HELP! relaxer from hell.

[mac-whore]

okay so, to start with my hair was extremely thick, bushy & curly/frizzy. i was tired of my hair always blowing up the second any humidity touched it and i was tired of it taking 3 hours to flat iron my hair ( just to have it curl/frizz up again days later ).. so, i went in for a relaxer. so, she puts in on my hair and everything was fine but, when i'm sitting under the dryer.. as i'm running my fingers through my hair.. literally, chunks are coming out. i ran to the bathroom and everything looked the same but, every part of my hair that i touched was breaking off. i was devistated!! i immediately told the hair dresser and she said that it was normal and that it was just '' shedding ''. as she was blowdrying it and my hair was literally flying off around me she says that she dosen't understand why it's doing that and that it must be the color that i had in my hair. to make a long story short, i left the salon with very fragile THIN straw-like hair. i have no idea what to do now. how do i repair this?? i know there's no permanant way to go back but has anyone else ever experienced this? i'm wondering if i should just cut my hair. it's all damaged now, anyways = any suggestions?

 

[dentaldee]

oh no, i'm so sorry that happened to you, unfortunately I have no experience with relaxers

 

[xkatiex]

ooh I'm so sorry this has happened to you! hope someone has some answers :sleepyhead: x

 

[monniej]

sounds like the relaxer was way too strong for your hair. this is a real problem for women of color that want to rock straight hair! deep conditioning may help somewhat, but you'll probably end up with some thinning. i love queen helene cholestrol conditioner to soften and strengthen the hair after washing. slather it on and put on a plastic bag and wrap in a hot towel. do your best to keep it moisturizied - organic root stimulator makes some good products (carrot oil and olive oil products). be very careful with heat styling and too much combing and brushing while your hair is in this fragile state! good luck and keep us posted!

 

[han]

what kind of relaxer did you use?? befor you cut it all off give it a month and use a fortifying shampoo/conditioner that is for weak hair and may help with the breakage, you could even try protein pak( not alot though it can be drying) i would suggest twice a week the first couple then only once a week, after you rinse the protien out follow with a moisterizing/hydrateing conditioner.. i suggest matrix biolage conditioning balm and joico k-pak for the protien.... try that for 4-6 weeks and try not to use to much heat on it, if it doesnt seem to be getting stronger after that then maybe a cut to start over would be best

 

[usersassychick0]

I am really sorry for you! If my hair was falling out and the stylist said that it was supposed to do that, I'd be freaking out!

 

[Aquilah]

Ditto! Maria, I told you to not get one months ago cause your hair is too gorgeous to begin with! Alas, I've never had this problem. My scalp is SO sensitive, that I can't even let the regular strength sit on my roots for the entire required time. I generally end up with scabs no matter what! I hope your hair gets back to a better condition ASAP! Please keep us updated sweetie!

 

[Curiosity]

It sounds like your hair was chemically over-processed with the relaxer. I'm not sure, but usually for afro hair, it is recommended to do lots of protein washes to strengthen the hair. You could try that. I would recommend gradually cutting off the relaxed hair over a long period, as it sounds as though it's damaged. Hope that helps! Good Luck!

 

[Noir Sakura]

Did she properly neutralize your hair? Did she ask what kind of color (semi or permanent) you had? Because these are the main things I could think of that would make your hair fall out in chunks like that. You should file a complaint because she should have know or done these things before she put you under the dryer AND blowdried your hair.

But since the damage has been done, I would recommend some mild protein treatments followed by intensive moisturizing treatments. The Nexxus line has good products and even though they are slightly expensive, the come in big bottles and a little goes a long way, so you won't have to use as much. And stay away from any relaxers and definitely away from that hairdresser.

 

[mac-whore]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm not sure if she neutralized my hair first (not sure what that is) but, I know that she went through a couple of steps before she did the actual relaxer. I told her that I had permanant color in my hair before she did it, too. I'm gonna try some deep conditioning treatments and I'll keep u guys updated. So far there hasn't been much more significant breakage but, we'll see after I wash it. Thanks again for all of the great advice ladies.

 

[Aquilah]

Definitely do keep us updated sweetie! I truly hope that's the end of the breakage to that extreme!

 

[IL0v3makeup]

That happened to me when I got a relaxer in my hair after I had bleached it and dyed it a couple times in a short period. That was a bout a year and a half ago and I'm still experiencing breakage.

Sorry to say but I think all you can do right now is get it deep conditioned and trimmed frequently. Stay away from heating tools as much as you can and doing anything else to your hair like dyeing it or relaxing it. You might even want to cut down on brushing it.

After I got that relaxer my hair was gooey and stretchy but after I deep conditioned and trimmed alot my hair got better.

Your hair will be back to normal but you really have to baby it right now and be patient.

By they way, I'm never getting a relaxer again.

 

[monniej]

a neutralizing shampoo is used immediately after the relaxer is completely rinsed out of the hair. the neutralizer stops the straightening action of the relaxer. i had the same issues when i relaxed my hair. i started taking my own relaxer to my beautician and then just started doing it myself. when my hair got too long for me to work with, i called my sister to help me out. box perms are much gentler to the hair and scalp than pro lines. i loved soft and free when i rocked straight hair and dark & lovely naturally for a texturizer.

 

[mac-whore]

I'm thinkng that this is the exact same thing that happened to me because I had gotten my hair dyed professionally 3-4 times in the past year. I think that, along with the relaxer, was the end of my hair. I can say with confidence, no more relaxers for me!! lol.. although this is probably a bad thing, I'm kinda liking how my hair seems to be alot lighter/thinner and seems to be easier to deal with because of that.. and i'm not experiencing nearly as much frizz as i was before.. but, i still can't get over the fact that basically all of the color damaged hair completely broke off. I'm definately going in for a trim ( not at the same salon! ) next week.

I got a box relaxer when I was maybe 7-8 years old and I had zero breakage.. then again, my hair wasn't colored at all.. but, I do believe that box relaxers are probably lighter than whatever the hairdresser put on my hair, definately. Do you wear your hair natural now?? How long did it take for your relaxer to grow out?

 

[mossaenda]

Im sorry this has happened to you! I'd advise frequent deep conditioning, try to use gentle shampoo and don't wash your hair often, like every day or every other day might do more harm.

I'd also suggest you direct your diet to strenghten your hair from the inside out. Try to not let stress get the best of you, stress makes whatever is happening even worse. I know it's awful to see your hair in such bad condition but remember there are things you can do about it and it will get better.

 

[monniej]

my profile pic is pretty much my everyday style now. somedays i use more product for a sleeker look and some days i like it bushy! i did end up cutting my hair very short when i decided to go natural. i was just tired of relaxing, i didn't have damage of any kind. once you relax it's pretty much permanent and only the new growth will be perm free. i would wait at least 3 to 6 months before attempting to do anything else to your hair. this will give you an opportunity to see if you can repair the damage that's already occured. it has been suggested that 6 months is the optimum time to wait before introducing a new procedure.

 

[aprilpgb22]

Hi,

I am replying because my big sister is a hairstylist and she can definitely tell you what you need to do. You can call her at (646) 489-6085 she is the best and she does celebrity hair. her name is Lina tell her that April her sister told you to call her.

 

[Curiosity]

Hair grows at the rate of an average of 6 inches per year; I'm not sure what the length of your hair is at the moment. I'd recommend just growing it completely out. HTH

 

[TheOpenRoad]

This happened to my hair after getting a cheap perm over colored-and colored-and colored-and colored hair. Lol, afterwards I was deep conditioning all the time but the shedding/breakage kept happening especially if I ever went to blowdry (which would take forever since it was so porous). I wound up getting it trimmed shorter and shorter with each visit to the salon... and grew it out to the point where I could just chop most of it off. I settled at a bob and vowed never to go somewhere crappy for a perm again.

 

[jdepp_84]

Im so sorry this happend. Just baby your hair as much as possible, did you try going to another salon to see if they could fix it? Maybe have a conditioning treatment done.