Have you ever wondered why your hair is unable to return to its natural state after a Relaxer?  Does it bother you that in order to be natural that you can't just simply stop relaxing your hair?  Do you find that your hair goes through short/long phases?  That one month, it seems healthy and happy and a few months later you have split-ends, breakage and dryness?

Facts are, relaxers are synonymous with Breakage - Brittleness - Damage - Discoloration - Dryness - Thinning.  You may not think you're suffering from the above but again, compare your relaxed hair to your in its natural state.  And if you can't remember your natural hair, then trust me...all the above apply.

In addition to the damage the relaxers cause in and of themselves, in order to maintain this style additional heat is a necessity.  Excessive heat from styling aids and blow-dryers equals even further damage.  When done on a regular/daily basis, you end up with lyed and fried hair.

Now I know you didn't come here to get beat up but understanding how relaxers work is critical to learning how to work with them.  If relaxers cause so much damage and weakness, how do you give your relaxed hair strength?  Well in order to answer this question, you need to understand what holds your hair together.

Hair & Bonding
Remember chemistry?  Remember all that talk about bonding and breaking bonds?  Do you recall that discussion on acids and bases?  Do you remember using those test strips and watching them turn color when added to vinegar, baking soda, alcohol?

Well, your hair is composed of bonds. The primary bonds of interest that are found in our hair are hydrogen and polypeptides.  Hydrogen breaks down in the presence of water and then reforms in its absence.  This is what accounts for our hair flexibility.  This is why your hair stretches in humid environments or when wet and is not as flexible when dry.

Hydrogen bonds are found in all types of hair...even da
maged, dry, brittle hair.  Thing is, if your hair is damaged, you will find that it's not as flexible as it should be.  You'll find that if you tug on a strand when it's wet, that it won't give/stretch as much as healthy hair.

Flexibility is critical because with daily styling and manipulation, if your hair is resistant to constant combing, brushing and pulling, it will break.  Relaxed hair has a degree of flexibility but due to the fact that it is drier, it does tend to break a lot easier than natural, healthy hair...even when wet.

The other major bonds found in hair are polypeptides.  These are found in keratin which comprises roughly 88% of our hair accounts for its strength.  These bonds are more difficult to break and require the addition of a strong base (remember acids and bases from chemistry?) to be destroyed.

What is a strong base?  A relaxer.  Relaxers are similar in PH to drain cleaner.  On the acid-base scale, they register a whooping 13+.  Wondering what other products have similar PHs?   "Draino®!!!!!"  Think about that.  The same stuff that can corrode your pipes and eats away the Gunk that accumulates therein is similar to the chemicals that you put on your scalp...your delicate scalp which encloses the most important organ in your body...your brain.

With this degree of toxicity, when you relax your hair, you destroy the polypeptide bonds.  Thing is, once these bonds are destroyed, unlike hydrogen, they can never be repaired...they are forever altered.  This is why in order to return your hair to its natural state, you gotta cut off the relaxed ends.

Now the important thing to take note of is that polypeptides = strength.  Once they're gone, what's holding your hair together?  Nothing really.  This is why with relaxed hair, protection is critical.  Protection comes in the form of products and a reduction in heat and styling.

So, if you're wondering why natural folk say that relaxed hair isn't healthy...now ya know.  But instead of throwing your hands up in defeat, we wanted to give you information that will help you minimize any future damage so that you can have relatively healthy hair (relative to other relaxed hair).

Reprinted with permission. Copyright SalonBaptiste.com 2005. Visit SalonBaptiste.Com for information on this Georgia based salon.