I wouldn’t say it’s solely dependent on the hair being natural or relaxed, but the physical/chemical state and/or the properties of Afro textured hair in general. And I would say that the individual and their hair care practices (or lacktherof), can also be a factor as to how their hair would be effected during the summer months.
Sometimes hotter months can effect both natural and relaxed hair in the exact same way. Sometimes in completely opposite ways. Sometimes it has to do with hair practices, sometimes it doesn’t.
For example, I’ve seen countless complaints of dryness from natural and relaxed heads of hair as being one of the top issues. Heat in general is a moisture theif. Couple that with the characteristics of chronic dryness that Afro hair is known to have, and I can see how that’s a wide spread issue.
Or if folks go to the beach, swim, sweat, or participate in outdoor sports, work outside, etc. which can add onto possible factors that folks need to look out for which again, is specific to the individual.
I would also say that these factors play a huge role as well:
Scalp health
Density
Porosity
Shed rate
Hair diameter
Diet
Environment (most notably humidity/lacktherof)
Personally, In the summer, the main culprits I have to look out for are my scalp issues, and UV damage. I already sweat quite a bit, I’m also coming to realize my scalp skin acts very similar to my face skin, in that it’s oily as all heck. Any and everything will irritate my scalp to some degree, except basic distilled/filtered water. Which leads to frequent washing, which leads to frequent manipulation, which can be a gateway to uncontrolled breakage. Most of my hair journey has just been me mitigating as much mechanical damage as possible, which starts by constantly assessing my scalp. Not to mention summer time is when I see the biggest growth spurts, but it’s also the time when my seasonal shedding is through the roof which can call for a slew of tangles. But it always circles back to my scalp. Anything I can do to make sure my scalp is as healthy as possible I try to do it.
Concerning UV damage, I have extremely fine hair. To paint a picture, I can fit about 24-26 individual hairs side by side into 1mm. The sun is unforgiving if I find myself outdoors for prolonged periods of time. I still enjoy having fun, swimming, playing sports, etc., but if I prolong protecting my hair after a while my hair will turn blonde. It’s usually where my bangs are, and around my ears, but I’ve noticed fine hair or hair with a very small diameter, is more suspectible to UV damage (AKA sun bleaching). As a result, it becomes weaker, much like how chemical processes such as color lifting/bleaching weakens hair as well. The hair that is sun damaged rarely makes it on my head, and almost always breaks off, but I find that fine hair in general is susceptible to instances like this. My husbands hair is rather different from mine, and despite the physical differences in our hair we both have the same issue with UV damage since our hair is baby fine.
Sorry for the long post, but that’s just my opinion on the whole thing. I think it’s completely up to you to figure out how you wish to have your hair in the summer, and my biggest tip would just be to observe your hair. Sometimes you expect it to behave one way and it does the complete opposite, but the things I mentioned above are just a few tips I’d recommend looking out for, and I wish you the best of luck.