How Often Should I Relax My Hair & How to Relax Hair

November 24, 2022 Ivy Smith

Read Time:5 Minute, 8 Second

The term “relaxed hair” refers to curly or coily hair that has been chemically straightened with a cream. The bonds that cause a hair strand to curl are broken by a relaxer, which also opens the hair cuticles and penetrates the cortex. Yes, the process is irreversible, if that raises any questions in your mind. A relaxer can only be removed from hair by being cut out.

Table of Contents

How Often Should You Touch Up Relaxed Hair?

Whether the texture is wavy, curly, or coily, relaxed hair is chemically straightened to relax the natural curl pattern. Contrary to natural hair, which can return to its natural curly state after a silk press, relaxed hair is always straight and is frequently still blown out and straightened for a smooth, straight finish.

Reapplying relaxers to freshly grown hair is necessary for maintaining healthy relaxed hair types. Hair is susceptible to breakage without touch-ups. Find out how frequently you need touch-ups by asking your stylist. Depending on your hair type, you might need to touch up relaxed hair for two weeks to three months.

It takes more than just what happens in the salon chair or your bathroom to achieve healthy relaxed hair. The same goes for your natural hair; a healthy diet and plenty of water are essential for strong, lustrous hair. B12 vitamins, omega supplements, and other vitamins designed for healthy hair, skin, and nails can do wonders. Additionally, drinking more water will guarantee that moisture is constantly moving toward the scalp.

How to Maintain Relaxed Hair?

It is possible to maintain wholesome relaxed hair. But it’s crucial to keep to your touch-up schedule, use as little heat styling as possible, and condition your hair properly. Wauchope advises hot oil treatments, deep conditioning, and trimming any split ends to keep hair healthy while using a relaxer. Kimble reminds us that maintaining strong, healthy hair even when relaxed depends on our nightly hair routine.

Use an oil

While straightening the hair, relaxers weaken the hair shaft. Both protein-free oils like argan oil, shea oil, babassu oil, maracuja oil, and sacha inchi oil alone or in combination, as well as oils with a trace of protein like coconut oil, are excellent for relaxed hair. Oils perform double duty by strengthening the hair’s resistance to breakage and assisting in hair repair.

Schedule a weekly wash

At least once a week should be spent washing relaxed hair, particularly in the summer when chemicals used to treat locs can be damaged by chlorine, saltwater, and sunlight. To clean, maintain, and restore hydration, invest in a shampoo with hydrating properties. Apply a superior conditioner designed specifically to encourage softness after using a quality shampoo. After all, consistency and moisture are the keys to healthy relaxed hair.

Wash Your Hair Regularly

While some people may benefit from this, the majority do not. Without proper care, you cannot anticipate having healthy hair. Hair products, sebum, and extra oil are removed from it by routine washing. Hair products must be removed from hair because they may eventually cause dryness, especially if they contain silicone or alcohol. Finding a schedule that works for you is important because clean hair sheds and breaks less. Weekly hair washing has been very successful for me.

Incorporate deep treatments

Make time for deep treatments in addition to the weekly washes that you’ve scheduled. Hot oil treatments, deep conditioners, and hair masks can add additional hydration and introduce nourishing ingredients to help hair stay light and flowy. Apply your treatment to your hair after you’ve washed it, paying close attention to the scalp as you go. You can revitalize your dry hair with the treatment, which will also help your scalp feel balanced again. Consider receiving your treatment as a treat a few days before you touch up your relaxer as a preventative measure for added benefit.

How To Relax Your Roots At Home

You might have a false sense of confidence in your ability to replicate the process at home if you’ve been watching your hairstylist touch up your roots for years. According to Virginia-based hairstylist and colorist Joie Wallace, the hardest part of relaxing your own hair is being unable to see the back and crown.

It’s crucial to refrain from using a relaxer on already straight hair when touching up your roots. This is why self-relaxers frequently experience breakage at the back and crown because they are unable to see what they are doing. If at all possible, have a helper apply a relaxer to those areas. Or, for better visibility, position your workstation between two mirrors.

You do not need to relax all of your roots, according to hairstylists. A so-called edge-up relaxes only the back, temples, and sides of very short hair. (Imagine the hair that a man with male pattern baldness still has.)

Conclusion

The frequency of hair relaxation cannot be answered in a simple manner. You need to consider what is best for both your health and your hair.

The speed at which your hair grows, your preferred hairstyles, your level of patience, and the texture of your hair are all important factors to consider.

I hope this guide has assisted you in determining whether your own relaxer schedule needs to be adjusted or whether you are already taking care of your hair as best you can.

*Find More Muscle Relaxation Methods Here!