Welcome To Our Black Hair Styles & Care Answers Page 

This page is to give our visitors a chance to ask Asha questions concerning all aspects of black hair care, growth and treatment, as well as to view some of her responses. It's best to try and take the time to read through as many responses in the Forum as you can. As Asha has tried to cover a broad range of questions regarding black hair care and hair care in general and you may find your questions may have already been answered.     

Since Asha cannot possibly acknowledge or answer each and every question submitted. From time to time she will select a question, and answer here on the Forum, those that may be relevant to a large majority of people when possible. So your questions may be one she chooses to answer in the Forum. 

When inquiring about, or choosing to place an order for the Wash and Wear Relaxer kit or for the Wash and Wear products, Asha will answer any personal hair questions and provide a detailed hair analysis and recommendation.     

     
The information on hair care to be found in our Forum and throughout the rest of our website is meant to increase your knowledge about Black hair care and hair care, and styles, in general. Through our years of experience we have found that everyone's hair is unique and different, so it's best that you email photos of your hair when it is wet and include a history of your hair, hair type and concerns. Email us at orders@jazma.com

Question Forum
            

These pages were last updated  July, 2024.     

Be sure to go to the Previous Questions link at the bottom of  this page to view all our older Question & Answers.     

Jowanna
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania     

Dear Jowanna,

The problem you are experiencing is an all too common one, with regards to the relaxing of hair. The solution is really quite simple. Try not to have the relaxer touch your scalp when you are relaxing your hair. Products that are meant to relax your hair are meant just to do that - relax your hair. Your scalp does not need to be relaxed, just your hair - and just the new growth at that. When the relaxer is applied to your hair it should be applied to the new growth only, near its base at the scalp (about 1/8" away), doing this during the entire application. If you cannot manage this you will need to apply a thin film of petroleum jelly (base) throughout your entire scalp. Taking your time to keep it off the hair, which will retard the relaxing process where it covers the hair and therefore cause an uneven processing.
    
Do not manipulate and smooth the relaxer into the hair and scalp to help it achieve straightness. The relaxer will by itself relax the hair with very little manipulation. I know many people do this but it creates many problems and really does not improve the service in my opinion. Just to name a few of the problems it causes; overlapping of chemical on to previously relaxed hair. If the relaxer gets on the scalp, it may cause unnecessary irritation and burns. Moreover, once on the scalp it can it get into the hair follicles. This is probably the most detrimental of the problems in my opinion. 
    
With traditional hydroxide based relaxers "neutralization" is brought about by a change of pH in the chemical not through an oxidative re-bonding process as with a thio perm. So when you use a neutralizing shampoo to "neutralize" the relaxer you are not truly "neutralizing" the sodium hydroxide (or any other hydroxide). What you are really doing is using the shampoo, typically a low pH formulated shampoo to help the process along, along with the water to severely dilute - therefore reducing the pH - and remove the relaxer from your hair.
    
If any small trace amounts of relaxer are left trapped in your hair follicle that are missed in the shampooing process or have just penetrated too deep to have been properly removed, residual chemical action from these trace amounts will now take place. As I just mentioned hydroxides are "neutralized" from a change in pH. So to stop working, these trace amounts will continue to break down organic material (i.e.: your root follicle and attending area) until mixed with enough of  this dissolved material for a change in pH to occur to it, hence stopping the trace amounts of chemical action.
    
When done repeatedly the risk is cellular damage. This may cause the follicle to produce an inferior hair shaft or may reach a point where it can't produce a viable shaft at all. This in almost all cases takes place over an extended period of time, sometimes many years. You may end up with thinning hair for no apparent reason. This process may be very gradual and may be seen as a part of the aging process by mature women - this may very well be the case in the majority of instances - but for some it was a constant assault on their scalp and follicles by improper relaxing techniques that brought this result about.
    
Your hair follicle is really the goose that lays the golden egg, in that any damage inflicted on your hair can be regarded as a temporary set back. You will produce new healthy hair in time. However, if you abuse your follicles, even inadvertently or unbeknownst to you, you may end up in a position where your follicles are producing a poorer quality of hair or perhaps no hair. For people who have noticed over the years a change in the quality of the hair they are now producing or are experiencing thinning of their hair, this may be the answer.
    
Dorothy my apologies for the long answer and if I went a little further than maybe you wanted. I do receive many letters from people, especially older Black women, who have relaxed  their hair for many years and whose hair has started to thin and feel different than it used to for no apparent reason. I thought I would provide some background information and a possible answer in your question.
   
By always taking the proper time and precautions when relaxing your hair, it will pay off  in the end.
   
Asha               

Pamela
Seoul, South Korea                  

Dear Pamela:

Thank you for your letter. 
    
The majority of the letters I do receive on Black hair care have to do with hair growth and/or hair breakage concerns so it's nice to hear things are well with your hair. As my grandmother used to say "the proof is in the pudding". Meaning  that it sounds as if you are doing a very good job in looking after your hair. If you weren't the adjectives "thick", "long" and  "healthy" would not be in your letter. I don't think your hair really needs a "rest" or else it would not look as it does, plus you would most likely feel like you had some sort of problem or other things happening and you don't. You know better than anyone else does whether a problem exists anywhere on your body.
    
The only real suggestions I may have are that your braids be larger than smaller (such as micro styles), and looser tension than tighter. For the "rest" you can vary the braiding pattern so that your hair gets a break from the same repeated direction in tension from doing the same braiding style.  Remember too tight can leave nicks on the cuticle and follicle damage. Also is is best to keep you hair hydrated daily with water based products such as the Revival Curl Revitalizer an dthe Quench Moisturizing Spray.                                                               

Good luck.
Asha            

 Swade
 Rochester, New York                                            

You have run smack-dab into a  major pitfall in colouring and relaxing Black hair and I'm sorry but I don't believe there is much that can be done for you to correct it at this point.
    
The double chemical processing of hair can be tricky. One of the pitfalls is if you don't colour and relax the hair in the right order to see the right order then do it properly and with the right timing you can have a problem like what you are now experiencing and writing about or in some cases even worse problems with severe breakage taking place. 

 Where you went wrong is in not realizing in order to achieve the change in colour in your hair, that the chemicals involved in permanently colouring hair, as they are processing, weaken the same bonds in your hair that a relaxer works on as well when they release the curl and texture from your hair. 
    

Once the colour was in your hair (two times, plus bleach to exacerbate the problem), your hair needed a real reduction in processing time in your re-touch service to match the same texture you desired from the first time you did it without the colour in it. Hence the over-processing which you see is it coming out straight and not in a texturized look.
    
You will have to start again with the new growth, the key is to never let 20 volume peroxide or higher touch relaxed hair. We colour 3-5 days after a relaxer if it is highlights, and to avoid the relaxer overlapping on to the colour areas in the next touch up. A demarcation protein filler can be used on the coloured areas to retard the relaxer.
   

Asha    

I'm planning to get braids for spring break but I only wanted them for about a month. My hair is currently relaxed and a little past my shoulders, I have healthy hair. I read elsewhere on your site not to perm too soon after removing braids. What damage will I do to my hair if I get a relaxer the day after I take my braids out? 
               

Tiffany
Cookeville, Tennessee  

One of the things  that may happen when you put braids into your hair is that micro nicks and abrasions can occur at the areas where the extended hair attaches to and  comes in contact with your own natural hair. This happens as a result of the extended  hair and your own rubbing together as you go about your day to day  activities. Over time this rubbing and movement, although seemingly slight, can wear at the outer cuticle layer of your hair and thus cause nicks and abrasions. When present, these areas will not be visible to the naked eye. However, I  always find it best to err on the side of caution and assume they are present in anyone who has had braids in their hair for an extended period  of time and is coming out of them.
      
These areas I just mentioned are referred to as "hot spots" and  any relaxer - colour as well - applied to the hair will process at these weaker links in your hair the fastest, thus over-processing them as your hair is being serviced. What happens is the areas without micro nicks and abrasions will take longer to become straight so by leaving the chemical on longer to process you inadvertently end up with hot spots. These over-processed hot spots may now have become too weak to keep the hair shaft intact on your head and will start to break at these points. 
      
I have always found it best to wait a week to do what we call "filler" treatments. At Jazma, we use a professional use only product called Kerabond made by Kerasoft to do this, it is a special polymer, amino acids and protein product used to help strengthen and fill in these weakened hot spots to ensure a more even process. This can be done before a relaxer, our Show and Tell DVD Vol 2 explains how to properly apply a Filler. 
      
     
Asha 

I have been wearing braids in my hair for  years and the sides are beginning to thin out. This problem has become very noticeable. Also, when I take the braids out of my hair and perm it, I notice that my hair is very thin. What should I do to thicken my hair and how do I get the sides to start growing back?   
 

Heather
Pierrefonds, Quebec                       

The problem you are most likely experiencing is one I see quite often on Black women who come to our salon looking for answers on thinning hair, especially at the hairline and temple areas when they have been wearing a tension hair style, such as braids, as you have for years.  
      
The name for this condition is traction alopecia. This literally means: loss of hair (alopecia) from sustained pulling or tension (traction). This can occur to areas of the scalp where over a period of time too great a tension has been placed on the hair follicles - where the roots are located, and they are torn out of  the head. When this happens, you may not notice it, but these hairs are quite different from the 50-100 hairs you lose every day that is a normal part of the hair growth cycle. These hairs have been ripped from their sockets and if you could see a magnified view of the follicles where this has happened you would see cellular damage and trauma in this area.
      

The body is quite miraculous in its ability to heal itself and will do so to these damaged hair follicles. However, as this repeatedly happens to the same follicles by continued use of hair styles that involve pulling and securing, scarring will occur and over time these follicles will loose their ability to produce a viable hair shaft. These follicles become barren and you have the beginning of areas of traction alopecia. This may be happening all over your scalp to you, hence the thinning all over.
      
Some hair styles I have seen this occur in are braids, weaves, cornrows and pony tails. Please remember it is usually when these styles are done with too much tension and too often that traction alopecia may occur, this usually happens over a long period of time, perhaps years and the results are cumulative.
      

The answer to solve this problem is the same for people in the early stages of this condition as well as for people in a late stage advanced state (this condition is much more easily reversed in the early than late stages). You must stop all tension styles to your hair and avoid doing them again in your life especially to the affected areas. I do live in the real world and I am not saying that from time to time you can not put your hair in a pony tail or an up-do, but these occasions should not be frequent and when you do they should be with as very little tension as possible if they must be done.
      
As I said, the body will try to heal itself and this could take many months or even years with no further assaults to the scalp. I do find for some people that natural source vitamin E purchased in capsule form, and pricking a capsule and applying it to the affected area is of some benefit in helping soften and heal scaring (you most likely will not be able to see this scarring, but it is there if this condition has been present for any period of time). For many people the areas of loss will not come back as it is too late to remedy and the best that can be hoped for is that by refraining from tension styles this will stop the gradual progression and spread of this condition.
      
I do highly recommend you see a dermatologist in your area who has experience with traction alopecia. There are specific tests that can be  performed on your scalp to confirm whether or not you are experiencing  this condition and he can make much more specific recommendations for you.
     
Asha         

What is the best hair relaxer and most gentle for children's hair on the market? At what age should you give your child a relaxer?       

Judy Willard
Tampa, FL

I am a lady of mixed  race, but have quite kinky hair and therefore I relax my hair on a regular basis. I also colour my hair (which I also do regularly - two weeks after  a relaxer). But recently I notice that every time I wash my hair, it breaks when I comb it when wet. But when my hair is dry, I can comb it, brush it but it does not break (except for the few strands). Please help, I am scared to wash my hair. 
 

Marilyn
Harare, Zimbabwe                                     

Dear Marilyn:

Part of the balancing  act in relaxing and colouring Black / Afro textured hair, or as you say kinky hair, is that they both permanently break internal bonds in the hair which is needed to retain its structural integrity. It seems to me, without being able to see and fully analyze your hair, that your last colour crossed a barrier point that has now taken too much of this integrity out of your hair. You now notice this when your hair is wet because relaxed hair (and coloured treated hair as well and you have both) is at its weakest when it is wet in regular circumstances. Now when you wet your hair it really doesn't take much stress to cause breakage to your hair because this wetting now tips the scale and moves you beyond the breaking point for your hair.
      
My best answer for you is to seek the advice of a good stylist in your area. There are special protein filler treatments that may be able to help with your breakage problem and it is best to at least see someone who knows what they are doing and then if you don't want to go to the salon on a regular basis, keep up their recommendations at home. You could order our Kerabond Filler Treatment and the Show and Tell DVD Vol 2 for the instructions.
      
In the meantime you will have to be extra, extra gentle with your hair (please see our tips on shampooing and conditioning hair) until all of the hair that is damaged is eventually cut off through regular trims. In the future you may want to give consideration to a colour specialist colouring your hair and you should reduce the time to colour your hair after a relaxer from two weeks down to 3-7 days, no longer.

     
 Asha  

I just had a texturizer put in my natural   hair and it did not take I want to know how long should I wait before I put a perm in my hair? I'm not sure at this point what I want to do, will it be safe to put braids in also? My hair is soft but for some reason all  it did was loosen up my hair into an Afro. I need help, please.  
      

Angelia
Jacksonville, FL                                           

If you are presently not having problems with breakage or any other concerns, then I would say that you could do either the perm or the braids to your hair as soon as you  want with no problems, outside of the usual precautions to take when you  do such services to your hair.
      
 It is not uncommon in our salon for our Wash & Wear Relaxer™  to "not take" on the first or on rare occasions even the second service. The reason for this in our salon is that we feel it is always better in getting to know someone's hair and how it will react to a chemical application to always err on the side of  under rather than over-processing that client's hair. This result sometimes may not present itself for a few days or so later as the hair settles in from the chemical change after service (in the salon the day of  service it may look wonderful then slightly revert over the next few days). Although this may happen infrequently, we do explain to clients that this may happen, and assure them that there will be no damage done to their hair to go back in, even in just a few days, and remove a little  more texture from their hair if this does occur to them and of course we also assure them there is no charge for us to do this as well. We want a great result for them and you can always take out a little more texture when you under-process but once it  is removed there is nothing that you can do to put the curl back when you over-process the hair, hence our caution.
      
I would suggest that if you had this service done in a salon that you could return to the salon and find out if it was under-processed and have them remove a little more texture out of your hair (you also have the option of forgoing the texturizer and have a traditional straight relaxer technique as well at this time if you desire). Another possibility could be a lack of or improper use of maintenance hair products to define and  maintain your texturizer, semi natural hair will look like a "blow-out" or "Afro" without the proper use of after care products.
      
People have a number of options to be able to wear their hair in the look you also desire. Some people can do it without any chemical aid at all, their hair is naturally that way. They can texturize it, a form of  what we call Wash & Wear Relaxer or use a curly perm, sometimes called a  Jheri curl, can also be applied, but is less commonly employed now days. However, these hair styles all really look their best when the right products are used to moisturize, soften and to also maintain a constant  level of moisture through the day and to enhance curl definition. This is critical if the hair is going to fall into cork screwy spirals, ringlets, crimps or coils which is the usual goal when wearing the hair this way.
      
The best test to see if you are experiencing a hair products issue is this. If after you shampoo and condition your hair and while it is still damp, if your hair has waves, ringlets, curls or a texture you like, it most likely is a  products issue. Water will moisturize and define for a while but it will then evaporate and you are left will frizzy hair with much less defined curls. Also if you pick or comb your hair, especially if you are not using  or are using improper hair care products, you will end up with an Afro as you describe. When your working with texturized hair you should refrain from using picks or combs to the daily styling of your hair as they will remove definition from your curls and instead work with your fingers and hands to scrunch, style and direct your hair. Picks and wide toothed combs should  be used after shampooing and conditioning to gently detangle your hair  (no rough picking or combing) when necessary before applying any care products to your hair.
      
If you find this is the case in your instance, we have four products we sell to maintain our soft curly looks. They are by Kerasoft and they are the Interlink Leave-In-Conditioner, Quench Moisturizing Spray, Revival Curl Revitalizer and Actisilk Curl Enhancer. These products are water based, non-greasy and without them our clients who have hair as described above would not look the same without them. Some people with fine hair also like to use a little of the Control Mousse to give their hair extra body.
      
These products will give you the result you desire for your texturized look, without a lot of weight or rub off and maintain a nice look and moisture level throughout the day. When you want to wear a straight style by blow drying and hot curling, a product such as our Glosify Hair Polish will provide an anti-frizz protective barrier that will help stop your hair from frizzing in a humid environment and the Interlink Leave-In Conditioner also can be used to aid in eliminating the frizzys' and as added thermal protection for your hair as well.
     
Asha
   

My hair is presently relaxed. I have not  given it a touch-up because I would like to return to my natural hair. Do you have any solutions to wash the existing relaxer out. I was told a few years ago that washing one's hair with beer would get it off, though I have never tried. I do not want to wear a wig, extension or weave. I have very thick hair and its about 2 inches below my shoulder. Thanks    
    

Julita
St. James, Barbados                                                               

The reason that relaxers are sometimes called "perms" is that this term is short  for permanent. 
      
Permanent means just that, the permanent removal of texture from the hair (as in straightening). Contrary to rumors, there is nothing including beer, vinegar or anything else that will "strip" or remove a relaxer from the hair. 
     
 As I say in my answer above once texture is removed with a traditional relaxer, there is nothing that can be done to put that texture back into the hair again, outside of being patient and waiting for the hair to grow out. 
     
Asha