5 Things You Need To Do Before Relaxing Your Natural Hair

Hello, everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, TasalaHQ put up this photo on her Instagram page of a girl who came in to relax her natural hair. Now, Tasala herself has natural hair so she tried to convince the girl before going ahead but she didn't bulge so she went on to relax and cut her hair.

Now, this, of course, got me thinking. Remember when we said that some people actually went natural because they thought it was trendy? A lot of people followed the fad without thinking it through. It did not occur to them that natural hair is a lot of work and now they are frustrated. This girl is clearly one of them.

Now, I know that there are a few other people currently in this situation. That same week, I had a conservation with one of my Twitter followers. She actually saved the picture above and was asking where she could get hers done. I tried to query her but she had already made up her mind.

For some reasons, if you find yourself in any of these situations, here are five things you need to do before you relax your natural hair.

• Blow out your hair

One of the characteristics of natural hair is its elasticity. Natural hair is elastic in nature which means it can shrinkage to any length. Now, depending on your hair type, your shrinkage can be as high as 90% which means most times, you won't know your actual length and you might think your hair is not growing. Before relaxing your hair, try blowing out your hair to determine the actual length. I promise you, you'll be surprised. If you're doing for the first time, remember to visit a natural hair salon to avoid heat damage. 

• Do a silk press

Silk presses are gradually becoming popular in these parts. TasalaHQ and Kemi Lewis of KLS Naturals currently do mean silk presses. So, if you are itching for the straight look, you should give it a try. In fact, it's your best option. Silk presses are completely safe for your natural hair as they do not involve the use of chemicals.

• Get your regimen checked/change products

If you strongly feel the need to relax your hair because you feel you aren't retaining length, then you should consider a complete change of regimen, This means that you would need to try new/different products because your hair might not be responding to your current products. After a while. you might see visible changes that might not require you to relax your hair anymore. 

• Try hair growth pills

This is probably a last resort but some people claim that hair growth pills work for them. There's no harm trying if you're really looking for results. 

• Long- term protective styles.

I can't count the number of times I've heard that doing protective styles back to back encourages length retention. So, if you still think your hair isn't growing, try protective styling for about three months. After which, you should take it down and blow out your hair to see the magic that has happened. 

Now, after you have done all of this and you still want to relax your hair, you can go right ahead. After all, it's your hair and your choice.


Love. curls. and coils.
Ebun Oluwole