NATURALAXER........Have you tried it?

[Honeykiss1974]

Has anyone ever heard or used this product called NATURALAXER? http://www.curlrelaxer.com I was reading through their website and aparently, it is suposed to be a hair "relaxer" without using chemicals (like conventional lye and no-lye relaxers) or without it being REALLY acidic (like Rio ). I believe my hair is not as thick as it once was (back when I just pressed it) so I do want to quit using relaxers.

Here's the skinny......

I am wanting to switch from a mild relaxer to a press n curl and keep my length (my hair is below my shoulders).
However, I keep hearing conflicting stories. Some folks say that I will have to cut off the relaxed hair off entirely, while some folks have told me that I can just press the new growth so that I can keep the length.

Anyway, as you can see I'm having hair issues!

[1savvydiva]

Hey HK1974,
I am having some hair 'issues' too. My relaxer's have not taken in at least 5 months, I have just started to grow my hair out from a mega-short cut and now that it is growing, I can't do anything with it, so I wear head wraps everyday. I am trying to wait until this Depo gets out of my system before I do something drastic, I kind of wanted to go natural...like twists or something, but I don't know! I want to get a GOOD relaxer because the length is cute, you know the cut with the flips in the back, or all over...it's at that length. I don't know what the hell I should do!

[oneinamillion]

I went with my husband to the barbershop last week and I noticed that this lady was getting her hair press. Her hair looked very thick and healthy. I've been hearing that pressing is actually better than perms and that your hair grows faster with simply using a hot comb.
I know using a hot comb may be considered old fashion to some of us but is this true..........that pressing is good for our hair.
I usually get my hair perm but if pressing is better I'm willing to give it a try.

[hipshimmy]

FINALLY!
I was wondering if I was the only person who knew about this product. So far I don't know anyone who has tried it. I believe the product might give people Rio flashbacks. It looks good, but looks can be decieving. Also, the page has a picture of celebrities that give testimonials for it. I have never seen the informercial for it. I am going to wait until I start hearing more buzz about it. Better safe than sorry.

[Ideal08]

People really hate to hear this, but I'll share anyway. 1savvydiva, there is NO such thing as a GOOD relaxer. No relaxer is good for your hair. It will never be as healthy as your natural hair.

HK1974, I have a friend who is pressing her new growth without cutting out her relaxer, and it's working for her, she has no complaints.

Yall know I am an advocate of going natural. 1savvydiva, do it, girl!!! You will be so much happier, I promise! And you will have more time on your hands in the morning, no excuse not to exercise, and you will save a GRIP of money on hair maintenance!!! And I still wear my headwraps, too!

Just my .08!

[1savvydiva]

Okay, maybe it's just me, but I visited the site and the only difference I see in pic #1 and pic #2 is that she has on lipstick and is smiling, they try to make it seem like the curls are oh so much more manageable and tamed!

Ideal I had to edit my post, when I came through earlier, I didn't read your post. THANK YOU!!! I need some advocates for the natural hair thing...a lot of the people I talk to are like 'yeah okay right!' But since my hair is so damaged now, I don't know how I where I should start. I guess I just need to get a consultation with a professional!

ANYBODY know a good stylist in the Columbia area? One who will not book 50million people for the same 9am appt. One who will not charge you something different when you come get the SAME style every week . One who will not call you at the shop at 10 and say she's on the way when your appt was at 9 (Or better yet, not call so you must get someone else in the shop to do your hair)...Trust me these are TRUE beauty shop of horror stories! HELLLPPPP

[AKA_Monet]

Soror Ideal--

There is no such thing as a good relaxer.

Also, Johnson and Johnson are working on various products related to hair care... Many "other" folks are learning how to use the kinds of materials we have been using forever--including pressing hair... Something about the intrigue of manipulating many products to make us believe some imagined beauty... I dunno.

But they haven't counted on my ideas... They have completely ignored "hair biology and genetics"... Oh well...

[neicy81]

My question to everyone here is why do you feel you NEED a relaxer?Is vanity worth putting burning chemicals next to your brain, and losing tons of hair?

[Honeykiss1974]

I like wearing my hair straightened. I could wear it naturally curly and did during up until high school, but I now like it straightened.

From what I've read about it, naturalaxer is not a relaxer, but since I don't know anyone that has tried it, I'm not sure.

[yasava]

Originally posted by neicy81
My question to everyone here is why do you feel you NEED a relaxer?Is vanity worth putting burning chemicals next to your brain, and losing tons of hair?

The other day, I went to the beauty shop to have the front of my braids re-done. There was a lady there hoping that my stylist could squeeze her in because hers stood her up. All she wanted was a wrap, so the stylist worked her in. Anyway, as the stylist was wrapping her hair, it was a shame. Hair was shedding from her head so bad, the wrap would not lay down, and her hair looked mushy. I thought that the stylist hadn't washed all the curls out of her head (the lady had a straw set) I was shocked at the amount of hair she lost. It was almost as much hair that comes out when you take down braids. The lady said that her hair had been shedding like that for over a week! She had just had a relaxer two weeks ago. The stylist told her that she would have to get a haircut and that her hair was too weak to wear braids to grow it out. IMO,At the rate she was losing hair, she'd be bald in a month. This lady was almost in tears...watching her just reaffirmed my decision to grow out this relaxer and go natural.

IMO, Black women feel they need a relaxer because it's been drilled into our heads for so long that natural hair is nappy, it's not beautiful, it can't be controlled, it's hard to maintain. We go through great lengths to straighten hair that was not meant to be straightened because of what society thinks beautiful; "good hair" is, and then some of us don't know how to take care of it. We go and color it and relax it (a double whammy) without thinking about the consequences.

I had a relaxer since I was 11 and a year later, hair that had been past my shoulders was barely scaping my neck. I've been trying to get it back to that length ever since (I fell into a cycle of it growing down then breaking off) and it just dawned on me that having this relaxer causes me more trouble than it's worth. Like, I didn't want to wear hats and mess up my hair, I screamed and cursed Mother nature every time I left the shop and the wind was blowing, working out regularly was nonexistent (I'd sweat my 'do out, can't have that), swimming preparation was a chore (a scarf, shower cap, two swimming caps, and it still got wet ), if I got caught in the rain, it was over, and on top of that, I started having a hard time keeping up a style when I didn't have to worry about the other factors. I'd had enough and I don't care if people think my hair is nappy, I'll be free.

For those with relaxed hair, keep on doing what you're doing if you're comfortable. Just remember that it requires a lot of maintenance on your part and on your stylist. Make sure he/she isn't overprocessing you (combing the relaxer all the way through at touch-up or retouch time), washing it out completely, and using neutralizing shampoo when it's rinsed out. That's just a few things I've learned b/c some stylist just don't know any better, and I don't even want to go down the road of trifling stylists here, that's a different thread.

[nikki1920]

Originally posted by neicy81
My question to everyone here is why do you feel you NEED a relaxer?Is vanity worth putting burning chemicals next to your brain, and losing tons of hair?

I dont think most of us feel like we NEED a relaxer. But I can only speak for myself. I choose to get my hair relaxed b/c its easier FOR ME to maintain and I LIKE it this way. I am cute perm or no perm. BUT, on the other hand, I have a friend who has to relax her hair b/c it is too thick for her to manage naturally. That is just HER situation though. I love my sistahs regardless of what their hair looks like, just wash it and take care of it.

If you maintain your hair and have a good relationship with your hair stylist, you can keep hair loss to a minimum. I do like to give my hair a break and put it up in braids every few months.

Different strokes for different folks!

[Steeltrap]

I've been natural (as a teenager), short press and curled (as a 20something) and relaxed (from 1994 on, shortly before I turned 30). I don't mind the high maintenance, because my biological sister is a stylist and she always makes sure I'm well-conditioned.

I also color my hair. Right now, I'm caramel brown.

Frankly, I think it's a personal choice whether you relax your hair or not. There are those who attach political or other meanings to it, but that's not my thing. My political concerns have to do with 70 percent of our kids being born out of wedlock and the educational gap between black men and women, but that's a whole another thread.

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by Steeltrap

Frankly, I think it's a personal choice whether you relax your hair or not. There are those who attach political or other meanings to it, but that's not my thing. My political concerns have to do with 70 percent of our kids being born out of wedlock and the educational gap between black men and women, but that's a whole another thread.

I'm with you on this. I have also had my hair in all different sorts of ways. I have had relaxers that looked great, relaxers that damaged my hair, natural, braids and EVEN (when I was 7 and had no control over it) a jerry curl.

Hair is just hair. An ornament. I like it all different kinds of ways but it's easiest for me in braids, so that's what I have (2 years now, changing styles periodically).

To my natural sistas, I am really happy that you found a hairstyle you like, but remember that not everyone is the same. We ALL need to respect one another's choices, and not judge our sistas who have a different hair path.

[Krisco]

I think wearing a relaxer is perfectly fine if you also can be honest with yourself. As a person who relaxed her hair for 11 years out of 27 I finally know what being honest with yourself really is. WE don't like the way our hair "is" as a people. Nappy equates ugly, or else there would be no fixation for need for a relaxer(straight hair). I personally don't feel this way anymore, nor do I think natural hair is simply a hairstyle. If all nappy or tightly-coiled haired people actually thought that the way their hair grows out of their scalps NEEDS no alteration, then yeah the ways in which we wear our hair could be considered a 'style'. I am not in the business of telling people how they should wear their hair nor in which way they should think. Its all a matter of coming into various stages in life, some may get to this point of freedom, some won't. There are so many levels and facets of freedom, from releasing embedded hatred of our hair to beliefs in GOD to eating habits, there are many levels I am sure I will never see nor fully appreciate. I think if what you do makes YOU happy and once you actually view another's opinion in a non-defensive light, and you still feel the way you feel go for what you know girls!

[AKA_Monet]

Originally posted by Krisco
I think wearing a relaxer is perfectly fine if you also can be honest with yourself. As a person who relaxed her hair for 11 years out of 27 I finally know what being honest with yourself really is. WE don't like the way our hair "is" as a people. Nappy equates ugly, or else there would be no fixation for need for a relaxer(straight hair). I personally don't feel this way anymore, nor do I think natural hair is simply a hairstyle. If all nappy or tightly-coiled haired people actually thought that the way their hair grows out of their scalps NEEDS no alteration, then yeah the ways in which we wear our hair could be considered a 'style'. I am not in the business of telling people how they should wear their hair nor in which way they should think. Its all a matter of coming into various stages in life, some may get to this point of freedom, some won't. There are so many levels and facets of freedom, from releasing embedded hatred of our hair to beliefs in GOD to eating habits, there are many levels I am sure I will never see nor fully appreciate. I think if what you do makes YOU happy and once you actually view another's opinion in a non-defensive light, and you still feel the way you feel go for what you know girls!

You know the irony is, what folks KNOW about hair is EXTREMELY limiting...

Like, why DO we need to have hair on our heads? Some say it is for the protection of the skull and brain... But then why is there baldness? Well, other animals shed their "hair" and do bald--a specific strain of female mice bald as they age...

Or, how did "textures" of hair come about? What are the molecular mechanisms involved to promote one texture over another? And how are these textures genetically inherited? Or are they?

I dunno, but yeah, it has to me a scientist like to think about crap like this sometimes...