Tips for Relaxed Hair

No. 1: Be deep-conditioned.

• A lot of times, people feel like when they're going from relaxed to natural, they need to be deeply conditioned, even more so because they're natural now and their hair needs moisture, hydration, and all the other things. To be honest, relaxed hair is natural hair that was sent through a caustic chemical process and now has a higher pH. So as a result of that higher pH, those cuticles are now wider open. There are gaps, pieces are missing, and you're going to need more frequent deep conditioning to stay better hydrated.
• You're going to need more frequent conditioning for protein loss, and things like that are happening during that chemical process or just during standard styling. You want to ensure that you are regularly deep-conditioning your hair to keep it as healthy as possible.
• Making sure that you're regularly deep conditioning at least once every two weeks with relaxed hair is a good way to go. You can do so with a steamer like this here for at-home use.
• Salon steamers are fantastic as well. If you don't have one of those, you can use a hooded dryer like this here.
• So utilizing one of those tools for deep conditioning is going to be fantastic for you and helps to ensure that you are pushing that hydration and pushing that protein deeper into the hair. When you are utilizing things like that, you want to be deconditioning with a moisture mask and deconditioning with some protein as well. You can mix those two.

No. 2：Pay attention to temperature, and turn it down.

• You don't need as much heat in your hair. Your hair has already been chemically altered to be a bit looser in coil pattern and things like that. As a result, you don't need the same level or intensity of heat that you had before, and you really shouldn't be focusing on a ton of extreme heat use in terms of a ton of frequency around heat or things like that either. Tell straight up: if you have relaxed hair, you should be nowhere near 400 degrees. Stay away from her. I would say 350, max. Go even lower.
• If your hair is already suffered a good degree of protein loss. And if you're using a high degree of heat on there, that hair, even though it's already straight, can still suffer heat damage and be burned. It can cause hair to dry out. It can lead to breakage and more split ends. And a lot of times when you see people whose hair is relaxed and it's stiff, it's because that hydration is not where it needs to be or because there's too frequent use of heat, incorrect application of the chemical, all sorts of different things.

No. 3: Pay attention to the frequency.

• It means that you're getting this chemical reapplied. A lot of times when you look on the back of the box for a relaxer, you just listen to a professional. They'll tell you you need to relax your hair every six to eight weeks if you're wearing a relaxer. But six to eight weeks is the minimum window, not the maximum window. And I've heard some people where they're just like, well if you don't relax it that often, it's gonna break off. If you're not properly caring for it, sure. But if you're keeping that hair well hydrated and your protein balances where it needs to be, you can stretch so much longer than that.
• If you're feeling like your scalp air is too tight, like you can't comb through it, things like that. Usually, it's that your hair is that dry or you're sweating in your hair. You need additional hydration, not just for the relaxed hair, but also for the new growth that's growing out, especially actually if you're sweating.
• So if you're noticing those factors, I would highly encourage you to hydrate. I'm not talking about oils here. I'm talking about deconditioning. I'm talking about steaming, I'm talking about hydrating, moisturizers, and things like that with quality products, because quality product is so key.
• If you're feeling like, well, my hair is reverting, it's not acting right, all that, there's a good chance that you were using a Calcium hydroxide relaxer. You would need a sodium hydroxide relaxer. I get that the Calcium hydroxyl likes are usually much sensitive. Scalps say that they're better for the hair, they're safer for kids, all that. They're not, they're formulated to be less stimulating to the scalp, but there are no way better for the hair. And they do leave a Calcium buildup that is really difficult to get off. And usually you do have to run a sodium hydroxide over that just to get the Calcium buildup off of the hair.

No. 4: You should not be trying to get your hair bone straight with relaxer.

• Please use relaxer. Its intention is to relax acts the curl, not to remove the curl. So this is not just a straightening treatment. This is something that's meant to lessen the tightness of your curl. If you are utilizing a relaxer and you've removed all of the curl, you've also removed all that hair's integrity, all of its strength, all of its tensile strength, and now it's that much more prone to breakage, overprocessing,  dryness, to damage in general. And you're not really gonna see a ton of retention on your length. You wanna still leave some texture to that hair, you mind? You're still gonna turn around a heat on this. You're still gonna be turning around and regularly styling this hair. If I take everything out, it cannot take daily styling and still maintain the level of health that it needs to. And it's gonna be more prone to tangling. It's gonna be much thinner. It's gonna be breaking like crazy. It'll be see through on the end and you end up like that person where it's like, I can tell which side you're sleeping on because that side is shorter.
• All that. Those are usually factors of hair that is overprocessed.

No. 5: Scalp health matters.

• Always base your scalp very well before any sort of chemical relaxers being done. Keep in mind, there is no such thing as a no base relaxer. There are relaxers that are marketed as no base relaxers, especially if they're sensitive scalp. But bear in mind, relaxer is not for your scalp at all. It's not for the skin at all. This is for the hair.

No. 6: Relaxes should not be applied to your edges first.

• Usually, most people have more fine hair around the hairline, and it's more coarse within the inside of the hair. Now they might have a coarse section somewhere within in the head. It's not necessarily all of this is coarse and all of this is fine, but the exterior portion of the hair, the outer perimeter where the edges are all the way around, is usually going to be more fine. As a result, it's going to process quicker.
• So the hair that's not new growth is looking like it's fried because it's really dry. It's lots of good degree of protein and it's overprocessed. So it's on its way out. The other thing to keep in mind is that if you're still noticing, hey guys, this hair seems like it's bucking back quite a bit, your hair is probably dry in general. It needs more hydration. We need more moisture and more hydration, more water within that hair and more of a sealant on the hair to keep that water in place.

No. 7: Don't shampoo your hair for three days prior to getting a relaxer done.

• And you want to try your best to also avoid scratching the scalp. Reason why is because most people in a shampoo are going to be scratching. So you're abrasion to the scalp.
• And also when you are shampooing, you're removing natural oils, you're removing the natural barrier that your skin builds. So you're removing a layer of Protection for the scalp. So it's not about the hair necessarily being clean, that the hair won't relax well, and it relax the same either way. But the issue is if the scalp is overly clean or if the scalp has abrasions from you rubbing, scratching, things like that, you're going to see an increased risk of burning. And you also want to make sure that you are not doing a ton of scratching or rubbing, maybe a little light padding, but try your best to avoid scratching in general.
• If I see a tighter curl that this must be coarse hair. And more often than not, extremely coily hair is fine, not coarse, especially tightly coil type for hair like foresee things like that is going to be much more fine in nature because it is oval in shape, not round in shape. And as a result, because it's oval, it's thinner in the middle and much more prone to issues that you would have with fine hair.
• Remember, do not work for bone straight. For relaxing the curl, not remove the curl.

No. 8: Avoid caffeine.

• Before relaxing, you want to avoid things like teas, coffee, chocolate, and things like that. Keep in mind, that caffeine awakens the body, is opening everything up. And as a result, because awakening the body and opening everything up, it's a stimulant to the body. It's going to increase your risk of burning.

No. 9: Don't wear a hat to your appointment.

• Don't wear a hat before your appointment. I know your hair is probably not looking the way that you would like it to look. But tying things onto your head the day of your appointment not only holds in heat, which is gonna cause Everlaxer to process faster, which means it's likely going to hold in heat on your head. So it's going to cause, that will move quicker than you need it to, or it's going to cause issues with your scalp itching and with your scalp burning, things like that.
• Bear in mind, if that relaxes on your head and your scalp starts itching, that is the warning sign that your scalp is about to burn. So if you're wondering what's going on, if you feel that weird itching sensation, your scalp has not been itchy during a relaxer. Your scalp is, it's already eaten through the barrier cream. It is now dealing with your dermis where the nerve innings are. So it's eaten through barrier cream and it's even through the epidermis, where now in the dermis, where the nerve endings are, you feeling that itching sensation is the prelude to burning.

No.10: Don't work out before relaxing.

• This goes back into the same caffeine situation, awakens the body, and opens everything up. You've been sweating all of that, and it's going to increase your risk of burning.

No. 11: Opt for low-heat styling options, things like roller sets, twist-outs, and bracelets.

• And for the person who is like, I thought that was for natural hair, you can do twist doubts on relaxed hair. You can do them all the time. At least a beautiful wave. It's just not quite as full as it is on natural hair. You can do bracelets on relaxed here. Keep in mind, that the majority of people who are getting relaxers are doing it because they need something that's going to be quick. They need something easier for them to manage. But you can still use the same methods that you would utilize for natural hair, for relaxed hair, like I don't know if any of you have seen people would naturally straight hair will break their hair, go to sleep, wake up, and wear in the beachy waves and all that type of stuff. It's a braid out. They'll do a rope twist on their hair, which is a slightly different technique than two two-strand twists, but still the same premise, and take that down and wear it wavy and all that.
• Just because you're relaxed doesn't mean that you can't do that. It is not exclusive to natural here, mind you, that it's still not heat-free, but it's a low-heat option. If you're sitting under a hooded dryer like this here, the highest at-temperature shedding setting should be high, not perm, is for when that hair is being done with a curly perm or an endothermic perm where you need to go underneath a dryer and accelerate the use of that chemical. It should not be used to dry your hair. It is going to dry your scalp out massively and have you itching like crazy. You need the hydration on your scalp. And even though it will dry your hair faster, it's going to make you miserable. The highest you should have it on is high. And honestly, for most people, I use it on medium.
• Keep in mind, that there are other low-heat options when you are drying your hair. So you could utilize something like the Red Air. It is a bit pricey, but it is an option. Or if you're going to blow dry, use a low-heat blow dryer.

No. 12: You wanna maintain your style by wrapping it at night, putting it in pin curls, braid outs, or twisting, things like that to ensure that you do not have to put heat on your hair every single day.

• No matter what fabric of hair you have, whether it be natural, relaxed and straightened, extra coil, or whatever the case may be. You don't want to be applying heat to your hair every single day. You're going to damage your hair. You're going to cause issues with breakage and issue with dryness. And dryness always leads to breakage. Breakage always leads to split in it starts this cyclical nature that's just really not great for the hair kind.

No. 13: Always sleep on satin or silk.

• The reason why this is that satin and silk are less absorbent fabrics. They are moisture resistant, not moisture absorbent. Cotton is an absorbent fabric. Satin and silk, while they do have an absorbency level to them, they don't absorb near as much moisture, near as much water, near as much hydration as cotton does. So I want you to imagine if you are sleeping on a thirsty fabric, it is robbing your hair is hydration. All nylon. If you are sleeping on something like satin or silk, it allows you to have a better experience with that hair and honestly, with your skin, too.

No. 14: Relaxer and lightener or bleach are not a good combination.

• They can exist really well on their own. And in the right circumstances, sure, they can exist well together. But more often than not, they don't work well at all.

No. 15: Use heat Protection, preferably something that is alcohol-free.

• Now there are moisturizing alcohols like stereo alcohol and satiral alcohol, but you wanna stay away from isopropyl alcohol or SD alcohol and your heat protectance because they're drying ingredients.

No. 16: Don't be scared of silicone after you have hydrated the hair.

• Silicones are such high quality ingredients. So use the highest quality heat protectant. They're used in a lot of great detangling products. They're used to help seal in hydration without adding a ton of weight to the hair. But the problem is when people use silicon like it's a hydrator, it doesn't work that way. So if your hair is dry and you put a silicone on it, it's gonna be shiny and still dry and it's gonna be brittle and breaking and all that because you can't get hydration in after that cuz you just put a sealant on the hair. So the best way to use silicon is to shampoo the hair, condition the hair, or whatever, leave in you want to put on there. And then you would go in with silicon. After you have added in all the measures of hydration, you go in with your silicon and seal and use it as your moisturizer. There's gonna be lighter-weight things like that. By the way, hydration goes within the hair. Moisturizer sits more so on top of the hair.

No. 17: Hair should not be relaxed before that person experiences puberty.

• Your hair goes through changes every time your hormones change. Hair that has not yet experienced the hormonal change that comes along with puberty is often very fine. It's very delicate. The skin is very fine and delicate. And if you are applying such a constant chemical on there, you are quickly going to overprocess the hair.