Many people with kinky, textured hair chemically relax it to get their tresses straight and silky. But many times this relaxing can leave you with straight hair that is also flat, unattractive, limp and lifeless. The flatness problem can be compounded when flat ironing relaxed hair, or if the hair is already naturally fine. If you are someone who enjoys relaxed hair, but prefers a bit of thickness and volume to your hair then these relaxed hair thickening tips may work well for you!
One of the easiest ways to permanently improve your hair’s thickness is to get your diet on track. If an individual is deficient in a particular nutrient, then supplementing that nutrient will lead to improvements in hair thickness. If an individual already has a well rounded diet, then no amount of supplementation will increase shaft thickness.
People tend to glaze over this tip, but honestly, how can you expect to produce top quality hair if your main diet consists of cokes, chips, cookies, and McDonald’s 10 piece nuggets? Your hair and nails are the last parts of your body to receive nutrition because the body has its own ranking system of important systems to nourish. Hair and nails are essentially vanities whereas heart muscle, liver function, and circulation activities are higher priority items.
Now, while permanent thickening must be grown in and can only be achieved from improvements in health, diet and nutrition, there a few quick steps one can take to improve the thickness of relaxed hair from a cosmetic standpoint.
1.) Texlax your relaxed hair to improve thickness. Texlaxing is a chemical relaxing technique that straightens hair while leaving a bit of texture behind. Texlaxing involves simply removing the relaxer chemical prematurely, or blocking its ability to fully break the hair’s bonds by placing a thick layer of petroleum between the hair and relaxer.
2.) Stretch relaxers to thicken your strands. Overlapping is one of the number one causes of thinning relaxed hair over time. Stretching relaxers helps thicken relaxed hair by reducing relaxer chemical overlapping from new growth onto previously straightened hair.
3.)Switch to volumizing product formulas to thicken relaxed hair. Volumizing product formulas contain light proteins and polymers that visually increase the thickness of your hair. Nearly every major hair product line contains a volumizing series or special products for fine hair. These formulas are typically less thick and creamy than formulas intended for normal or coarse hair. Used periodically, these volumizing formulas can provide a temporary boost in thickness to your hair.
4.) Apply color rinses to improve relaxed hair thickness. Rinses also contain light proteins that deposit color and proteins along the hair shaft. These proteins increase the diameter of the hair shaft. If you are content with your natural color, then clear rinses are a good option. Alternatively, deposit only colors like henna and cassia are great, natural thickness boosters and also add to the diameter of individual hair strands.
5.)Try castor oil to thicken relaxed tresses. Castor oil is a commonly used natural oil thickener. While the exact process by which castor oil thickens hair is largely unknown and warrants investigation, it is a remedy that has survived for generations.
6.) Trim off scraggly or thinning hair ends to improve hair thickness. While it may be difficult to trim those ends, taking off see-through ends can do wonders for improving the look and overall thickness of the hair. Even, freshly cut ends move better and give the hair a more uniform shape and silhouette while stringy, worn ends draw attention to deficiencies in thickness. Blunt trims tend to make the hair appear thicker than V-shaped and layered cuts.
7.) Cut back on product use when styling to thicken relaxed hair. One mistake lots of people make when flat ironing relaxed hair is piling the hair down with heavy products prior to styling. Whether it be setting lotions, moisturizers, or oils-products can weigh down relaxed hair easily. Always apply products to the palms, rub the hands together vigorously until the product disappears and only leaves a thin film on the palms. Then, gently scrunch fingers through the hair to distribute.
Using these hair thickening tips throughout your regimen can help you achieve the thicker, voluminous hair you desire!
