My hair care products

I decided to share a comprehensive list of the products I'm currently using in my hair.

My relaxer:



I usually get normal strength rather than extra strength.  If I do use extra-strength, I don't use all the activator, so that it's not full strength. I also plan on experimenting with mixing some olive oil into the relaxer to weaken it further.

I also regularly use the rest of the products that come in the kit, especially the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion and the Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Hair Wrap Set, . I also really like the ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner . I used the ORS Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo regularly until I started moving away from sulfates. I still use it as my neutralizing shampoo on relaxer week.

My protein treatment:
I'm using a lot of the ORS products, because they work for me & I'm trying to use fewer product lines, especially on relaxer week. This is a heavy protein treatment that seems to be working. 

My deep condition/moisturizing treatment:
I'm also using the ORS Hair Masque as an occasional deep conditioner.

Shampoo & Conditioner: I'm using the organix line, primarily the coconut milk (although I'm trying the argan oil later). So far I'm loving these, especially the smell!



Anti-breakage treatment:

I'm having major breakage issues. I like the Organix products so far, so I grabbed this on sale one day.

I'm still experimenting to find a moisturizing conditioner and a leave-in that I like.

Hair Care Follow Up

I did it! I relaxed my hair myself.

It was easier than I was afraid of, but definitely held some challenges.  I started with the front of my hair, which made it more difficult to see what I was doing.

In addition to doing it myself, I did 2 things differently than we had been doing with my relaxers.  The first was to oil the shaft of my hair to protect already relaxed hair from being processed again. The second was to add a mid-relaxer protein treatment. On the advice of a youtube video (because where else do you learn things?) I used the conditioner included with the relaxer kit before the neutralizing shampoo, and then used another deep conditioner at the end.

In the initial aftermath, I noticed less breakage during blow drying.  After blow drying, my hair was a bit dry, but (possibly in my imagination) not as dry as usual. I will continue to experiment with conditioning treatments.

A Very Hair-y Subject

Not a very original title, I know.

I'm 39 years old, and I've been relaxing my hair since I was about 6. Obviously, that initial decision wasn't mine, but I made the decision to continue doing it. I've contemplated going natural before, and I decided against it. But this isn't a post about that.

This post is about the fact that tonight, after 30+ years, I'm going to actually relax my hair myself for the first time.

For the past couple of years, my roommate has been doing it, and she's still going to be there tonight to help me out.  After all this time, I obviously know what the process is, but having never done it, I don't know things like how long it will physically take me to get through my hair or how to manage through sections of my hair that I can't see (though I suspect that will be similar to flat-ironing the hair on the back of my head.)

I watched a few YouTube videos (which I will link to later) and picked up some additional tips, as well as created a shopping list of additional supplies for next time.

I'm slightly nervous, but feeling very empowered.  WIsh me luck!