I think we have a few girls here that relax their hair, but I don't think we have any that also color it other than maybe using henna.  I hope they'll jump in here to address your questions.

Thanks for responding, La Diosa!

Sakina,

Yes, I know whatcha mean.  As long as I've been a member of this website I have read some of the other member's posts, and they do say that it is very unhealthy to both color and relax your hair at the same time but I've been doing so for many years, and I have learned that my hair texture is very good, and very strong.  So, it's not as fragile as La Diosa's.

Now mind you, if I relaxed my hair one week, and the next week color it, and then color it again that will really weaken it and make it fragile and prone to damage and breakage.  But other than that my hair is VERY strong!!!  Oh yes, I often read that the members here color their hair with henna.

La Diosa,

Oh yes, I know whatcha mean about that in between relaxing and coloring process, and they are both not a one time thing.  You have to keep both of them up, and everytime you do so that is putting your hair at risk for breakage or damage.  Well, my mother has been relaxing and coloring her hair for 20 or 30 years, and she has never gotten and damaged or broken off hair.  Her hair keeps on growing and growing and staying very healthy.  But she will never have hair as long as waist length or beyond.

She didn't inherit hair that long.  The longest her hair can ever grow is shoulder blade length or almost bra strap length.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too but with her hair type she needs a relaxer serously.....LOL  Her hair is very coarse, and thick.  The only way she can straighten it is either relaxing or the old-fashioned pressing it like the way black people used to do back in the day before relaxers ever came out.  I don't mind pressing my hair but it takes sooooooo much time, and plus it doesn't last as long as the chemical process does.  I honestly think that if my mom wants to grow her hair waist length it can get there if she spreads out her chemical processing more.  Like, one week do her relaxer, and I wouldn't color my hair or roots again unitl 3 or 4 months from the time I did my relaxer.

But I remember one day my mom and grandmother(her mother) was talking about how they have a cousin on my grandmother's side of the family that has a cousin from the "Virgin Island," and she used to have waist length hair, and my grandmother is 95 years old, and she remembers like it was yesterday that of how she used to comb my cousin's waist length hair but as years went by, and as they both got older her cousin chopped all of her waist length hair off, and that was either back in the 1950's or 1960's, and she hasn't had hair that long ever since then   I think it's because her cousin started putting some many products on her hair to the point of it never growing back, and then my grandmother came out, and told my mom, "But your hair could never grow that long."

MY mom said that when she was a youngster in her teens on up to her late 20's she had always wished for waist length hair but she always knew that she couldn't grow it.  The only way that she can have it is investing in extensions or weaves.  I honestly think that my mom has been chemically treating her hair for at least 40 years.  I mean with the relaxers.  Now, with the coloring I'd say she's been coloring and relaxing her hair for 20 years.  I've tried explaining to her of the damage she could be doing to her hair but she doesn't think that her hair is  breaking off.  Now, it might not be but to be on the safe side I would avoid as much chemical as possible if I can.  The main chemical I'm concerned about avoiding is the relaxing.  I'd rather just deal with coloring it, and as far as straightening it I can do that with the flat-iron but I don't want to do that too often either.  Because, the hair could get damaged that way too.  I have decided now to spread out all chemical treatments, and that is instead of doing my relaxers every 6-8 weeks?!  I'll be doing them every 2-3 months.  The coloring I can do every 4-6 weeks or once a month.

But I can really understand why my mom feels that she need or want to color her hair.  It is because she's in her early 60's, and she doesn't want any of her gray hairs to show.  If I were her, if I want my hair to grow really long I would let part my gray roots show!!!!  I would let about an inch or two grow, and then I would color my roots only.  But I also think her problem is too is that she believes in recoloring her ends.  She thinks that her color fades out every 4-6 weeks.  It's partially true but when it comes to her haircolor which is black it is very hard for black to fade out!!!  I've known from experience.  Because, I used to color my hair black as well, and it took me a longgggggg time to get out of the black shade!!!!  I always believe when I am coloring my hair I only color the roots nothing else.  I do the coloring process just as I do my relaxing process.  Just re-touch the new growth or the virgin hair.

Well, my goal for growing my hair is superlong to close to the floor.  Not dragging the floor but something like Crystal Gayle's length.  But you're right when it comes it having to do relaxers and colorings depending on the person's hair type and texture.  My hair texture and type is also very thick like my mother's but not as thick.  Mine is more like on the wavy, curly, and thick side.  My hair is curly and wavy like a Hispanic or Mexican person's hair.  But every time I both relax or color my hair I deep condition it at all times.  After KI wash out the relaxer I use a very mild neutralizing shampoo, and I use an instant conditioner, a stablelizer conditioner, and then my cholestrol conditioning treatment.  I do it either with or without any heat.  Then means sometimes I sit under a hooded dryer for 20 or 30 minutes for really deep conditioning.  Then I blow-dry or wet roller-set as usual.  But with me doing all of this to my hair I use lots and lots of conditioners and moisturizers, and oils.

My hair used to be mid back length....I think it's the goal you're trying to reach but my hair hasn't been that long since 1984.  That was the year I got my first hair cut.  My hair used to be 2 inches above my waist.  If I would have continued to let it grow or left it alone I think I would have reached my goal by now.  I have friend that can grow floor length hair, and when it was that long she used to relax  and color it all of the time!!!  She's a natural light soft brown but she started coloring it a beautiful bright auburn red brown, and it was all of her hair!!!!  And every time I saw her and her beautiful floor length auburn red brown hair it appeared very healthy and shiny looking.   It looked so nice, soft, and shiny.  I'm sure her hair had to be relaxed.  Because, she also had very thick head of hair too, and with it being floor length I can't see her being natural.