Relaxer Update After 17 weeks Stretch

The stretch is officially OVER.  I made it to the end and it was 17 weeks challenging weeks.  Near the end, there were a few too many bad hair days to contend with and the knots and tangles nearly brought me to tears a certain points.  But I made it to the other side and while I know that stretching relaxers is a healthy thing to do, we all need to do it within our own personal comfort zones.  And 15, 16, and 17 weeks are all outside of my comfort zone.  Shedding was out of control and I wasn't sure how my hair would look like after this relaxer.  14 weeks is my personal max and I hope to never go too far past that marker again.  I randomly started live tweet/instagraming my relaxer last Sunday and here are the pictures and step that I took throughout the process.  And if you don't already, be sure to follow me on twitter, instagram and/or tumblr for live updates on me and my hair. 

Click the link to see the details and pictures on my recent relaxer...

Here are my flat ironed roots from last weekend.  17 weeks post with a few too many fly-aways:

 I got my tools all laid out, making sure that I everything I would need was only an arm's length away:

I sectioned my hair into four quadrants and started basing my scalp with grease, which I added to the bottle you see belong for easy application.  I apply it to my scalp in similar parts to what I'd be doing when applying my relaxer. Then I apply grease to my ends, the shaft of my hair, and to the skin around my edges:

I use a no-lye relaxer, so I had to add the activator to my relaxer.  I mixed it until smooth and I like to let it sit for few minutes.  My relaxer turns light pink when the ingredients are well combined:

It was time to start applying my relaxer.  I did the back sections first, starting at the crown and working my way down to the nape (but I didn't relax my nape, yet).  Then I worked on the front sections, again starting at the crown and working my way down to my edges.  Then I apply the relaxer to my nape and edges.  I finish up by working my way up from the edges/nape to the crown, smoothing my new growth.  Once that's done it's time to rinse, apply a mid-step protein and neutralize:

Applied my deep conditioner and left that in for a few hours with a plastic cap and twisty-turban:

I rinsed my deep conditioner after a few hours, applied my leave-ins and roller set my hair:

I removed my rollers and styled my hair:
All done and it looks like my hair has weathered the storm of this 17 week stretch, but my next relaxer will definitely be about 12 weeks from now on:

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