Compared with a perm, a chemical relaxer is used to:

A chemical relaxer is used to reduce or remove natural curl, straightening the hair, whereas a permanent wave is used to add curl or wave. Both are chemical texture services that permanently restructure the hair by breaking and reforming its internal bonds, and both demand careful analysis, scalp protection, and following directions because of their strength. Understanding the opposite purposes of relaxers (straighten) and perms (curl), while recognizing they share the same underlying chemistry and safety needs, is core exam content.