Grow Out Relaxed Hair

Young woman before cutting her hair off
Photo: Michaelheim/Shutterstock
Q: I have relaxed hair or a straight perm, and my mom said I could grow it out, but to do that I'd have to cut it all off. Is that true?
 
A: Well, to remove the relaxed or straightened hair, you will need to allow the hair to grow out, and it would eventually be cut off through maintenance trims. Otherwise, the portions of each hair strand that were previously chemically treated will always be chemically treated, while the new growth will conform to your hair's natural wave pattern.
 
Now, that doesn't mean that you have to either "live with" the straight hair, or have short hair until it grows back because you cut it all off. Unless you used a hydroxide relaxer formula, instead of a thio-based straightener, you can always simply re-perm the hair to restore curl and/or wave to the hair.
 
Now, unfortunately, if you did indeed use a hydroxide relaxer (which would be more common if you are African-American) then you do have to allow the hair to grow out and be cut away to get rid of the straightened hair. You can, even in this case however, usually give the hair curl using roller sets and curling irons.
 
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See also:
 
Hair straightening
 
Non-lye based hair relaxers