Opinion: Relaxing Edges Only

[CenteredGirl]

Hello ladies,

As a longtime natural hair girl, I am REALLY getting sick of my edges reverting quickly. I live in a very humid part of the country. Have been considering relaxing them. Anybody do this? Do you recommend it? Pros and Cons?

I have 4BZto the Nth degree hair, but overall, I'd say I've got a bunch of different hair types, the kinky being predominate. Thanks!!!!

 

[bellebebe]

Do whatever works for you, mamita. Personally, I think edge relaxing is like a gateway drug. lol

 

[sb44]

I only relax my edges, have been doing it for years without a problem. My edges are the only part that get unruly, unless it's really humid and then my entire head frizzes up. When that happens, I just put some styling product in my hair and put it all in a bun.

 

[Foxglove]

I've never understood this. You'd have a straight halo and the rest of it curly

 

[BraunSugar]

Seems a little odd. Would you be relaxing it straight or texlaxing? It's nothing I could ever do because my edges are the most fragile parts of my head.

 

[greenandchic]

Foxglove - This is just a guess, but I think some people's purpose in relaxing just the edges is so that it can lay down without much kink and/or when its straightened, it would stay straight while sweating. If its the former, I think relaxing the edges creates a smooth effect around the hairline - sort of like how mine is naturally while my hair is curly...

Just a guess.

 

[LadyPBC]

Amazing how I was jsut thinking about doing this the other day but was concerned about my touch ups. i would probably texlax the front 1/2 inch of hair from temple to temple.

 

[manter26]

I'm not one to obsess over "laid edges." I think there's no point in having slick edges when the rest of my hair is nappy. I'd rather let it be.

Relaxing part of the hair only seems like a lot of extra upkeep IMO.

 

[Leslie_C]

I have a teenage cousin who is a lifelong natural and she has her edges relaxed every few months. She dances and is very active and wears her hair pressed most of the time so it keeps her edges straight (the part that would be the first to get sweated out). She wears her hair curly more in the summer and you cant really tell they are relaxed...but Ive only seen it pushed back with a headband or in a ponytail. I didnt used to think it did any damage, but this summer I noticed that they are a few inches long compared to the rest of her hair which is between APL and BSL.

 

[Lisa]

I'm not natural but I was wondering about this. I try to relax every 16 weeks but my edges need to be done more often (about every 8) so I'm glad to know this is not out of the norm (since naturals want their edges to be a little less curly).

 

[LadyPBC]

I have a teenage cousin who is a lifelong natural and she has her edges relaxed every few months. She dances and is very active and wears her hair pressed most of the time so it keeps her edges straight (the part that would be the first to get sweated out). She wears her hair curly more in the summer and you cant really tell they are relaxed...but Ive only seen it pushed back with a headband or in a ponytail. I didnt used to think it did any damage, but this summer I noticed that they are a few inches long compared to the rest of her hair which is between APL and BSL.

Leslie_C my edges are much shorter anyway and I'm completely natural.. I may look into this a little bit more.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[LadyPBC]

Hello ladies,

As a longtime natural hair girl, I am REALLY getting sick of my edges reverting quickly. I live in a very humid part of the country. Have been considering relaxing them. Anybody do this? Do you recommend it? Pros and Cons?

I have 4BZto the Nth degree hair, but overall, I'd say I've got a bunch of different hair types, the kinky being predominate. Thanks!!!!

CenteredGirl - 4BZ to the Nth degree describes my edges LMBO!

Sent from my iPad using LHCF

 

[ElegantExotic]

This is perfectly fine to do!

I used to apply a mild relaxer to my front edges and center part for about 5 minutes to blend my hair when I wore a full weave to transition to natural hair.

Then when I stopped wearing the weave several years ago, I still applied the same mild relaxer for five minutes to the front edges and middle part.

I wasn't trying to get it straight, just loosen the curls a tad bit and give my hairline a smoother appearance, and I was successful in doing this. I never had any breakage, issues, or anything.

FYI- I used Mizani Butter Blends Mild (lye version).

Later I fully texturized the whole head, and now I am transitioning out of that, but if need be, I would texturize the edges again if I felt I needed to, but now I have learned to manage it without the texturizer.

Also, my hairstylist recommends this, and does it for several of her clients who wear their hair natural and have frizzy edges.

 

[UGQueen]

I agree with above entirely. ^^

 

[TamedTresses]

I've never understood this. You'd have a straight halo and the rest of it curly

That's how the boys used to wear their afro puffs when I was in junior high to make their puffs appear larger. It was hilarious!

 

[suns4i6e]

Do whatever works for you, mamita. Personally, I think edge relaxing is like a gateway drug. lol

I tend to echo this sentiment in that hair grows, so in a few months one would have 'new growth' edges and straighter(er) hair behind it...which would lead to another mild edge touch up, and so on and so on. This is perfectly fine (do you boo) but understand in time it will lead to having a totally relaxed (texlaxed) head of hair.

 

[ItsMeFre]

I've never heard of this until this thread. My initial thought was, isn't it going to grow long and be completely straight in the front and on the sides and curly in the back? It seems cool and unnoticable while it's short, but won't it eventually grow long?

IDK, I guess it depends on how much of your edges you relax...like its gotta be just the baby hairs lol.

 

[CenteredGirl]

hmmm, I'm torn. The upkeep is a drawback, but as i do work out 5 days a week and sweat, I may just look in to the Mizani Butter Blend that MissBermuda used in the past. I have heard good thangs about that brand.

 

[Napp]

Ive been using bkts especially focused for my edges when i flat iron my hair. Now the most theyll do is wave up if they get damp from sweating or washing my face but i can esily brush them back and they look fine. I would relax them as an alternative but i would be scared of relaxer overlap and dont want to deal with edge regrowth.

 

[lux10023]

i use to do this but my edges grew out so quickly--i wasnt going to continue risking it with relaxing so freq..alsoooo it did look funy with relax hair then it started becoming pooofffyyy--it looked funnny--not sure how to explain it but it looked funny...

 

[Lynnerie]

Maybe you could heat-train your edges. I know when I was natural the front of my hair was straighter than the rest maybe it was due to heat or me always pulling it back.

Even now that I'm texlaxed I do not relax my edges.

I would just worry about them breaking off and being so thin compared to your natural hair but you have to do whats best for you.

 

[CenteredGirl]

Heat train and 4bz do not mix well. i wear a pony tail daily during my workouts.

 

[CenteredGirl]

Okay, reporting back. I went into my little arsenal of products and found something that works beautifully:

 

[karenjoe]

I only relax my edges, have been doing it for years without a problem. My edges are the only part that get unruly, unless it's really humid and then my entire head frizzes up. When that happens, I just put some styling product in my hair and put it all in a bun.

I use to do that
( i have naturally thin edges) in a spot by my temples( thanks Dad)

I realize now they look thicker a straight when I squirt Lotta body wrap & tap,
tie them up or use headband.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Women who do this, are you still considering yourself natural? Isn't it like you're transitioning? It just seems really strange to relax one part of the hair and not the other, in my opinion. Wouldn't you have to wear your hair in the same style all the time? I'm trying to understand why anyone would do this.

 

[greenandchic]

Okay, reporting back. I went into my little arsenal of products and found something that works beautifully:

@CenteredGir - If you're referring to slicking/straightening edges, Silk Elements Straight Edges Edging Gel works well. I rarely use it because it makes my edges TOO straight, but its good combined with blow outs.

 

[sckri23]

Women who do this, are you still considering yourself natural? Isn't it like you're transitioning? It just seems really strange to relax one part of the hair and not the other, in my opinion. Wouldn't you have to wear your hair in the same style all the time? I'm trying to understand why anyone would do this.

And wont it leave the front of your hair constantly straight during your journey

Sckri23 from my SCH-I500 using LHCF

 

[cherrynicole]

I did this for several years in high school. My edges are very nappy but the rest of my hair tends to be kind of wavy. My hair grew very long. BSL. It didnt look weird at all. I mainly wore my hair straightened. When I wore it natural during the summer and it looked great. I did experience some breakage around the edges though.

 

[CenteredGirl]

@CenteredGir - If you're referring to slicking/straightening edges, Silk Elements Straight Edges Edging Gel works well. I rarely use it because it makes my edges TOO straight, but its good combined with blow outs.

greenandchic, hmm, you sure this will make NAPPY hair "straight" your texture seems to be 3c ish. I used to run out and buy everything, now I realize it may not work that way on my type of hair.