How to take care of relaxed hair

[Aprill]

1. Perm your hair every 6 to 8 weeks depending on your hair's needs. Do not perm your hair every time new growth appears. For one week following your relaxer, use a reconstructor instead of your regular conditioner when you wash your hair. Aphogee makes and excellent reconstructor and shampoo. After a week return to your regular shampoo and conditioner
2. Wash and condition your hair every 2 to 3 days and at the very maximum one week. Try to use shampoo and conditioner designed for dry hair. Ultra Black Hair and Tresseme for damaged hair are excellent conditioners. Rarely if ever use a towel or a blow dryer to dry your hair. Instead, to prevent damage, air dry the hair, separating it with your fingers as it dries.
3. It is best to avoid using heat to dry your hair, however, if you prefer heat, then avoid hand held dryers. Use a hood dryer instead. With repeated usage, all hair dryers will damage and dry-out your hair, but the hood type will not damage it as quickly. The hair should be completely dry before you use a curling or flat iron on it.
4. When using a curling iron to style your hair, do not allow the barrel cover to clamp down on your hair. Hold the barrel cover slightly open and allow the hair to move over the curling iron barrel without the tugging and pulling caused by pressure from the barrel cover. Whenever the barrel cover clamps down on your hair it creates a weak point at which breakage is inevitable.
5. Never use hair oil on relaxed hair. Oil was designed for natural hair, and the usage of hair oils on relaxed hair is the major reason African American hair breaks off at such an alarming rate. If your hair is well conditioned you won't need any oil at all. If you choose to use hair oil, rub a very, very small amount in the palms and spread lightly through the hair. But keep in mind excessive hair oil will make your hair stiff and because it cannot move naturally it will break off (especially if you do not wash it frequently).
6. Use as little heat as possible with your hair as heat can only do more damage. Its ok to style your hair with a curling iron, however a rollerset is the best method with either a large or small curler depending on the size you want. If you use curlers at night be sure to tie them down to keep them from moving as you sleep. If the curlers are allowed to move as you sleep, it will weaken the roots and the hair will fall out from the roots.
7. Alternate between cold and heated styling. If you use a curling iron one day, set your hair with rollers the next day. This will help to minimize heat damage.
8. Drink plenty of water daily and check your hair's moisture level every day. To test your hair's moisture level, follow these simple steps:

1. First, Gently hold some of your hair in your hand. If your hair is cool to the touch and feels silky, it is clean, well conditioned and you are drinking adequate amounts of water. If your hair is warm to the touch, oily or dry like paper it is in need of cleaning, conditioning and you should increase your water intake.
2. Second, shake your head gently. If your hair bounces and moves easily it is clean, well conditioned and you are drinking enough water. If your hair does not move at all, the moisture level is very low. It is time to wash and condition your hair and increase your water intake.
3. Third, comb your hair gently. If there is no hair on the comb or on your clothing the moisture level is good. If there is hair on the comb or on your clothing, your hair's moisture level is very low. Wash and condition your hair as soon as you get the chance and increase your water intake. You might also want to avoid using heated styling instruments for a few days.

It is important to condition your hair often, however, when it is close to the time for you to get a touch up of your relaxer, the roots or your hair will be very dense and it will be difficult to properly rinse the conditioner out at the roots. Because hair will break of if conditioner is not properly rinsed away, you can do the following when your roots are very dense. Place 50% conditioner and 50% very hot water in a container and stir it until it becomes the consistency of shampoo. Once the mixture cools use it as you normally would. It will easily rinse from your roots. Do not use the diluted conditioner more than once or twice as it will not properly condition your hair. Get your touch up as soon as you get the chance and once your roots are straightened, return to using the conditioner full strength.

source:How to Take Care of Relaxed African American Hair - wikiHow

 

[candaysee]

Thanks 4 the tips! I am addicted to the blow dryer.

 

[cait]

Thank you for posting these tips. Some of them aren't completely true for my own hair but it's an interesting list.

 

[monniej]

great info! thanks april! i especially like the moisture test!

 

[SewAmazing]

Some of these were very good, but about 3 or so were off. I see hairstylists curl relaxed hair with curling irons that are literally smoking as they are curling the hair. They also use lots of oil spray sheen...

 

[Aquilah]

Okay, as for #2, my hair dresser told me ever 2 weeks... Washing once a week is okay, but every few days like that will strip it faster... WTF! I trust Pat more than this LOL!

 

[cait]

Originally Posted by Aquilah /img/forum/go_quote.gif Okay, as for #2, my hair dresser told me ever 2 weeks... Washing once a week is okay, but every few days like that will strip it faster... WTF! I trust Pat more than this LOL! I think hair texture and whatever else we've done to our hair makes a difference too, but for me, washing my hair every few days when it was short really made a difference in retaining it & gaining length. Keeping it hydrated was major for me. Now, I didn't always use shampoo, sometimes just conditioner. Overshampooing can strip fast too.

 

[Aquilah]

Originally Posted by cait /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think hair texture and whatever else we've done to our hair makes a difference too, but for me, washing my hair every few days when it was short really made a difference in retaining it & gaining length. Keeping it hydrated was major for me. Now, I didn't always use shampoo, sometimes just conditioner. Overshampooing can strip fast too. That would make sense then because I have about 3-5 textures going on in my head. It seems to hold relaxers a lot better if I wash at least once a week, but as icky as it is, it's better every two weeks. Not to mention, it was so over-processed at one point, that might've been why she said that. I dunno!