Why Are Black Women Losing Their Hair. Barry Fletcher
OF RELAXERS
It is a prevalent psychological theory that human beings yearn for the opposite of what we have. This is especially evident as it relates to our hair. Individuals with straight hair spend hours in the salon having it waved or curled, while those with naturally curly hair go through great lengths to have it straightened or relaxed.
The concept of using lye to straighten curly hair began in the 1920's. Hair products designed for coarse, curly textures were scarce or non-existent then, so black people created their method to soften and manage their hair. Using lye was an extreme measure, and the harshness of this process significantly limited its popularity. Eventually, conditioners and other products were added to the lye as a buffer; one of the most popular additions was petroleum. By the early 1940's, lye relaxers had grown in popularity, but their usage was still limited to entertainers, athletes and influential figures of that time. Ironically, most of them were men. Hair relaxers didn't become popular among black women until 1947, and didn't enter the mainstream market until approximately 10 years after that.
It was a black man by the name of George Johnson who first introduced and marketed the chemical hair relaxer as a professional product. Johnson was a chemist who began working with Fuller Brush Products in the early 1950's. By 1954, he left Fuller Products to develop his own product line, including a hair relaxer, which he introduced as a product to be sold only to professional cosmetologists. By 1969, Johnson Products Line. achieved $10 million in sales, and by 1971, it became the first predominantly black-owned firm to be listed on a major stock exchange.
Hair relaxing and black hair care had become big business and suddenly the target of mainstream corporations, which wanted to capitalize on the growing success of this market. In the early 1980's, these corporations began directly marketing the chemical hair relaxer to general consumers. In addition, they produced the no-lye relaxer. The no-lye relaxer kit was introduced as a mild, safe, do-it-yourself relaxer that could be applied at home. The assumptions were that consumers believed that lye-based relaxers were unsafe and damaging to the hair and that they generally were unhappy with the chemical services provided by cosmetologist.
I always find it interesting that so many would claim sodium hydroxide relaxers to be damaging to the hair. Famous artists such as Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr. and numerous others used sodium hydroxide (lye) relaxers more than 40 years ago and there was no evidence of damaging side effects from its usage. In fact, the majority of men who used relaxers then had strong, healthy hair. So why are we now suggesting that sodium hydroxide relaxers are damaging to the hair, when our relaxer products are far more advanced than they were 40 years ago?
I maintain that sodium hydroxide relaxers do not cause hair breakage. It is the improper application of the relaxer and poor follow-up procedures that cause breakage. When relaxers were first introduced, they had warning labels stating that excessive heat from blow dryers and Marcel irons should not be used on relaxed hair. In addition, cosmetologists were instructed to wet set the hair after the relaxer application. Numerous educational forums, workshops and seminars were made available to educate cosmetologists about proper chemical usage and application. But eventually these educational venues drastically diminished, leaving generations of cosmetologists misinformed and without the most basic guidelines to proper chemical hair treatment and applications.
The most common mistake made today when applying sodium hydroxide relaxers on female clients is in diagnosing the client's hair texture and calculating the appropriate smoothing time needed to successfully straighten the hair. Most manufacturers recommend that we allow eight minutes to apply the relaxer. The recommended time for smoothing the relaxer varies, however, according to the recipient's hair texture. If the hair texture is fine, then the smoothing process should not exceed five minutes. If the texture is regular, smoothing time should not exceed eight minutes and, if the hair is coarse and resistant, a 10-minute smoothing period is required. The total application procedure should never exceed 20 minutes. I personally suggest not exceeding 15 minutes. Most male relaxing services are kept under 10 minutes, which explains why men with relaxed hair have fewer problems with damage control.
BEAUTY-BIG BUSINESS
According to studies, African Americans purchase 37 percent of all beauty products sold in the United States but make up 12 percent of the population. In 1998 alone, over-the-counter health and beauty product sales totaled $l. 6 billion in revenue. Relaxer kits were the NO.1 beauty product sold over the counter and represented $59 million in sales.
Beauty has become big business. And while new hair relaxers and other products are entering the market every day, there is little or no emphasis on researching the companies that produce these goods or the long-term effect they have on our hair. Instead, manufacturers, both white and black, are more concerned with increasing their profit than with the welfare of the black consumer.
It is this greed and lack of concern for consumer health that fostered the Rio relaxer hair tragedy several years ago. The Rio hair relaxer was designed primarily for wavy, abundantly oily hair, but it was marketed to people with dry, excessively curly hair. Rio manufacturers claimed that the relaxer was chemical-free, but it registered on the acid side of the pH scale, which made it non-conducive for excessively dry, curly hair. Three hundred and fifty thousand packets were sold; 5,000 people filed claims.
Manufacturers should never be allowed to promote such claims. The sad part is that major publications will not educate consumers about this kind of information because they fear jeopardizing potential advertising dollars from these same manufacturers. So there is really no vehicle or visible outlet to retrieve critical information regarding the health of our hair. This is one of the reasons why I was compelled to write this book.
The hair care industry is at an all-time low. Publishing companies are selling consumers down the river in exchange for advertising dollars and manufacturers are turning their backs on the salon industry, marketing directly to the consumer. The beauty industry overall has evolved into a chemical waste dump, and in the process, black women are losing their hair. If you measure black women's hair from the turn of the century until now you will find that the average length of hair for an African American female was 10 to 12 inches. Now, the average length is four to six inches and is steadily decreasing.
We are experiencing a hair crisis within the black community, and it is not being addressed. In February 1998, I was invited to the American Health and Beauty Aid Institute's annual convention in Miami. The theme was "Maximizing Profitability." My goal was to discuss the current trends in the black hair industry. As a guest speaker on the panel, I tried to impress upon them that the trend was that black women are losing their hair. They didn't hear me though.
I find it interesting that those who push no-lye relaxers do not educate the consumer about the effect the relaxers have on hair. The no-lye relaxer is the worst hair product to hit the shelves in my 20 years as a hairstylist. Remember, commercials are geared toward selling, and a lie can be perceived as the truth if eloquently told. The truth is, no-lye relaxers aren't as safe as they are promoted to be. In most cases, it under-processes the hair, changes its texture and robs the hair of its moisture. Hair that has been repeatedly processed with no-lye relaxers becomes extremely dry and brittle. The scalp also will be excessively dry and deteriorated. The reason: consumers literally become relaxed- and careless-in their usage of no-lye relaxers because they are under the misconception that the products are harmless to the hair and scalp. They do not take the additional care required to ensure the no-lye relaxer does not touch the scalp; they tend to keep it on the hair longer because it does not burn as fast, and because no-lye relaxers don't last as long as sodium hydroxide relaxers, consumers tend to apply the chemical more frequently. Instead of receiving touchups every six to eight weeks, as is the case with the lye relaxers, no-lye users may touchup every four to six weeks. In reality, some no-lye relaxers are higher on the pH scale than a super sodium hydroxide relaxer. The problem is, no-lye relaxers over-expose and under-process the hair. As a result, the long-term effects of no-lye usage tend to be much more damaging.
"No-lye"