This is Why I'm Going Natural (Scary Pic)

[SleekandBouncy]

Here's the story: link

Old thread: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=107929&

Thanks for posting that.

This part of her interview caught my attention:
"Did you neutralize?
No. There was no neutralizer in the box. I suppose any other brand includes a neutralizer in a home use kit. The Optimum instructions said ‵rinse with warm water and condition afterwards."

If that is true, then I do think they were at fault. The directions should specify that neutralizing is necessary and I can't imagine a box relaxer not coming with neutralizer.
I'd be curious to know if this were the result of just one application or multiple relaxers improperly used over the course of the year. I will say, the picture does make me wary of lye relaxers as that's what she used.

 

[cocoberry10]

Sorry Ladies:

Here's the story and before/after!
BEFORE

AFTER

I think this is a wig???

http://braids4grow.blogspot.com/ (See August 22, 2007)

Court case against Carson/Lloreal The Optimum relaxer caused Isabella Broekhuizen to go bald and forced her to brake off her US modelling carrier. Now she is back home in Maastricht, the Netherlands fighting for justice.


Isabella broekhuizen was diagnosed with chemical burning caused by sodium hydroxide, the main ingredient in lye relaxers. She sues because her aspiring modeling career is over, her bald and burnt scalp still hurts and she has to wear hair-prostheses for the rest of her life. Here is her story.
Isabella this is quite a story. How old were you when you first started to use relaxers and what were your reasons to straighten your hair?I was 12 years when I started to use relaxers. I straightened my hair because I thought it improved my looks.
So you were quite familiar with the process when you used the Optimum relaxer. So what went wrong that day? Was this the first time that you relaxed your hair yourself?No it wasn't the first time I relaxed my hair myself. So I think it was the brand. Optimum was probably too strong.What exactly did you? Can you explain what happened?I used the relaxer same as usual. What do you mean ‵the same as usual. Can you be a little more specific? I used the relaxer the same way everybody does. I added it to my roots, close to my scalp to make it as straight as possible, from roots to ends. Then I wanted to let it sit for a couple of minutes like the directions said. According to the box I could have left it on for 13 to 18 minutes but it started to burn immediately. I thought the relaxer wouldn't straighten my hair if I rinsed it out instantly so I left it on for 4 minutes. After that I could not take it anymore and rinsed it out.Did you neutralize? No. There was no neutralizer in the box. I suppose any other brand includes a neutralizer in a home use kit. The Optimum instructions said rinse with warm water and condition afterwards. When did this all happen? How long is this ago? In 1996.
When did you realize you were loosing your hair and how did long did it take to loose all of your strands? I realized I was losing hair after a couple of months and within a year I was completely bald.I suppose you go crazy when you see that you are loosing lots of hair. What did you think was causing you loosing your hair and what did you try to do against it?I realized it was caused by the relaxer and I did go to hospital. They gave me a heavy dose of vitamin A. You went to 3 different doctors. What did they say? What was causing the itching and what caused you to go bald?About 60 doctors examined me in total. Each on of them diagnosed me with chemical burning caused by sodium hydroxide. This ingredient also caused itching. It was a main ingredient in the Optimum relaxer and as I understand now in lye relaxers in general.


Are you against the use of relaxers?No, I'm not against the use of relaxers but I think its very important to inform people about the hazards of using them. I really wasn't aware that relaxers were so hazardous that one could get injured for live. No one ever told me that they were hurt by the use of a relaxer? All I heard was ''it burns a little but it will be over before you know it. So I truly never saw any harm in relaxing my hair. And even now when I try to warn people, they don't listen. They act like nobody has ever has a problem with relaxers and that something like this won't happen to them. That's why I think the product needs a more explicit warning, especially for home using. A warning like those on the cigarette boxes. It explicitly says that cigarettes can cause long cancer etc. Relaxers need a warning like that. It should be clear what the implications can be. Because believe me. If only I had known, I would have been very alert and way more careful.

 

[cocoberry10]

She couldn't produce the jar and all of their other jars had the proper instructions. Personally, I think she didn't understand what it meant to neutralize so she just used regular poo.

I have not neutralized after a relaxer and my hair only become very dry and brittle..........
I tried to look at the story that goes with the picture and it is in another language other than English- so i guess we will never know the whole story!

She claimed the neutralizing shampoo wasn't in the kit, and so she used regular shampoo. I think something was wrong with the relaxer, b/c I've heard of people who didn't neutralize and their hair is not that badly damaged. Either way, it's a shame!

 

[cocoberry10]

Oh, this is not why I'm going natural, I just wanted a catchy title for the thread. I'm going natural for so many reasons, I just saw this pic and it made me feel a lot better about my decision. I've relaxed for years and never had this kind of trouble

 

[cocoberry10]

I survived the Rio relaxer and even that did not make all of my hair fall out. It's terrible and I feel for her, but this incident would not deter me from using relaxers all together.

Wow, congrats to you!:woohoo:

 

[cocoberry10]

That's what I was thinking.

Are you ladies calling her a scam artist, like the McDonald's hot coffee incident???? What could she have done to get her hair like this, and who would disfigure themselves to that point just for some $$$$$$$$$. All the money in the world won't grow her hair back!

 

[kittenz]

Are you ladies calling her a scam artist, like the McDonald's hot coffee incident???? What could she have done to get her hair like this, and who would disfigure themselves to that point just for some $$$$$$$$$. All the money in the world won't grow her hair back!

I'm not calling her a scam artist but all things don't have to be intentionally done for you to try and place the blame on someone else. It doesn't even have to be her fault but she could be trying to reap benefits from anyone for whatever happened to her head. I definitely don't think that mess was intentional because then I'd be calling mental ward candidate. I feel bad for her but I don't believe the box relaxer is the culprit unless it was a bad batch (in which case the same thing would have happened to others and they'd have a class action law suit on their hands).

 

[cocoberry10]

I'm not calling her a scam artist but all things don't have to be intentionally done for you to try and place the blame on someone else. It doesn't even have to be her fault but she could be trying to reap benefits from anyone for whatever happened to her head. I definitely don't think that mess was intentional because then I'd be calling mental ward candidate. I feel bad for her but I don't believe the box relaxer is the culprit unless it was a bad batch (in which case the same thing would have happened to others and they'd have a class action law suit on their hands).

A part of me thinks it was a bad batch! But maybe she's milking it for all she can (like McDonald's hot coffee lady)

 

[aloof one]

Some of you are so critical when you fail to realize the point.

THIS CAN HAPPEN. IT HAS HAPPENED, AND RELAXERS ARE DANGEROUS. Even when you follow derections. Some are allergic, and a different brand of relaxer could have more sodium hydroxide and be the turning point that causes a reaction. Just because it makes your hair look straight doesn't mean its good for you. I remember some idiot told me perming conditions and cleanses the hair. I wanted to slap her through the internet and I'm glad we haven't met.

Relaxers has the same caustic ingredient DRAINO and NAIR has. Why do you think people have to wear gloves? You think it can burn your hands but won't burn your scalp? Ever wonder why fingers turn yellow and brittle and hard and dead and hurts overtime from touching relaxer? Same thing happens to your scalp after years of relaxing! Why do you think white people look at us like we're crazy when we explain that we put a cream on our head and rinse it out when it starts burning? If Bleach and Cigarrettes and alcohol has all these warnings about being corrosive and damaging and/or volatile, etc... why doesn't perm? Because a lot of black people are flocking to stores to buy the stuff like candy so that they can have hair straight like white people. And they have the nerve to do it to their children too.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it. When I see pictures of people with holes in their cheeks who smoked because it never hurt them at the time(until they were in their 50s with cancer...), pictures of black women with alopecia and patches of bone straight hair surrounding bald spots who say "at least my hair looked good" (until the stuff magically fell out after a number or years),... people with cancers and skin problems and all the like from using Hydroquinone & other chemicals on their skin for years...

I think to myself... why would you hurt yourself to look a certain way that God didn't make you? Why would you potentially harm your body? I was relaxed because I had no choice- my mom did it since I was a toddler. Here I am old enough to make my decision to quit, and yea, that picture just confirms it that I made a good one!

This is the truth: I have a scab on the back of my head about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. It has been there for YEARS. Possibly a decade. It NEVER HEALED from a relaxer I was given. My mom followed directions most of the time, rinsed, neutralized, and neutralized again. I neutralized everytime I washed for like 2 weeks after a perm to be safe. But it STILL damaged my scalp. Why do some of you relaxed heads think yall have itchy scalps? Sores that don't heal? Scars? Now this is just me guessing but I think Black people don't just get dandruff out of the blue, I think some of it comes from putting perm on the head. I promise you, when I started transitioning, and even after I started stretching years ago, I forgot what dandruff was because it magically went away, like most of the scabs on my head. Unfortunately a lasting effect is that I STILL have a scab, and it STILL hurts, and bleeds and itches like I just got it yesterday. That's not natural.

So don't downplay something clearly unnatural and clearly dangerous, and clearly should be labelled as such. And by labelling, I want to see on the box that the stuff causes alopecia in some people, because it does. That it shouldn't be used every 4 weeks, because it shouldn't. That Sodium Hydroxide is right up there with all the other volatile chemicals like bleach and not a joke. I hate to offend, and I probably have, so for those of you who do relax, I understand why you do it, but you shouldn't shun this woman for doing what she is doing. They need to regulate perms, they need to label better, and they need to find a way to make it safer than what it is. ANYONE can buy a perm and use it at home, and this shouldn't be the case.

 

[sareca]

Are you ladies calling her a scam artist, like the McDonald's hot coffee incident???? What could she have done to get her hair like this, and who would disfigure themselves to that point just for some $$$$$$$$$. All the money in the world won't grow her hair back!

I think she made a mistake and is looking for someone else to blame. Just like the McDonald's coffee incident. No one should have to tell you coffee is hot or to neutralize a relaxer. Do your homework before you put chemicals (including caffeine) in or on your body and realize everything has risks.

 

[sareca]

Some of you are so critical when you fail to realize the point.

THIS CAN HAPPEN. IT HAS HAPPENED, AND RELAXERS ARE DANGEROUS. Even when you follow derections. Some are allergic, and a different brand of relaxer could have more sodium hydroxide and be the turning point that causes a reaction. Just because it makes your hair look straight doesn't mean its good for you. I remember some idiot told me perming conditions and cleanses the hair. I wanted to slap her through the internet and I'm glad we haven't met.

Relaxers has the same caustic ingredient DRAINO and NAIR has. Why do you think people have to wear gloves? You think it can burn your hands but won't burn your scalp? Ever wonder why fingers turn yellow and brittle and hard and dead and hurts overtime from touching relaxer? Same thing happens to your scalp after years of relaxing! Why do you think white people look at us like we're crazy when we explain that we put a cream on our head and rinse it out when it starts burning? If Bleach and Cigarrettes and alcohol has all these warnings about being corrosive and damaging and/or volatile, etc... why doesn't perm? Because a lot of black people are flocking to stores to buy the stuff like candy so that they can have hair straight like white people. And they have the nerve to do it to their children too.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it. When I see pictures of people with holes in their cheeks who smoked because it never hurt them at the time(until they were in their 50s with cancer...), pictures of black women with alopecia and patches of bone straight hair surrounding bald spots who say "at least my hair looked good" (until the stuff magically fell out after a number or years),... people with cancers and skin problems and all the like from using Hydroquinone & other chemicals on their skin for years...

I think to myself... why would you hurt yourself to look a certain way that God didn't make you? Why would you potentially harm your body? I was relaxed because I had no choice- my mom did it since I was a toddler. Here I am old enough to make my decision to quit, and yea, that picture just confirms it that I made a good one!

This is the truth: I have a scab on the back of my head about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. It has been there for YEARS. Possibly a decade. It NEVER HEALED from a relaxer I was given. My mom followed directions most of the time, rinsed, neutralized, and neutralized again. I neutralized everytime I washed for like 2 weeks after a perm to be safe. But it STILL damaged my scalp. Why do some of you relaxed heads think yall have itchy scalps? Sores that don't heal? Scars? Now this is just me guessing but I think Black people don't just get dandruff out of the blue, I think some of it comes from putting perm on the head. I promise you, when I started transitioning, and even after I started stretching years ago, I forgot what dandruff was because it magically went away, like most of the scabs on my head. Unfortunately a lasting effect is that I STILL have a scab, and it STILL hurts, and bleeds and itches like I just got it yesterday. That's not natural.

So don't downplay something clearly unnatural and clearly dangerous, and clearly should be labelled as such. And by labelling, I want to see on the box that the stuff causes alopecia in some people, because it does. That it shouldn't be used every 4 weeks, because it shouldn't. That Sodium Hydroxide is right up there with all the other volatile chemicals like bleach and not a joke. I hate to offend, and I probably have, so for those of you who do relax, I understand why you do it, but you shouldn't shun this woman for doing what she is doing. They need to regulate perms, they need to label better, and they need to find a way to make it safer than what it is. ANYONE can buy a perm and use it at home, and this shouldn't be the case.

You should really go see a doctor.

 

[aloof one]

A part of me thinks it was a bad batch! But maybe she's milking it for all she can (like McDonald's hot coffee lady)

I DO think she is milking it (before I get a backlash on that part lol)

But, I think if she wins, there could be a better chance that relaxers will be regulated and made safer to use at home since people do use them at home. That hair salons and manufacturers of these products could be held accountable for jacking up peoples' scalps with bad perms if they do. Manufacturers KNOW more than what they put on the boxes, the problem is few people who buy the stuff know.

We fight so hard for cigarrette labels, why not for this? There is always someone out there who is going to smoke, so there is always going to be a label on the things. There is always someone who has never had a relaxer, or learned all they needed to know about relaxing from someone who didn't know what they were doing, or someone who thinks they know what they are doing, or someone who makes bad assumptions about a product--- so there should be labels and regulations to protect the ignorant and prevent this fro happening. Sure she made a mistake, but there is nothing APPARENT on the box that DISTINCTLY warns of what she got on her head. I want to see the box with the FDA warning just like the cigarrettes.

If it takes that woman (who did make a fatal error) to do it... well thats what it takes.

 

[cocoberry10]

I agree with you! I've heard that about Draino and Nair. I do think relaxers can be very dangerous, but obviously not for all. I will be happy to not use chemicals on my hair anymore either way!

Some of you are so critical when you fail to realize the point.

THIS CAN HAPPEN. IT HAS HAPPENED, AND RELAXERS ARE DANGEROUS. Even when you follow derections. Some are allergic, and a different brand of relaxer could have more sodium hydroxide and be the turning point that causes a reaction. Just because it makes your hair look straight doesn't mean its good for you. I remember some idiot told me perming conditions and cleanses the hair. I wanted to slap her through the internet and I'm glad we haven't met.

Relaxers has the same caustic ingredient DRAINO and NAIR has. Why do you think people have to wear gloves? You think it can burn your hands but won't burn your scalp? Ever wonder why fingers turn yellow and brittle and hard and dead and hurts overtime from touching relaxer? Same thing happens to your scalp after years of relaxing! Why do you think white people look at us like we're crazy when we explain that we put a cream on our head and rinse it out when it starts burning? If Bleach and Cigarrettes and alcohol has all these warnings about being corrosive and damaging and/or volatile, etc... why doesn't perm? Because a lot of black people are flocking to stores to buy the stuff like candy so that they can have hair straight like white people. And they have the nerve to do it to their children too.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it. When I see pictures of people with holes in their cheeks who smoked because it never hurt them at the time(until they were in their 50s with cancer...), pictures of black women with alopecia and patches of bone straight hair surrounding bald spots who say "at least my hair looked good" (until the stuff magically fell out after a number or years),... people with cancers and skin problems and all the like from using Hydroquinone & other chemicals on their skin for years...

I think to myself... why would you hurt yourself to look a certain way that God didn't make you? Why would you potentially harm your body? I was relaxed because I had no choice- my mom did it since I was a toddler. Here I am old enough to make my decision to quit, and yea, that picture just confirms it that I made a good one!

This is the truth: I have a scab on the back of my head about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. It has been there for YEARS. Possibly a decade. It NEVER HEALED from a relaxer I was given. My mom followed directions most of the time, rinsed, neutralized, and neutralized again. I neutralized everytime I washed for like 2 weeks after a perm to be safe. But it STILL damaged my scalp. Why do some of you relaxed heads think yall have itchy scalps? Sores that don't heal? Scars? Now this is just me guessing but I think Black people don't just get dandruff out of the blue, I think some of it comes from putting perm on the head. I promise you, when I started transitioning, and even after I started stretching years ago, I forgot what dandruff was because it magically went away, like most of the scabs on my head. Unfortunately a lasting effect is that I STILL have a scab, and it STILL hurts, and bleeds and itches like I just got it yesterday. That's not natural.

So don't downplay something clearly unnatural and clearly dangerous, and clearly should be labelled as such. And by labelling, I want to see on the box that the stuff causes alopecia in some people, because it does. That it shouldn't be used every 4 weeks, because it shouldn't. That Sodium Hydroxide is right up there with all the other volatile chemicals like bleach and not a joke. I hate to offend, and I probably have, so for those of you who do relax, I understand why you do it, but you shouldn't shun this woman for doing what she is doing. They need to regulate perms, they need to label better, and they need to find a way to make it safer than what it is. ANYONE can buy a perm and use it at home, and this shouldn't be the case.

 

[cocoberry10]

I agree with your whole post:thatsall:

I DO think she is milking it (before I get a backlash on that part lol)

But, I think if she wins, there could be a better chance that relaxers will be regulated and made safer to use at home since people do use them at home. That hair salons and manufacturers of these products could be held accountable for jacking up peoples' scalps with bad perms if they do. Manufacturers KNOW more than what they put on the boxes, the problem is few people who buy the stuff know.

We fight so hard for cigarrette labels, why not for this? There is always someone out there who is going to smoke, so there is always going to be a label on the things. There is always someone who has never had a relaxer, or learned all they needed to know about relaxing from someone who didn't know what they were doing, or someone who thinks they know what they are doing, or someone who makes bad assumptions about a product--- so there should be labels and regulations to protect the ignorant and prevent this fro happening. Sure she made a mistake, but there is nothing APPARENT on the box that DISTINCTLY warns of what she got on her head. I want to see the box with the FDA warning just like the cigarrettes.

If it takes that woman (who did make a fatal error) to do it... well thats what it takes.

 

[aloof one]

You should really go see a doctor.

I went. Dermatologist and all.
Told me it was from perm and made some comment about how I shouldn't fix something that isn't broken (i.e. why chemically alter my hair when its fine how it is). Offered creams and stuff and when none of it worked just said I shouldn't pick at it. I stopped picking, and its scabbed over but if I scrach my head there I can still feel it, and if I scratch harder... well its a sore again. Hair wont grow over it either. He said its literally a burn. Looks like a cigarrette burn, lol which is gross.

 

[kittenz]

Some of you are so critical when you fail to realize the point.

THIS CAN HAPPEN. IT HAS HAPPENED, AND RELAXERS ARE DANGEROUS. Even when you follow derections. Some are allergic, and a different brand of relaxer could have more sodium hydroxide and be the turning point that causes a reaction. Just because it makes your hair look straight doesn't mean its good for you. I remember some idiot told me perming conditions and cleanses the hair. I wanted to slap her through the internet and I'm glad we haven't met.

Relaxers has the same caustic ingredient DRAINO and NAIR has. Why do you think people have to wear gloves? You think it can burn your hands but won't burn your scalp? Ever wonder why fingers turn yellow and brittle and hard and dead and hurts overtime from touching relaxer? Same thing happens to your scalp after years of relaxing! Why do you think white people look at us like we're crazy when we explain that we put a cream on our head and rinse it out when it starts burning? If Bleach and Cigarrettes and alcohol has all these warnings about being corrosive and damaging and/or volatile, etc... why doesn't perm? Because a lot of black people are flocking to stores to buy the stuff like candy so that they can have hair straight like white people. And they have the nerve to do it to their children too.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it. When I see pictures of people with holes in their cheeks who smoked because it never hurt them at the time(until they were in their 50s with cancer...), pictures of black women with alopecia and patches of bone straight hair surrounding bald spots who say "at least my hair looked good" (until the stuff magically fell out after a number or years),... people with cancers and skin problems and all the like from using Hydroquinone & other chemicals on their skin for years...

I think to myself... why would you hurt yourself to look a certain way that God didn't make you? Why would you potentially harm your body? I was relaxed because I had no choice- my mom did it since I was a toddler. Here I am old enough to make my decision to quit, and yea, that picture just confirms it that I made a good one!

This is the truth: I have a scab on the back of my head about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. It has been there for YEARS. Possibly a decade. It NEVER HEALED from a relaxer I was given. My mom followed directions most of the time, rinsed, neutralized, and neutralized again. I neutralized everytime I washed for like 2 weeks after a perm to be safe. But it STILL damaged my scalp. Why do some of you relaxed heads think yall have itchy scalps? Sores that don't heal? Scars? Now this is just me guessing but I think Black people don't just get dandruff out of the blue, I think some of it comes from putting perm on the head. I promise you, when I started transitioning, and even after I started stretching years ago, I forgot what dandruff was because it magically went away, like most of the scabs on my head. Unfortunately a lasting effect is that I STILL have a scab, and it STILL hurts, and bleeds and itches like I just got it yesterday. That's not natural.

So don't downplay something clearly unnatural and clearly dangerous, and clearly should be labelled as such. And by labelling, I want to see on the box that the stuff causes alopecia in some people, because it does. That it shouldn't be used every 4 weeks, because it shouldn't. That Sodium Hydroxide is right up there with all the other volatile chemicals like bleach and not a joke. I hate to offend, and I probably have, so for those of you who do relax, I understand why you do it, but you shouldn't shun this woman for doing what she is doing. They need to regulate perms, they need to label better, and they need to find a way to make it safer than what it is. ANYONE can buy a perm and use it at home, and this shouldn't be the case.

WOW! Touchy, touchy. I don't agree with everything said but anyway just WOW.

 

[naijamerican]

Whoa, you came gangsta wit it al00fone! Holla!!!

I definitely appreicate what you said (especially the dandruff part, because I have not had dandruff at all in the years that I've been natural). I agree that they should regulate perms and put warning labels on it. But as Glib stated on the first page of this thread, what happened to her, and getting scabs and sores in general, is not inevitable, especially if people do what is recommended on this forum. I see this as an incident underscoring our (meaning Black women as a group, throughout the world) ignorance of our hair and the science behind it. I look forward to the day when someone on this board will create a relaxer that is not as damaging as what is marketed out there.

Also (and this point has been beaten to death) having a relaxer is not akin to trying to be White. As some may know I have contemplated getting a relaxer or a texturizer after 7+ years of natural living, simply because I want a different look than twists, twist-outs, braids, afros etc. can provide. But I'm not going to say anything else on this matter at the risk of being redundant.

 

[naijamerican]

I DO think she is milking it (before I get a backlash on that part lol)

But, I think if she wins, there could be a better chance that relaxers will be regulated and made safer to use at home since people do use them at home. That hair salons and manufacturers of these products could be held accountable for jacking up peoples' scalps with bad perms if they do. Manufacturers KNOW more than what they put on the boxes, the problem is few people who buy the stuff know.

We fight so hard for cigarrette labels, why not for this? There is always someone out there who is going to smoke, so there is always going to be a label on the things. There is always someone who has never had a relaxer, or learned all they needed to know about relaxing from someone who didn't know what they were doing, or someone who thinks they know what they are doing, or someone who makes bad assumptions about a product--- so there should be labels and regulations to protect the ignorant and prevent this fro happening. Sure she made a mistake, but there is nothing APPARENT on the box that DISTINCTLY warns of what she got on her head. I want to see the box with the FDA warning just like the cigarrettes.

If it takes that woman (who did make a fatal error) to do it... well thats what it takes.

I definitely, absolutely agree with you and this entire post!!!

 

[kittenz]

Whoa, you came gangsta wit it al00fone! Holla!!!

I definitely appreicate what you said (especially the dandruff part, because I have not had dandruff at all in the years that I've been natural). I agree that they should regulate perms and put warning labels on it. But as Glib stated on the first page of this thread, what happened to her, and getting scabs and sores in general, is not inevitable, especially if people do what is recommended on this forum. I see this as an incident underscoring our (meaning Black women as a group, throughout the world) ignorance of our hair and the science behind it. I look forward to the day when someone on this board will create a relaxer that is not as damaging as what is marketed out there.

Also (and this point has been beaten to death) having a relaxer is not akin to trying to be White. As some may know I have contemplated getting a relaxer or a texturizer after 7+ years of natural living, simply because I want a different look than twists, twist-outs, braids, afros etc. can provide. But I'm not going to say anything else on this matter at the risk of being redundant.

This is probably redundant but ITA.

 

[aloof one]

Whoa, you came gangsta wit it al00fone! Holla!!! .

Lol my first time being called gangsta, cracked me up!

Yea I may have been harsh, but I still feel the same way for the most part.

However, I didn't mean to say people wanted to be white, I just meant to say that when people have relaxers, they end up having hair that looks straight like white people, hence the phraze "swingin like white folks." I didnt mean to say it was synonimous with being white, but I did mean to say that it created a permanent look that resembled what a lot of white people look like. Just like when whites get dreadlocs (and it IS hard for a lot of them to do), it reminds me of black peoples who get dreads' hair. They aren't trying to be black either (for the most part) just like blacks arent trying to be white (for the most part).

But... I STILL think it is sad some black women give up and perm kids' hair. There are kids who can't even dress themselves walking around with bone straight, heat damaged hair and missing hairlines! I think relaxing (and curly perms for that matter, because I have seen PLENTY of whites give this to their young daughters the same way) should be left up to the individual when they are of age and know what they want and why theyre doing it.

 

[fluffylocks]

Some of you are so critical when you fail to realize the point.

THIS CAN HAPPEN. IT HAS HAPPENED, AND RELAXERS ARE DANGEROUS. Even when you follow derections. Some are allergic, and a different brand of relaxer could have more sodium hydroxide and be the turning point that causes a reaction. Just because it makes your hair look straight doesn't mean its good for you---I dont think anyone thinks thats the case. I remember some idiot told me perming conditions and cleanses the hair. I wanted to slap her through the internet and I'm glad we haven't met.

Relaxers has the same caustic ingredient DRAINO and NAIR has. Why do you think people have to wear gloves? You think it can burn your hands but won't burn your scalp? Ever wonder why fingers turn yellow and brittle and hard and dead and hurts overtime from touching relaxer? Same thing happens to your scalp after years of relaxing! Why do you think white people look at us like we're crazy when we explain that we put a cream on our head and rinse it out when it starts burning? ---You are not supposed to wait untill the chemical starts burning your scalp at all, i dont know where that comes from, some people belive it though, your supposed to time it by seeing how much looser you curl pattern is getting and by the guidlelines they give you, it says it on the instructions --and white people arent in a different place when it comes to things like this, they use chemcials on their hair too. If Bleach and Cigarrettes and alcohol has all these warnings about being corrosive and damaging and/or volatile, etc... why doesn't perm? Because a lot of black people are flocking to stores to buy the stuff like candy so that they can have hair straight like white people. And they have the nerve to do it to their children too. Relaxing your hair is not about being white at all, i've never heard of someone puting a relaxer in their hair to "look white". Its just a prefrence for some people. White people dont OWN straight hair....alot of races have straight hair, and alot of different races make their hair straight. But i do think more black people should know that our hair is beautifull and educate their children on it. I dont think anyone wants to be white when they have a relaxer, but some are mis-eduacted and do it because they think their hair is ugly or non-acceptable or other things.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it.---Its not a sacrifice, its just hair. There is nothing being comprimised if you are eduacated on your hair, the process, and know what you are doing. When I see pictures of people with holes in their cheeks who smoked because it never hurt them at the time(until they were in their 50s with cancer...), pictures of black women with alopecia and patches of bone straight hair surrounding bald spots who say "at least my hair looked good" (until the stuff magically fell out after a number or years),... people with cancers and skin problems and all the like from using Hydroquinone & other chemicals on their skin for years...

I think to myself... why would you hurt yourself to look a certain way that God didn't make you? --I dont think anyone is getting hurt, if they are...they should stop. But thats an opinion, some people dont take it that serious, will cut it one day, be relaxed the next, natural the next...other people look at it like cosmetic surgery or something. Why would you potentially harm your body? I was relaxed because I had no choice- my mom did it since I was a toddler.--Alot of people are like that too, but they havent learned any other options...but while you thought you had no choice did you still have these opinions that you have now? You probally didnt, so thats why i think its better to try & educate people than to be so judgemental like everybody else knows what they are doing and knows about their natural hair....they probally dont either, and like i said earlier, some people that do dont take it that serious that they are harming themselves and doing something to despite God. Here I am old enough to make my decision to quit, and yea, that picture just confirms it that I made a good one!

This is the truth: I have a scab on the back of my head about the size of the tip of a pencil eraser. It has been there for YEARS. Possibly a decade. It NEVER HEALED from a relaxer I was given. My mom followed directions most of the time, rinsed, neutralized, and neutralized again. I neutralized everytime I washed for like 2 weeks after a perm to be safe. But it STILL damaged my scalp. Why do some of you relaxed heads think yall have itchy scalps? Sores that don't heal? Scars? Now this is just me guessing but I think Black people don't just get dandruff out of the blue, I think some of it comes from putting perm on the head. I promise you, when I started transitioning, and even after I started stretching years ago, I forgot what dandruff was because it magically went away, like most of the scabs on my head. Unfortunately a lasting effect is that I STILL have a scab, and it STILL hurts, and bleeds and itches like I just got it yesterday. That's not natural.

So don't downplay something clearly unnatural and clearly dangerous, and clearly should be labelled as such. And by labelling, I want to see on the box that the stuff causes alopecia in some people, because it does. That it shouldn't be used every 4 weeks, because it shouldn't. That Sodium Hydroxide is right up there with all the other volatile chemicals like bleach and not a joke.--Their should be more warnings, and they should state how serious it is alot more, then that would lead people to do more reaserch for themselves and be more carefull about following the guidlines....but the relaxers do tell you how often to relax, ...(im not sure about the alopcia part though), but a responsible person should always look into what they are doing I hate to offend, and I probably have, so for those of you who do relax, I understand why you do it, but you shouldn't shun this woman for doing what she is doing. They need to regulate perms, they need to label better, and they need to find a way to make it safer than what it is. ANYONE can buy a perm and use it at home, and this shouldn't be the case.

They really should have more guidelines into relaxing though.

As far as the case, i dont understand it. She used the relaxer this last time and is saying that it made hair hair fall out after a period of months and finally bald after a year.
I think it happend over a long period of time, but this was just the last straw for hair scalp & hair. I also think that she didnt neautrilize properlly probally ever because she didnt undertand what she was doing or read and she probally thought burning scalp meant being processed as well. I dont think that could have happaned after 4 min. of a relaxer unless she is allergic or it was bad like other people have said.

What it all comes down to is black women need more knowledge about our hair, our products, and chemicals....and thats not a suprise to anyone because of this site.

 

[kittenz]

Lol my first time being called gangsta, cracked me up!

Yea I may have been harsh, but I still feel the same way for the most part.

However, I didn't mean to say people wanted to be white, I just meant to say that when people have relaxers, they end up having hair that looks straight like white people, hence the phraze "swingin like white folks." I didnt mean to say it was synonimous with being white, but I did mean to say that it created a permanent look that resembled what a lot of white people look like. Just like when whites get dreadlocs (and it IS hard for a lot of them to do), it reminds me of black peoples who get dreads' hair. They aren't trying to be black either (for the most part) just like blacks arent trying to be white (for the most part).

But... I STILL think it is sad some black women give up and perm kids' hair. There are kids who can't even dress themselves walking around with bone straight, heat damaged hair and missing hairlines! I think relaxing (and curly perms for that matter, because I have seen PLENTY of whites give this to their young daughters the same way) should be left up to the individual when they are of age and know what they want and why theyre doing it.

Bravo!! Let the babies decide for themselves when they get older. I got my first perm when I was 5. My mother was away and my grandmother let my thick long hair mat up. At the time the only way my mother knew to fix this was to relax my hair so that it wasxn't so diffuicult for my grandmother to do. Personally it wasn't a bad choice and they both took exceptionally good care of my hair but if it had been up to me now I wouldn't relax and although I can make the decision to stop for myself now... I'll just wait. But in retrospect I probably would have begged for a perm anyway so....

 

[naijamerican]

Lol my first time being called gangsta, cracked me up!

Yea I may have been harsh, but I still feel the same way for the most part.

However, I didn't mean to say people wanted to be white, I just meant to say that when people have relaxers, they end up having hair that looks straight like white people, hence the phraze "swingin like white folks." I didnt mean to say it was synonimous with being white, but I did mean to say that it created a permanent look that resembled what a lot of white people look like. Just like when whites get dreadlocs (and it IS hard for a lot of them to do), it reminds me of black peoples who get dreads' hair. They aren't trying to be black either (for the most part) just like blacks arent trying to be white (for the most part).

But... I STILL think it is sad some black women give up and perm kids' hair. There are kids who can't even dress themselves walking around with bone straight, heat damaged hair and missing hairlines! I think relaxing (and curly perms for that matter, because I have seen PLENTY of whites give this to their young daughters the same way) should be left up to the individual when they are of age and know what they want and why theyre doing it.

Thanks for clearing up what you meant; I appreciate that! I had to call you gangsta cuz you came wit it, even knowing that people wouldn't agree with you!!! I admire that!

I agree with your last paragraph, too. It's sad when parents do not even give their kids a chance. I wish people knew that natural hair can be as easy to take care of as relaxed hair, if you know what you're doing. I myself had to learn this and so I sympathize with parents who do it, but still.

Thinking about this woman, though... it just really saddens me. It's sad that she has permanently damaged her scalp and she will never be able to grow her hair. I was struck by the difference between her last picture and the first two. Even with a wig she just looks so much sadder.

 

[fluffylocks]

Whoa, you came gangsta wit it al00fone! Holla!!!

I definitely appreicate what you said (especially the dandruff part, because I have not had dandruff at all in the years that I've been natural). I agree that they should regulate perms and put warning labels on it. But as Glib stated on the first page of this thread, what happened to her, and getting scabs and sores in general, is not inevitable, especially if people do what is recommended on this forum. I see this as an incident underscoring our (meaning Black women as a group, throughout the world) ignorance of our hair and the science behind it. I look forward to the day when someone on this board will create a relaxer that is not as damaging as what is marketed out there.

Also (and this point has been beaten to death) having a relaxer is not akin to trying to be White. As some may know I have contemplated getting a relaxer or a texturizer after 7+ years of natural living, simply because I want a different look than twists, twist-outs, braids, afros etc. can provide. But I'm not going to say anything else on this matter at the risk of being redundant.

Yeah, some types of dandruff come from dry scalp, and relaxers def. do make your hair and scalp if you get it on there or whatever more dry than usuall.

 

[kittenz]

They really should have more guidelines into relaxing though.

As far as the case, i dont understand it. She used the relaxer this last time and is saying that it made hair hair fall out after a period of months and finally bald after a year.
I think it happend over a long period of time, but this was just the last straw for hair scalp & hair. I also think that she didnt neautrilize properlly probally ever because she didnt undertand what she was doing or read and she probally thought burning scalp meant being processed as well. I dont think that could have happaned after 4 min. of a relaxer unless she is allergic or it was bad like other people have said.

What it all comes down to is black women need more knowledge about our hair, our products, and chemicals....and thats not a suprise to anyone because of this site.

ITA!!! ... I'm the one who really wrote this but I just let Fluffy take the credit it was still in my head and she stole (borrowed) it.

 

[aloof one]

Hi, Fluffylocks:

I won't take back anything I said, but if you or anyone else needs a further explanation I can give that, just ask and Ill be happy to elaborate.

Now as far as all the stuff you hilighted in blue, you may have taken them the wrong way. I was not calling people who relax anti-God or anything like that because I used the word God. The fact is God didn't put black people on this planet with straight hair, whether perm disguises that image or not. You and anyone else can perm all you want but everyone knows your hair wasn't made that way. There are Aboriginal Austrailans with straght hair but we're not talking about them. Im talkin about kinky/curly/coilys who relax. Straights who curly perm even know they're disguising what their hair really comes out like to look different. Whether or not it is wrong is NOT my point and never was. Do I think its wrong or hate people for doing it? No! But here is where I don't think you understand: I think a lot of people aren't educated enough on it to be doing it themselves or to their children. I think there should be rules and regulations on it just like any other chemical out there that is potentially REALLY harmful. Everything has chemicals, but there are some chemicals that you just leave to the professionals or they need to have better instructions and WARNINGS all over the box. If they can warn on cigarrettes, they can warn on perm. Both can have detrimental effects on your body. They can prove alopecia results from perming just as well as they can prove cancer results from smoking--- whether the hair industry or the cigarrette industry wants you to know it, or not.

By the way, there IS nothing wrong if you are eduacated on your hair, the process, and know what you are doing. Its all fine and dandy to sound like you are making a good point, but you failed to see mine AND proved it at the same time. MANY people AREN'T educated on it. MANY people learn how to relax their own hair just from repeating what was done to them with little regard to the instructions. They think, well if its in the hair section of Walmart, etc, it cant possibly do too much damage. MANY people read the directions and follow them without realizing relaxing every 4 weeks may not be good for their hair. MANY follow directions, but if they had known alopecia could bite them in the arse 20 years later would have never done it in the first place. MANY people allow salon stylists to leave the perm on their head, complain of burning, only to be told the BURNING MEANS ITS WORKING! There are so many ignorant people using relaxers, just like there were so many ignorant people smoking before warnings were put on the box. If FDA put up a warning on relaxers like they did on cigarrettes, I can guarantee you cases like this woman's would be less prominent. There are PLENTY of women going bald now from relaxing their whole life. My MOTHER being one of them!


All these threads about bald spots and seeing women with bad relaxer jobs and you come to this thread acting like they dont exist all of a sudden. If there were more regulations on this stuff things would be A LOT better. Once again, I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST RELAXED HEADS. I however do have something against how the government and hair product companies regulate relaxers.

 

[aloof one]

-Alot of people are like that too, but they havent learned any other options...but while you thought you had no choice did you still have these opinions that you have now? You probally didnt, so thats why i think its better to try & educate people than to be so judgemental like everybody else knows what they are doing and knows about their natural hair....

BTW, there is no probably about it, I DID have the same opinion. My mother relaxed my hair until I was in middle school, and my family perpetuated the feeling of embarrassment associated with having natural (because apparently some folks think only mixed people can) hair that caused me to perm my hair through high school. There has been A LOT of societal pressure to relax if you are an African American female! Not as much today with the wave of naturals on TV, but you would be a lying-ass-fool if you stood there and said there wasn't. All the while with my burnt scalp and constant itching, etc. and all the other things that came from it. I have ALWAYS wished I could stop letting my mom do that to me. I have ALWAYS dreaded sitting through a relaxer because I felt like "What is so wrong with my hair that she has to do this every month???" I have ALWAYS hated knowing that everytime I relaxed, I was continuing a cycle I didn't want to. It took a long time, but now that I am an adult, Im glad I made this decision. I can understand going relaxed after being natural all your life for a "look," but I can understand goin natural after being relaxed for life even better (cause Im livin it).

A lot of people don't know about their natural hair because they get relaxers. Others just don't know, I can understand that. But you act like my whole point ISNT TO EDUCATE them. WARNINGS ON LABELS AND REGULATIONS that I am talking about WOULD educate them. Its not about being judgemental, its stating facts. Relaxers make hair straight. A lot of White people typically have straight hair. Typically Africans are born with kinky/curly/coily hair. Many black women today have Alopecia, and MANY of them got it from relaxers. These are all facts. My opinion (and many will agree) is that there is not enough warning associated with perms, and there should be.

 

[NewYorkgyrl]

I am not totaly against relaxers but after this thread I am also beginning to feel like it would be important to regulate it.

I always knew relaxer=chemical (duh) but I never thought about it like how alof00fone explained. If it contains caustic substances in it (which it does) this NEEDS to be better explained to the black community so that myths will die (i.e if its burning its working)


Labeling the box AND container is a perfect idea!!!! Great thread.

 

[Bint Yusef]

so she just used regular poo.

Ive done that so many times when I was relaxed, and never did I have this happen. Although my hair looked a mess.

 

[thefineprint]

my goodness! although i'm sure she must have done something very wrong to end up this way i'm still very relieved that i don't use chemicals on my head anymore...