To Be Natural Or Not To Be

Hair is a way to express our individuality.  In our generation today girls have gotten in the trend of sew-ins with unusual hair colors like pink, blue, purple, and even white.  Underneath the sew-in though, more and more girls have “natural hair.”  When I think of natural hair I think of big afros and boy cuts.  While you can have those styles with your natural hair, the term “natural hair” refers to hair without chemicals.

                For the past 6 months I’ve been going back and forth with officially going natural.  I am too scared to start going natural.  The closest I’ve gotten to going natural is cutting down to only getting one to two relaxers a year.  My friends and stylist try to convince me every time I get my hair to go though with the transformation.  I just refuse to do the “big chop” and lose all my hair!  Every time I make that statement my stylist goes on and on about the benefits of going natural.

               My stylist in the past would stress to me that relaxers damage our scalps more than we can imagine.  Sodium hydroxide is a chemical that can be found in a relaxer.  Sodium hydroxide can also be found in common drain cleaners. Sodium hydroxide with a mixture of other chemicals can cause your hair to start thinning and eventually could even have permanent hair loss.  Another chemical used in relaxers is Potassium hydroxide.   Potassium hydroxide is a chemical where if you inhale it can cause future breathing problems.

            Next time your scalp burns because a relaxer is left on too long think about the chemicals.  Remember that if chemicals like sodium hydroxide is strong enough to clean drains it’s strong enough to damage to your scalp.  And if potassium hydroxide is dangerous by even inhaling then imagine what we can't see that it's doing to our scalp.  After knowing all that I still personally rather take my chance with fate and continue with my relaxers!  The choice is yours though.