How to Maintain Healthy Hair After a Hair Relaxer

Things You'll Need

Instructions

1. • 1
     Use a moisturizing conditioner on the hair regularly. Allow it to set for at least 10 minutes. The chemicals in hair relaxers can dry out the hair, which can lead to breakage over time. This is why it is important to keep the hair hydrated. It is also ideal to consider using a leave-in conditioner on relaxed hair. Ask your hair stylist for product recommendations for your hair type.
   • 2
     Limit use of hot hair styling tools. Overuse of flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers and rollers is not recommended. Since relaxed hair is already dry and prone to damage, it is also ideal to use hot styling tools on lower settings to reduce the risk of breakage. It is also ideal to use a heat protectant spray to prevent hot styling tools from damaging your hair.
   • 3
     Consult a hairstylist before using hair dye. Since hair dye will also put chemicals into the hair, it can dry out and lead to even further damage. Semi-permanent hair dyes are generally considered safe for chemically relaxed hair, but it is important to ask your hairstylist to find out about the specific type of relaxer she used.
   • 4
     Avoid relaxing hair too frequently. To maintain a hair relaxer, you will need to retouch the roots as the hair grows out. Unfortunately, relaxing the hair too frequently can cause damage. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, women are generally recommended to relax their hair once every six to eight weeks. Relaxing the hair more often than this may lead to damage.
   • 5
     Trim your hair once every three months. This is particularly important if the hair relaxer causes any hair breakage. You cannot reverse split ends. Having your hair trimmed on a regular basis is the most that you can do.

Tips & Warnings

• Always have an experienced hair stylist apply the hair relaxer.
• Avoid using hair relaxers with "lye," which is a chemical that tends to be more damaging to the hair.