Relaxer - DIY or Salon?

Hmmm...for the longest time I found it difficult to relax my hair at home. It would never come out as I had desired, it still doesn't but at least these days its a bit soft afterwards.

In high school there was a time when I would go for a relaxer every 4 weeks (big mistake), that didn't last long anyways as I am a very low maintenance girl. When I got to tertiary I would either go to the salon or do it myself, (I guess it depended on how well I used my allowance).

I know that there are people who relax their hair themselves and then there are those who have it done at the salon all the time. I once read an interview with a hair stylist in which he recommended that we NEVER relax our hair ourselves. His argument was that relaxers have many chemicals that can not only damage our hair but harm the scalp too. I totally get where he was coming from, however, it left me thinking about a couple of things:

If relaxers are so harmful (yes they are), why are there all these ranges of DIY relaxers? Do they have less chemicals? (I seriously doubt that). Okay, have these companies made these products available just so that they can make more money? Also, was the stylist saying this so that he can get more people to go to salons, thus ensuring that he makes more money, I mean if you really think about it, if we all relaxed our hair at salons they'd be making more money.

I know people who relax their hair at home quite successfully. The results are always salon perfect, and then I know others (myself included) who have semi-decent results. I personally prefer to go to the salon, simply because the results are better, but perhaps if my hair came out perfectly with DIY relaxers I would have a different opinion. My advice to anyone who does DYI relaxers would be to make sure that you wash it out really well. Perhaps go to the salon for a wash the following week so that they can also wash it, or wash it with a neutralizing shampoo the following week so as to make sure that the chemicals are out. Also, don't leave the relaxer in your hair even when your scalp is really burning with the hope that those extra two minutes will work magic. Trust me, it doesn't. I have done that before and regretted it. It only harms your scalp and the relaxer damages your hair (even though it may not be visible to you).

Anyways, that's my take on it, What do you think? Email me on justfab13@gmail.com and tell me what your thoughts are and I will make sure to post them.