Creamy Crack; The Hair Addiction

I posted this on another blog years ago but wanted to share it on this page.

Creamy Crack, the hair addiction

Creamy Crack is the word my young cousin used to describe hair relaxers. I must agree, perming the hair for some, has become an addiction. My sister would not contemplate giving birth to one of her kids if her hair was not freshly permed. A male friend of mines in the military said his wife would not receive visitors in their home if her hair was in need of a touch-up. Women avoid rain, wind, sweat, and other natural occurrances if their hair will be messed up. They are willing to sit for hours on end for their appointment for the creamy crack to be applied. Is this truely the new addiction for African Americans? What legnths will they go to get their hands on the creamy crack? If it was proven that it was harmful to their health, would they still search it out?

Hair relaxing, or lanthionization, can be performed by a professional cosmetologist in a salon, or at home with relaxer kits purchased from discount stores and pharmacies. As with hair dye, the treated portion of the hair moves away from the scalp as the new growth of untreated hair sprouts up from the roots, requiring periodic retreatment (about every 6 weeks) to maintain a consistent appearance.

The relaxer is applied to the roots of the hair and remains in place for a "cooking" interval, during which it alters the hair's texture by a process of controlled damage to the protein structure. The hair can be significantly weakened by the physical overlap of successive applications or by a single excessive one, leading to brittleness, breakage, or even widespread alopecia.

When the relaxer has worked to the desired degree, the hair is rinsed clean. Regardless of formula, relaxers are always alkaline to some degree, so it is prudent to neutralize or even slightly acidify the hair with a suitable shampoo immediately afterward. The prompt use of hair conditioner is also important in order to replace some of the natural oils that were stripped away by the process

Alkaline relaxers were informally discovered in the United States during the 19th century when Garrett Augustus Morgan, an African-American, observed that it is possible to change the basic structure of the hair shaft when certain chemicals penetrate the cortical layer. Hair relaxing products often require washing and combing with soap which had been made with excess lye.

A lye relaxer consists of sodium hydroxide (also known as NaOH or lye) mixed with water, petroleum jelly, mineral oil, and emulsifiers to create a creamy consistency. On application, the caustic "lye cream" permeates the protein structure of the hair and weakens its internal bonds, causing the natural curls to loosen out as the entire fiber swells open. No special deactivation step is required after washing the lye cream out, other than the routine pH adjustment and hair-conditioning.

Manufacturers vary the sodium hydroxide content of the solution from 5% to 10% and the pH factor between 10 and 14.

Relaxers chemically altar the composition of the hair. The ingredients in relaxers are harsh to natural hair. The January-February 2001 FDA Consumer magazine warns about the possible dangers of chemical straighteners. In the article Heading off Hair-Care Disasters: Use Caution with Relaxers and Dyes, author Michelle Meadows states that “according to the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, hair straighteners and hair dyes are among its top consumer complaint areas.” Ms. Meadows then details how relaxers can cause bald spots, scalp irritation, and hair breakage. And worse, 2nd degree chemical burns can result when relaxers are improperly applied directly to the scalp.

The main ingredient: Sodium Hydroxide has other interesting uses:

Solid sodium hydroxide or solutions of sodium hydroxide will cause chemical burns, permanent injury or scarring, and blindness if it contacts unprotected human or animal tissue. Protective equipment such as rubber gloves, safety clothing and eye protection should always be used when handling the material or its solutions.
Dissolution of sodium hydroxide is highly exothermic, and the resulting heat may cause heat burns or ignite flammables.
It is used as a Paint stripper, Drain cleaning agent, to make paper, to make soap, used as an additive in drilling mud to increase aldalinity, added to poor crude quality oil to remove sulfurous impurities, and used to produce aluminum metal.