Anyone heard of Bantu relaxer?

[L.Mo.]

I got my hair relaxed today. I was planning on buying Affirm and bringing it to my new stylist, but I thought I should assess what she uses first, and ask if it is OK to bring my own product. So, I asked... and she uses a relaxer called, "Bantu"

-- in mild strength. I have never heard of it!!

When I asked her about Affirm, she said that she has used it and found that, after time, it caused the growth to break. She doesn't like Mizani either. She said that she will use whatever I want if I bring it... but that is her opinion. To be honest, I really like how my hair looks right now, and I didn't burn...

maybe I should give Bantu a couple of tries?!?!? ...mind you, I quite liked Affirm when I used to use it too..

I took some pics

today, I'll try to post them tomorrow!

 

[sephora]

i see it in Sally's. big tubs of it.
my stylist LOVES LOVES LOVES affirm, though

. she uses two types of relaxers and affirm is the milder of the two and thinks it works really well on my hair. you're making me all nervous! but her clients' hair (including me) alwyas look fabulous (and long!), so i guess i should calm down. but my point is, yes, i've heard of bantu.

 

[cutebajangirl]

I would be very careful with the hair. In high school alot of girls used it because it was the cheapest perm at a salon (you know how they can charge diff prices for a relaxer based on the brand) and it caused a lot of damage. Please keep in mind that Bantu is waaaaaaaaaay cheaper to the stylist than affirm so ther could be economic motives involved hair. It just seemed then as a very harsh strong relaxer.

 

[Meinzzfuture]

I use Bantu no lye every 3 months with no problems. I used if after I saw how shiny my friends hair was after a perm. Bad reason to try a new product but I had no negative side effects.

 

[L.Mo.]

Thanks. I was worried that it was probably cheaper... and, perhaps, not as good. However, I am torn because my hair looks and feels good. Working in marketing for a huge consumer goods company I know that more expensive doesn't always equal higher quality.

(Sigh) Nonetheless, I'll probably go back to Affirm. She's happy to use it if I bring it in. Now I've gotta go and get some...

 

[L.Mo.]

Meinzzfuture, how long have you been using it? I couldn't tell if the tub was lye or no-lye.... I looked and it didn't say. I think it was lye.

You are right, my hair is very shiny!!!! And swingy!!

 

[Allandra]

One of my friends uses this relaxer. Her hair is very straight.

 

[cutebajangirl]

Hey if it works it works. You have time before your next touch up to see the long term effects. For all I know the breakage could be due to those tacky-tail B-more hairdressers. So I would hold off on buying Affirm. I also can say Meinzfuture's hair lokks great !!!

 

[inthepink]

I got a Bantu relaxer a LONG time ago. My hair turned out just fine but I never used it again. I just liked my Vitale.

 

[L.Mo.]

I'm so indecisive, and such a band-wagon jumper...

 

[Meinzzfuture]

Aww thats for shouting me out cutebajangirl. Ive used Bantu only 2xs, before that I used PCJ no lye. Prior to that I used Creme of Nature no lye. I'm also a bandwagon jumper. Because of this board I wanted to perm my hair with Affirm, Elucence, etc. Luckily, I couldnt get my hand out these products and im pretty thrifty.

 

[DahomeyAhosi]

Imho Mizani and Affirm are great. I would choose one of these if given the choice.

Bantu is very strong and cheap. In high school there were three of us African girls. One of us used Bantu because that's all she said would work to straighten her hair. The other agreed but constantly teased her about it (also because Bantu is the name given for a certain group of Sub-Saharan Africans which is not really well accepted by the group that is so-named).

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

Years ago when I was a little girl, the salon that my mother and I went to used Bantu. When I say years, I really mean years, like 20+ years ago. My hair was long, healthy and I believe that there was no such thing as no-lye back then. Which is precisely why I'll be going back to the lye. I forgot they made that perm.

And you're right that more expensive doesn't always mean better. We've all seen and heard the name, Mizani and Affirm. Shoot, until I found out about Cathy Howse, I had never heard of Affirm. And that's been about 3 months.

There has never been a perm since Bantu that has had my hair looking like it looked back then. You may have solved my dilemma for me.

The only hold-up for me is that about 10 years ago, a stylist put a perm in my hair and caused extensive chemical burns such that after that my scalp was always sensitive. But I believe that with this board, my semi-transitioning period, and reading Lisa Akbari's book, my scalp is getting better. Reading Lisa Akbari's book certainly helped me to see that I could get my old scalp back. I think that when I start with the MSM and get my internal functions in order, I think I can make that switch back to lye if I decide that I don't want to transition. I'm still struggling with what I want to do.

 

[L.Mo.]

Interesting thoughts. My stylist said she won't use anything except mild strength, I guess because you have all said that Bantu is so strong. I, too, have a very sensitive scalp. Interestingly, my old stylist used Affirm regular strength and I had the occasional irritation with some subsequent scab formation. The past 2 times I have gone to my new stylist -- who uses Bantu -- I have had no problems with burning or scabbing. My hair does seem straighter than I normally like it, but not burning is key for me!!

 

[Ebony]

I've been using it since 1996 after moving to New York and my first dominican stylist carried it. i'd never heard of it before. she explained that it was more gentle on my hair and more appropriate for my hair type than the revlon & optimum i had used prior to that. over the years i've seen it mostly in dominican salons and i still use mild to this day. last year i started using motions mild for a change which was great, but still too strong. i love bantu mild and will continue to stick with it.

 

[slwe415]

I have heard of it before, but I never used it.

 

[L.Mo.]

[ QUOTE ]
Ebony said:
I've been using it since 1996 after moving to New York and my first dominican stylist carried it. i'd never heard of it before. she explained that it was more gentle on my hair and more appropriate for my hair type than the revlon & optimum i had used prior to that. over the years i've seen it mostly in dominican salons and i still use mild to this day. last year i started using motions mild for a change which was great, but still too strong. i love bantu mild and will continue to stick with it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hooray!

That's what I wanted to hear... a long-term success story! My stylist also described it as more appropriate for my hair type esp. compared to Optimum and Revlon.

Well, seeing as the only Affirm I could find to buy in the Toronto area looked kinda old, and I'm too cheap to order off the internet (shipping to Canada is $$$$!), I'll stick with Bantu for at least a couple more tries!

 

[Ebony]

[ QUOTE ]
L.Mo. said:
My hair does seem straighter than I normally like it, but not burning is key for me!!

[/ QUOTE ]

L.Mo., if it comes out straighter than you like, you can ask her not to leave it on as long. I've experienced that with other relaxers in the past and stopped leaving them in as long to see what would happen and walla! it worked! i didn't know then that it was called "texturizing". it took a few touch ups for me to figure out what exact timing of application worked best, but i figured it out. by the way, my hair isn't thick...it is fragile and delicate. bantu has NEVER been harsh or harmed my hair.

 

[lilchanel]

I used to use Bantu a long time ago. It made my hair bone straight. I loved it!

 

[UmSumayyah]

Blaxalrose, where did you get the deep brilliance done? I did some research on the Farouk company and I may give this line a try. I am still thinking of going back to my African Pride relaxer but any thoughts are appreciated.
I got a bantu done once, a girl in my dorm did it for me way back when. It didn't take. I know now it was a lye because she didn't have to mix anything. If only I'd realized lye didn't work on my hair awhile ago. *sigh*... spilled milk...

 

[LiqueXX]

I also used to use Bantu and I liked it alot because of its strength (I have coarse 4a/b hair).

 

[honeycomb719]

Bantu was my first relaxer. It used to get my hair bone straight too. But, all the stuff I was doing to my hair damaged it. I give it a thumbs up if you want bone-straight hair.....

 

[bronzehair]

i've been using bantu for about 4 months now and have no problems with it at all i usually add some olive oil and my hair comes out really shiny and straight

 

[bronzehair]

i've been using bantu for about 4 months now and have no problems with it at all i usually add some olive oil and my hair comes out really shiny and straight

 

[Leshia]

I wonder if I should try this one again. It didn't seem to straighten my hair at all, but maybe I didn't leave it in long enough...I still have a full container of no lye, so I may just *may* give it another try. I was thinking though...that maybe I would start getting mine professionally done since my hair is always so underprocessed of late. Hmmmm...