Hairstyles for Unrelaxed Hair

Unrelaxed hair has many fun and elegant styling options.

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Chemical relaxers work by permanently breaking down the chemical bonds that create your curl pattern. They tend to damage and thin your hair, which can lead to breakage, so managing your hair without relaxers is often a healthier option. Styling unrelaxed curls might seem like a daunting task, but with the proper moisturizers, products and tools, you can create hairdos with the same flexibility as you can with relaxed hair.

Related Searches: Protective Styles

When your hair is curly or kinky, the ends tend to be more fragile than straight hair and more prone to dryness and breakage. Protective styles cut down on damaging manipulation, avoid friction from your clothing, shield your hair from the elements and require little daily upkeep to remain presentable. Buns are tidy, while braids and two-strand twists can be either casual or elegant. Braid-outs and twist-outs create new hairdos from your protective styles with defined curls for versatility.

Curly Dress-Up Styles

You can arrange your basic protective style into an updo for an evening out. A French twist is a classic option equally accessible to curly hair as to relaxed hair, and they can dress up loose hair, braids, twists or even dreadlocks. Alternatively, you can gently pull back the front of your hair and leave the back curly and free. Accessories like flowers, patterned scarves, combs or pins can add elegance and flair to your dressy styles.

Blowouts and Roller Sets

Even if you prefer not to relax your curls, occasionally you might want to wear a straight style. You can blow dry your hair and then hot comb or flat iron it into a smooth loose style with a little curl at the bottom. Roller sets can also straighten your hair, and you can choose big, wavy curls or tight spirals. Whenever you apply heat for straightening, remember to use a protective serum to avoid damage to the hair shaft, since an increased use of heat styling leads to the faster and easier development of split ends.

Wash and Go

A simple styling choice for unrelaxed hair is the wash-and-go. Aside from being easy — requiring just a bit of styling product — this style also helps you to keep your hair moisturized. If you don’t want to go out with your hair dripping wet, blow dry with a diffuser. That way, you maintain the curls and reduce the negative effects of heat to your hair.

ReferencesCornell Center for Materials Research: Variety of Chemicals in Hair Relaxers Untwist StrandsNaturallyCurly.com: What Are Protective Hairstyles?Curly Nikki: Dr. Perry on Curly Hair BreakagePhoto Credit Jupiterimages/Pixland/Getty ImagesRead Next:

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