What's the 'lesser' of two evils ????

[Autumn]

What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I know that they are BOTH bad for our hair, but in your opionions, what is 'best'.....Chemically relaxing or straightening with a hot comb/flat iron/blow dryer?

Ok, this is what I was thinking about: If one chooses to go completely natural (which I was almost all of last year, just needed a change for this year), and decides to use heat tools for more versatility, knowing that kinky hair will revert to it's natural state (hopefully) once it comes into contact with moisture.......wouldn't it be easier to just relax it?

I'm like, why go natural if you want to have it less bulky? This is what I asked MYSELF. The fact was that I got tired of twists, fros, puffs and headbands. Twistouts, (which a lot of naturals wear) took too long for my big hair. I heard somewhere that locs 'hold energy', so I shyed away from those too

.

My current 'solution' is that I put a mild relaxer in my hair not too long ago, to get started. So it's kinda texturized, 2 1/2 inches right now.

While I was natural, I felt that I was getting back to my roots. I've come to realize that if people can't tell that I'm Black from looking my skin, too bad. I have fun with my hair. I'm not in the mood to use my hair to make a cultural statement. Heck even my relaxers look like a fro because I tend to not use curling irons. Just wash, lightly blow dry and go.

I think that the wild, Chaka Kahn look is so cute!

So I guess my personal 'evil' is the texturizer/relaxer.....for this year, at least lol

 

[inthepink]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

For me, going natural has nothing to do with "going back to my roots." It's simply for the health of my hair. I figure I should at least try it...

As far as straightening as opposed to chemically relaxing. I think that's just a personal preference. If you like wearing your hair straight all the time, a good option "may" be to relax but I also know people who are natural and choose to just straighten because for them it's healthier. I know people who do this and their hair is VERY healthy. So, I think it just depends.

You can have healthy hair natural (even using heat) and relaxed. Both may take more work than no heat or no chemicals but then again the "work" is probably even when you look at everything overall. I guess it comes down to where you want to do the work.

 

[Tara_Star]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I totally agree, BOTH are not necessarily bad for your hair, it depends how you look after and maintain them. Plenty of people have healthy relaxed or pressed hair.
I agree with you saying whats point in pressing natural hair when can get relaxed, heat and all...
The thing that bothers me about natural hair is the inbetween crappy stage where your hair cant tie back and looks silly in a fro. my hair is also TOO BIG for nice neat or cool fros thats why i have it it relaxed. I have mostly 4b hair

 

[Irresistible]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

whoa, dont damn your hair girl ...... whew thats wild to me

God didnt damn it!!!
ok i know you probably didnt mean it that way, im just sayin though , that caught me off gaurd a little bit.

anyhow, my choice is to press , would rather wear my hair natural most of the time with an occasional press. i would rather have a poofy press with healthy hair than straight relaxed damaged hair, and relaxers ALWAYS had my hair damaged...they just didnt work on my hair no matter what i did

 

[Ayeshia]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

well the reason why I stopped relaxing because my relaxed hair looked just like my natural hair, except that it was less bulky and weaker. Plus I never wore my hair straight, only when I got touch ups which was 2 a year. So it was pretty pointless to me.

When my natural hair gets longer I dont plan to straighten it that often...or I may never straighten it. Who knows?

 

[Poohbear]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

Autumn,

Before I ever got a relaxer, my mom used to hot stove comb my hair when it was dry to straighten it about once/twice weekly. Also, when it was wet, she would blowdry it with a blowdryer. My hair was always put in braids, twists, or curls. My hair grew really long before I ever got it relaxed. I feel like after getting a relaxer, my hair would still grow long but started staying a certain length when I got in high school. So I would say the relaxer would be the worse of the two evils.

 

[Falon]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I tried natural for a little while and I just didn't like it. I did get some questions about my "black status" from the natural police but it is my life and my hair. Truthfully, I have a big head and a long face and I just looked better with long hair.

When I had short hair especially my fro my face looked really long that's all. It wasn't about wanting to look like something I wasn't. Also, I didn't see it as being healthier for my hair to be constantly picking it out cuz I had two textures to blend in the back my fro would shrink to like two inches (4b) in the front it would fluff out to 4 or 5 (4a) it was annoying as hell not to mention all the hair that would come out.

I wanted to be natural so if I was going to do a texturizer I figured the heck with it and go all they way as I am not meant to live w/o chemicals. My hair my business. I don't think one is less evil than the other I think you just have to go with what you want and what is going to make less stress for you as far as maintaining the style. My sis is natural and has no idea how to take care of a relaxed head. She has a little face and looks adorable with her twist more power to her say I.

 

[Ayeshia]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

BTW my hair grew the longest about 2-3 inches past brastrap while I was relaxed. I used to get my hair pressed every two weeks and it stayed at the same length and was thin. My curl pattern was gone...very unlike my hair now which has spiral curls. So when I relaxed, I stopped using heat and only got rollersets (I didnt know that this was actually healthier at the time becasue I wasnt into hair care). I only got the rollersets because it was cheaper dnd got my hair just as str8. As a result my hair went from shoulder length to below bra in a little more than a year and a half's time...and it was way thicker than my natural hair that was always pressed.

Now that Im natural and using no heat my hair should be really really thick by the time it grows out to the length that I want

I cant wait

 

[Lindy]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

When I decided to stop relaxing my daughter's hair years ago, she started going to the salon bi-weekly to get her hair pressed, (she likes straight styles) and over time, her hair seemed thin and it definitely did not look healthier than it was when it was relaxed.

That's why I decided to go back to the relaxers... She's not the type that likes braids, or any of those sorts of styles... it just made more sense to get the relaxer and just take care of her hair by rollersetting it... instead of them putting that hot comb in her hair every two weeks.

And it's a heck of a lot less expensive for me, too!! It gets pricey visiting the salon every other week!!

 

[Ayeshia]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

[ QUOTE ]
Lindy said:
When I decided to stop relaxing my daughter's hair years ago, she started going to the salon bi-weekly to get her hair pressed, (she likes straight styles) and over time, her hair seemed thin and it definitely did not look healthier than it was when it was relaxed.

That's why I decided to go back to the relaxers... She's not the type that likes braids, or any of those sorts of styles... it just made more sense to get the relaxer and just take care of her hair by rollersetting it... instead of them putting that hot comb in her hair every two weeks.

And it's a heck of a lot less expensive for me, too!! It gets pricey visiting the salon every other week!!

[/ QUOTE ]

yup that sounded like me...except I was natural first...and then relaxed

How is her hair coming along?

 

[missykeyana]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

Depends on what you want to do. If you want mainly straight styles, I say relax. It's probably because I'm really biased against that hot comb. I still have memories of my ears getting burned by it!

A few months ago I got my hair pressed and it was too much trouble for me. If I ever want straight hair again, I'll either try everything but that hot comb or I'll just go back to relaxing. At this point I feel that I won't straighten for a while though.

 

[joyous]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

My hair has always been healthier when pressed. Many times I would transition to restore my hair to optimal health but that was before I found this forum.Also I have never been natural this long since age 12 when I started relaxing. I eventually plan on relaxing again just for the versatility but I now know how to take care of relaxed hair thanks to this forum.

 

[Nay]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

One thing I've noticed is that although both pressing and relaxing can both have damaging results to one's hair, damage from relaxing seems to be more extensive. For example, we've all heard stories of people who have had serious scalp issues, hair loss around temple and edges, etc., from relaxing. There have been ladies who HAD TO stop relaxing because their hair was so damaged.

Now, maybe I'm wrong, but I've never heard that pressing has done that to a person's scalp or hair.

Extensive use of heat can cause hair breakage and possibly a change in one's "wave pattern," though. But I think the horror stories from relaxers are worse than the horror stories of pressed hair.

I could be wrong. The bottom line is that you need to really take care of your hair no matter how you maintain it.

 

[Donda]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I had a natural (5 years/shoulder length) and my hair was in very good condition, yet time to time I would press it. Because my hair is "thick" 3c/4a my 3c press would stay nice yet my 4a would get ugly in under a week even with a "hard" press. I do have a friend with 3b/3c natural hair and she does 'Very' well with a press, it usually holds through everyday routine including sweat & moisture until she washes it.

And like you I was tired of doing afros, puffs and twist. In regard my two strand twist with my length and thickness it took 4 hours to do! So over time I wanted something different, and I went back to a relaxer. However unlike before I promised my self I would stay clear of hear styling. Outside of blow drying on a low setting after I wash my hair once a week I have stuck to my reslove to stay away from heat(Rollers, Bantu Knots). So far my hair is of the same health as it was when it was natural.

I think it all depends on what you want to live with:

1. Pressing: Done weekly or biweekly usually takes 1/2hour to an hour. Hair can be 'burned' or reverts when wet. Hair may become semi-permanantly straighten(the bonds may not completey revert back) with continued use, my mom calls it 'training' your hair.

2. Relaxer: Done every two months or longer, however better if very little to no heat styling is used. If not done properly can be over/under processed. Once you do it must continue or hair will fall out.

Either requires work in maintaining health and style, so no matter what you do you simply can't be lazy.

 

[sengschick]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I was natural for 8 years, and went natural for a few reasons. One being that I didn't really "need" a relaxer, b/c my hair isn't corse or resistant and blow dries relaxer straight. I liked my hair straightened, but if those waves did blow straight I could careless. The other reason was that I thought natural equated to healthy.

My natural hair was healthy and I treated it w/care, but it wasn't w/o damage b/c of the heating implements I used. When I only blowdried my hair it was much longer and healthier (19"). When I began blowing and flat ironing my hair remained the same length (just about for almost 2 years! I swear I only retained 2" between needing trims and breakage (12-14"). I decided to texturize b/c it gave me more options and the best option it gives me is the choice to air dry. I couldn't have imagined life w/o heat and now I know staying away from heat is vital for the health of my hair and the retention of length. My texturized hair is also very similar to my natural hair only w/a little less "spring". Some people seem to be able to do heat w/o consequence, but that's not me.

So I'm confident that I've made the best choice for the health of my hair and the goals I have for it in terms of length.

 

[rowandaP]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

Autumn, they both can be damaging, just remember chemically altered hair is probably more so. But like someone said if you take care of it it's fine.

I choose relaxed like most people to be able to easily manage the hair,in today's coporate world, I don't have time to struggle. Plus I still can wear braidouts, twists, etc so IMO Relaxed is just more versatile and makes more sense - FOR ME.

It's healthy that is not breaking/weak/split. I understand you getting sick of Puffs, fros, bands, etc I look at SOME peoples before and after pics and and SOME look so much prettier and coiffed, straight. Then chopped and colored (chemcially, I assume). I just think relaxed is the best of both worlds. In terms of versatility and ease of style.

 

[rowandaP]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

[ QUOTE ]
Falon said:
I tried natural for a little while and I just didn't like it. I did get some questions about my "black status" from the natural police but it is my life and my hair. Truthfully, I have a big head and a long face and I just looked better with long hair.

When I had short hair especially my fro my face looked really long that's all. It wasn't about wanting to look like something I wasn't. Also, I didn't see it as being healthier for my hair to be constantly picking it out cuz I had two textures to blend in the back my fro would shrink to like two inches (4b) in the front it would fluff out to 4 or 5 (4a) it was annoying as hell not to mention all the hair that would come out.

I wanted to be natural so if I was going to do a texturizer I figured the heck with it and go all they way as I am not meant to live w/o chemicals. My hair my business. I don't think one is less evil than the other I think you just have to go with what you want and what is going to make less stress for you as far as maintaining the style. My sis is natural and has no idea how to take care of a relaxed head. She has a little face and looks adorable with her twist more power to her say I.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I agree. I also thought, I read alot here and not post much, but people will buy $500 purses from a white designer and HIlfiger clothes and they don't think that deviates from thier "Roots"? Yet will make seens about Hairstyle?

Just food for thought

 

[Lindy]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

[ QUOTE ]
ayeshia said:

How is her hair coming along?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for asking, Ayeshia

. It's doing okay... She isn't as into her hair as I am into mine... she doesn't have the patience to sit under the heat cap and do hot oil/protein/deep cond. treatments on a regular basis... She complains that she wants longer hair, but she doesn't want to do what it takes to get it!!

I do make her deep condition every other weekend, then I rollerset her hair. The opposite week lately she does a wash n go style, but wears it in an updo.

Her hair seems to be stuck at a certain length though... she had been using the flat iron at her Dad's house every other weekend, and I just recently talked her out of that, becuz I was noticing a lot of breakage (hairs on the bathroom floor every morning

)

She's getting a touchup on Saturday and I'm not going to let the stylist trim her hair this time. I want her to see a little growth; maybe that will motivate her give her hair some extra TLC...

 

[stowaway]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I personally think that flat ironing the hair on a regular basis might be healthier than relaxing it. My hair's always been natural (4A), and I've been fortunate enough to never have suffered damaged hair. For years, I blowdried and pressed it regularly. It was not as healthy as it is now, but it has always been fairly long, strong and thick. Now, when I do choose to straighten it, it is with a ceramic flat iron, and not a hot comb. I thank goodness for modern technology, because now that I have a ceramic flat iron, I would never ever put a hot comb (neither stove nor electric) in my head again. I don't flat iron it regularly, because I don't want to "train" it, and I also know that minimizing heat has its merits. But I know that if my hair managed to remain fairly long, strong and thick when I pressed it regularly, it would be at least that healthy if I flat ironed it regularly. Plus, I think that if someone's hair isn't strong enough to take the regulated heat of a flat iron, they should be even more cautious of strong chemicals.

 

[Ayeshia]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

[ QUOTE ]
Lindy said:
[ QUOTE ]
ayeshia said:

How is her hair coming along?

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for asking, Ayeshia

. It's doing okay... She isn't as into her hair as I am into mine... she doesn't have the patience to sit under the heat cap and do hot oil/protein/deep cond. treatments on a regular basis... She complains that she wants longer hair, but she doesn't want to do what it takes to get it!!

I do make her deep condition every other weekend, then I rollerset her hair. The opposite week lately she does a wash n go style, but wears it in an updo.

Her hair seems to be stuck at a certain length though... she had been using the flat iron at her Dad's house every other weekend, and I just recently talked her out of that, becuz I was noticing a lot of breakage (hairs on the bathroom floor every morning

)

She's getting a touchup on Saturday and I'm not going to let the stylist trim her hair this time. I want her to see a little growth; maybe that will motivate her give her hair some extra TLC...

[/ QUOTE ]


well you know shes not gonna listen to what "mom" has to say anyway

But its good that you are MAKING her..she'll thank you one day

 

[brismom]

Re: What\'s the \'lesser\' of two evils ????

I have been going back and forth on this issue for years. My daughter, age eight, and I both have chemically relaxed hair. Every three months or so I feel guilty about the chemicals I put in our hair. I am a proud, progressive Black woman raising a Black child. I like our hair being straight because its easier for me to manage, but I feel like that's a cop out. Shouldn't I honor my Black hair by maintaining it in its natural state? But then again, its only hair, right? I really like the versitility of relaxing. I only have to worry about straighening if a few times a year and when I want to feel "ethnic" I wear it scrunchy. And anyway, its not as if straighening my hair is allowing me to pass! Surely, my cocoa skin, round nose, full lips and round booty let people know my racial makeup. (I know I am all over the place on this post, but isn't that what the forum is for.) I guess there's no magic in any one hair style or texture. Being beautiful requires lots of work. So, anyway, thanks for listening (or reading).