No such thing as healthy relaxed hair?

[soslychic]

This is an insert from the book "No Lye" by Tulani Kinard. I wanted to get some of your opinions:

Real work and patience are required in order to bring your hair back to it's natural, healthy state, Based upon my research and experience, it is impossible for chemically processed hair to be healty. And I'm sorry, but if you have a chemical straightener in your hair, and your stylist is telling you your hair is healthy, know one of two things right away:

1. Your stylist is totally ignorant of the process of maintaining a healthy head of hair and of the biochemical realities of a hair strand or

2. Your stylist is not being totally honest.

If you take the time to understand the biochemical makeup of your hair and the damaging properties of these chemical straghteners, I have no doubt that with the use of critical thinking skills, you too will see "the lye."

The following page has a shocking picture of a woman that has suffered from alopecia, a disease from chemical damage. She only has inches of hair around her hairline which allowed her stylist to create a cornrowed style that covered her bald head.

 

[adrienne0914]

i agree to a certain extent. relaxed hair is not as healthy as natural hair, but i don't think my hair is unhealthy. and natural is no guarantee of healthy. i've seen many tow (yes tow) up heads of natural hair.

so in conclusion... whatever...

 

[Supergirl]

I can see how it would be referred to as an Oxymoron (healthy, relaxed hair) because the chemical actually has to damage the hair to straighten it. But it's very possible. I am living proof. My hair is healthy & thriving & vibrant & in the best condition it's ever been in. I believe that heat from blow dryers is the major culprit in damaging relaxed hair

I've been relaxed for a loooooooooong time (probably since age 8) and when I wasn't using heat at any given period, my hair was healthy. When I did use heat, it wasn't just an outrage, but it was definitely less healthy. There are at least 3 women on this board with healthy relaxed waist-length hair: Allandra, JRW, & Zanna. Adrienne is about a centimeter away.

Peachtree & Hairlove are transitioning, but when they were fully relaxed--they had waist length hair at one time or another also.

And of course, this book has to promote it's agenda...

 

[HotCoCoGurl130]

same here, i know that chemicals do have an adverse affects on your hair but i also think that as long as you take extra care of relaxed hair you should be fine.

 

[Karonica]

I think relaxed hair can be just as healthy as natural hair, maybe not as strong when it comes to certain types of styling, such as coloring, heat, etc.

 

[Honi]

Adrienne you are funny gurl! I cosign. I too have seen many "tow" up natural heads. IMO, natural hair needs just as much work and care as relaxed hair needs but perhaps with different products and methods.

 

[CrownnGlori]

This is not a slight to relaxed heads or naturals but we all know hair is dead. It is a by-product of excess keratin and other products that are in our body. Something that is dead cannot be healthy because it is not alive. There is no health to consider. That is a relative term we use. It doesn't matter if it is chemically treated or not.

 

[Purtygurly]

I also agree to an extent. Relaxed hair is WEAKER than natural hair, but it can still be healthy. Healthy hair doesn't break, has shine, has volume and has elaticity. Healthy relaxed hair has all of these qualities.

A relaxed hair kept in prime condition will always be weaker than a natural hair kept in prime condition. A relaxer causes damage that cannot be fixed, but the damage that it does is exactly what makes the hair straight.

Just because you have a relaxer doesn't mean that you have unhealthy hair... it means your hair is in a weakened state.

One could argue that compared to someone with type 1 hair, type 4b is "unhealthy". Type 1 hair is stronger than the fragile type 4b, but that doesn't mean that everyone with type 4b has unhealthy hair, does it?

 

[soslychic]

[ QUOTE ]
One could argue that compared to someone with type 1 hair, type 4b is "unhealthy". Type 1 hair is stronger than the fragile type 4b, but that doesn't mean that everyone with type 4b has unhealthy hair, does it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said.

 

[Purtygurly]

[ QUOTE ]
CrownnGlori said:
This is not a slight to relaxed heads or naturals but we all know hair is dead. It is a by-product of excess keratin and other products that are in our body. Something that is dead cannot be healthy because it is not alive. There is no health to consider. That is a relative term we use. It doesn't matter if it is chemically treated or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the definition of health:

The overall condition of something: the general condition of something in terms of soundness, vitality, and proper functioning

There is concern about the financial HEALTH of the company.

As you can see, the word health can be used to refer to things that are not alive.

 

[DelightfulFlame]

Regardless of the hair, I believe that relaxing is not healthy for my body because of the chemicals used.

 

[Allandra]

[ QUOTE ]
adrienne0914 said:
i agree to a certain extent. relaxed hair is not as healthy as natural hair, but i don't think my hair is unhealthy. and natural is no guarantee of healthy. i've seen many tow (yes tow) up heads of natural hair.

so in conclusion... whatever...

[/ QUOTE ]
D I T T O

 

[Allandra]

[ QUOTE ]
Supergirl said:
Adrienne is about a centimeter away.

[/ QUOTE ]
...and Supergirl is about a half of a centimeter away (if she's not already there).

 

[Maestradiva77]

I agree.

 

[72792]

When I was natural, my hair broke off and shed too much. I have been relaxed for some time now and it has been the only time my hair reached mid-back length and had lots of body and shine. I think it's all in the maintenance either way.

 

[joemerald]

I was visiting the site of nappturality to decide on if to go natural and they said the same thing. Relaxed hair cannot be healthy. I just put that down to their own agenda. No offense to members of that site, please.

 

[CrownnGlori]

[ QUOTE ]
Purtygurly said:

This is the definition of health:

The overall condition of something: the general condition of something in terms of soundness, vitality, and proper functioning

There is concern about the financial HEALTH of the company.

As you can see, the word health can be used to refer to things that are not alive.

[/ QUOTE ]

We can quibble over definitions but the Haircare manufacters are not allowed to advertise that their product will repair hair or improve the health of hair because quite simply no product can. Hair is dead cells. Dead. You can improve the condition or appeareance but nothing can bring it to health, life. Thats why they say , "It will make your hair health- looking" A company has life, dead cells can just be maintained.
FYI - I have a head full of healthy looking hair. I am however not promoting one over the other. We all can have well-maintained hair.

 

[Chichi]

[ QUOTE ]
DelightfulFlame said:
Regardless of the hair, I believe that relaxing is not healthy for my body because of the chemicals used.

[/ QUOTE ]

DF, I am not responding to you directly when I ask, are the relaxer chemicals harmful? Have there been any studies that show that they are harmful. While breastfeeding, my lactation consultant told me that it was okay to relax shortly after having my son so surely those chemicals cannot be that harmful. (I didn't relax while pregnant because I wasn't sure about the chemicals and I did not want to take any chances.) If it is proven that they are then I am the first to go natural.

As for healthy relaxed hair, I believe that I am getting it. It is funny, but when I test my strands for elasticity and such, the relaxed hair closest to my scalp is the strongest. I know that this is so because of the great tips that I have recievd from LHCF. My hair is growing in very thick and very strong and it is all relaxed

.

Chichi

 

[CocoaCure]

I agree..........healthy hair all depends upon the care it is receiving! I was natural for 3 years and loved it, now I'm relaxed and loving it! Some people feel the need to put something down (x is not healthy and y is!) in order to feel better about the decision they are making. I own and have read Tulani Kinard's book and it's a great book I'd recommend, however, it definitely promotes her agenda which is a salon that serves natural hair. We should all know by being on this site that there are TONS of sistahs with long, flowing, non-split, shiny, elastic, bouncy, healthy relaxed hair! So if that is what is unhealthy according to Tulani Kinard, then fine................I still want it! I'm relaxed and just 3 small inches from bra strap and my hair is super soft, non-split and no-one could ever tell me it's not healthy! No matter what their agenda! When I was natural, I got the opposite - everyone was like "Why are you doing that!!!!" Now some Natural's are asking "OMG, Why are you relaxed now???" The answer is the same both times...........because I do what pleases me! Because I want to! I LOVED my hair natural!! But I'm also enjoying the tremendous styling versatility that relaxed hair offers and I can still do a twist out to get a natural look! I feel I have the best of both worlds AND it's healthy!

 

[curtrece]

Also Alopecia is caused from a number of things, mostly stress related or other diseases...so to pin the cause of alopecia on chemicals is ridiculous.

 

[Chimma]

I think that it is easier to have healthy natural hair than healthy relaxed hair. Most black women do not have problems growing their hair without relaxers and did not need to take very special care of their hair as unrelaxed children to have long hair. Sometimes it seems as if everyone had long hair as a child. And if I visit long hair sites for people who aren't just black, the people there with very long hair would never get their hair permed (like a curly perm), died, or chemically altered because it weakens the hair.

My black friend with butt-length hair is forbidden by her previously relaxed mother to get a relaxer on her hair. Her mother's hair was around bra-strap I believe with the relaxer but it was much thinner than when it was natural, and she decided to grow it out three years ago. I decided to grow out my own hair, because my hair is still very thick relaxed and it is relatively long for a 4b, but I remember it being much thicker and longer before I relaxed and my sister has told me that she remembers the same thing. My natural hair is stronger so I thought it would be easier for me to retain the length natural.

That being said, it is easy to have natural hair and have it less healthy than relaxed hair if you don't treat it right. Tight braids and a lot of pressing can all make your natural hair much weaker than relaxed hair, and relaxed hair care is simpler and allows you to have straight styles very easily so that you actually know when your hair is growing. That's my biggest problem with transitioning - i have no idea how to see the length i am getting without using heat.

 

[pebbles]

[ QUOTE ]
adrienne0914 said:
i agree to a certain extent. relaxed hair is not as healthy as natural hair, but i don't think my hair is unhealthy. and natural is no guarantee of healthy. i've seen many tow (yes tow) up heads of natural hair.

so in conclusion... whatever...

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL! Okay!!

 

[jemini]

I agree that it just depends on how you take care of your hair, even if it's relaxed or natural.

 

[Purtygurly]

[ QUOTE ]
CrownnGlori said:

We can quibble over definitions but the Haircare manufacters are not allowed to advertise that their product will repair hair or improve the health of hair because quite simply no product can. Hair is dead cells. Dead. You can improve the condition or appeareance but nothing can bring it to health, life. Thats why they say , "It will make your hair health- looking" A company has life, dead cells can just be maintained.
FYI - I have a head full of healthy looking hair. I am however not promoting one over the other. We all can have well-maintained hair.

[/ QUOTE ]

The company's finances are not alive. The sentence didn't talk about the people who work for the company at all. Just because the health of your hair can't be improved doesn't mean that hair doesn't have varying degrees of health.

Your hair is at it's most healthy point when it first grows and has nothing wrong with it. It gets less healthy if you don't take care of it properly or even if it just gets old.
You are right that hair is dead, but the word health like I said, can describe things that aren't alive.

Also, by saying that you have healthy looking hair, you are implying that hair has a state of health... how can your hair LOOK healthy if it can't BE healthy?

If I'm annoying you, ignore me. I just like to debate... on anything

 

[nbcgurl22]

[ QUOTE ]
DelightfulFlame said:
Regardless of the hair, I believe that relaxing is not healthy for my body because of the chemicals used.

[/ QUOTE ]

2 true

 

[BamaFro]

ITA with the author.

i have NEVER seen an unhealthy head of natural hair. just because it doesn't have a shine to it (a Euro-centered standard to which natural black hair does not live up to) or doesn't "bounce" like straight hair it does not mean that the hair is "tow up."

relaxed hair can never be healthy regardless of how you try to explain it away. it is MUCH weaker than even the most fragile 4b hair in its natural state.

in order for a relaxer to work, it must break down the peptide bonds in the hair, which makes it almost impossible to stop the breaking process.

i've never really seen a "full" thick head of relaxed hair that could compare in texture, fullness, and health to that of say a white woman with hair the same length.

i'm not trying to ruffle feathers, but the basic ingredients of a relaxer are akin to drano and nair, which means it eats up the fullness of the hair in the process of breaking down the peptide bonds.

Go to afronappy.com check out "the truth about relaxers" article.

 

[Victorian]

I've seen folks get pretty riled up about this idea and I just don't get it.

When a person with relaxed hair says they want healthy hair, they have a particular goal in mind. They know how they want it to look and feel and behave. They describe that condition as healthy. They aren't even thinking about the molecular level. You don't see/interact with your hair at a molecular level--you just deal with the overall condition and appearance. Even someone with natural hair isn't concerned about what's going on at the molecular level. They still guage the success of their hair regimen by how their hair looks, feels, and behaves. They just have different references.
You can argue til the cows come home about what is "truly" healthy, but the truth is nobody really cares unless it is affecting their ability to reach their appearance goals. And what exactly does healthy mean anyway? As it was posted earlier: "The overall condition of something: the general condition of something in terms of soundness, vitality, and proper functioning" That's a pretty relative definition when it comes to hair. People have different ideas of what it means for their hair to "function properly." And when people do try to describe what healthy is, what kinds of things to they say? All having to do with how it looks, feels, and behaves. People have their own ideal characteristics and that's what they aim for. Having your sulfide bonds intact isn't always directly related to your appearance goals.

 

[BamaFro]

'riled up' is a frame of mind as well. do what you will with your hair. the facts are the facts. there's nothing left for the hair to do but break once the peptide bonds are broken.

 

[BronzeBrown]

[ QUOTE ]
Chichi said:
DF, I am not responding to you directly when I ask, are the relaxer chemicals harmful? Have there been any studies that show that they are harmful. While breastfeeding, my lactation consultant told me that it was okay to relax shortly after having my son so surely those chemicals cannot be that harmful. (I didn't relax while pregnant because I wasn't sure about the chemicals and I did not want to take any chances.) If it is proven that they are then I am the first to go natural.

As for healthy relaxed hair, I believe that I am getting it. It is funny, but when I test my strands for elasticity and such, the relaxed hair closest to my scalp is the strongest. I know that this is so because of the great tips that I have recievd from LHCF. My hair is growing in very thick and very strong and it is all relaxed

.
Chichi

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Chichi, this is in response to your question about past studies conducted to determine whether relaxers are harmful. Several times I've heard about a study in which, post-death, a number of women who relaxed their hair regularly in life had their scalps cut open and it was found that they all had a layer of green film underneath

. However, this is something that I've only ever read about online, so it may or may not be true.

But also to just think of it in basic terms - the hairdresser wears gloves when applying a relaxer in order to protect her skin from it; and this is the same chemical that goes on your scalp. Not only that, but it burns when applied and I know in my case, left me with scabs on my scalp. One woman on another hairboard a couple of years ago described how her scalp was perpetually sore (sometimes bleeding a little) post touch-up. Then I know of quite a few women who, after deciding to go natural, had extra tubs of relaxer left over. So to get rid of them, they use the product to clean the soap scum off of their bathtubs.

So I don't know...the combination of all those different facts makes me really wary, to say the least.

 

[loverofnaps71]

I am not one to get involved in the relaxed vs. natural hair war. However, I will say that it pains me to see relaxed heads with no hair around the edges, or thin, lifeless hair that might be long but is very damaged and unhealthy. It's REALLY painful that women with damaged relaxed hair insist on maintaining relaxed even though the hair is clearly unhealthy. At the same time, I've seen some naturals that are not well taken care of, but I don't think that perming would necessarily make it "more" healthy. I just think that unhealthy hair is more likely with relaxed hair than natural hair. BUT, I HAVE seen healthy-looking relaxed hair. The conclusion is that all hair has the potential of being truly healthy and that's what we should shoot for, so keep striving for healthy hair, ladies!