Which of the following are relaxers often marketed and sold as no mix-no lye relaxers?

• A. Sodium hydroxide relaxers
• B. Calcium hydroxide relaxers
• C. Potassium hydroxide relaxers
• D. Ammonium thioglycolate relaxers

Answer: (C)

No mix-no lye relaxers are products designed to be ready-to-use without mixing and without containing a lye chemical. In practice, the no-lye category is associated with formulas that avoid sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The common no-lye options you’ll see are calcium hydroxide and ammonium thioglycolate. Calcium hydroxide-based systems are marketed as no-lye because they don’t use NaOH or KOH, and ammonium thioglycolate-based systems achieve the same goal without lye.

Potassium hydroxide, on the other hand, is a true lye-based relaxer. It’s part of the traditional lye family, which also includes sodium hydroxide. So it wouldn’t be categorized as a no mix-no lye product. Sodium hydroxide is the other classic lye option.

Understanding this helps you recognize why no mix-no lye products are labeled as such: they rely on calcium hydroxide or ammonium thioglycolate rather than lye for relaxing the hair.