# Using a hair relaxer?



## AudreyNicole (Mar 27, 2006)

Ok so I have had 2 perms in my hair in the last 2.5 years. It is starting to grow out, and I have about 4 inches of straight roots. I am not sure that I want another perm and I found a hairstyle that I like that is straight with lots of piecey layers. I would have to cut alot of the length off of my hair, which would get rid of alot fo the damaged hair, but can I pull off this style while my perm is growing out, or do I have to have a relaxer put on it to get rid of the curls? How damaging is that for the hair? Mine is in pretty bad shape and I have lots of breakage - What would you do? Oh, and I used a wash out color about 5 weeks ago that won't wash out AND my mom used a highlighting kit on me AFTER the wash out color. Will all this processing KILL my hair? Ahhhh, such decisions!


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## annaleigh (Mar 28, 2006)

depends - will your hair stay straight if you use a flatiron? if so, then get the cut you want & you should be able to approximate the style you want if you flatiron your hair. if not, you may have to get the curly sections of your hair 'straight permed', which is different than relaxing it. straight perms are the same as permanent waves, just without using rollers. so, it's about as drying as a regular perm. relaxing wouldn't be appropriate for your hair - if you relaxed it, it would be beyond fried! your best bet is to talk to a stylist about what to do next...


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## HeavenLeiBlu (Aug 2, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *annaleigh* 

 
_depends - will your hair stay straight if you use a flatiron? if so, then get the cut you want & you should be able to approximate the style you want if you flatiron your hair. if not, you may have to get the curly sections of your hair 'straight permed', which is different than relaxing it. straight perms are the same as permanent waves, just without using rollers. so, it's about as drying as a regular perm. relaxing wouldn't be appropriate for your hair - if you relaxed it, it would be beyond fried! your best bet is to talk to a stylist about what to do next..._

 

Umm, what? they're they exact same thing, except a "straight perm" is thiglycolate based, as opposed to the more widely marketed relaxers, which are either lye (sodium hyrdroxide) or other hydroxide (no lye) based. They're both still relaxers, they just have different chemical makeups and neutralizers. Neither seems like the thing to apply to already damaged hair. I see this thread is over 2 years old, but I wanted to clarify this in case anyone else was reading now, and had the same issue. the thing to do, would be to cut all that raggedy hair off, and start from scratch, whether you decide to relax it or anything else.


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## aziajs (Aug 2, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *HeavenLeiBlu* 

 
_Umm, what? they're they exact same thing, except a "straight perm" is thiglycolate based, as opposed to the more widely marketed relaxers, which are either lye (sodium hyrdroxide) or other hydroxide (no lye) based. They're both still relaxers, they just have different chemical makeups and neutralizers. Neither seems like the thing to apply to already damaged hair. I see this thread is over 2 years old, but I wanted to clarify this in case anyone else was reading now, and had the same issue. the thing to do, would be to cut all that raggedy hair off, and start from scratch, whether you decide to relax it or anything else._

 
I am confused by your clarification.  I guess you are saying that the straight perm and the traditional chemical relaxers are all still relaxers? 

I am actually confused by the whole thread.  If Audrey had processed hair which is curly and damaged and she wanted it straight she couldn't re-process it to begin with.  At least that would be my understanding.  It would destroy her hair.  

If she did decide to re-process it she would have to "straight perm" it.  A traditional chemical relaxer wouldn't even be an option.  The relaxers on the market are sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, or guanidine hydroxide which CANNOT EVER be used on hair that has been previously treated with ammonium thioglycolate, the chemical used in perms or straight perms.  They are completely incompatible and the area of hair where the two chemicals met would break off completely.

I do agree that the only real option is to cut off the damaged/previously processed hair and start from scratch.


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## HeavenLeiBlu (Aug 2, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *aziajs* 

 
_I am confused by your clarification. I guess you are saying that the straight perm and the traditional chemical relaxers are all still relaxers? 

I am actually confused by the whole thread. If Audrey had processed hair which is curly and damaged and she wanted it straight she couldn't re-process it to begin with. At least that would be my understanding. It would destroy her hair._

 

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. (slightly off topic pet peeve, I hate the confusion between relaxers and perms, LOL. I always understood  that perms were "curly perms" and Jheri curls, and that relaxers were, well, relaxers! I know in the Black community, that people call relaxers "perms" they're BOTH permanent but just used to create opposite textures,  and it used to drive me crazy clarifying it with people, when I went off to a PWI. ANYWAY!)


 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *aziajs* 

 
_If she did decide to re-process it she would have to "straight perm" it. A traditional chemical relaxer wouldn't even be an option. The relaxers on the market are sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, lithium hydroxide, or guanidine hydroxide which CANNOT EVER be used on hair that has been previously treated with ammonium thioglycolate, the chemical used in perms or straight perms. They are completely incompatible and the area of hair where the two chemicals met would break off completely.

I do agree that the only real option is to cut off the damaged/previously processed hair and start from scratch._

 

I was just trying to say that they're ALL still relaxers though, and I won't even touch the overlapping processes issue, becaue I'd hope nobody would even overlap even two of the same chemical processes. I DO  agree that she definitely shouldn't cross process. I was saying that if she was gonna do anything at all, she needs to start by cutting off the damaged hair, first, which is most likely all of her hair that isn't new growth, and chose ONE process, and stick with that.


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## aziajs (Aug 2, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *HeavenLeiBlu* 

 
_Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. (slightly off topic pet peeve, I hate the confusion between relaxers and perms, LOL. I always understood  that perms were "curly perms" and Jheri curls, and that relaxers were, well, relaxers! I know in the Black community, that people call relaxers "perms" they're BOTH permanent but just used to create opposite textures,  and it used to drive me crazy clarifying it with people, when I went off to a PWI. ANYWAY!)_

 
LOL...I had to read that twice to get PWI. (I am slow)

You're right.  There is a lot of confusion there.  There is a lot of cross confusion.  Like you said, black people call relaxers perms.  Yet, white people get a different process done to their hair and call it a perm.  I was very confused when I was little.  When I refer to a relaxer I am speaking of the traditional lye or no lye relaxer that most black people get.  Yet, the thio relaxer is technically a relaxer but I never hear it referred to as such and the chemical components are different as well as the way it straightens the hair.

 Quote:

   Originally Posted by *HeavenLeiBlu* 

 
_I was just trying to say that they're ALL still relaxers though, and I won't even touch the overlapping processes issue, becaue I'd hope nobody would even overlap even two of the same chemical processes. I DO  agree that she definitely shouldn't cross process. I was saying that if she was gonna do anything at all, she needs to start by cutting off the damaged hair, first, which is most likely all of her hair that isn't new growth, and chose ONE process, and stick with that._

 
You know, overlapping is almost impossible to avoid.  So unless it's a serious overlap I don't worry too much about it.


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