Someone recently reached out to me via social media declaring that they are interested in locs but they wanted to continue to have laid edges. They were wondering if it was a good idea to

  1. Leave most of their edges out of the locing process and/or
  2. Relax their edges

A while back I learned that a blogger, who's natural hair I admired, relaxed her edges and I was legit shocked. For me, a huge plus of locs and other forms of natural hair is avoiding harsh chemicals like relaxers. It had never dawned on me to even relax only my edges aka a halo relaxer.



To each their own, but after doing a little bit of research, I would NOT recommend for the following reasons:
  1. It can be damaging. Relaxing the edges alone will likely lead to breakage and thinning along your hairline
  2. It can look like a hot mess
  3. Many note that their edges revert to their original state only a week or so after relaxing


Alternatives to a halo relaxer:


  • Edge control gel, an oldie but a goodie and it really does work, even without pushing back your hairline with overly tight scarves.


  • Old nylons/hosiery and a good moisturizer or conditioning gel
  • Coming to peace with your nappy edges

I kind of blame lace-front wigs with baby hair attachments,  I personally haven't had baby hair since I was a baby and I somehow manage to be a healthy and well adjusted adult.


I slightly laid my edges just for you in this photo by using applying Alaffia Curl Defining gel  to wet hair and wearing a nylon scarf while getting ready in the morning for work.