Welcome all rockin' afros, luxurious locks and sassy curly manes!!
The Main Event: The Chop Off For some ladies, this is a scary moment. Most ladies need an extreme sense of confidence to walk fiercely with a short afro or a boy-cut. "Work it, sweety!!", for those that do. Now, chopping off the relaxed hair is a must. Sorry, but there is no way around it if you're not turning back. As your hair grows without the creamy crack, it's breaking off right between the natural and relaxed part. See the image below.
That's what a strand of your hair looks like when it's just about broken. As more strands of your hair breaks, the thinner and malnourished your hair looks as a whole. So it's best to have a clean precise cut. Cutting the relaxed hair helps your natural hair grow faster and healthier. Plus, it looks better. Who would want this at the bottom of their beautiful curly mane?
See how full her natural hair is and how the relaxed part is thin and limp? If you look at the right side of her head the relaxed part looks like two pitiful strands. Just cut it! 13-india.arie-better_people_www.file24ever.com.mp3 |
Ready to BAN the Relaxer?! Interested in converting to the original texture of your hair? Sounds sort of funny, doesn't it? If so, congrats! That's your first step to healthier beautiful hair. Relaxers are not for everyone. It's damaging to the overall health of your hair and scalp, not to mention, drying. Why are relaxers so damaging? Allow me to educate you. 1. Relaxers contain sodium hydroxide. This compound is applied to your hair, enters into the cortex (the second and most important layer of your hair strand) and melts it in order to get it straight. And so many ladies wonder why their hair is so thin and takes so long to grow. You can also find this chemical in paint thinners, clogged drain cleaners, disinfecting products, etc. I don't know about you, but when you think of sodium, I think of salt, dryness and burning. When I think of hydroxide, I think of stripping and bleach. That's definitely something to think about. 2. Relaxers contain phosphoric acid, which may be a health hazard developing toxicants in the respiratory tract, skin and neurons (nerves).
The Hair The figure below illustrates the layer of a single hair strand.
a. Medulla - the inner layer of the hair. This layer determines the color of your hair. b. Cortex - the second/middle layer of the hair. The cortex determines your curl pattern, whether it is bone straight to extremely curly. It's where the nutrients and moisture reside and carries the strength of the hair. c. Cuticle - the outer layer of the hair. Even though the cuticle is supposed to protect the cortex, it is very thin and fragile.
The following is a microscopic view of a healthy strand of hair and hair that's been damaged. You can easily tell the difference. The cuticle layer of the damaged strand looks burned and brittle. You may can't tell, but there are a lot layers of the cuticle that have broken off or were burned off, which makes the hair appear thinner over all.
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