Hear what 3 Women have to say about their relaxed hair journeys

Ask ten women in Lagos what relaxed hair has been like for them, and you will get ten different answers. One has been doing the same thing for twenty years. Another lost most of her hair and had to start again by going bald. A third relaxed for the first time last year and is still nervous about it. We put those three relaxer journeys side by side, because what is missing from most hair advice is not information. It is the uniqueness of each person’s experience

Simi, Temi and Stella are representative personas. The names are ours, but every habit, mistake and turning point below comes from real relaxed hair stories women shared with us. 

Most hair advice arrives from two places: a stylist who has multiple people to attend to, or the back of a product bottle. Both leave out the middle. None of these come from real personal experience. That middle is where real relaxer experiences happen, and it is what these three journeys are made of.

Simi started relaxing in secondary school. Her natural hair was thick and full and, in her words, a whole event every Sunday evening. Relaxing it made it easier for her to do her school-assigned style every two weeks.

What changed is the frequency. She used to relax three or four times a year without thinking about it. Now it is twice, and she will not move that forward for anything.

Moisturising is the part she has never let slide. She permanently has a leave-in conditioner that helps her moisturise her hair. She is very strict about the product she uses on her hair; shampoo and deep conditioner happen weekly too. Anyone wondering what it is like to relax your hair long term gets a plain answer from her. It is a routine; the routine is boring, and that is exactly why it works.

Temi's relaxer journey went badly before it went well. Patchy spots, thinning edges, and enough hair loss that cutting it short stopped being a choice.

The mistake behind it was small and expensive. At every touch-up, relaxer went from root to tip, straight through hair relaxed years earlier. Nobody had told her that only new growth is meant to be touched, and by the time she understood, the damage was already done.

Recovery meant stopping completely for a year. No relaxer, no heat, nothing but growing it out. She washed with a shampoo and conditioner that left her hair soft rather than squeaky, used a leave-in regularly, and trimmed the ends often so it still looked full while it filled back in. Hair growing back can look thin and discouraging for months, and the trimming was what kept her going.

When she returned to relaxing, almost nothing of her old routine survived. New growth only, and no calendar; she relaxes when her hair tells her it is due, which is still irregular because it is still recovering. When she is not sure, she waits.

Stella relaxed her hair for the first time in 2025 after years of wearing it natural, and she will tell you she was scared. Transitioning to relaxed hair after that long felt like a decision she could not undo, which is roughly accurate.

So she researched, at length, the way people do when they are afraid of regret. She stopped using heat entirely in the weeks beforehand, and she booked an experienced stylist instead of letting a friend handle it at home.

Her stylist ran a strand test before touching the rest of her head to see how her hair would actually respond instead of assuming. Afterwards, Stella left it alone for about two weeks, kept it in loose braids, moisturised it, and washed it two or three times to be sure nothing was left sitting in it.

She still asks questions before every appointment, and she has not rushed a touch-up yet, not even with her roots showing. That, she says, was harder than it sounds.

Their hair types differ and so do their reasons for relaxing, but the same three habits turn up across all three of these real relaxed hair experiences.

None of them treats relaxing as an event; the work that matters happens at home, between salon appointments, and none will bring a touch-up forward to suit an occasion, whatever is showing at the roots. Moisturising is constant. It is what each of them pointed to when asked why her hair is still on her head.

A few things came up in every conversation.

Relax new growth only. Temi's damage came from running relaxer from root to tip, and her hair started recovering once she stopped.

Do not bring a touch-up forward. Twice a year for Simi, whenever it is genuinely due for Temi, and neither of them relaxes because an owambe is coming.

Deep condition weekly. Simi calls it non-negotiable, and her hair is the argument.

Take the leave-in seriously. Simi and Temi both keep one in constant use, and Simi's is the Breakfree Leave-In Strengthener from the MegaGrowth range.

Ask for a strand test if you are new. Stella's stylist did one before her first relaxer, and it is a reasonable thing to request.

Trim before you think you need to. Temi kept her ends tidy through the recovery year, which is why it looked like progress rather than loss.

None of that is dramatic. It is a handful of small things done the same way for years, which is the unglamorous reason some relaxed hair thrives and some does not.

How do women keep relaxed hair healthy long-term?

By spacing out touch-ups, relaxing new growth only, deep conditioning weekly, and keeping the hair moisturised with a leave-in between washes. Simi, Temi and Stella reached those same four habits from very different starting points.

Can damaged relaxed hair recover?

Yes, though slowly. Temi stopped relaxing for a full year, cut off what could not be saved, avoided heat, trimmed regularly and kept her hair moisturised. It grew back stronger, but it cost a year and a haircut she had not wanted.

What is the best routine for relaxed hair?

There is no single routine that suits everyone, but the shared foundation is a shampoo and conditioner matched to your hair, weekly deep conditioning, a leave-in used consistently, and discipline about touch-up timing.

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A healthy, relaxed hair journey in Nigeria is mostly maintenance, and maintenance is easier when the products are built for chemically treated hair. MegaGrowth has a full range that expertly cares for your hair through deep conditioning, leave-in moisture and damage protection.

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