
was always my number one choice. About 3 years ago my hairdresser cousin used
TCB no base lye relaxer on my hair and I temporarily switched to lye relaxers
until I realised that they were very harsh on my scalp I would start feeling
the tingling sensation within five minutes of application, so I switched back
permanently to no lye aka boxed relaxers which are much more gentle on my
scalp. I decided to make a switch to ORS Olive Oil Relaxer in normal strength
for a change this time round, it was my very first time using it and I will
definitely be using it again.
 |
| The contents of the box; the plastic bag contains gloves which even though they fit I found to be a bit tight at the wrist. I have latex gloves as well which is what I would normally use but I couldn't be asked to take these off once I had put them on. That's the wooden mixing stick next to the gloves. |
Now a word of advice and this only applies
to people who don’t live alone, share bathrooms with other people in their
house and apply relaxer in a different part of the house other than the
bathroom. Make sure the bathroom you intend to use for rinsing is vacant if it
means giving the other bathroom sharers a heads up please do simply because
when relaxer needs to be rinsed out it NEEDS to be rinsed out there are no two
ways about it. Having the kitchen sink empty on standby is also a good idea.
 |
| Deep Conditioners used |
These were the steps I followed;
1.
Lightly combed my hair using a
wide toothed comb just to make sure there were no tangles or anything. Based my
entire scalp, ears, forehead and neck with petroleum jelly aka Vaseline; I
don’t take any chances:)
2.
Sectioned my hair into four
parts; made a part right down the middle and another part from ear to ear
creating four parts. I then coated the relaxed part of my hair with a wheat
germ oil based product that is compounded with petroleum jelly this step for me
especially is very important because overlapping is inevitable in my case. Well
more like I end up touching parts of my previously relaxed hair with relaxer
because I use my fingers for application and smoothing.
3.
Mixed in the relaxer this
consisted of pouring in the activator into the relaxer I mixed for about two
minutes and added a tablespoon of olive oil to slow down the process.
4.
Wearing gloves, I started the
application process from the front this time round. I noticed that the top of
my head/crown area took to the relaxer very quickly and by the time I was
starting on the back I could see it straightening rapidly this was one of the
reasons I ended up washing out too soon since I didn’t want it to be bone
straight. Next time I will go back to starting from the back; it takes longer
to process. I am fine haired so I always take to the relaxer very quickly but I
had never really paid attention to the front and back processing times before
now. It took me 10 minutes to apply and lightly smooth using my fingers. I had
started off with the backbone bit of a tail comb (when you hold the comb upside down don’t know what that part is called)
which is how I used to relax years back but by the third line I changed to
my fingers it is much faster for me.
5.
Rinsed out and neutralized using
the ORS creamy aloe shampoo sachet that came with the kit I had my full size
bottle to hand just in case but did not need it in the end. I must have spent a
good 20 minutes rinsing out the relaxer
6.
I deep conditioned with a
mixture of ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Pak, ORS Hair Mayonnaise, one tablespoon oilve oil and Natural Classic Henna Treatment Wax for an
hour. I sprayed my hair with AVJ before deep conditioning and DC’ed on top of
that. I covered my hair with cling film/saran wrap and then covered that with a
shower cap. I tried steaming using towel heat for about five minutes but gave
up when the towel cooled down; wringing a hot towel is not my idea of fun.
Towel heat is when you dip a towel in hot water wring it and then cover your
hair with it, apparently the towel can be microwaved as well but I was not
about to try that I get this feeling it will burn or something. I have unintentionally
set fire to things in the microwave before so this fear is justified:)
A few years back during lunch at work I bought a slice of pizza from a
restaurant next door that had a take away/out section, brought it back into the
staff kitchen and popped it into the microwave to heat up, what I didn’t know
was that the brown paper bag it was wrapped in contained an inner aluminium foil
lining; the bag was quite thick almost like a padded envelope it never crossed
my mind to peep inside I just popped it into the microwave…that is how I almost
burnt down the staff kitchen!
7.
Rinsed out the DC, t-shirt
dried, sprayed AVJ as a leave in conditioner, applied castor oil to my scalp and
finally moisturized with a mixture of the ORS Olive Oil Hair Moisturizing Lotion
that came in the kit and coconut oil. I make it a point to try and use the other
products that come in the kit when relaxing I didn't use the wrap set mousse though. This hair lotion is a bit too
thick for my liking but it did the job and the quantity is not that much
especially if you are full shoulder head and beyond. I then had it roller set,
dried under a hooded dryer and then wrapped. Forgot to mention I have been
t-shirt drying for a while now and I can feel the difference; it soaks up the
water a lot quicker and doesn’t snag hair.
8.
I plan to do a henna treatment
for strength followed by a co wash in a week’s time and then continue with my
usual regimen.
This is where I was in December last year
this photo was taken on Christmas Eve. To read the story behind the trim please
see my hair story page.
 |
| Starting photo freshly washed and blow dried that I submitted for the L4LPSC taken December 24th 2012. I was partially accidentally texlaxed here and was about 7 weeks post relaxer. |
This is where I am now almost 3 months and 3 weeks later.
 |
| Good retention! |
I tried my best to straighten the ends using a blow dryer for the length check but they just wouldn’t co-operate. So
this is the best I can offer since I do not currently flat iron and didn’t want to put too much heat on my ends just yet but you can see the difference. I
am quite happy with my length retention and hope to retain even more in the
coming months.
THE VOTING LINK IS NOW UP PLEASE GO HERE TO VOTE FOR ME. THANK YOU!
Links: L4LPSC 2nd Check In
DC:
Deep condition
ORS:
Organic Root Stimulator
