A virgin relaxer achieves approximately what percentage of straightening?

• A. 60%
• B. 85%
• C. 40%
• D. 100%

Answer: (B)

When a virgin relaxer is used on natural hair, the goal is to reduce curl without overprocessing the strands. The chemical work breaks disulfide bonds to loosen the curl pattern, but it can’t remove every trace of texture without risking damage. With proper technique and processing, you typically achieve about 85% straightening—the majority of curl is relaxed, but a small amount of texture remains to preserve hair strength and prevent breakage. Pushing toward 100% straightness would require overprocessing, which harms hair, so that perfect straightness isn’t realistic in standard practice. The other options fall short because they imply far less or far more straightening than what is typically expected from a well-done virgin relaxer.