Relaxer Prep

I'm relaxing soon, not sure of the exact date yet. I am only about 9 weeks post, but I have a lot of new growth....So much that I want to relax now. The next paragraph is me complaining about why I want a relaxer. If you're transitioning or natural, you can kindly skip this part lol

I don't want to get cornrows (my last experience was a bad one) so it's not like I can hide my hair for another 2 months. It's getting to that point where I'm looking rough around the edges -- literally. Natural hair can be slicked back and look neat because it's a uniform texture...but new growth and bone straight relaxed hair can be challenging to work with and blend. It requires patience which I'm not sure I have right now. When I come out of the shower, after 5 minutes the new growth at the front is completely dry...I don't even get a chance to smooth it with a brush or anything. Part of the reason why I haven't claimed MBL is because if I let my hair loose, it reaches BSL/APL. But it's only when I pull it, that it shows the true length. This hide and seek is a direct result of shrinkage. I want to be able to look at my hair and see the real length. I don't want to put in all this effort just for my hair to shrink up to a milestone I passed already. Maybe I'm attached to length? Maybe. Maybe I just want my hair to fit my lifestyle. I like to do styles (messy buns, braidouts, twistouts, flexi rods, curls, intricate buns and updos, wash and goes, etc etc etc) without worrying about the weather or the detangling session later. I miss thorough detangling sessions being less than 30 seconds. I miss being able to do heat styles that last for weeks without worrying about my hair reverting. There is clearly a natural hair trend. People are lopping off their relaxed hair left right and center, which is awesome if that's what they want to do. But I like that I decided to remain relaxed despite the influence of the people and pictures on the internet. On the flipside I like that in real life (where most people are relaxed here in Toronto) I enjoy getting compliments on my hair, and sharing advice and my regimen with others. Yesterday's blow drying session had me "snap, crackle and popping"... there were a lot of broken hairs due to me raking through the 2 textures with a Denman. I should have taken my time but honestly, between the heat and how busy things are, I don't have the patience this time around to do a long stretch. I usually have a decent gut feeling about things when it comes to my hair. Right now my gut is telling me to end my stretch with a fresh relaxer.

For those who are still with me lol, stay tuned for updates within the next few weeks.


So what am I doing between now and my next relaxer?

• No washing or itching.
• Only product that will be applied to hair is CHI Silk Infusion. "Silk can form a protective covering over the hair to prevent it from being damaged from alkaline materials, such as the chemicals in relaxers." Taken from a thread on LHCF
•  Only thing applied to scalp will be vaseline