The 7 Best Hair Moisturizers for Relaxed Hair in 2024

Getting an excellent hair texture can be challenging for some to accomplish without stress and hassle. This experience can be especially true for someone who has chemically relaxed their hair from its natural state. 

We have put together this guide for the best hair moisturizers for relaxed hair that are available to purchase.

What’s the Best Hair Moisturizer for Relaxed Hair?

If you aren’t careful with chemically treated hair, your hair can undergo increased breakage or dullness from the damage your natural hair will experience from the heat and chemicals. Adverse effects of hair relaxation are very common.

Because of this risk, it is essential to treat your hair with the best moisturizers to protect and reverse damage from chemicals so your hair will maintain its soft texture and natural shine.

Picking the right moisturizer can be tricky, as you won’t be able to see how well it is working until you have been working it into your hair routine for some time. Continue reading to find out which ones are right for you.

Our Top 7 Picks:

1. Best Overall: Design Essentials Botanical Oils Hair And Body Moisturizer
2. Best for Fighting Breakage: Design Essentials Almond and Avocado Hair Moisturizer
3. Best for Preventing Dryness: Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Yogurt Hydrate
4. Best for Detangling: Dove Amplified Textures Deep Moisture Detangler
5. Best for Shine: Dove Amplified Textures Curls & Waves Finishing Gel
6. Best for Priming: Design Essentials Agave & Lavender Moisturizing Primer
7. Best for Extensions: Straight Silk Spray With Moroccan Argan Oil

Why You Need a Hair Moisturizer for Relaxed Hair

Chemically relaxing your hair carries several risks that increase the likelihood of your hair breaking and succumbing to the chemicals and heat treatments.

It is essential to keep your hair moisturized and that hair moisture stays locked in through hot and cold temperatures and humid and dry weather conditions.

Dry hair is a sign that your hair is damaged, and leaving your hair in a dry condition for too long can cause permanent damage to your hair where it becomes too brittle, and it will start to break and fray off.

Hair moisturizers are the most accessible and ordinary lifestyle change you can make to keep your relaxed hair as safe as possible.

Best Hair Moisturizers for Relaxed Hair: Top 7 Picks

Next, we will break down what makes our top picks stand out and what they are all about.

1. Design Essentials Botanical Oils Hair And Body Moisturizer

This product is mineral oil-free, making it great for medium to coarse hair textures in different hair types. This moisturizer is a great overall product for relaxed hair.

It is formulated for relaxed hair; it has many benefits people with relaxed hair are looking for built-in. It tackles the critical issue of breakage, which can cause you to lose volume in your relaxed hair.

It also has a formula that can help improve your hair’s shine, so you don’t have to choose between moisture and shine.

Users report that it has made their hair heavier, so it is recommended not to use too much of the product at a time, or it can weigh your hair down. Also, it has a weak scent which some may find disappointing.

2. Design Essentials Almond and Avocado Hair Moisturizer

This moisturizer is made from a combination of almond, avocado, jojoba, wheat protein, and olive oils. People who purchased this moisturizer from Design Essentials for its ability to be applied and keep hair moisturized for days.

Since it is a lightweight product, it is excellent for reducing breakage and helping with detangling your hair. The almond and avocado combination takes advantage of the best attributes of the natural oils that make them extra safe for relaxed or color-treated hair.

It is especially effective at moisturizing coarse or thick hair because it doesn’t leave a lot of build-ups left over after application

The product doesn’t come with a hand pump, and the user reported that squeezing the bottle to get the product out can be a hassle. Some users also said that the moisturizer’s scent is strong, and some found it offensive.

3. Shea Moisture Manuka Honey & Yogurt Hydrate

This hydrate from Shea Moisture is made from a honey and yogurt formula that uses the natural properties of honey as a humectant to prevent dryness from setting in and keeping moisture from escaping the hair follicles.

This killer combination results in a product that can serve as damage control to chemically treated hair and nourish and soften it further. The increased moisture retained in the hair will also lead to a slight increase in the amount of natural shine your hair will have.

Users praised it for its ability to reverse the progression of chemical damage that they thought was irreversible and for its ability to improve bleached hair and hair damaged by hair dyes as well.

Some users found the smell to be chemical and unnatural, which turned them off from using the product, and some found the film left behind after application to stick around after rinsing. This film might require a secondary product like shampoo to be removed effectively.

4. Dove Amplified Textures Deep Moisture Detanger

This moisturizer is infused with coconut milk, which makes it great at detangling hair and amplifying the already existing texture in your hair.

Coconut milk is excellent for locking in moisture in people who have relaxed hair, and the detangling helps your relaxed hair stay smooth and straight. Because it works for relaxed hair or natural hair texture, it makes a great supplement to a versatile hair-care routine.

Detangling is one of the most critical steps in treating your relaxed hair, so a deep moisture detangling formula like this product can protect your hair from a myriad of hair damage.

Relaxed hair may get too soft with treatment to be styled effectively, and if you have multiple textures in your hair, users of this product have reported mixed results.

5. Dove Amplified Textures Curls & Waves, Shine & Moisture Finishing Gel

This finishing gel is made from buttercream and is a great way to get some extra shine out of your relaxed hair. Users loved its ability to activate curls and provide a smooth slip that is easy to rinse.

Some users reported that the product weighed down their hair too much and that the product didn’t have a strong enough fragrance to make their hair smell good.

6. Design Essentials Agave & Lavender Moisturizing Blow Dry and Styling Primer

This primer is great for people with relaxed hair who want to blow dry and style their hair. It contains heat protectant ingredients so you can blowdry your hair quickly and safely while avoiding the pitfalls of frizz.

It uses the agave and lavender in its ingredients that is going to give your hair a softer texture and stronger follicles that will help with styling.

7. Straight Silk Spray With Moroccan Argan Oil Protector

This product is designed and tested to protect hair from up to 450F heat so you can use heavy styling instruments on your relaxed hair if you use a heavy protectant like this one.

It is an argon oil silky spray and can be used with blow drying, flat ironing, hot rollers, and curling irons. Even if you aren’t interested in styling your relaxed hair as much the formula is still effective at naturally straightening you hair and making it soft.

Finding the Best Moisturizers for Relaxed Hair

When incorporating a new hair moisturizer into your routine, it is essential to consider a few different factors that will influence how adequate the moisture can be for your relaxed hair.

How Important Is Shine for you?

Hair shine does not come with every moisturizing product, and often you will have to sacrifice hair shine for softness because hair shine is influenced by a numerous amount of properties that you may not be able to control.

The lighting and environment you are in may even have more of an effect on perceiving the shine in your hair than the moisture level, and color, thickness, and hairstyle will also warp our perceptions of hair shine.

If the goal of relaxing your hair is to get a shinier texture, moisturizers are not always made with that in mind, and healthy hair does not always mean more lustrous hair.

Find Out Your Hair Type

Something that may be difficult but is necessary to undertake is to figure out the measurements of your natural hair thickness and type.

Even if you have chemically changed your natural hair to behave a certain way, your hair will react similarly to moisturizers in its natural state even when chemically treated.

If your hair coils more, is curly, or is wavy instead, this can have a considerable influence on how the moisturizers will affect your hair. Try to stick to moisturizers tailored to your natural hair type.

Find Out Your Hair’s Moisture Level

Try to consult a dermatologist to determine how well your hair can retain moisture. It is essential to assess your hair’s natural moisture equilibrium is to figure out how effective products can be at changing it.

Some people’s hair structure is more porous, which means it will not be able to retain certain types of moisture or moisturizers.

Consider what your hair needs for moisture before diving into different products; if your hair doesn’t naturally contain moisture, you will also need a way to seal the moisture in.

What Environment Is Your Hair Going to Be In?

A sizeable secondary factor to your hair’s ability to contain moisture is what environment your hair will primarily be in. 

If you are preparing your hair for the summer sun, you will need to take additional precautions to protect your hair from the heat and the sun’s rays.

If you are in a space with a lack of humidity, that can cause your hair to dry out and, for certain leave-in products to dry out faster. Controlling what environment you put your hair into can be almost as important as what products your put into your hair.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have searched around and compiled a few frequently asked questions about relaxed hair moisturizers:

How do I moisturize my relaxed dry hair?

In general, you moisturize your hair by applying a lotion, leave-in conditioner, or spray to the length of your hair and then using a smaller amount to the ends of your hair.

You will need several hours to complete some treatments, so it is best to do your hair care routine before bed and allow it to happen while asleep.

How can I moisturize my relaxed hair without weighing it down?

You should detangle your hair so that hair doesn’t clump together when moisturized. You can also try sectioning your hair into a braided section and applying the moisturizer to one section at a time.

You will often want to apply oil to the ends to seal the moisture in.

How often should I moisturize my relaxed hair?

The frequency of hair treatment will depend on your hair’s natural ability to produce oil, retain moisture, and how often it gets tangled. Start with a weekly hair treatment, and then you can adjust it based on your needs.

If your hair is still too dry, you can make it multiple times a week, or if your hair gets too sticky or greasy, you can scale it back to every couple of weeks. Repeat this process until you find the correct timeline for your hair.

Can I moisturize my relaxed hair every day?

Sometimes, depending on the hair treatment schedule you follow, daily hair treatment is an excellent idea to prevent breakage. Most people with relaxed hair would benefit more from a hair treatment every few days instead, but everyone is different!

Why does my relaxed hair feel like straw?

Strawlike hair texture is a tell-tale sign of your hair struggling to retain moisture. If changes to your hair care routine don’t solve this problem, you should talk to a doctor or dermatologist.

Dermatologists are familiar with the adverse effects of certain moisturizers and can recommend a personalized treatment for you.

So, What’s the Best Hair Moisturizer for Relaxed Hair?

The best hair moisturizer for relaxed hair is the one that can address all the problems your hair presents while maintaining low breakage and high moisture retention.

While we were able to determine the best overall moisturizer, each person’s hair is as unique as they are. You should consider what properties your hair lacks the most and start tackling them one at a time by finding a moisturizer that your hair will love.