How I Relax My Hair

Hi friends!

The decision to relax my hair myself was quite daunting.  But after I had two bad experiences with new stylists, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  Before I took the plunge, I practiced the application process with conditioner, and used a timer to ensure I got even results.  I do not relax my hair bone straight, so my hair is wavy when wet and highly textured.  To get my desired results, the application process is between 18-20 minutes from start until I rinse.

Please note - I do not add any oils or conditioner to my relaxer.  To get the texlaxed results, I simply omit the "smoothing" and I do not let the relaxer "sit" on my hair.  

I relax my hair in two sections - the back half and the front half (instead of applying the relaxer to my entire head).  The half/half method allows me to get even results, without over processing one part of my hair.  I start by applying the relaxer to the back half only, then I rinse, reconstruct, neutralize, and condition.  I leave in the conditioner, cover the back half, and then repeat the process to the front half of my hair.      

In these two videos*, I demonstrate how I prep my hair to be relaxed and how I apply the relaxer.    For safety reasons, I used conditioner to demonstrate how I apply my relaxer.

I hope this is helpful.

(*The videos were recorded two weeks before I did my relaxer.)