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What is the purpose of base cream during a relaxing treatment?

  1. To enhance hair color

  2. To provide nourishment

  3. To protect the scalp

  4. To speed up processing time

The correct answer is: To protect the scalp

The purpose of base cream during a relaxing treatment is to protect the scalp. When applying a relaxer, the chemical formulation can be quite strong and potentially irritating to the skin, especially the sensitive scalp area. Base cream creates a barrier on the scalp that helps to prevent unwanted chemical exposure, reducing the risk of burns and irritation. This protective measure is crucial in ensuring the comfort and safety of the client during the relaxing process. While other options might have their respective functions in different contexts, they do not relate directly to the specific role of base cream in relaxing treatments. Enhancing hair color and providing nourishment pertain more to color treatments and conditioning treatments, respectively. Speeding up processing time is not an inherent role of base cream but rather involves how the relaxer is formulated and applied. Hence, the primary function of base cream is unequivocally centered on scalp protection during the application of relaxers.