Corrective Relaxer Help Needed

[ravenhairedcharm]

Hi all,

Please bear with me, this is a semi-long post. Yesterday I relaxed my virgin natural hair, but I was left with a lot more texture than I had originally desired.

Details: I relaxed with ORS Regular in no-lye and left it on for about 10 minutes on each section. I think I should have let it process for at least 15 minutes or a few minutes more, but once I saw it going straight I would rinse it out because I afraid to overprocess. I also did not smooth by parting small sections of each quadrant and smoothing individually (I suspect this is why I have so much texture left), instead I smoothed each of the four individual quadrants individually as a whole (does that make sense?)

Now I am left with a stretched out curl pattern with a lot of texture more texlaxed towards the straight side in the front (some parts are shiny) and puffy and texturized in the back (no shine). Additionally the right front quadrant did not process fully on the ends, it's curly. This was my fault as I didn't leave the relaxer on the ends long enough at all. erplexed My "relaxed" hair grows as it dries! It becomes big and puffy straightish, like a blowout, with a lot of volume.

I want to do a corrective relaxer in 2 weeks, and the reason why is because my hair as it is now it kind of hard to get through even when wet, very tangly, and the roller set I did afterwards was puffy-- not as smooth as I want it. I don't use heat at all, that includes the flatiron and blowdryer because I find those to be damaging on my hair and I won't resort to them to keep my hair straight. I am also not a weave/wig kind of girl so covering my hair up for 6 weeks won't work for me.

So now, part of my game plan is to do a light to medium protein treatment before attempting the corrective, then a week after the corrective doing a hard protein treatment like Aphogee. Am I on the right track?

Questions:
How long should I leave the relaxer on for this time around?
Should I still use ORS no-lye (regular) though for a shorter amount of time?
What should my smoothing process look like?

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[danysedai]

I'm sure others will chime in but
Can you wait a bit longer than 2 weeks?
I think doing protein treatments will help.
It's been a long time since I used ORS no lye relaxer, I switched to a lye relaxer about 5 years ago.
From what I read on the science of black hair book, the smoothing is what realigns the hair and helps with how straight it gets ( I will try to post an excerpt from that portion of the book but I'm at work. I separate my hair into 6 portions (2 in front, 2 in the middle, 2 in the back) apply relaxer to the border of the quadrant, then separate either vertically or horizontally, apply relaxer and smooth with my fingers or the back of a comb, but I find that I prefer my fingers. I would watch youtube videos to see what technique others use.

My hair is very resistant so I go against all advice and actually leave it longer than recommended, but I know my hair and if I leave it the recommended time I'm always underprocessed, so I can't advise you on that.

I did a small corrective last week but my hair is already relaxed, and what I did was I waited 9 weeks until my next relaxer, applied it to the NG and then at the last moment applied it to my already relaxed hair and quickly smoother it over then rinsed immediately, applied reconstructor, waited 5 minutes then neutralized.

There is not a lot of advice hare on corrective relaxers but do a search on them and you might find something that could help.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

I'm sure others will chime in but
Can you wait a bit longer than 2 weeks?
I think doing protein treatments will help.
It's been a long time since I used ORS no lye relaxer, I switched to a lye relaxer about 5 years ago.
From what I read on the science of black hair book, the smoothing is what realigns the hair and helps with how straight it gets ( I will try to post an excerpt from that portion of the book but I'm at work. I separate my hair into 6 portions (2 in front, 2 in the middle, 2 in the back) apply relaxer to the border of the quadrant, then separate either vertically or horizontally, apply relaxer and smooth with my fingers or the back of a comb, but I find that I prefer my fingers. I would watch youtube videos to see what technique others use.

My hair is very resistant so I go against all advice and actually leave it longer than recommended, but I know my hair and if I leave it the recommended time I'm always underprocessed, so I can't advise you on that.

I did a small corrective last week but my hair is already relaxed, and what I did was I waited 9 weeks until my next relaxer, applied it to the NG and then at the last moment applied it to my already relaxed hair and quickly smoother it over then rinsed immediately, applied reconstructor, waited 5 minutes then neutralized.

There is not a lot of advice hare on corrective relaxers but do a search on them and you might find something that could help.

danysedai

Thank you so much for responding! I guess I could wait longer, I just want it fixed so bad because it's a hassle to part through and style. I also didn't understand the actual process of waiting. I read a bunch of threads on correctives between last night and now and no one really explains why. I kind of understand for those with already relaxed hair, but my hair is pretty un-relaxed so I don't know if I am risking overprocessing or not.

( I will try to post an excerpt from that portion of the book but I'm at work

That would be great! I will try smoothing more next time, the honest reason why I didn't was because the relaxer made it impossible to part (my hair has some length to it APL to BSL), and I was working against the clock.

I did the mid-protein step as well yesterday when I relaxed. So I should focus on building up protein if I decide to wait longer?

I definitely don't think I have resistant hair. It got to what appeared straight after 10 minutes, but I didn't let it process fully and when I rinsed, I had a lot of texture. The next time around, I may re-apply it for 8 minutes or so...not sure yet.

 

[koolkittychick]

Hi ravenhairedcharm, I can give you a cliff's note explanation of why you should wait to do a corrective if you can. Even though your hair still has a lot of texture in appearance, chemically speaking, your hair is now relaxed, and is in a weakened state. As the other poster mentioned, relaxing is a two-step process: you apply the chemical relaxer to your hair to break the protein bonds inside it, then manipulate the hair by smoothing it to realign those bonds into a straighter pattern before applying a neutralizer to stop the breaking down process. In lay man's terms, you are partially dissolving your hair to gently pull it straight. That is why the timing and the smoothing are so important. Even though you still have texture, the strength and integrity of your hair has still been compromised. I would give it at least four weeks and two keratin protein treatments (like Aphogee) to rebuild the keratin structure in your hair before I would attempt a corrective. Also for next time, I would suggest you try to pre-part your hair as much as possible before you apply your relaxer so you can have more time to smooth it out once you get it on your hair.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

Hi ravenhairedcharm, I can give you a cliff's note explanation of why you should wait to do a corrective if you can. Even though your hair still has a lot of texture in appearance, chemically speaking, your hair is now relaxed, and is in a weakened state. As the other poster mentioned, relaxing is a two-step process: you apply the chemical relaxer to your hair to break the protein bonds inside it, then manipulate the hair by smoothing it to realign those bonds into a straighter pattern before applying a neutralizer to stop the breaking down process. In lay man's terms, you are partially dissolving your hair to gently pull it straight. That is why the timing and the smoothing are so important. Even though you still have texture, the strength and integrity of your hair has still been compromised. I would give it at least four weeks and two keratin protein treatments (like Aphogee) to rebuild the keratin structure in your hair before I would attempt a corrective. Also for next time, I would suggest you try to pre-part your hair as much as possible before you apply your relaxer so you can have more time to smooth it out once you get it on your hair.

koolkittychick

Finally, an explanation! I will wait 4 weeks rebuilding my hair and work with what I have for now. So you'd suggest I do the Aphogee 2 step twice? OR can I do the Aphogee 2 min once, and the Aphogee 2 step once before I do the corrective? I also have the ORS Hair Mayo.

 

[koolkittychick]

No problem my dear. Yes, I would suggest you do the Aphogee 2 step the first week, mayo the second week, Aphogee 2 min the third week, then mayo the week before (therefore alternating hard protein with a more moisturizing conditioner) so you have a good amount of moisture and protein built up in your hair.

Good luck, a let us know how it turns out.

 

[Evolving78]

i need to do the same as well. my hair sounds just like yours, but i am waiting until my next relaxer to do a corrective and i am switching back to lye. i have done one protein treatment so far. i will do another right before my touchup. i plan on using a reconstructor during this time as well. right now, all i do is wash/dc/detangle/air dry and bun.

 

[mshoneyfly]

ravenhairedcharm

Sorry to hear about your troubles. With so much length, you should consider relaxing one half of your head, protein, neutralize and then do the other half. Then apply the moisturizing dc to the entire head.

My hair is still short (sl) so I do my entire head all at once but I part my hair in four sections then about four smaller sections and twist each one. I I use Just For Me Texture Softener and 6 mins is the recommendation and just a few more mins for smoothing.

I agree that a 4 week wait is the minimum wait time for a corrective.

Also you could apply conditioner to your length and ends and pour about 4 ounces of oil to the relaxer to slow down the processing. Some people even put conditioner in their relaxer!!

ETA: Your hair should be smooth, conditioned, moisturized and free of tangles before you relax.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

i need to do the same as well. my hair sounds just like yours, but i am waiting until my next relaxer to do a corrective and i am switching back to lye. i have done one protein treatment so far. i will do another right before my touchup. i plan on using a reconstructor during this time as well. right now, all i do is wash/dc/detangle/air dry and bun.

shortdub78

My hair is going to bug me so much until I can fix it. I hope I can manage.

ravenhairedcharm

Sorry to hear about your troubles. With so much length, you should consider relaxing one half of your head, protein, neutralize and then do the other half. Then apply the moisturizing dc to the entire head.

My hair is still short (sl) so I do my entire head all at once but I part my hair in four sections then about four smaller sections and twist each one. I I use Just For Me Texture Softener and 6 mins is the recommendation and just a few more mins for smoothing.

I agree that a 4 week wait is the minimum wait time for a corrective.

Also you could apply conditioner to your length and ends and pour about 4 ounces of oil to the relaxer to slow down the processing. Some people even put conditioner in their relaxer!!

ETA: Your hair should be smooth, conditioned, moisturized and free of tangles before you relax.

mshoneyfly

Thanks so much for your advice, I plan on doing the half and half method this time I'm so nervous, I want straight hair with a bit of texture, but not overprocessed so I may apply Roux Porosity Control through my hair first.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

:update:

koolkittychick shortdub78

I feel obligated to update this thread since there might be others who need a little info on correctives.

2 weeks following my first relaxer, I did a "corrective relaxer". (Against some of the better advice I was given :whipped To prep, the first week after my relaxer I used ORS Hair mayo. Then the following week before I relaxed, I used the aphogee 2 step treatment. During the week I added oils lightly to my hair.

When I finally went to relax I did the half and half method (parted forehead to nape). Then I applied the ORS no-lye relaxer all over for no longer than 10 minutes, smoothed more thoroughly and rinsed. The ends that were curly in the front are still a little curly but not as much as before. In fact I still have a texlaxed look to my hair overall. I don't think it's possible to get hair fully straight after underprocessing (at least not with no-lye and no professional help), but I'm happy that it's not anywhere near bone straight anyway. My hair is easy to comb through, part and style -that's what I wanted. In 1-2 weeks, I will do the aphogee 2 step again, and repeat it again in another 4-6 weeks. Anyway, I had no breakage and still have no breakage, my hair lays down a bit more, and my roller set looks nice and full. I must add I don't flat iron my hair..ever. That will be a treat for me when I reach waist length!

S/N: Even after my corrective my hair is still thick and I love it. I always thought that relaxing my hair would give me thin hair, but my hair is thicker than it was when it was natural. This is because my natural hair was easily matted and didn't show its true volume. When I relaxed it the strands didn't stick to each other as much and I have more volume. I have a more lengthy and voluminous hair than I had when it was natural. I guess this is just specific to my own particular hair type, because I never knew I had this much hair.

My hair now is in my avatar. It's been a long time coming

 

[koolkittychick]

I'm so happy that it went so well for you! Sounds like you did everything right, and your hair is very happy for it. Sometimes bone straight is not the goal, but rather, full healthy hair, and it sounds like you got just that. I have decided to stretch until the end of August, so hopefully my results will be as good as yours when I finally retouch.

 

[ravenhairedcharm]

koolkittychick

Wishing you the best of luck!