Hair Relaxers are very common among Afro-Americans to get pin-straight and long hair. But it’s not only them; anyone with textured and curly manes might love giving beauty-centred straight manes a go.
However, hair relaxers comprise harsh chemicals that can weaken your manes. So, if you color-treated or previously bleached hair, you must be diligent about choosing the right hair relaxer.
Chemically, there are three main types of hair relaxers: Lye, no-lye, and thio. Choosing the best one for your bleached hair depends on the texture and health of the hair strands.
Being a chemist, I independently looked into several hair relaxers and tested a few on human hair extensions that were bleached.
Further in this article, I have explained how to choose the least damaging hair relaxer for your color-treated or bleached hair and have also listed a few that I found gentler and safer comparatively.
How To Choose the Right Hair Relaxer For Bleached Hair?
There are three different types of hair relaxers based on their chemical composition. While choosing the best one for your bleached hair, you must consider a few things first.
Lye hair relaxers are the most famous and harsh ones that include sodium hydroxide as their main ingredient. The good thing about them is that they get you the ultimate straight and sleek manes.
But! A lye hair relaxer is the most damaging out of all three types of relaxers. Also, it permanently breaks the disulfide bonds of your hair, which means you won’t be able to perm hair again until its new strands grow out.
A lye hair relaxer is only best if your bleached hair is fully curly and textured. Plus, it still has strength after the bleach.
No-Lye hair relaxers have a similar action but contain guanidine or calcium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide. They raise the pH of your manes to 12-13, which causes the breaking of disulfide bonds.
Like a lye relaxer, a no-lye hair relaxer perfectly straightens your textured manes, and you won’t be able to perm them again for months. However, it is comparatively gentle.
A no-lye relaxer will be safer on afro hair, which is fully curly and textured.
The last type of hair relaxer is Thio relaxer, made up of thioglycolate salts of ammonium or glyceryl. People call them acid or alkaline perms and employ these to curl or wave their straight hair.
However, they are also employed as hair relaxers and can prove best for relaxing your bleached hair that is partially curly and textured.
In other words, Thio hair relaxers are best for caucasian or Asian bleached or normal hair.
So, what type of hair do you have? Below, I have reviewed one relaxer for each type.
Which Hair Relaxer Will Serve Your Purpose?
If you naturally have curly and textured hair that has been bleached, a no-lye hair relaxer will be a suitable option to avoid excessive hair damage and get sleek straight manes.
If you further want to cut down on the damage, you can opt for thio hair relaxer (alkaline perm). However, it may not turn your curly, coarse hair into perfect straight manes.
For someone with Asian or caucasian bleached hair, I would suggest an alkaline perm as a relaxer. It will perfectly straighten fine to medium hair while causing minimum damage.
You can also go with an acid perm (glyceryl thioglycolate), which is the most gentle of all types of hair relaxers, but it may not produce notable hair straightening, especially if you have thick, coarse manes.
The other best thing you can do for your bleached hair is a keratin treatment. It will not only straighten but repair damage and dryness caused by bleaching.
Hair Relaxers For Bleached Or Color-Treated Hair (That I Found Best)
Below, I have reviewed five relaxers for bleached hair, including one product from each type. You can opt for the best relaxer that suits your hair texture and health.
1. Just For Me Conditioning Creme Relaxer (For Curly Bleached Hair)
What’s the one crucial thing to look for in a relaxer for your bleached hair? It should be gentle while relaxing your manes bone straight. Did I get you right?
If you are looking for the best gentle relaxer for your bleached hair, Just For Me Regular Conditioning Creme Relaxer is the one I found that serves your purpose.
While it is formulated for children, any adult with chemically treated hair can employ it to get straighter hair. This hair relaxer contains vitamin E, coconut milk, sunflower oil, shea butter, and collagen peptides.
All these ingredients protect your hair against chemical damage from guanidine or calcium hydroxide, which is the primary hair-relaxing agent.
What are the prominent features of this product for your bleached hair?
- It’s no-lye, meaning safer than lye relaxers.
- Contains multiple hydrating and protective ingredients.
- Just For Me Creme relaxer is the most gentle one.
- Affordable
If you have textured black hair, the only thing that might concern you is this hair relaxer is less potent than sodium hydroxide relaxers. So, it might not get you sleek straight hair.
2. Gentle Treatment No-Lye Creme Relaxer (for normal to medium curly hair)
If you have medium curly and coarse Afro-American hair or typical textured caucasian manes, this gentle treatment hair relaxer will work best, especially when your hair is bleached.
This gentle no-lye formula protects your hair with its aloe vera gel content. It provides added hydration and moisture to your hair with Chamomile, Geranium, and Rosemary Extract.
Ladies have been using the gentle treatment relaxer formula and loving its gentle action that ensures the least hair damage.
It will make your bleached hair feel sleek, smooth, and straight while causing minimum dryness and breakage.
So, what makes this hair relaxer from Johnsons a better option to relax your bleached or chemically treated locks?
- Leaves hair healthy and shiny after relaxing.
- It has superior conditioning with various extracts from plants.
- No scalp irritation.
- One application formula.
- Designed to be safe for fine and normal hair strands.
While this hair relaxer pulls off excellent results for regular or medium curly and textured hair, it might not straighten those coarse and thick locks enough.
3. Zotos Quantum Firm Options Alkaline Perm (As a Relaxer For Normal Bleached Hair)
While hair perm solutions are famous for turning your straight manes curly and wavy, they can also do the contrary if curling rods are not employed.
An alkaline perm is better than an acid perm for relaxing bleached hair because it is comparatively potent.
So, if your bleached hair is not coarse and overly curly but has light waves or curls, employing an alkaline perm to relax your locks is safer than using lye or no-lye hair relaxers.
Why is it so? It is because an ammonium thioglycolate relaxer (alkaline perm) has a pH under 10, while the hydroxide hair straighteners have a pH between 13 and 14.
Zotos alkaline perm can be employed as a relaxer for your bleached hair to avoid the damage hydroxide relaxers cause.
What’s more excellent about it is you can turn relaxed hair curly or wavy again, unlike lye or no-lye hair relaxers, which permanently straighten your manes with the only option of shaving them off to go natural look again.
A thio hair relaxer is:
- Gentler than both lye and no-lye relaxers
- Allows you to revert to your natural texture within a month.
- Your hair remains relaxed for 2-3 months.
- Gets you soft and sleek hair.
If you have coarse and curly Afro-American hair, Zotos alkaline perm may not relax your locks ideally.
Wrapping Up
If you have bleached hair, it is crucial to consider a gentle hair relaxer to straighten it to prevent dryness and excessive breakage. A no-lye or thio hair relaxer offers a safer option to relax your bleached hair.
However, depending on how coarse and textured your locks are, you must choose the type of relaxer accordingly.
