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- Oct 28, 2000
Well, relaxers break the disulfide bonds of the hair in half. That is why relaxed hair is so much thinner than natural hair. I like thick hair that has body,not limp hair. I don't see any of you guys relaxing your hair.
PSA:
PSA:
Relaxers simply break these disulfide bonds and cap them so that they cannot chemically reform. Classically, hair relaxers use a reducer or a base (the opposite of an acid) such as lye (sodium hydroxide) to break and cap these bonds. A good example of this method can be seen in the movie "Malcolm X" with Denzel Washington: Denzel nearly burned his hair off trying to straighten it. Unfortunately, sodium hydroxide can burn your skin and damage your hair. The gentler and safer commercial relaxers are still based on the same chemical reactions of breaking disulfide bonds and capping them. For instance, the "Imina P&G No Lye Conditioning Creme Relaxer Base-Relaxer Kit" by Procter & Gamble, according to their website, contains 5% calcium hydroxide a medium strength base. Where as "MPDiol Glycol Alkaline Hair Relaxer" by Lyondell, contains 5% sodium hydroxide, a very strong base.
Disulfide bonds are not affected by water so, when you break the bonds and cap them (in the case of relaxers) they will not go back to their original state. Perms which, intentionally curl hair, chemically increase the number of disulfide bonds by using an oxidizer to uncap the naturally caped sulfides in straight hair. As the name implies, these perms will stay "forever" curly. So, as you can see, one chemical (a reducer) can make your hair straight, while another chemical (an oxidizer) can make your hair curly. Using a combination of these chemicals in the right order allows you to be more creative with your hair. No matter what kind of hair you have, as long as you can break disulfide bonds with one chemical, shape your hair and then reform the disulfide bonds with another chemical you can get any hair style you want. Perms and relaxings both eventually go away, not because the bonds reform, but because your original hair simply grows in, replacing your straightened or curled hair with what you had originally. These chemicals, however, have a tendency to damage your hair, until eventually your hair starts to thin and break, so too much styling can be bad for your hair's health.