Melinda's Paul Mitchell Relaxer

So, on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, my sister-in-law, Melinda came in as a semi-willing volunteer for a relaxing. She has wavy hair and never blow-drys, which is plain to see.

We started by putting protectant on her hairline.







Next, we parted her hair into four quadrants.

We started at the back left quarter, applying the mild formula of The Relaxer a half inch from the scalp, through the ends. Since she does nothing to her hair EVER, I wasn't concerned about pulling it throught the ends.

I finished the back and moved onto the front 2 quarters,

leaving the hairline out for the last part. At which point,

I combed thru with a wide toother!

We left it on for 10 minutes, I checked it and it wasn't ready. I check by putting a knot in the hair and if there is any spring left, the turkey isn't done. I basically couldn't stand to watch the wincing on her face any longer and I decided to rinse, although it was 20 minutes and that was the maximum. I am a sadist.

I rinsed for 5 minutes and then went a little extra. I shampooed with Lavender Mint and conditioned with it, as well.

I blowdryed and was very pleased with the job it did.

I do quite a bit of Japanese straightening and I would argue that the result was comparable with 2 advantages...

1. The Relaxer took less than an hour and a Japanese Straightening can take 4 hours. 2. There was no neutralizing step. Doing this in ONE step is pretty amazing!

Downfalls...Melinda and her mom don't like it. My mother in law said, "I hate it! It doesn't look like Melinda!" You know how mothers always want you to look like you did when you were 3! What a pain in the ass!