African American Hair Relaxers

If you’re an African-American that wants sleek, straight hair but weren’t born with it, you have a couple options. Option one would be to hire Oprah’s hairstylist to pamper your hair 24/7 so it can be straight and beautiful without using a relaxer. Option two would be to simply use an African American hair relaxer instead. Well, being that Oprah’s stylist is already gainfully employed,it looks like we will have to go with the second option :)

African American hair relaxers vs. the others
When hair is very wiry and tightly curled, straightening it can seem like an impossible task. There are many cheap shampoos, conditioners, creams, and sprays sold at the drugstore that claim to be “straightening” but anyone with even moderately curly hair knows they have literally no effect. In order to truly straighten this type of hair, usually some sort of relaxer is needed. But not just any type… an African American hair relaxer which is designed to tame the tightest curls is often what it takes to get the job done. But which ones are best? Let’s take a look…

Types of African American Hair Relaxers
There are a couple different types of effective hair relaxers for African Americans. They are typically classified based on their ingredients:

Traditional Relaxer For African American Hair: This is your typical lye relaxer which has been around for ages. There are better alternatives nowadays, but because it’s cheap and effective, it continues to be the most widely used. This is unfortunate, because lye relaxers come with a slew of common complaints, such as burning and hair falling out. But even if you don’t experience those often, one of the drawbacks is that a lye relaxer can often leave the hair feeling overprocessed, dry, and dull.

Natural Relaxer For African American Hair: There is no official definition as to what a “natural” hair relaxer is, but most people agree that this term generally refers to African American hair relaxers which do not contain lye. Now it’s important to point out some may contain other chemicals which also can be dangerous, so they should still be used with great care. One of the best thing about this type is that they are known to leave the hair silkier and smoother than the lye versions.

What is the best relaxer for African American hair?
So, what is the best African American hair relaxer? Well, I suppose there are plenty of supporters on both sides of the argument (lye vs. no lye) but in my opinion, I believe the newer generation of natural relaxers is the way to go. In fact, I bet if the old school fans of lye relaxer tried out the newest stuff, they too would become fans.

What are the newest African American hair relaxers?
Just during the past couple years, there have been some very exciting discoveries in hair straightening formulations. My number one favorite is the Phytorelaxer Index #2. It may not be the cheapest, but don't you deserve the best? Check it out in our hair relaxer kits.