| Your straightened hair is much more delicate than | | | | parched hair with moisture and create a |
| your pretreated strands. To ensure your tresses | | | | protective barrier to help fragile strands withstand |
| remain healthy, you must do everything possible | | | | styling stress. |
| to shield them from harm. This means gentle | | | | The right styling products |
| treatment, vigilant conditioning, and perhaps giving | | | | If you were using moisture-filled styling products |
| up some of the things you used to do such as | | | | before your relaxing treatment, keep on using |
| using straightening irons, backcombing, or regular | | | | them. In fact, you may even want to kick the |
| use of curling irons. | | | | conditioning up a notch and seek out products |
| Careful handling | | | | designed solely for chemically treated hair. Don't |
| You probably already know that rough treatment | | | | go overboard though: Use too much conditioning |
| damages your hair. You probably also know what | | | | oil, pomade, or styling wax and your hair will get |
| rough treatment is: brushing wet hair, tight roller | | | | grimy, forcing you to the shower for more |
| sets, overly vigorous shampooing, hair clips that | | | | frequent shampoos. Styling products to avoid? Go |
| snare strands, and many more methods of | | | | easy on dehydrating products such as sculpting |
| styling. | | | | lotion, gel, or alcoholÂbased hairsprays. |
| If you're new to this hair-coddling business, | | | | If your hair is in good shape prior to relaxing, but |
| however, keep in mind that relaxed tresses are | | | | begins breaking heavily after the procedure, |
| especially vulnerable to all kinds of stress, be it | | | | there's a good chance that your strands weren' t |
| mechamcal or thermal. A good rule of thumb: If | | | | properly neutralized. |
| you have to ask yourself whether an activity is | | | | Heat styling |
| hard on hair, it probably is. Avoid harsh styling and | | | | The less you do to your relaxed hair, the healthier |
| leave your hair as natural as possible whenever | | | | it will be. This means that if you opt for a |
| you can. | | | | wash-and-wear look, your hair will be stronger and |
| Shampoos and conditioners for relaxed hair | | | | suffer from less breakage than if you blow-dry or |
| If your hair is relaxed, you probably know | | | | use a straightening iron, a curling iron, or hot |
| first-hand the changes that have occurred in its | | | | rollers. Occasional thermal styling is fine, but if you |
| texture, the way it feels in your hand, how it | | | | have to use heat several times a week, ask |
| responds to styling products and so on. lt's | | | | yourself this: Could it be that you're not used to |
| probably drier, less vibrant, more brittle, and much | | | | seeing yourself with relaxed waves? Or do you |
| more easily prone to damage. For this reason, | | | | truly believe your hair looks unpresentable if it's |
| choose products that are labeled "for chemically | | | | not blow-dried to a stick-straight state? If it's the |
| treated hair" - or go a step farther and find | | | | first, try wearing your hair in its postÂrelaxed |
| shampoos and conditioners formulated specifically | | | | waves and see if the look grows on you. If it |
| for relaxed tresses. These low-detergent, | | | | doesn't, ask your stylist for a good cut that |
| high-emollient products won't rough up your | | | | works so well with your relaxed waves that you |
| delicate cuticle layer nor will they strip your hair of | | | | no longer think about forcing it straight. |
| important natural oils. What they will do is infuse | | | | |