All posts tagged: relaxer

#SalonFail

5 Things I Learned About Hair Salons After Going Natural

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If you’re transitioning to natural hair, you may have noticed that trips to the salon don’t seem quite as fun as they used to.  In fact, you might think you’re going crazy and that your stylist no longer likes you.  Well let me be the first to let you know that you are in fact NOT going crazy. If you don’t live in a particularly urban and happenin’ city, hair salons that specialize in natural hair care are few and far between.  And the stylists employed there have a natural aversion to natural hair (pun intended). My latest encounters at hair salons have taught me a couple of things and have given me ample reason to learn how to do my hair myself:  1.  You and your natural hair are an affront to their institution When I moved to the current city in which I live, the first thing on my to-do list was to find a decent salon that could do my hair (okay–maybe not the first thing, but it was pretty high up on the …

Feeling the Shrinkage

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By the time December 2013 rolled around ( 7 months post relaxer), I was really feeling the shrinkage.  When I began this journey, my hair was just past shoulder length, to about the top quarter of my shoulder blades.  I didn’t measure with a tape measure so I can’t give you the exact length in inches, though you can get idea from the picture below (yes, I realize that I’m leaning forward, so add about 1/2 an inch to the back). After my blowout was essentially null and void, my hair seemed to be bobbing just below my chin. I knew it was coming.  I’d read it, heard it, been warned, and yet…I just couldn’t get over how short it looked! Stretched out, it still went past my shoulders but it was not cute in it’s current state (sorry, I forgot to take a picture…probably too bewildered to remember). Anywho, wearing it down doesn’t seem to be much of an option, so I tried coming up with a style that not only hid the fact that …

My First Post-Relaxer Blowout

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I decided to get a blowout from a Dominican hair salon sometime in November 2013.  At that point, 6 months had past since my last relaxer and my hair was definitely getting to the point where there was a noticeable demarcation of natural and relaxed hair (I had been wearing braids for pretty much the entire 6-month period and felt it was time for my hair to come out and play). I’ve heard everywhere that the trick with transitioning versus doing the big chop (BC) is that transitioners have to choose which hair texture they’re going to match–curly or straight.  Since the majority of my hair was still straight, I decided to go straight all the way.  Below are the results: Day 1:  Not bad.  My hair is practically as straight as when I get a relaxer, BUT I can also tell that my roots are a little fuller than a freshly minted relaxed head.  No harm, no foul. I wrapped my hair in a silk scarf overnight wondering what day 2 held in store. …