heyyy !
ive been completely hating my stupid curly hair lately, even more than normal and im seriously considering getting my hair relaxed. I spend WAY too much time on it and im so self concious of my curly hair i put my stupid hair in front of other things that should be way more important!
Anyways ive got some questions and i figured yall have some good info!

-Will my hair still be as thick? I like it thick and i dont want it so flat that its like weirdly straight, if that makes sense??
-Is there something that takes out a little curl that is less damaging? Even if its wavy i wont mind, its just my insanely tight curls that dont straighten that piss me off so much.
-And lastly how damaging really is relaxing your hair?
-Oh and what are my options as far as chemically straightening it?

thanks SO much in advance and if theres already a thread on this sorry i didnt see one!

Well if you want something that could just loosen the curl pattern your best bet would be to get a texturizer, but do realize no matter what the chemicals could damage your hair. IMHO i don't like the way most texturized hair comes out, it just doesn't look good to me. (not putting anyone down who has one)
How damaging a relaxer is i guess is can depend on a lot of things..you really have to make sure you get someone who knows what they're doing when applying it or you could cause damage to the hair and scalp. There is also a matter of the strength of the relaxer and the chance of choosing one too strong for your hair. But remember no matter what, in a way you are damaging your hair from the use of harsh chemicals.
Will your hair be as thick? Who knows, some people i know have gotten relaxers and it made their hair pathetically thin, but others like myself still had thick hair. Although my natural hair gives my relaxed hair a run for it's money.

Basically, i just don't really care for relaxers and deciding to grow mine out was one of the best things i could have ever done for myself. I feel like you might miss your curls once their gone, you know how sometimes you don't appreciate things until you don't have them anymore. You may find you spend MORE time trying to get your relaxed hair to look how you want it.

Sorry for the long reply, this is just my two cents on the whole thing.

i have very thick, curly hair...and its pretty as long as I do it right.
When I was younger my sister did a relaxer on me like 2 times. It looked okay...I guess

I got it done again in 7th grade, in 8th grade, then in 10th grade I got something called a Reverse perm (which is basically using the same things thats in a perm, aside from the rods, to straighten your hair) out of everything, I'd say that I love the reverse perm. It made my curls looser and BEAUTIFUL without hardly any effort. however it lasted a really short period of time (like, a week) Maybe its just my hair, though.

after that I got more relaxers. I think with everyone's hair is different. Relaxers never made my hair completely straight...which was a good thing. They only made my curls more like waves/looser curls. But my hair was more manageable.
Relaxers did not make my hair thin. At all. Actually I used to get my hair thinned periodically because it was just so thick. I really think it just depends on what kind of hair you have. A lot of girls I know used to HAVE to get relaxers (in their opinion i guess) and their hair was extremely damaged because of it, and would not grow. That may be because they dont know how to take care of their hair.

My hair did become damaged, but I expected that. The chemicals in a relaxer are really harsh, which is why you need to go to a salon and get someone who knows what they're doing. I would just go to a salon and have a consultation first, because a stylist can see your type of hair, you can explain to her what you want/don't want, and she may be able to provide other options. Also, you may be doing something wrong, or could be doing something better when it comes to styling your hair and caring for it. She may be able to give you some tips on styling, conditioning, and the right products. After relaxing your hair, you have to be really gentle with it...deep condition it, don't use too much heat on it, etc.

The weird thing is, I haven't relaxed my whole head of hair in maybe 7 months or longer. I feel as though all of the chemicals i've done in the past have changed my hair's texture (for the better). I have maybe 4 inches of hair on my front hairline that has unruly roots, though, and luckily now that is the ONLY part of my hair I have to relax. A lot of people regret doing relaxers because it eventually will make your hair...change. in all kinds of ways.
HTH

thanks a ton!