Since when did white folks start getting relaxers?

[chayil0427]

I went to a HS with a girl who had very very curly blonde hair and she told me that she used to relax with D&L. I was shocked...I didn't know they did that either.

Chayil

 

[gymfreak336]

One of the stylist here in greensboro who has done my hair off and on since I was born used to always say that she had a ton of white clients that wanted relaxers and weaves. They wanted to go early so no one would see then so she would open up at 5 in the morning for them. I looked at her crazy and then she said they they were paying the 5 in the morning price

 

[Prayingforprogress]

One of may classmates in college is chinese and she gets the jananese straightening sytem thingy done. But she waits until holidays (christmas,etc.) and goes home to china to get it done cause she said they charger to much for it in the U.S. You can even see when the new growth is coming in! She'll have like 5 inches of new growth and the rest of her hair will be stick straight. I need to ask her how she deals with the two textures until her next touch up...

 

[PrincessScorpion]

I remember 20/20 doing a story on hair straigtning....they said that 90% of the time Dudley's relaxer is better for white hair than that new Japanese Hair straightning sysytem
it was news to me!

I saw that too! It makes you wonder why they still ask how our hair get so straight when they already know.

 

[Studio_gal]

Yep. A Jewish schoolteacher I used to have her hair relaxed and an Australian girlfriend of mine has hers done every 3 months

 

[spoogeywoogey]

Yup all the time. Why kill out yourself to blowdry or flatiron every day and have it ruined by humidity? Now that I think about it, I can remember several white girls from high school who had inexplicably curly roots and straight hair. I knew of several Indian (that is East Indian) girls who would straighten their hair, especially those who were mixed black and Indian. This phenomenon is worldwide never mind the fact that the majority of people on the planet do not have straight hair. Simply amazing.

 

[dlewis]

I know since I was in high school

 

[Cichelle]

Back in the seventies, they used to sell a relaxer at the drug store that had a white lady on the box. I wish I could remember the name of it. My aunt let someone use it on her once and it destroyed her hair. But yeah, white folks been getting relaxers. I have in-laws who use them and try to get me to use them too. It's funny because they tell me about it like I would have never heard of or used a relaxer before.


ETA:

It was called "Curl Free" and apparently they still sell it. Made by the White Rain Co. When I saw it as a child, the model on the box was different, of course. But her is the more recent box:

"Now you can wear your hair any way you want. Curl Free relaxes natural waves and curls while it helps hair keep the body it needs for easy setting and hold. Even tightly curled unruly hair can look softer, smoother and more manageable. It's easy to do..."

I'm not exactly sure if this is a regular relaxer or what because I can't find the ingredients. But I'm pretty sure this is the same one that's been around for a while.

 

[amwcah]

I had a friend whose hair would put any black woman's 4z hair to shame...curly to the nth degree! I'd never seen that kind of hair on a white person ever.

She got teased so much she finally decided to get a relaxer. Her hair went from brillo to beautiful...she gets relaxed to this day.

Yeah, I had a classmate in high school who had this type of hair. But, gee, I never thought about recommending a relaxer to her.

 

[InsatiableMe]

I went to high school with an Italian girl who said she used to use Hawaiian Silky relaxer on her hair. I guess her hair was naturally curly, b/c with the relaxer it was wavy. She said she only left it on for a few minutes. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't realize that they used relaxer either.

Hmmm, do people still use Hawaiian Silky?

 

[KiniKakes]

I didnt realize it was as common as that either. Sorry, it just sounds funny.

At my Dominican salon, many of the stylists get relaxers though. I was surprised the very time i saw them relaxing each other. Many of them have naturally straight 1/2 hair, but some of them seem to have Type 3 hair, and i guess they want the straight look too.

 

[Xavier]

I'm right there with you Starian, I had no idea that it was even possible to relax their hair type.

 

[dicapr]

My first relaxer was actually a white relaxer. The beauty school that I got my virgin relaxer at only used one type-the white one. They just left it on longer for black clients. My hair was more texlaxed than anything. I had white co-worker complain that she used a relaxer to try to straighten her wavy hair and it didn't take.

 

[songbyrd517]

Our family has a friend who is irish and has been relaxing her hair for probably 25 years I had NO idea until a couple of years ago she broke her collarbone and had asked me to braid her hair. I had my fingers down on her scalp and I joked that it felt like she needed a touch up and she just started laughing and said:

"Who are YOU tellin"

It was probably funnier to hear her say it because she's got a thick accent. She uses Dark and Lovely regular religiously once every 8 weeks.

 

[deejoy]

Also their relaxers cost twice as much at their salons. Like $150 +!

 

[balisi]

Just today we had a customer who admitted that he used a "straightener" on his hair. His (white) stylist thought he was referring to a styling product. He said, "No, a hair straightener." I asked him if he meant a relaxer, and he said yes. His stylist was still a bit baffled (apparently he'd never heard of whites getting relaxers, either). I asked the customer what type/brand he'd used and he mentioned some name that is unfamiliar to me. He said he bought it at the drugstore. More than likely, the active ingredient is ammonium thioglycolate instead of sodium hydroxide (lye).

I just remembered when a client came in about two months ago, with her head tied up in a rag. She was seeking help for her damaged hair. Why was it damaged, you ask? Well, my friends, it was damaged due to her application of one of those "home straighteners" on bleached hair! She had used the Ogilvie brand. I looked it up and it is a thio-based relaxer. The label instructs that it is not to be used on bleached hair. When she took the rag off, her hair was not just damaged, it was destroyed! Much of it had melted off in her sink, even though she claimed she had not left it on for long. The hair that she had left was like wet, overcooked angel hair pasta. I gave her a hard protein treatment and had to cut off most of her mid-back length hair. At the end of the cut, she had 2-3 inches of limp, "lifeless" hair left on her head. She said she was never going to touch her hair again.

 

[*Happily Me*]

Back in the seventies, they used to sell a relaxer at the

remember those Olgivie commercials for the home perm?

 

[sweetwhispers]

A lot of white boys relax their hair.

 

[blue_flower]

I just remembered when a client came in about two months ago, with her head tied up in a rag. She was seeking help for her damaged hair. Why was it damaged, you ask? Well, my friends, it was damaged due to her application of one of those "home straighteners" on bleached hair! She had used the Ogilvie brand. I looked it up and it is a thio-based relaxer. The label instructs that it is not to be used on bleached hair. When she took the rag off, her hair was not just damaged, it was destroyed! Much of it had melted off in her sink, even though she claimed she had not left it on for long. The hair that she had left was like wet, overcooked angel hair pasta. I gave her a hard protein treatment and had to cut off most of her mid-back length hair. At the end of the cut, she had 2-3 inches of limp, "lifeless" hair left on her head. She said she was never going to touch her hair again.

That sounds awful!!!! It's important to read the instructions!

 

[Ms Lala]

I know several who have curly hair that relax. THey probably were getting relaxers while black folks were still pressing.

 

[BronzyBella]

I had a friend with a Portuguse father and "white" South African mother growing up. My friend had straight, long hair but her mom had short, wavy-looking hair that she would relax every couple of months. When i got a little bit older, my own mother was telling me how because she's South African, she may have Black somewhere in her ancestory.

 

[spiceykitten]

This is what I was trying to point out, a long time ago..there are alot of other races with kinky hair textures. Some people of other races have hair similiar to a Black person but this should not be a surprise for there are Black people with hair that is similiar to other races.

We are all one people and that is how I look at it but just different color skins.

I know my childhood best friend who is Asian used a relaxer on her hair to reverse the curly perm process.

A little off-topic but I also know her father would use grease . He loved it and he had super straight Asian hair but it would slather the grease in his hair and loved to wear some Black outfits.

I also have a cousin who is all Indian but her hair is bushy and wavy like mine. I also met a girl from Taiwan with hair like mine. I can still remember standing in front of the mirror with this Taiwanese girl and we were both complaining about combing our naps! I was running water through my hair at the same time she was and she said you do that too

Naps run through all societies!

 

[Lucia]

Well if you believe that tracing back through women that we all come from 1 mother and the cradle of life is/was in Africa then we are just 1 race and share 99% of our genes.
BTW for those who don't know India was part of Africa a long time ago it broke of and slammed into Asia.

"there is no good scientific reason beyond word length, convenience, and maintenance of the status quo (laziness in short), to continue to racialize human variation. Moreover, doing so may cause harm. In this way, using “race” as shorthand for biological variation is a form of ideological iatrogenesis. Real human suffering may result from poor conceptualization of human variation. Yet, race is real as lived experience. "

source: http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Goodman/

http://raceandgenomics.ssrc.org/Marks/

 

[sweetwhispers]

A large portion Indian/south asian women have curly hair, they just brush it and flat iron it straight. All the girls at uni do it.

 

[misskris816]

I never knew caucasions got relaxers until I started my current job a little over a year ago. One of my co-workers has some coarse hair and one day she came in and told me that she got a relaxer. I was really suprised when she told me that because 1. She was the first Caucasian I had known to get a relaxer and 2. It still looked very coarse.

It guess it's more common than we think.

 

[diamondlady]

I know lots & lots of caucasions who get relaxers. I've had many ask me what kind I used and if I also used heat with my relaxer.

I had one red-head friend with a relaxer but her curls looked much better. Her hair looked like a coarse horse tail when it was relaxed.

I use to see many when I went to the salon.

Nothing new & no big deal

 

[Allandra]

I know some white people that get relaxers.

 

[Healthb4Length]

Plenty of 25/20s get relaxers. Isn't Mizani made by an Italian company?