Why Does My Hair Break When I Try To Stretch My Relaxer?

Why does my hair break when I try to stretch my relaxer?

Being a relaxed hair specialist and relaxed hair blogger, I find myself often explaining to women with relaxed hair the importance of stretching their relaxer. I have noticed that the most common question pertaining to stretching relaxed hair other than how to stretch, is how to stop the hair from breaking while relaxer stretching. For many women, they feel like they can only relaxer stretch only for so long before their hair begins to break. I would like to be the first to tell you that this is a myth. Being a professional hairstylist that also has relaxed hair, I get a lot of relaxed clients and I have yet to see one who was able to stop hair breakage by applying a relaxer.

Relaxed hair blogger: LaToya Jones

Let's take a deeper look at this. If it were really true that stretching your relaxer causes breakage, and they only thing that would stop it from breaking was getting a touch up, then how is it possible for anyone to transition to natural? Think about it. If you wanted to transition to natural, but doing so caused breakage, that means that you would go bald! But of course, we know that is not true because everyone knows at least one person who transitioned to natural without all of their hair breaking off. This alone is proof that it is definitely not true that your relaxed hair breaks as a result of you stretching.

Getting a relaxer does not stop breakage

The fact of the matter is that if your relaxed hair starts to break when you try to stretch your relaxers out, that is a sign that your hair is already weak and possible damaged. If you are getting your relaxers too soon and have some over-processed hair, your hair is not as strong as it should be. As your new growth (the stronger hair) comes in, it makes it more difficult for the weaker part of the hair to hold on. If the hair has been over-processed enough times, it is very fragile and does not take much to break off.

Stretching your relaxer is key for stronger hair

In order to stop the hair from breaking, you'll need to continue to stretch your relaxers. This is the only way to stop over-processing the hair which is what is causing it to be weak in the first place. Trust me on this. When you get in the habit of stretching your relaxers, you will notice that your hair is much stronger and also is much thicker from root to tip.

Remember to only let a trusted, licensed hairstylists to do your relaxers

The whole point of relaxer stretching is to get enough new growth so that when your hair is relaxed (by a professional of course), that only your new growth is relaxed and previously relaxed hair is not relaxed again. So, if you relaxer stretch and still over-process your hair by trying to do your own relaxer, you are basically defeating the whole purpose of stretching. A hairstylist that you trust can clearly see your unrelaxed hair and stop at your line of demarcation, ensuring that your hair stays healthy. Please be sure you are only letting qualified professional hairstylists are doing your chemical services. You can always come see me in my salon (click here for an appointment) and I'd be happy to do it for you! Even if you don't live in the area, you won't be first to come see from out of town!

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