Fashion & Beauty Hair relaxers... a complex matter? Alternatives to Air Force 1

Samantha Seidu - Fashion &

Afro-textured hair or simply because they found it easier to style their hair when it is straight.

Over the course of this month, several lawsuits have claimed that the use of chemical hair relaxers from companies such as L’Oreal cause uterine cancer and other health problems. These lawsuits allege that these companies sold these hair relaxers knowing that they contained dangerous chemicals that could be detrimental to a person's health. Whilst these companies adamantly deny these claims, we cannot overlook how dangerous chemical relaxers are even though they are widely used.

Regardless of this, one fact that remains the same is that hair relaxers are not always safe to use. As relaxers are made with harsh chemicals, contact with the scalp can cause chemical burns, which can lead to alopecia. As well as this, hair relaxers are known to make your hair brittle, cause breakage and sometimes hair loss (in the worst case scenario, permanent hair loss). This also isn’t to mention the potential link to serious health conditions such as uterine cancer, breast cancer and fibroids.

So this begs the question; why do Black women feel the need to compromise their health to achieve a straight hair look? The simple answer is that Eurocentric beauty standards have and continue to fail to accommodate to Black women. Attitudes to Afro hair have been and still are overwhelmingly negative, even in the present day where we see people being chastised for wearing their natural hair. Despite how dangerous hair relaxers can be, Black women and girls across the globe continue to relax or texturise their hair. As a matter of fact, hair relaxers have seen a recent resurgence in popularity.

The use of hair relaxers is something that is most familiar to people with Afro-hair, in particular, Black Women. To put it simply, they are strong chemicals used to weaken bonds in tightly curled hair to permanently straighten it. There are several reasons why someone would want to relax their hair: historically, Afro-textured hair hasn’t been viewed favourably and could affect your job prospects and sometimes your ability to own property. Since the Eurocentric standard preferred straight hair, many Black women opted to get their hair relaxed. People may also prefer to get their hair relaxed as they don't know how to manage

It is important to note that hair discrimination is not the sole reason why Black women would want to use relaxers.

The lack of professional guidance and education on how to look after Afro hair means that many people don’t know how to care for their hair. We also have to recognise that caring for Afro hair can be time consuming. Whilst hair relaxers can be dangerous to use, getting your hair done by Afro-hair specialists and using the right products and having regular treatments can allow for your hair to be as healthy as possible.

Ultimately, the decision on using hair relaxers or not lies with the individual. Hair relaxers do have their perks but also have their problems, it is simply down to the user to decide what they feel the most comfortable with. However, it is always important to ask yourself why you would like to use chemical relaxers and what you hope to get out of it. And finally, whilst natural hair may not be for everyone, there are many alternatives to hair relaxers that can help you to achieve the straight hair look, without potentially damaging your hair.