Are Hair Relaxers Safe? Why Relaxers Are Coming Back, the Cancer Link, and What Fall 2026 Studies and Lawsuits Show

Are hair relaxers safe? The honest answer is that nobody has proven they cause cancer, but the warning signs keep stacking up. Several large studies now tie frequent relaxer use to higher rates of uterine cancer, and new data from October 2026 adds breast cancer to the list. At the same time, relaxers are making a comeback, with stylists in the U.S. and the U.K. saying more clients are asking for them again.

This guide covers why women are going back, what the research really shows (with real numbers, not just scary headlines), what changed this fall, what women who went back or quit say, and how to lower your risk if you still want straight hair.

Short answer

The scalp risks are proven. Relaxers are very alkaline (about pH 10 to 14). Burns, itching, breakage, and hair loss are common and well known.
The cancer link is real but not proof. Women who relaxed more than 4 times a year had about twice the rate of uterine cancer in a big U.S. study. By age 70, about 4 in 100 frequent users got it, vs about 1.6 in 100 women who never used straighteners.
New in October 2026: a study of more than 34,000 women found long-term and early-life use tied to more estrogen-positive breast cancer.
"No-lye" does not mean safer. In that same study, the breast cancer link showed up with no-lye formulas, not lye ones.
Bottom line: less often is better, a burned scalp is the worst case, and starting young looks riskiest.

Why relaxers are coming back

Relaxer sales crashed during the natural hair boom of the 2010s. Now stylists say the trend is turning. In an October 13, 2026 report, London stylists said more clients are asking for relaxers again. The reasons they gave:

Natural hair fatigue. Long wash days, lots of products, and daily styling wore people out.
Short cuts are back. Pixies and '90s bobs look sleeker on relaxed hair.
Menopause. Some women say their curl pattern and density changed and natural hair got harder to manage.
The gym. Sweat ruins a silk press fast.
Work bias. A U.K. report cited in the piece found 76% of Black women said they had faced bias at work for wearing natural hair.

An August 2026 U.S. piece made the same point: some stylists now do touch ups only once to four times a year instead of every 4 to 6 weeks, and say relaxed hair is not automatically less healthy than natural hair. One stylist in the October report said her clients asking for relaxers "don't care" about the health risks. They just want straight hair without the extra hassle.

What the research shows

Uterine cancer (2022). The Sister Study followed 33,947 U.S. women for about 11 years. Women who used straighteners more than 4 times in the past year were about 2.5 times as likely to get uterine cancer. The estimated risk by age 70 was 4.05% for frequent users vs 1.64% for never users. Hair dye, bleach, and perms showed no link.
Uterine cancer in Black women (2023). A study of 44,798 Black women found no clear link before menopause. After menopause, women who used relaxers for 20 years or more had about a 71% higher rate.
Ovarian cancer (2021). Frequent use (more than 4 times a year) was tied to about twice the rate of ovarian cancer in the Sister Study. Cases were few, so the range was wide.
Other cancers (2025). A Sister Study paper found higher rates of thyroid cancer (about 71% higher) and pancreatic cancer (about 2.7 times) in recent users. It found little sign that more use meant more risk, which weakens the case.

New research (2026)

Breast cancer, October 2026. Sister Study researchers presented data at a cancer health disparities meeting held October 18 to 21, 2026. Of 34,929 women, ever users were about 14% more likely to have had breast cancer (a number that could be due to chance), and long-term users (30 years or more) were about 61% more likely to have estrogen-positive breast cancer. Women who only used relaxers in their teens and 20s had about 28% higher odds. The link showed up mainly with no-lye products. This was a meeting abstract, not a full paper yet.
Fibroids, May 2026. A study of about 1,700 Black women aged 23 to 35 used repeated ultrasounds, not just self reports. Women who had relaxed in the past year had more new fibroids and somewhat larger fibroid growth than never users. Former users did not show the same link, which hints that quitting may help. "Temporary" straighteners (the study counted keratin type treatments here) showed a stronger link than permanent relaxers.
Breast cancer subtypes, June 2026. A study in Ghana, where 94% to 96% of women had used relaxers, found former users had higher breast cancer odds across tumor types, but the numbers were too small to be sure.

What this adds up to: no single study proves relaxers cause cancer, and the people who use them most also differ in other ways. But the same pattern keeps showing up in different groups of women, and the products contain hormone disrupting chemicals. That is why researchers keep calling it a risk you can change.

The legal side (fall 2026)

Federal lawsuits. More than 12,700 cases are pending in the federal hair relaxer lawsuit as of November 2026. On October 22, 2026, the judge refused to throw out the women's main expert witnesses. The first trial is set for September 7, 2027. There is no settlement yet.
Minnesota. On October 23, 2026, Minnesota's attorney general sued L'Oréal and its subsidiaries (brands include Dark and Lovely, Optimum, and Mizani), saying they marketed relaxers to Black women and girls as safe while hiding the cancer risk. The state wants warnings on the products.
The FDA. The FDA first planned to propose a ban on formaldehyde in hair straighteners in 2023 and has missed several deadlines. That rule mostly hits keratin type smoothing treatments, not classic lye or no-lye relaxers, so it would not end relaxer sales.

What people who tried it say

These are real posts from the past two months, summarized.

Going back. One woman did the big chop, stayed natural a few months, and is now relaxed again. Her lesson: braids and relaxed hair did not mix for her.
Quitting because of a daughter. A mom three months past her last relaxer is wearing braids to avoid a big chop. She admits she relaxed for years because it made her mornings easy with two small kids, but wants to set an example for her daughter.
Relaxed since age 1. A 23 year old said her mom relaxed her hair to the scalp every month from age one. After cutting it off, she now has flaky buildup on her scalp and no idea how to care for her natural texture.
Nothing else stays straight. A woman with tight coils said blowouts and wash and sets fall after a week. Only a relaxer lasted, but she has "retired" from them and wants another way.
At 50, starting over. A woman relaxed since age 11 stopped doing them at home last year. She called her natural hair a daily, expensive fight.
Trying gentler options first. One woman tried an at home "nanoplasty" smoothing treatment to avoid a relaxer. It made her curls softer and shinier but did not straighten them at all.
Happy relaxed. Another woman loves her relaxed pixie cut and mainly wants products that do not sting her sensitive scalp.

Lesser-known tips

Never let it burn. Many women were taught to "sit with it" a few more minutes. A burned or broken scalp is not just painful. A dermatologist quoted in the October 2026 report said broken skin may let more of the product soak in.
Do not scratch or brush hard before a relaxer. Small scratches are open doors. Skip relaxing when your scalp is already itchy, flaky, or inflamed.
Stretch your touch ups. The cancer and fibroid links were strongest with frequent and recent use. Going from every 6 weeks to 2 or 3 times a year cuts your exposure a lot.
New growth only. Overlapping onto already relaxed hair is where breakage comes from.
No-lye is not a safety upgrade. It may sting less, but it is still very alkaline, and the October 2026 data actually flagged no-lye products.
Think twice about kids. Early-life use had some of the highest odds in the new breast cancer data, and marketing to girls is a big part of the Minnesota lawsuit.
"Temporary" smoothing is not automatically safer. Keratin and similar treatments can release formaldehyde when heated, and they had the stronger fibroid link in the May 2026 study.

Fair take

The case for relaxers: they work, they save hours a week, and the cancer studies show links, not proof. The absolute risk is still small for most women, and plenty of people choose a small risk for a big daily payoff. Many women also face real pressure at work, and choosing straight hair is not a betrayal of anyone.

The case against: the scalp damage is certain, the cancer and fibroid signals keep repeating across studies, and the companies are now being sued for not warning anyone. Frequent, long-term use that starts young is exactly the pattern linked to the worst results.

Bottom line

Relaxers are not poison, but they are not harmless either. If you love straight hair, go less often, protect your scalp, never accept burning, and skip it for young girls. If you are on the fence, the evidence leans toward fewer relaxers, not more. And whatever you choose, The Face They See lets people of the opposite gender rank your photos for free, so you can see how your hair actually reads in pictures.

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