My Top Ten Reasons Why Relaxers Sucked!

1) It Burned Like Hell: I don't know about you, but my scalp was a mess when my hair was relaxed. Back in October of 2006, I had the misfortune of being tended to by crappy hair dresser at JC Penney (their salon is actually good up here) and she burned the hell out of my hair. My ears were burned, and so were my edges. I really don't miss that.

2) The Wait: We covered this in my last post, but seriously, I do not miss having to spend all of my days off in a salon waiting on some creamy crack with loud women, ill bred children and shifty-eyed guys.

3) The Shedding: My hair would shed like crazy. It was probably due to the terrible breakage I suffered from all those chemicals on my hair. Hair would be all over me and my bedding. I always felt I had spider webs on me, because my hair would be on my shoulders.

4) The Unhealthy Scalp: I don't know if anyone had this problem, but I had terrible dandruff with a relaxer. I would wash constantly (from working out often) but it didn't matter.

5) The Icky Products: The Blue Magic, the Luster's Pink Oil, the grease and the gels, all got on my case. It seemed like nothing was good enough for my thirsty, unhealthy hair. I also hated touching my hair because it was greasy. I certainly didn't want Mr. Slim touching my hair because it was full of buildup.

6) The Lack of Length: No matter how much I tried, my hair took forever to grow when I wore a relaxer, and quite frankly it didn't grow because it was dying a slow and painful death every month.

7) The Money Wasted: $65 to $130 minimum every two weeks to a month is what I spent to "tame" my glorious kinks and "naps." What the HELL was I thinking, though?

8) My Hair Couldn't Be Touched: I don't have to worry about anyone touching my hair for fear of them feeling the gunk anymore. Back then? HA!

9) The Lack of Self-Confidence: I have to tell you, it really felt like I wasn't happy with myself every time I got my hair relaxed. I felt guilty and I felt like something would be wrong with me if I did not.

10) Validating That "They" Were Right: Like I've said before, relaxers are not the standard or the norm. They are the exception. Denying the reasons why we have been buying relaxers in the first place is being in a state of obscene denial. Check out this photo below on one of my first blog posts from 2007, A History of Fearing Our Nappy Hair. We were conditioned to believe that our natural hair texture was unruly, and ugly. Well, my hair is unruly, and I love it. I love that my hair bucks standards and norms because that's what I like to do. If my untamed, unruly kinks and curls offend people, that's too bad.





Check out my post Relaxed vs. Everything Else.

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