That’s where a perm (or relaxer) comes into play.

What Is Relaxed Hair?

How Do Relaxers Work?

Emilie Joseph in Paris

Edward Berthelot / Getty Images

The latter uses ammonium thioglycolate as the active ingredient and creates waves or curls.

Can You Relax Dyed Hair?

Are Relaxers Damaging to Natural Hair?

And again, having a healthyscalpis essential, as the chemicals may be harmful to your skin as well.

Otherwise, keep rocking your beautiful curls until your hair has had a chance to rehab.

A common misconception is that relaxers promote hair growth; this is false.

Repeat: Relaxersdo notmake hair grow.

It might seem like they do only because straightened hair shows the true length of your strands.

A healthy scalpis key for growing tresses long and strong.

Avoid frequenthairwashing, if possible.

Scalp massages are great, toolevel that up with a dollop ofcoconut oilfor ultimate nourishing.

Byrdie Tip

Hair that’s both relaxed and colored requires a lot of TLC.

To help keep your mane as healthy as possible, consider trying regular doses ofprotein treatments.

How Long Does Relaxed Hair Last?

As its name suggests, a perm is permanent.

However, new hair growth comes back in curly.

Maintaining straight hair requires gettingtouch-upsat the roots.

These are usually needed every six to eight weeks for optimal results.

Beware of doing this more frequentlyrelaxing hair too often can lead tooverprocessing, which causes thinning and breakage.

Use a deep conditioner, and verify to use lightweight styling products that moisturize your hair.

How Long Do Perms Last?

Perms can last anywhere from six to eight weeks.

However, people also know perms as a spiral perm, a process that makes straight hair curly.

Shetty VH, Shetty NJ, Nair DG.Chemical hair relaxers have adverse effects a myth or reality.Int J Trichology.

2013;5(1):26-28. doi:10.4103/0974-7753.114710