Why You Should Never Relax Your Hair Bone Straight

Relaxed hair blogger LaToya Jones

Many women who have relaxed hair like for it to be relaxed as straight as possible, especially the edges. While I love me some straight hair as much as the next relaxed woman, relaxing the hair until it is bone straight is not recommended. As a professional hairstylist and healthy hair specialist, I would personally not recommend relaxing the hair more than eighty-five percent instead of one hundred percent. The relaxer should only be used to take some or most of the texture out, not all.

Why you should never relax bone straight

Relaxing the hair bone straight should not be done for three reasons:

1. Reduces elasticity- Elasticity is the hair's ability to stretch. Your hair has this ability naturally, but the introduction of chemicals can decrease it. When your goal is to get the hair bone straight and relax it one hundred percent, you are essentially taking out the hair's stretching ability.

2. Reduces body and movement- Leaving texture in the hair is what gives the hair it's body and movement. So essentially, removing all texture from the hair reduces the hair from having that swing action that everyone likes.

3. Increases breakage- When your hair loses its elasticity (ability to stretch), it is more likely to break. Think of the end of a broom and how brittle it is. That is how the hair can get when it loses its stretching ability. It can get very brittle and break much more easily.

Use the flat iron to get the look of bone straight hair

When I am at the salon, I never relax my clients' hair bone straight. I leave a little bit of texture in it. Then I give them the look of bone straight hair once I style it with the flat iron. That way, they don't lose the elasticity in the hair and their hair continues to have body, bounce, and tons of movement. Remember, it is not recommended for you to relax your own hair so always let a professional hairstylist that you trust do all of your chemical services. A trained professional will know exactly what is enough to relax.

Maintain your relaxed hair with great products

And, of course, always maintain your relaxed hair with great hair products, like these.

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