As a natural, edge control is mandatory. Rough edges have the power to discredit an entire bomb twist out. So you always want to make sure that they are smooth and laid to the gawds.
Luckily, there are tons of products devoted specifically towards laying down your edges to give a smooth appearance in order to complete a style.
The other day one of my girlfriends jokingly said in our group text that sometimes she thinks of just relaxing her edges because she feels that no edge control can control them. We all laughed at the statement, but it later had me thinking, do people really do this?
I mean you still have your nice curls but if you apply a little relaxer to just the front of your hair line would it be that bad?
For those who are complete naturals and ditched the relaxers due to not wanting to put any chemical on your scalp, this is definitely a no go. However, for those who only went natural for reasons such as to embrace curl pattern or to grow out a short hair style, sure! Right?
But of course with this extreme measure comes risks.
The most obvious one is the chance of getting the relaxer on other parts of your hair. For example, if you apply the cream a little too far back you can unintentionally relax a great deal of the front of your hair. You have to remember that your hair will constantly grow so this section of hair will grow outwards and you won’t have any curl pattern left.
You could also accidentally drop a bit of cream on other parts such as your ends or in the middle of your hair if you’re not careful. Yes, you could quickly wipe or wash this section out but it’s possible the damage could already be done.
This could lead to hair that is a complete hot mess and force you to have to chop your hair again; essentially starting over.
The not so obvious risk is an adverse affect on your scalp. I take it you’ve been natural for awhile so going back to applying chemicals to your scalp after it has become acclimated to not having it may result in redness, dryness, flaking, sores, and more. Would you want to risk having this issue in the front of your head?!
If you ask me, I think it’s more trouble than what it’s worth, and the risks of hurting your hair and harming your scalp is something I would not want to deal with.
Alania Popchi Reenis or nah?
I’m about that life ????????????????
Relaxed my edges only,had hair line loss.wouldn’t do it again.my edges are on the mend
Nah
I can expect not to have edges. I like that edge control stuff. That feeling when you slick em down just right
No No No
Nope.it will leave you with little to no edges.
She brings up a very valid point mentioning adverse effects after being away from relaxer for so long, but the information falls a bit short: Many allergies can be developed. In other words, although a person may be predisposed to allergies, they may eat, be exposed to, or use something once or many times without an allergic reaction. BUT, once your body has been exposed to a potential allergen, you can develop the antibodies against it that cause you to have an allergic reaction the next time you are exposed. I ate shrimp all the time when I was younger, without incident. Didn’t know I was allergic, because I had them frequently without an obvious incident. Had them again after several years without, had numb lips and my blood pressure dropped. I was having a reaction and didn’t know it. The same thing that happens with food allergies can happen with any other allergy. I’ve since had reactions to fragrances, other foods, many things that I was exposed to regularly growing up but not as an adult until later. This can happen to anyone, and the reaction isn’t always a mild one. This is just something to consider before you decide to relax edges, especially if you have ever had a relaxer burn, because it is now in your system and your immune system may have developed antibodies against it. Be safe!
I don’t understand the need for edge control, gel or other wise. I can see it when you’re trying to match your hair to a wig, but when your natural hair is being worn out in the open and its kinky its seems to me the edges should be kinky too…. I don’t know, maybe its just me but when I wear an afro, puff. twist out etc. I don’t use any edge control. I only use gel if I’m wearing fake hair that is a different texture than my own.
I have tried a variety of different edge controls…Dark and Lovely, Design Essentials, ORS, and many others and with each one i have bad breakouts. I discovered that its contact dermitis. I am allergic to some ingredient. Do you ladies have an alternative to edge control that will slick my edges back without them curling back up the way they do with gel? I like to control my edges when i wear braids and twists.