It's downright scary what some stylists believe, practice and advise.
I once went to my stylist for an updo. I wanted the least amount of heat on my hair, so I asked him to wet wrap my hair and put me under the dryer. He didn't want to do it, but I wasn't about to let him blowfry my hair. After being under the dryer for an hour and a half, my hair was still very damp, and I'd had enough of it, so I finally agreed to let him blowfry the dampness out. My hair was relaxed at the time and he then used a hotcomb on the new growth. His next step was to marcel my hair. When I questioned him about his use of all that heat, his reply was that he was "thermally styling" my hair. He went on to advise me that he had been doing hair for 12 years. WTF? Did he not think that I knew that thermal = heat??? Further, his 12 years of doing hair was no match for the 30+ years I had lived with my hair. After I thought about it, I believe he had that hood dryer on medium or low to discourage me. Do I need to tell you that I did not return to him after that?
Oh, I've got some....
A hairdresser that I went to once said to hold your leg up in the air while the relaxer was burning the scalp to decrease the pain.
She also "scolded" me once for turning the dryer to a lower setting b/c it was too hot for me
As if all of that wasn't enough, I finally left her when my hair started breaking off and I asked her why did she think so, and she said "maybe it's b/c I'm scratching your scalp when I wash your hair"
You almost had good hair erplexed
I once overheard a student stylist tell her customer that the burn of the relaxer meant it was working.
"Black women don't need to wash their hair more than once every two weeks. Anything else, is drying and damaging!"
"Your ends are very dry" let me use these irons [Marcel] to moisturiseit
LOL. I know human beings have nervous systems . Just because the hair has no nerves doesn't mean its dead. The sensitivity argument and the nail attached at the bed info thrown in has nothing to do with proof that the hair/nails are alive or dead.
But people can say/believe according to their theories.
I know my view is unpopular. But if the hair stand is attached at the root and the root is soaking up nutrients and the hair is subsequently growing...then it's alive to me. To say the hair follicle is alive but the hair isn't despite the hair being attached is not an explanation I can embrace.
That's like saying the vegetation growing on top of the ground from buried onions and carrots isn't alive but just the root bulb is.
I know folks will think I'm stupid. But I dont' care. My growing hair is alive until it stops growing and falls out.
but I don't want to hijack this thread ...
so back to the regularly scheduled topic.