Enough about breaking down peptide bonds

[monister]

I keep reading this in the relaxed vs natural posts...

It is not possible! Hair is protein. Protein is a polypeptide ie consisting of several peptides, proteins are held together by peptide bonds. if relaxers broke down peptide bonds as soon as u apply a relaxer and wash ur hair all of it would fall off...
when u relax ur hair to make it impossible for the hair to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds that give it its curly state .. you do not break down any intramoleculer bonds..
why burns? because ppl scratch their hair with their hands or from harsh combing and brushing unbeknown to them before a relaxer. this causes ur scalp to become even more tender and creates an opportunity for the chemicals present in a relaxer to penetrate to where they shouldnt be .
why gloves? why do u wear gloves when u put something in the oven? basic personal protection.. heat in the oven is meant to cook whatever u put in there.... relaxers meant for hair not hands or skin.... besides u might have a cut or sore and u dont want any relaxer in there...
why breakage? overprocessing there is a reason why relaxers have recommended time limits to guide you and relaxers also say that they should only be applied to new growth and not previously relaxed hair.....
so please ladies lets have no more of peptide bonds being broken down when you relax...

my background... im a chemist... i work in medicinal chemistry in a biotech company on the west coast and im currently going into my senior yr of college....

monister
pm for further questions or ask in this post for the benefit of others

 

[pressncurl]

Wow, Monister . . . sounds like it's time for a vacation.

Just kidding. Thanks for the info.

 

[lsubabiedee]

ummmm....ok....disulfide bonds then....not being funny at all

 

[lovelymissyoli]

I've never heard of relaxers breaking down "peptide bonds" (per se) from the ladies on this board. I've heard that it will chemically alter your hair giving you the always-straight look, at that in fact is true, hence the point of relaxing your hair. Are you arguing that you are upset because of the negativity you think people have towards relaxers? Or because they aren't using the correct terminology? The number of women that relax their hair on this board outnumbers those who are natural. If women decide they want to relax their hair, they have their own reasons and are respected for that. If people want to list their reasons for why they don’t relax, then so be it. Let them. I know you are trying to say that what they are saying is wrong (in chemistry terms), but all of us aren’t chemists, we don’t know the terminology, and neither would someone reading the post so it’s best to break it down in a way that others will understand. I haven’t read of any “relaxing bashing” on this forum and I believe that regardless of what you do to your hair, in the end, we all just want to achieve “Long Beautiful Hair”.

 

[monister]

sorry lovelymissyoli if i didnt break down enough i thot i did... yeah when u put the relaxer in breaking down is hydrogen bonds is a chemically altering process but u do not break down the bonds that hold the proteins that make up hair .. i have nothing against relaxed or natural heads.. personally im indifferent... i guess im too much of a chemist and i hate to see ppl explaining their lack of understanding for a process with the wrong logic....

@press n curl.. vacation??? why? im only getting started ...

@lsubabiedee... no, no disulfite bonds.....

 

[ms_kenesha]

FDA biologist Lark Lambert says "But both types of relaxers contain ingredients that work by breaking chemical bonds of the hair, and both can burn the scalp if used incorrectly. Lye relaxers contain sodium hydroxide as the active ingredient. With "no lye" relaxers, calcium hydroxide and guanidine carbonate are mixed to produce guanidine hydroxide."

This is what most people are trying to say though we don't know the exact bonds.

*This is from the FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2001/101_hair.html

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

I say this from my husband's mouth to your eyes: Trust very little of what the FDA says that they "approve". They are not the watchdog they claim to be. Their approval really is meaningless. And what they say may not necessarily be the truth. They get their information from other scientists. My husband's qualifications to make this statement: Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology with numerous publications in the area. He's worked in varying capacities with NIH, WHO, CDC and FDA.

 

[Neroli]

Errr, I don't really care which bonds or what the chemical terms are, the fact is that relaxers WEAKEN the hair and WILL cause breakage if not properly handled. Does it really matter whether its protein, peptide, hydrogen, whatever? I mean, we just need to be aware of how to handle relaxed hair so that we can prevent damage and breakage. I appreciate suggestions on minimizing damage breakage and solutions for healthier hair . . .

I'm lawyer and my eyes glaze over when folks start talking chemistry -- but I do have SOME clue about hair care, having struggled with mine own for decades so I think I get the drift re: what relaxers do the hair and what I can do to make sure my hair remains healthy if I relax . . .

I don't need the right chemical terms, I just want solutions to the problem -- like when I have a problem with my car, I don't want the guy (or girl) to give the technical words on what's wrong, just tell me how much and fix it and hopefully how to prevent it from recurring in the future. . .

 

[ms_kenesha]

[ QUOTE ]
GodMadeMePretty said:
I say this from my husband's mouth to your eyes: Trust very little of what the FDA says that they "approve". They are not the watchdog they claim to be. Their approval really is meaningless. And what they say may not necessarily be the truth. They get their information from other scientists. My husband's qualifications to make this statement: Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology with numerous publications in the area. He's worked in varying capacities with NIH, WHO, CDC and FDA.

[/ QUOTE ]

The FDA actually doesn't approve or disapprove of relaxers they just maintain that they should be applied properly.

Although, if they're getting their info. from other scientists at least their scientific explanations should be correct, no?

 

[Tene]

[ QUOTE ]
GodMadeMePretty said:
I say this from my husband's mouth to your eyes: Trust very little of what the FDA says that they "approve". They are not the watchdog they claim to be. Their approval really is meaningless. And what they say may not necessarily be the truth. They get their information from other scientists. My husband's qualifications to make this statement: Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology with numerous publications in the area. He's worked in varying capacities with NIH, WHO, CDC and FDA.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree they approve stuff all the time that's harmful to people's health. They're just concerned about money.

 

[Bunny77]

I NEVER scratched my hair or combed it incorrectly, but yeah, I got burned. Not all the time, not every time, but every once in a while, I got burned.

Can't nobody tell me that it was my fault I got burned. Chemical burns happen when chemicals touch your skin!

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

It depends on which scientists' information they choose to make *their* public opinion. And sometimes, it really does depend on who has the most money. So if there is competing information that is actually more accurate, you might not get that.

I had to tell my husband to stop telling me stuff. I can see PERFECTLY why he's so *concerned* about various products. You don't even WANT to know.

 

[Karonica]

[ QUOTE ]
monister said:
I keep reading this in the relaxed vs natural posts...

It is not possible! Hair is protein. Protein is a polypeptide ie consisting of several peptides, proteins are held together by peptide bonds. if relaxers broke down peptide bonds as soon as u apply a relaxer and wash ur hair all of it would fall off...
when u relax ur hair to make it impossible for the hair to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds that give it its curly state .. you do not break down any intramoleculer bonds..
why burns? because ppl scratch their hair with their hands or from harsh combing and brushing unbeknown to them before a relaxer. this causes ur scalp to become even more tender and creates an opportunity for the chemicals present in a relaxer to penetrate to where they shouldnt be .
why gloves? why do u wear gloves when u put something in the oven? basic personal protection.. heat in the oven is meant to cook whatever u put in there.... relaxers meant for hair not hands or skin.... besides u might have a cut or sore and u dont want any relaxer in there...
why breakage? overprocessing there is a reason why relaxers have recommended time limits to guide you and relaxers also say that they should only be applied to new growth and not previously relaxed hair.....
so please ladies lets have no more of peptide bonds being broken down when you relax...

my background... im a chemist... i work in medicinal chemistry in a biotech company on the west coast and im currently going into my senior yr of college....

monister
pm for further questions or ask in this post for the benefit of others

[/ QUOTE ]


Thanks for the explanation. Made sense to me.

 

[Dolce_Dawn]

me 2.

 

[ChocoKitty]

Me also.

 

[sengschick]

Thanks Monister! Very informative.

 

[LuvLiLocks]

Man I tought this was squashed

, But thanks for the info monister.

 

[Tonya]

Very informatvie. Thanks Monster

 

[sillygurl18]

GMMP I wanna know.