Relaxer run off happens when previously relaxed hair comes in contact with the relaxer as its being rinsed from the hair. This exposure can over process the hair and be very damaging.
Relaxer Run Off Theory
Without fail, when I reach mid-back length and beyond, my hemline thins over time. In past situations, I blamed myself because I thought my efforts were ineffective. However, this time around, I was doing everything right yet my hemline thinned yet again.
I had no concrete proof relaxer run off was to blame but it was the most logical.
- When my hair is shorter than bra strap length, it does not rest in the bottom of the shampoo bowl as relaxer is rinsed from my hair and my hair remains healthy.
- When my hair is longer than bra strap length, it rests in the bottom of the shampoo bowl which exposes it to relaxer run off and my hair thins over time.
Mystery Solved
If my techniques are to blame, my hair should be thin no matter the length. Tired of the struggle, I invested in a Komaza Hair Analysis. While I knew my hair had issues, I was shocked to learn it was over processed with cuticle damage and split ends. Frustrated and defeated, I decided to take a break from relaxers which proved helpful. My splits ends improved which in turn stopped further thinning of my hemline.
Protect Your Hair from Relaxer Run Off
You should coat your hair with vaseline to provide a thick barrier to protect against relaxer run off. I protected my hair with oil but it was not thick enough to protect against over processing. Please don’t make the same mistakes I did. Coat your hair properly before your next touch up.
It is good to hear that split ends are a thing of the past for you. Do you think you will take the plunge and decide to go natural?
I have always suspected this might be a silent destroyer. On my next touch-up, I’m thinking of saturating my ends with conditioner just before rinsing out the relaxer.
The longer I stretch, the more I’m considering. If my stretch continues well, I suppose I wouldn’t mind transitioning. If it gets too hectic, I wouldn’t mind throwng in the towel either. Just kind of depends on my ability to deal as this week’s keep ticking by.
Oh and I tried conditioner and oil; I think vaseline may be a better barrier.
I’ve never had a relaxed…but it is very important to protect the ends! I wear my hair in a naturally curly fro, and sometimes I style my hair with updos, simply because the ends are so delicate.
Good luck :o)
♥
Amber
All the Cute
Today’s Post: Neutrals & Acid Washed (Earrings giveaway, too!)
Yes indeed they are very delicate.
I use pure petroleum jelly on my previously relaxed hair. Conditioner and oil rinses out too soon. I rinse my hair in my kitchen sink but after reading your post, I wonder if that is exposing my hair to too much runoff since my hair is a little longer than BSL. I know many women rinse in the shower but I’m afraid of having relaxer run off on my body. Plus I’ve never been one to hop in and out of the shower to wash, DC, etc. I guess it won’t hurt to try.
Going natural is an interesting question. I’ve been natural for 35 years so I am kind of done with it, but I always tell myself to never say never.
I was only natural at birth. 🙂 I kid, I kid. I was natural up until maybe like 10. I then got a Jheri Curl and eventually a relaxer. I truly don’t know my natural hair. Judging by the photos of my childhood, that texture is a beast.
In a perfect world, I would go natural, play around with that for a few years or so. When I get tired of that, I then would relax my entire head to be texlaxed and then maintain a good texlaxed texture from there.
I’m pro relaxer and love straight hair so….
I had to go one year as a 13 year old in a new city with hair no one knew what to do with. I remember my kinky curl-less natural hair. I have recently had to go without a touch up for months due to finances and recently tried a silk press. I do really like that. I’m not sure what my next step is but I probably will relax again soon. It is all about what is for you and your particular grooming capabilities.
I use to rinse in the sink when I was a self relaxer. If I return to self relaxing, I’d rinse in the shower because of the fear of tangling.
I am so terrified of relaxer runoff, that I do a triple threat protection for my previously relaxed hair. On the night before I relax I apply a layer of coconut oil, a layer of Mizani Honey Shield (specially formulated to protect hair from relaxer runoff and over lapping) and then another layer of coconut oil. I will let that soak into my hair over night. Then on the day of I will add another layer of coconut oil and finally a layer of old fashioned Blue Magic grease (blue kind).
In the shower, to protect my body from the relaxer runoff, I wear a shampoo cape, which drapes over my back, behind and thighs. Mande30
I will have to look up the Mizani Honey Shield! Thankfully I have several months before I need to think about touching up my hair.
I will have to look that one up too.
Blue Magic grease is some thick stuff so that should work. Wonder which is thicker — Blue Magic or Vaseline?
I too use either Vaseline or Blue Magic on my ends to protect from run-off. Basically from about 4 inches from the scalp (depending on the amount of new growth) to the ends I saturate with castor oil and then Blue Magic or Vaseline on top. I lean over and rinse under the tub faucet from the side of the tub or use the sink. I don’t use the shower because I don’t want my skin absorbing all that fluoride and chemicals from the water…which is also why I keep my showers and baths as short as possible.
I am not excited about being a self-relaxer again but gosh, it would be so much healthier for my hair.
Have you considered a shower filter? I have one in both showers in my home and it has made a difference in my hair and skin.
Yes! I use the sprite water filter from Lowe’s and love it.
What a difference trimming can do. I don’t go to salons anymore for my relaxers but i do get what you mean. Vaseline is prob the thickest barrier you can use. I typically use oil, conditioner and add oils to my relaxer to slow down processing.
Great idea!! You and Velda are very smart to layer.
I use several products to lessen the chance of relaxer run off. I use Affirm Preservo on the length of my hair, then I layer it with Crisco, and then I apply a thick serum.
Which serum did you layer on top?
This is a problem for me too ..going texlaxed from relaxed….and worse still because I can’t do longer stretches without experiencing breakage. I always coat, and over coat my ends with oil and hair great..but still have thin ends. Can’t wait for the solutions you suggest.
Many seem to have great success with vaseline so try that instead of oil. I think oil is too thin. I was using castor oil and that didn’t protect my ends enough.
I was also thinking that the relaxer run-off was the cause of my recent plateau.
It’s so annoying!!!
This is why I’ve ended up transitioning. I was getting tired of compensating for the damage that past years had caused to my hair when I had current healthy hair practices. I know it’s a case of being patient but it’s so frustrating to wait for all the healthy hair at your roots to creeeeep downwards. My thinking is that I can grow my hair out to a decent length (as it’s slow growing), be natural for as long as I want and then if I get bored, I’ll be able to start off 100% texlaxed.
Your hair is the prettiest of any relaxed blogger I follow and I’ve always thought so, whether the ends are thin or not. I think you could even extend your trim goal by an inch or two (although you know your hair best)!
Hiya! Thank you so much for swinging by. You totally made my night with your beautiful comments and support. I agree with you in that, I would love to start over from scratch and texlax my entire head at once. That way, the texture is uniform. From there, I would likely texlax once or twice a year now that I know I can stretch for long periods of time. Will you please explain what is meant by extend the trim goal. I’m always open for suggestions. I wasn’t sure if you was saying to cut more, cut less or cut sooner vs. later, etc.
No problem – even though I’m not updating my blog right now, I still love to come and read yours. I think that you could cut less than is indicated on your marker. For example, if the total length you were going to cut was 6″, it appears as though you only need to trim 4-5″. As long as the bulk of your hair is of the same length, you should have enough thickness to protect your ends. Of course, if you want to go for a very full hemline, go for it!
TY!! *kisses & hugs* My hubs and my friend said the same thing. You all may be on to something.
Are you just too busy to update the blog? It’s exhausting some days. I had to slow up on my post frequency because it was becoming too much to juggle.
If you have a topic you want to discuss and want to post it here, I’m open to the idea. Just drop me a note. 🙂
Girl, I know this struggle all too well. I plan on purchasing a Koma hair analysis purely because of you after my transition is over (I feel like being chemical free could change a few things so I’m waiting). One hypothesis I want someone to try is cutting all the way above their thinning to see if it makes a difference. I never wanted to get rid of a chunk of length all at once so I’d either trim gradually or trim TO the damage, never above it. Good luck in retaining thick length!
TY and same to you! Cutting above the damage might be the key to handling it for once and for all. It’s exhausting trying to figure it out.
This is an excellent point that I never considered–increased hair length = increased exposure to relaxer run-off. I’ve always tried to protect my ends from run off by coating with oil, because I knew that’s what I was “supposed to do.” It never occurred to me that the longer my hair go the more it would be exposed. I current have an inverted V of thinning in the back middle of my hair, I had my stylist trim it after my last touch up, but it’s not completely gone. But I’m on week 10 of my current stretch and haven’t seen any worsening, so I’m inclined to believe technique was not the cause as well. But I recall that prior to my last touch-up my hair was just past BSL, which is the most length I’ve had in a long time. I and now that I think about it, nearly every time I’ve gotten close to that mark I’ve experienced thinning and then cut off the damage. This is really a light bulb moment for me, so thank you. Other than using Vaseline/blue magic, which are both great ideas. I wonder what else could be done to mitigate the run off in the shampoo bowl? Maybe pinning up the previously relaxed ends in some way? My stylist and I will have to ponder this at my next touch-up. I wish I could self relax, but I just can’t move fast enough with the application and I’d like to keep the “almost” texlaxed texture I have. I can’t trust my own skills not to over-process. Looking forward to solving this riddle! Thanks Jay.
Hi Mrs T!! TY, I definitely think you could be dealing with relaxer runoff issues. My hair would grow and thin, grow and thin. To mitigate it, maybe faster washing and ensure the hair isn’t just laying around in the bowl or hold up, pin up or prop up the hair in one hand in some way. I’m totally guessing now but these are starter thoughts. Let me know what ya’ll come up with. I’d be interested to know. Also, ask your stylist what he/she feel about relaxer runoff in genera if you find the moment to toss that question in.
I certainly will. She’s a friend so I texted her about this post right after I commented yesterday. It also occurred to me that since our ends are the oldest and most fragile part of our hair as it is, they can least afford that additional exposure to even watered down relaxer. This theory explains so much. And when I think about it most of the ladies I’ve seen with past BSL hair, self-relax. I think being able to keep their ends from sitting in the rinse stream either through braiding/otherwise pinning up ends or rinsing in the shower means they can protect their ends and keep that length. I was thinking about getting box braids for the summer and continuing my stretch, but I almost want to get a touch up sooner rather than later just to experiment with a resolution. I’ll keep you posted.
Do keep me posted and I totally agree with everything you said. It makes the conversation so much easier when you’re friends with the stylist. Do you know, my hair was healthiest back in the day when I got a trim every relaxer or every other relaxer? I averaged a relaxer like every 6 weeks back then so my hair was being trimmed every 6 to 12 weeks. I never once had thinning ends.
I found this: http://phenomenalhair.blogspot.com/2013/09/relaxer-tips-and-talk.html
Thanks for sharing. I gave that article a glance. Great info. Hopefully she’ll reply back to you also. Is she still blogging?
She is still blogging, I spent some time scrolling through her old posts yesterday. It’s nice to see a professional’s perspective.
It really is. There’s another professional that’s blogging. http://www.latoyajonesblog.com/ but she yet to respond to any of my questions.
Great article, i use petroleum jelly and conditioners….
I think vaseline is thickest and likely best — what you think?
From one fine haired chic to another; I avoid relaxer runoff by coating the hair shaft and ends with a strong keratin containing protein conditioner (Joico K-pak) just before applying my texturizer. I also still do the mid-step protein treatment with K-pak before neutralizing
TY! Are you self or salon relaxed?
I have always done DIY, even prior to my HHJ with occasional salon visits.
I never really needed to be. All was well with my stylist. I’m a DIYer now only because I didn’t want to go to a salon as my husband was going through some health issues. Otherwise, I’d still be going to the salon more than likely.
Is it possible that your hair is not breaking and that you just have uneven growth rates, like most of us ( I know I do)? Maybe certain areas of your hair are growing slower and/or other areas are growing faster? I mean, you definitely want to get rid of damaged ends but what if you are cutting ends that aren’t damaged? Unless, of course, you like a more even hemline.
Hi Yolanda, I’d love to adopt that theory to be truth but I haven’t grown beyond mid-back length without an issue of some kind. So to me, my hemline has deteriorated as a result of an issue rather than uneven growth. 🙁
Thanks all! Great comments and suggestions in this thread. I too have been suffering from thinning ends. I normally coat my ends with olive oil prior to relaxing. I now know that I need to use a much thicker protector before relaxing (Blue Magic grease and/or Vaseline). I plan to try the Mizani Honey Shield and, I will be cutting those split end off….snip..snip ✂️✂️✂️✂️
Jay….you’re the BEST and a BLESSING. . I’ve learned to much from you. Keep the great posts/conversations coming.
You might have luck with doing some deep conditioning treatments on your hair between trims. I really like Redken Extreme Deep Conditioning. I really want to get my hair relaxed, but I’ll need to wait until I grow it out a bit more.
I love Redken Cleansing Cream but haven’t tried the Extreme DCner. Did you big chop?