sareca
Well-Known Member
For those of you that don't know me, I've been a diehard Phyto fan for the last few years. When I was texlax'g once/year it wasn't a big deal to use this very expensive relaxer, but to get more consistent results I decided to start texlaxing every 3-4 months. Well that's about $280/yr after shipping and what not. 
So I've strayed from my beloved (and hoping I don't regret it) to Silk Elements Lye Regular.
So here's what I did. I didn't touch-up my whole head with SE. I had one box of Phyto left so I parted a 1-inch wide section of hair above the nap and applied the SE to the NG. I rinsed, conditioned, neutralized, conditioned then braided it, covered it in grease and put on a plastic baggy and proceed to do my regular touch-up with Phyto. So now I have my test section with SE and my regular Phyto on all my other NG.
I want to see how the SE hair wears over time. When I've had bad relaxers in the past I couldn't tell right away. It took about 2 months before it started to break off (if it was going to break off). My next touch-up is scheduled for June. If that hair is still healthy I'll use SE to do my entire touch-up. If it's lookin' bad I'll repeat the procedure I just did with another relaxer.
Right now all I can say is the SE hair does feel silkier and a bit more moist than my Phyto'd hair.
Oh and SE didn't burn me at all (which was why I moved from lye) but I think I want a little more curl left so I'll definitely be using mild instead of regular. I thought reg would be ok since I add keratin, silk and oil to my relaxers. I also heard that SE reverts a little more than other relaxers so I'm anticipating it will curl up more in the next few weeks.
I'll keep ya'll posted.
So I've strayed from my beloved (and hoping I don't regret it) to Silk Elements Lye Regular.So here's what I did. I didn't touch-up my whole head with SE. I had one box of Phyto left so I parted a 1-inch wide section of hair above the nap and applied the SE to the NG. I rinsed, conditioned, neutralized, conditioned then braided it, covered it in grease and put on a plastic baggy and proceed to do my regular touch-up with Phyto. So now I have my test section with SE and my regular Phyto on all my other NG.
I want to see how the SE hair wears over time. When I've had bad relaxers in the past I couldn't tell right away. It took about 2 months before it started to break off (if it was going to break off). My next touch-up is scheduled for June. If that hair is still healthy I'll use SE to do my entire touch-up. If it's lookin' bad I'll repeat the procedure I just did with another relaxer.
Right now all I can say is the SE hair does feel silkier and a bit more moist than my Phyto'd hair.
Oh and SE didn't burn me at all (which was why I moved from lye) but I think I want a little more curl left so I'll definitely be using mild instead of regular. I thought reg would be ok since I add keratin, silk and oil to my relaxers. I also heard that SE reverts a little more than other relaxers so I'm anticipating it will curl up more in the next few weeks.
I'll keep ya'll posted.
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I am still shocked you are no longer using phyto!
I'm definitely going with mild next time.
I guess it will tell you if the relaxer is going to melt your hair or something dramatic. I've always done strand tests and I know that even the ones that go perfectly smoothly can result in massive amounts of breakage later. I just don't trust 'em. 
it!!!! 
