No-Lye No-Mix Relaxers  | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks  No-Lye No-
Mix relaxers are based on lithium hydroxide as an active
ingredient while other ingredients in the relaxer cream are very
similar to Lye relaxers. The reaction of lithium hydroxide with
the excessively curly hair is also similar to Lye and No-Lye
relaxers. The one-third of the cystine bonds of the hair change
to lanthionine bonds, leaving two-thirds of the cystine bonds
still in tact.  The major advantage of lithium hydroxide over
sodium or potassium hydroxide is that it is slightly less
irritating to the scalp than sodium or potassium hydroxide.
However, lithium hydroxide is not as effective in straightening
excessively curly hair and in order to achieve acceptable level
of straightening, more lithium hydroxide has to be added to the
cream relaxer formula.  The United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) considers lithium hydroxide relaxers as no-
lye relaxers and the manufacturers of relaxers call this
category as a No-Lye and No-Mix relax