Relaxed vs. Natural pros and cons
There is an old saying that goes ‘a woman’s hair is her crowning glory’. In a world where we are bombarded with images of long flowing locks, thick luxurious strands and shining voluminous curls we can surmise that it must be true. Hair, for women, is an expression of mood, creativity, freedom and beauty. More than that, hair-dos reflect styles and trends that change with and throughout time. Interestingly, among African American women there has been a growing trend of natural hair. More black women are embracing their natural curls and locks, and shying away from relaxers. The argument could be made that as a nation we are becoming more health conscious and that this may have, in some way, caused more women …show more content…
Even though natural hair is a growing trend, relaxers still account for 20% of sales in the black hair industry although they have been steadily dropping since 2008. So what are relaxers? Relaxers were invented around the 1870’s, as a way to permanently straighten black hair. These were not commercially produced until the 1970’s. The relaxers I have used are usually white, thick and creamy in texture. There are two main types of relaxers primarily used by women of color. They are lye and no-lye relaxers. Lye relaxers contain the active ingredient sodium hydroxide, while no-lye relaxers contain the active ingredient calcium hydroxide or guanidine hydroxide. A brand of relaxer popular with salons is the Affirm Relaxer System which is professional grade and usually sold in larger quantities for commercial use. There are a multitude of at-home relaxer kits from various brands such as ‘Olive Oil’ from Organic Root Stimulator and ‘Dark and Lovely’. So, the big question …show more content…
Both can relatively cost effective but if you relax your hair more frequently you will find that you end up spending more money on touch-ups. There are a wide variety of products available to help achieve several possible styles with both natural and relaxed hair. However, the versatility you get with natural hair far outshines what you can do with relaxed hair. As for time and upkeep, relaxers are definitely more convenient. Natural hair is not difficult to manage but I have found that I do spend longer on my hair than I usually would if I had relaxed hair. Indeed relaxers do achieve what they advertise, but the more health conscious individual will not want to risk the potential health risks associated with
There is an old saying that goes ‘a woman’s hair is her crowning glory’. In a world where we are bombarded with images of long flowing locks, thick luxurious strands and shining voluminous curls we can surmise that it must be true. Hair, for women, is an expression of mood, creativity, freedom and beauty. More than that, hair-dos reflect styles and trends that change with and throughout time. Interestingly, among African American women there has been a growing trend of natural hair. More black women are embracing their natural curls and locks, and shying away from relaxers. The argument could be made that as a nation we are becoming more health conscious and that this may have, in some way, caused more women …show more content…
Even though natural hair is a growing trend, relaxers still account for 20% of sales in the black hair industry although they have been steadily dropping since 2008. So what are relaxers? Relaxers were invented around the 1870’s, as a way to permanently straighten black hair. These were not commercially produced until the 1970’s. The relaxers I have used are usually white, thick and creamy in texture. There are two main types of relaxers primarily used by women of color. They are lye and no-lye relaxers. Lye relaxers contain the active ingredient sodium hydroxide, while no-lye relaxers contain the active ingredient calcium hydroxide or guanidine hydroxide. A brand of relaxer popular with salons is the Affirm Relaxer System which is professional grade and usually sold in larger quantities for commercial use. There are a multitude of at-home relaxer kits from various brands such as ‘Olive Oil’ from Organic Root Stimulator and ‘Dark and Lovely’. So, the big question …show more content…
Both can relatively cost effective but if you relax your hair more frequently you will find that you end up spending more money on touch-ups. There are a wide variety of products available to help achieve several possible styles with both natural and relaxed hair. However, the versatility you get with natural hair far outshines what you can do with relaxed hair. As for time and upkeep, relaxers are definitely more convenient. Natural hair is not difficult to manage but I have found that I do spend longer on my hair than I usually would if I had relaxed hair. Indeed relaxers do achieve what they advertise, but the more health conscious individual will not want to risk the potential health risks associated with