weeks before changing. I strongly recommend that a trained professional cosmetologist do the procedure.
KIDDIE KITS
The over-the-counter Kiddie Kits are simply no-lye relaxers marketed from a different angle. Again, I strongly recommend that you avoid no-lye relaxers. If you find that your child's hair is resistant and you are seeking more manageability, use a sodium lye-based relaxer. Leave it on just long enough to soften the hair, then set it to seal in the moisture. The off-the-scalp relaxer method would be best (see segment on relaxer methods). After setting the hair, you can follow up with braids, afro puffs or whatever style you want. An alternative is to dilute your relaxer with conditioners. This method would leave your child's hair in a much healthier state.
SODIUM HYDROXIDE - DISPELLING THE MYTH
The main active ingredient in lye relaxer is sodium hydroxide. This substance has a pH ranging from 12 to 14, and is made of inorganic active ingredients designed to permanently straighten naturally curly hair.
I often hear talk about relaxers being harmful. On the flip side, however, I know many women who would not have any hair if it were not for these relaxers. Sisters who have excessively curly or resistant hair and do not wish to wear it in its natural state often resort to blow-drying, hot pressing and hot curling their hair. Using three consecutive heating elements is extremely stressful and damages the hair. Chemical relaxing softens the hair and allows it to accept conditioners and moisturizers more readily. When we follow up the relaxer application with a wet set or wrap, in essence we are sealing moisture in as opposed to blowing it out. This has a much healthier effect on the hair.
Sisters, sodium hydroxide relaxers are not your enemy and they do not have to cause discomfort if applied properly. If you experience any discomfort, it should be minimum. Personally, when it comes to lye relaxers versus no-lye relaxers, I would rather experience a little discomfort and know that my hair is being properly cared for, as opposed to experiencing temporary comfort while my hair is being destroyed.
I am hard on the no-lye relaxer because I know the damage it can cause. The average sister using this product believes she is doing the right thing and is not aware of the negative side effects until it is too late. The no-lye relaxer was introduced by mainstream companies to convince sisters that they do not need a professional cosmetologist and can apply their own chemical relaxer. Granted, many professional cosmetologists brought this upon themselves by rendering inferior services to black consumers for so long, but we all do not fit into the same category. There are many well-trained professional cosmetologists who will provide the quality care your hair needs and deserves.
TO RELAX, OR NOT TO RELAX?
THAT IS THE QUESTION
Many doctors, scientists and researchers have dispelled the notion that relaxers can cause birth defects during pregnancy. As loving parents you want the best for your children. You want them to have clothing and shelter, get the best education, and develop a strong self-image. Most of all, you want them to be safe and healthy. Having healthy hair is part of that equation. In order to achieve this, you must learn your child's hair texture, understand its specific needs and respond accordingly, regardless of the child's age or gender.
Keep in mind that if your daughter needs a relaxer, whether she's 6 or 12, it will not harm the hair if properly applied. This is not to say that everyone should relax a child's hair at an early age. In most cases, a child's hair is strongest during the puberty stages. However, when we examine the average high school and junior high school student, a good portion of them have problem hair. Anytime you have children in junior high and high school wearing hair weaves, that should tell us that we are doing something wrong. Reversing this scenario may require us to relax the hair a little earlier, a little later or not at all. The point is, this is something that needs to be determined with the help and guidance of a trained professional cosmetologist.
There are vital signs that indicate whether the hair should be relaxed; for instance, if the hair is baby soft and will not hold a curl, then chances are it should not be relaxed; if the hair is very resistant but it has a lot of stretch and can hold a slight curl, you may use a light texturizer to reduce the frizz (look under texturizer for more information); if the hair is overly resistant and the child is in agony while having her hair shampooed, conditioned and styled; if there is excessive breakage when combing or brushing the hair; if it is excessively dry and brittle, then you should consider having the hair professionally relaxed using a sodium hydroxide relaxer. Sodium hydroxide relaxers can be diluted by simply adding and mixing a conditioner to its contents (i.e. B. F. Revitalizing conditioner).
Understanding proper chemical relaxer application procedures is critical to maintaining healthy hair. While most black women relax their hair for more manageability, style and control, it is important to bear in mind that hair does not have to be relaxed bone straight. Ideally, we should only relax up to 75 percent of our natural curl pattern. After the neutralizing process, only 50 percent of the sulfur bonds are going to reform the newly straightened condition. Therefore, after the relaxer procedure, only 35 percent of the hair actually should be transformed into a straighter position. This is enough relaxation for excessively curly hair to become manageable.
RELAXERS-CAUSE AND EFFECT
Hair relaxers contain active chemical ingredients that rearrange the curl shaped molecules in the cortex of the hair strand to create a permanently straightened molecular formation within the strand.
Longevity, manageability and flexibility are just a few of the advantages of chemical hair relaxing. Unlike pressed hair, relaxed hair will not revert to its natural state. Within six to eight weeks of using a relaxer, maybe longer depending on the hair texture, you should see a substantial amount of natural hair growth emerging from the root of the scalp. Chemical relaxers should be applied to this new growth to balance out the opposing hair textures and avoid breakage. When a chemical relaxer is properly applied and maintained, you will have more styling flexibility and the hair will grow. On the other hand, no matter how skillful you are in your relaxer application, excessive chemical relaxing does weaken the hair. Try to keep your relaxer applications to a minimum. Retouch applications should not exceed six to eight times a year for normal to resistant hair textures. Do not carelessly apply chemical relaxer or overlap onto previously relaxed hair because this may remove the hair's protective coating and cause it to dry and break.
In his article "Hair Loss and Baldness in Black Women," Dr. Cylburn E. Soden stated that the main cause of baldness among his patients is improperly applied chemical relaxers. He indicated that he sees an average of five patients a day and the chief hair complaints are dryness and breakage.
Many of these patients are balding at the nape of the neck and in the crown and front area of the head. Almost without exception, the patients are using lye or no-lye relaxers, rinses or dyes. The products usually have been administered every four to six weeks over several years.
According to Dr. Soden, scalp fungal infection is also common among young black women and causes hair dryness, breakage and baldness. Most patients suffering from this problem range from 20 to 70 years in age and have received relaxers every four to six weeks over a period of 15 to 20 years or more. The women in the age range of 40 to 60 often have baldness in the crown and temporal area of the scalp. It is the chemical damage, perhaps from relaxers, perms or hair color that has harmed the structure of the hair and scalp. This eventually results in baldness.
Dr. Soden recognizes that there are strong correlations between relaxer usage and baldness, but he still does not label chemical hair relaxers as the direct cause of balding. He believes that hair texture is a major contributing factor and that prolonged usage of chemical relaxers compounds the problem.
Dr. Elise A. Olsen, author of the book "Disorder of Hair Growth," believes that hair breakage and loss can't be blamed on the
