Trying A New Stylist For My First Relaxer Touch-up Of The Year

Here it is. My first relaxer touch-up post in 2015. Once again I'm on a quest to find a stylist. Since I've moved to another state, I need to find someone in whose hands I will trust my hair. For this touch up I decided to try a stylist that was recommended to me by my stylist in North Carolina. She doesn't know this stylist personally but has heard good things about her.

Before I get into how the day of my touch-up went I'm going to quickly walk you through how I prepped my hair.

Trying A New Stylist For My First Relaxer Touch-up Of The Year | A Relaxed Gal

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My relaxer prep

The week prior to my scheduled touch-up I wanted to clarify my hair to get rid of all product buildup and give the relaxer as fresh a palette as possible so it wouldn't underprocess my hair. To clarify  I used the Shea Moisture African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo.

After shampooing I deep conditioned my hair to add some moisture back to it and then went through the rest of my wash day routine. 

Throughout the week I avoided irritating my scalp by scratching it and doing unnecessary combing. Then a couple of days before my appointment I made sure my 16 weeks of new growth and the rest of my hair were fully detangled.

On the morning of the appointment, I based my scalp with petroleum-based hair grease and put coconut oil on my relaxed strands to help protect them against relaxer runoff. Now I was ready to go to the salon!

The relaxer touch-up

I arrived at my appointment about 15 minutes early. I wanted to make sure I allowed enough time to get there if traffic was a little heavy and find a parking spot. When I arrived, the stylist had one person in her chair and one at the bowl. She said she'd be with me in a few minutes which turned into 30.

I was a little ticked because I'd made an afternoon appointment with the hope it wouldn't be that busy and I could get in and out in a couple of hours. If I wasn't having pictures taken the following week I would have just said forget it and walked out.

While I was waiting the stylist asked what I was going to have done, I told her a relaxer touch-up. She asked how long since I'd had my last touch-up. I told her it had been 16 weeks. Her response was "16 weeks?!!" in a tone of disbelief. This was my first red flag that she wasn't a supporter of relaxer stretching. Other red flags came during the appointment when she kept saying things about why I shouldn't go so long between touch-ups.

My hair right after the salon visit | A Relaxed Gal

While that was annoying, the rest of the appointment wasn't terrible. Here's a rundown of what I liked and didn't like during the appointment:

Liked
  • She used the Design Essentials relaxer. I've had this relaxer brand used on my hair before and saw good results
  • She took extra care to make sure the relaxer was rinsed out. She washed my hair three times
  • She used heat protectant before flat ironing
  • She only used a small tooth comb when necessary
  • She trimmed my split ends


Didn't like
  • She didn't ask me anything about my hair, scalp, or the products I use before getting starting
  • She didn't use a deep conditioner
  • She didn't use a heat protectant before blowdrying my hair
  • She ran the flat iron over my hair multiple times
My hair a few days after the salon visit | A Relaxed Gal

Outside of the things that I didn't like, I thought my hair looked good afterward. Will I go back? Probably not.

What was your most recent salon visit like?

11 Comments

  1. Your hair looks great although your experience was so-so. I don't even think I could handle going to a salon right now based on how much information I personally know about my own hair. How much did she end up trimming?

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    Replies
    1. She trimmed about half an inch on the right and little less than that on the left. My right side grows faster than the left side. Thanks for reading!

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    2. Wow I'm not the only one with that phenomenon my right side is always longer than my left side, I've been thinking it may have to do with the side I sleep on the most lol... Your hair actually looks great and very healthy given all the things that didn't go right at the salon :-)

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  2. Your hair still came out very thick and nice.

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    Replies
    1. It did! I'm excited to see my hair thickening back up to where it used to be.

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  3. Your hair looks really good! When I relaxed my hair I would often try and stretch it. I work at my sisters salon (i am a massage therapist, I don't do hair) and she does my hair. If she wasn't a stylist I don't think I would go to a salon.

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  4. I'm glad that your hair looks good even though your stylist wasn't great. Your ends look fabulous btw!

    Thanks for sharing your #washdayexperience chica!

    KLP @ SavingOurStrands

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  5. Your hair looks great, I really like the updo. I never heard of pillow rollers before, I'll have to try them out because I hate sleeping with rollers and flexi rods in my hair.

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  6. Your hair and ends look awesome. Its very shiny and looks really healthy.

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  7. love the thickness of ur hair looks lovely! I hope u will end up finding a hair stylist ull trust though girl :)

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  8. Your relaxer results are amazing. Although your experience wasn't. I wouldn't go to a stylist for my touchups to be honest, because I would end up with limp, over processed hair. Hope you find a great stylist soon

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