Well, my new growth was back in full force. I was beginning to rake through the ends to avoid the comb getting stuck in my roots and popping my hair out. (i.e. avoid breaking because of the two texture differences) Women with kinky hair know what I am talking about! Please see third picture posted here.
Yes! It was four weeks and three days since my last touch-up. The Viviscal tablets really work! Just one a day! I discontinued them for about two days because I knew that I was planning to relax my hair again.
Pictured is one "before the relaxer touch-up" picture to show how my roots (i.e. new growth) were controlling my whole hairstyle. The rest of the pictures were taken after the regular strength touch-up.
This time, I used the True Indulgence regular strength relaxer. It did fine. I did roller set my hair, but my roots still buckled a little. I had to go back in with hot irons to smooth and shine. I still do not think that I got as straight as my original exposure to the True Indulgence relaxer. Of course, I had been experimenting with so many relaxation services back then that I was already a little texturized. My new growth is just going to be resistant.
So far I am still pleased with my progress. I trimmed very little this relaxer time. Because I am gaining length, I really am feeling more pressure to find another hairstylist that can perform my touch-ups properly without getting too much on my ends. I pre-protect my ends but still I do not want anyone being too sloppy with the relaxer application. Otherwise, I can keep performing my own relaxer touch-up service. We shall see!
On one separate note, I did experiment with one of the ceramic flat irons that I bought. The principle is this: if you can run a hot curling iron along the hair or hairline to straighen or silken the hair without clasping onto it, then the flat iron utilizing "direct heat" not infrared/indirect heat should essentially serve the same purpose. I did not turn the flat iron up hot enough to silk out my hair so I had to go back in later with the marcel irons. The ceramic flat iron still makes me nervous even though I believe that it is okay to use. Anyway, I also need to check my setting lotion. It may have weakened over time which can mess up my roller set results.
My next touch-up service will be mild strength. I do not want to use regular strength every four weeks. If I continue self-relaxing, I will probably stick with mild strength. I beared through the same touch-up frequency with the mild. Plus, I have under 3 inches of length in my back, and I do not want overlapping to cause me issues months down the road.
I used the NuExpressions base around my hairline prior to relaxing. This base may have interfered with my edges relaxing as well as they did in my original relaxer service. I usually use Affirm's Gentle Assuarance base. The consistency of the two bases are different. I also did not feel the NuExpressions base protected my scalp from burning. Surprisingly, my hairline got irritated toward the end of the relaxer service, but I applied the relaxer to the hairline toward the end of the service. I am definitely sticking with Affirm's base from this point on.
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