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Calm_Forever_2277 t1_isq1pla wrote

As a hairstylist, I can tell you that these straightening products (keratin treatments, brazillian blowouts) claim to be formaldehyde free. However, they contain GLYOXYLIC ACID. When this acid is heated to 450 dregrees, which the treatment requires a 450 degree iron to passes through the hair, it emits a chemical gas.

This chemical gas is formaldehyde.

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Jasonhardon t1_isqa93b wrote

Safer just to use a flat iron idk, maybe that’s just my two cents

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BurntToasters t1_isstk7y wrote

Read this as cast iron and thought i accidently dropped into a cooking thread

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fourthgradenothing22 t1_issjb79 wrote

This is helpful information. I’ve had keratin treatments in the past (fewer than 10), but also had breast cancer at 38 with no family history. Studies like this always catch my attention, but what you’ve just offered is even more interesting. My stylist always insisted that the salon was using the “safe” keratin treatments, yet the smell/feel/inhalation of fumes always concerned me.

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Calm_Forever_2277 t1_ist2cj7 wrote

Thank you! Most hairstylist don’t even know. They are being lied to and them continue to lie.

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trees202 t1_isr18v3 wrote

Sooo should I wear a mask while getting my Brazilian blowout?

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Calm_Forever_2277 t1_isr2dtu wrote

More like an industrial strength respirator.

Some salons make stylists and clients wear industrial strength respirators .They do it at Mark Garrison salon in Manhattan.

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French___toasted t1_isrd7xs wrote

Stop getting them. Your natural hair is beautiful and so are you.

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LightningEnex t1_isrpu6r wrote

God forbid people with curls want a different, uniform hairstyle/texture. Especially if you naturally got several of them to begin with.

Sincerely, a person with curly hair who is sick of seeing that sentence every time they look into straightening methods right beside a plethora of ads/people of interest with naturally straight hair rocking different curly/wavy styles.

Curly hair is work to manage, takes forever to detangle, brush and dry and in general takes a lot more effort to not look dissheveled. With straightened hair I can just brush for a minute, then throw it in a ponytail if I don't feel like caring about it and be done with it.

Curls are so fun and beautiful to look at until you're stuck with them 24/7 and have to look at all the upkeep necessary.

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BabySinister t1_isrs9fv wrote

You could just shave it off! No more worrying about your hair ever, no more washing, brushing, straightening, conditioning ever again. You could do it yourself in your own home and the equipment costs a couple of bucks.

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LightningEnex t1_isrt91x wrote

Yeah, thats what a lot of especially men with very curly hair do. That or dreads.

If bald, buzzcut or dreads aren't your cup of tea, then you only have the options of a lot of upkeep or straightening.

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BabySinister t1_isrw5tf wrote

I started shaving a decade ago and never looked back, hair is overrated and a hassle.

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MRSN4P t1_isun7ha wrote

Yes. This article talks about multiple compounds used as replacements for formaldehyde in order to put “formaldehyde free!” on the label. It links to a serious chemistry paper published in 1984 by Back and Yamato in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry showing that the major product of heating glyoxylic acid is formaldehyde.

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rawgreenpepper t1_issm16c wrote

So you know you are likely going to get cancer from your job

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rather_be_gaming t1_isq7wyu wrote

My mind is blown how formaldehyde is still allowed in our products with all this documented information.

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Mattcheco t1_isrrkxk wrote

The dose makes the poison.

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Z3t4 t1_iss2zu7 wrote

There is no safe dose of carcinogens

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Wandering_Scholar6 t1_issmmi3 wrote

There is an acceptable dose, which is effectively background. Basically statistically insignificant increase in cancer risk.

While you are correct that any amount of carcinogens could cause cancer the idea that there is no safe dose suggests that any amount is deadly, which is simply untrue. We require some carcinogenic products to live (looking at you bananas) and produce others naturally.

Not to say that reducing known carcinogenic products from our lives is a bad thing. I would certainly encourage that but a little bit is ok.

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Mattcheco t1_issddcb wrote

That’s not true, you can ingest an amount of carcinogen that won’t affect a healthy person. Formaldehyde for example is naturally created and used in the human body.

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Z3t4 t1_isselbo wrote

That's not how it works, not everybody that is exposed to a carcinogen develops cancer.

But there is not amount of carcinogen that you can take with no possibilities of developing it.

So there is no safe dose.

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Mattcheco t1_isseswb wrote

That’s why I said “healthy person” you’re being pedantic but it’s still a silly argument considering things like breathing regularly contain carcinogens, or eating slightly burnt toast, or red meat.

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Z3t4 t1_issiqh2 wrote

Plenty of healthy people develop cancer. We all take carcinogens everyday.

That's how reality works, there is no "safe".

Only risk management.

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DrJawn t1_ispaytw wrote

My wife does a keratin treatment, is that included on this? I wish there was a list

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mmammad t1_ispgkq6 wrote

The American cancer society recently put out a warning that many keratin treatments have been found to contain high levels of formaldehyde (known carcinogen). It is marketed as being a “natural treatment” so many aren’t aware that they should even check for toxic ingredients. I would tell her to make sure it’s an organic brand of keratin treatment and review the ingredients thoroughly or switch to another method of hair maintenance.

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esperind t1_ispjj6z wrote

>formaldehyde (known carcinogen). It is marketed as being a “natural treatment

for the record, a carcinogen is anything that may cause cancer. So if you were to look up the list, the sun would be included as a carcinogen because it can cause skin cancer. The sun is obviously "natural". Likewise, formaldehyde is naturally occurring, in our own bodies even. But just like the sun, if you get too much of it, it might cause something bad to happen. Just because the sun could cause cancer doesnt mean you should avoid going outside. And just because formaldehyde can cause cancer doesn't meaning you're gonna get cancer from a hair treatment. The point is just don't get too much of either.

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myusernamehere1 t1_ispw4nx wrote

You still should definitely not knowingly ingest or apply any amount of formaldehyde though

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Manyhigh t1_isq0ow3 wrote

Of course, as you shouldn't with many natural substances like botulin, or brown bears.

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DShepard t1_isq5912 wrote

Brown bears can be safely ingested, though preferably you should make sure they're dead first.

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Wandering_Scholar6 t1_issl4c6 wrote

What about mercury levels in brown bears? They are an apex predator that (depending on the bear) may eat lots of ocean predators.

Also definitely cook them, brown bear parasites and germs can likely live happily in your body if you let them.

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captaincumsock69 t1_isrj4ye wrote

I would love to see you ingest an entire brown bear dead or alive

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DShepard t1_isrpgps wrote

Give me a deep freezer and a couple of years to do it

0

Levainathan t1_israbkp wrote

The amount of idiots here acting like they know what they are talking about is appalling

Here is a study mentioning of a carcinogen and these dumbfucks immediately disregard it because its named a carcinogen and therefore it must be as safe as the sun or whatever

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myusernamehere1 t1_isrgeb8 wrote

Its like people forgot that they are supposed to wear sunscreen and how horrible skin cancer is

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jarsnazzy t1_istbita wrote

It's like reddit is full of contrarian children

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narkybark t1_isqhurv wrote

There's a UTI treatment (methenamine, taken orally) that relies on converting to formaldehyde in the body. Surprisingly, the few studies that have been done show no carcinogenic significance. As opposed to inhaling it which definitely did.

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captaincumsock69 t1_isrj22n wrote

What about ingesting the sun?

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Wandering_Scholar6 t1_isslrnq wrote

Experts warn that indirect sun ingestion can be dangerous depending on your intermediary. Stick to domesticated sun converters and wash them before ingestion.

For direct sun ingestion experts say it is not recommended, but it sounds super cool so please make sure you record all readings for said experts while you burn. They want that data.

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Afronerd t1_isq9ww5 wrote

You can't completely avoid formaldehyde because it occurs naturally in many foods, especially meat and produce.

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ItsNumber84 t1_isr4qsd wrote

I think their point was that you can avoid splashing it around in your hair, yeah?

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HelluvaKnight t1_isrim37 wrote

No you don't understand it forms naturally so you can chug it.

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asdaaaaaaaa t1_issj3kj wrote

Reminds me of when dipping a cigarette in formaldehyde was a thing. I can't imagine how much damage that does, even in one sitting.

0

Levainathan t1_isra6n8 wrote

This logic is bs just because it has the word carcinogen slapped on it doesnt mean its as harmful as the sun or other chemicals..

Especially when theres a study being done on this you dont even have the qualifications to tell people”oh its harmless bro anything is a carcinogen”

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mmrrbbee t1_isruskb wrote

Uranium is technically organic too

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armorhide406 t1_ist81sa wrote

technically anything carbon based is organic, so no uranium is not organic. Naturally occurring, locally sourced, free range, sure

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Calm_Forever_2277 t1_isr2tes wrote

Yes, read my top post. There in no formaldehyde in the products but when heated it emits formaldehyde.

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WistfulMelancholic t1_ispl6ts wrote

If available where you are, get the brand kativa for home treatment or even bring that to her salon. I'm using this and did a quick check, it's free from formaldehyde and works like a charm

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PhalanX4012 t1_isrtbp8 wrote

It’s easier to find a list of known formaldehyde free keratin treatments. The list isn’t long.

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nenenene t1_ispc3k1 wrote

Is it a home-use product or a salon treatment? I would absolutely try to find out the ingredients list in the latter case, I know aldehydes in professional haircare products can be everywhere.

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DrJawn t1_ispcain wrote

She gets it done at a salon her friend owns

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Devil_May_Kare t1_ispghl4 wrote

Why are they trying to blame parabens? We have evidence showing that parabens are pretty thoroughly harmless as currently used. And you have formaldehyde, a perfectly good known carcinogen, right there in the suspected causes list.

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footcandlez t1_isponom wrote

Interesting. Does this mean the product labels that say "no parabens" are as helpful as "non-GMO"?

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Devil_May_Kare t1_isppeik wrote

I'd say they're probably closer to "certified organic" than "non-GMO" -- some of the things you can use instead of parabens are worse for the consumer's health (e.g., formaldehyde releasing preservatives). The alternative to GMO is typically less food, not worse food.

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UrbanDryad t1_ispt8px wrote

Non-GMO is helpful, but only because the most common GMO strains are formulated to have higher levels of pesticides/herbicides dumped on them. So avoiding GMO is a roundabout way to ingest less of those chemicals, and to avoid supporting that farming practice.

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Strazdas1 t1_issc5en wrote

The opposite is true. Most common GMO strains need less pesticides/herbicides because they are engineered to be resistant to some bugs/diseases.

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n3w4cc01_1nt t1_isqv24h wrote

Being a poc is a maze of carcinogens, unhealthy food, and unnecessary stress.

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Taylorobey t1_ispotw5 wrote

My dang brain's first thought was "of course they are, women are the majority of people using them."

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flamingoeater t1_ispx7gc wrote

That's because nothing is regulated in the way that it should be.

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DeTrotseTuinkabouter t1_isswp0d wrote

I think you misunderstood their comment. They pointed out that obviously it will cause more uterine cancer because men don't have uteruses and don't (or more rarely) use hair straighteners.

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YubNub81 t1_isr3vxi wrote

Because the FDA doesn't actually give two shits about our health. They're just lining their pockets like every other greedy corporation. Every product that has been found to be incredibly detrimental to human health was once approved by the FDA

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ItsNumber84 t1_isr52ok wrote

>Every product that has been found to be incredibly detrimental to human health was once approved by the FDA

That's so untrue I have a hard time believing you're dumb enough to honestly think it.

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TryOwn231 t1_isq3z9j wrote

A lot of chemicals found in shampoos, conditioners, body washes, soaps, detergents, etc are known carcinogens.

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SpartanEngineer92 t1_isrbash wrote

Why would you straighten those beautiful curls?

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pandamonium_ t1_isrns43 wrote

You want what you don't have. I have naturally straight hair and always wanted curly hair. From what I understand, straight hair is also easier to manage (e.g. tie up or back, can use a little moisture to defrizz, etc.) compared to curly hair.

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neverheardthatphrase t1_isugkcq wrote

I got curls when I started puberty at age 9. My hair was perfectly straight before then. Kids at my school bullied me so bad for the curls that I was embarrassed. I begged my mom to let me get my hair professionally straightened and so she agreed. I did it for years from ages 11 to like 15. I stopped when I was in high school and switched to a flat iron. I stopped caring what people think and now I just go around with my frizzy hair.

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Strazdas1 t1_issc7v4 wrote

because they arent beautiful nor practical?

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achilles4206 t1_isumn7z wrote

Curls are fundamentally beautiful.

Society’s expectations on what is beauty changes on a day to day basis.

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Strazdas1 t1_iswv5od wrote

Curls are fundamentally ugly.

What is beauty is written in our genomes to benefit procreation and survival and has not changed in thousands of years.

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stiveooo t1_isqtjml wrote

Whats more popular? using chemicals or ironing?

1

Any-Assistance28 t1_isrlwph wrote

In this life we found ourselves, is too loud to know people prefer to please others than to help themselves. Even after some serious warnings some will still go ahead do it.

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gargoso t1_issny52 wrote

Most things that is to good to be true is harmful.

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stephfj t1_istag1f wrote

The article states that perviously, hair dyes and straighteners have been linked to breast and ovarian cancer. What are we to make of the fact that these are sex-specific cancers? (I realize men can get breast cancer, but from what I understand it is relatively rare.) Certainly it's reasonable to think women are at higher risk because they tend to use these products more. But does a carcinogen that targets the female reproductive system mean women are just inherently at higher risk, even adjusting for frequency of exposure?

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The_Lucky_7 t1_issjsz6 wrote

I scrolled past this thinking it was another r/TwoXChromosomes nightmare fuel story.

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Christafaaa t1_issmual wrote

Wait a minute!!! …. So you’re telling me that if I continuously put artificial chemicals on my scalp, it could be bad for me? That blows my chemically induced mind!

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wanderingartist t1_isqxl78 wrote

Risk getting cancer, all for the beauty.

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disdkatster t1_isqd5hn wrote

Edit: Oh WOW! I just now learned that this was a medical problem for Black women! Seriously I had NO idea. The only women I knew who did this were white women and the black women I know/knew went natural. No wonder people are pissed at what I said. My apologies! I am leaving it up because it is important reminder that far too often we just don't know what we don't know and we should NOT respond to a title without reading the article.

Original comment

[I have never understood why women who have curly hair straighten it and women with straight hair curl it.]

Edit: seems that all sorts of people are taking great offense by this. I never said that women should NOT do either one of these things. Yes I know TV, movies, advertising shows women as Barbie dolls and we have swings in when curly hair or straight hair is seen as 'beautiful'. So in some ways it is about what is 'fashionable' but there is also this underlying push to be dissatisfied with who you are. That is what I am curious about. I am disappointed that people chose to be offended rather than wonder what it is that seems to push us to do what we do. My hair is a bother. Why don't I just shave it off? Why don't men do what we do (with the exception of comb overs)? Or maybe they do and I don't know about it.

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tipsygrape t1_isqmyg8 wrote

Frizz. It’s all about the frizz.

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disdkatster t1_isqscbl wrote

What is wrong with frizz? I love frizz. It is what you would expect an angel to have. A lovely halo. I also love some straight hair. Hell, I would be happy to have a thick head of hair of either type (mine is mousey brown, thing and supper fine). So I guess we all want what we don't have. I also don't get fake eyelashes but I might have when I was in my 20s. Mostly they look like a bug crawled onto someone's eye. Tastes are very individual.

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tipsygrape t1_isqsze3 wrote

Tastes are subjective…like music, art, etc. I personally hate frizz. It’s unmanageable and ugly to me.

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laylatov t1_isquavo wrote

Not too mention how it feels! People are like “ oh it’s fine I love your curls !” ……but they are so uncomfortable to me! The frizz is physically annoying and having hair doubling in size in humidity is also very uncomfortable lollll

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FiftyShadesOfGregg t1_isrw0cu wrote

A few things, for why women with curly hair straighten it. One is we were mocked for it as children. Even for white women (like myself), curly hair was universally considered an undesirable, ugly “nerd” feature. Look at the Princess Diaries— before: ugly, nerdy, unpopular Mia Thermopolis had curly frizzy hair. She gets a makeover to become beautiful, popular, Princess Mia Thermopolis Grimaldi— with straight, shiny hair. That was our example growing up. It’s hard psychologically to look at myself in the mirror with curly hair and not see my 12 year old self, and my 12 year old self was told I was ugly.

For black women and girls, they have the added issue of racism. Natural hair is ridiculed as messy, unprofessional, undesirable compared to straight hair. I can’t speak to that experience but I know it’s a very prevalent one.

On a lighter note, curly hair is very difficult to care for and maintain. For me following a curly girl wash day routine takes about 2, 2.5 hours. At the end of it, my hair often looks awful and I have to put it in a bun right away. It’s constant trial and error of numerous, expensive hair products and techniques and I spent two years trying to figure out what my hair liked and I still failed. Treated hair you know what you’re going to get. It can take only 5 minutes to dry after a shower and it looks good. It’s hours and I get hours of my time back. And again, hair maintenance can be even more difficult for black women who have even more difficult hair types. So those are some of the reasons why curly haired women treat our hair.

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disdkatster t1_issun3r wrote

Keep in mind I grew up during a time when women with straight hair often had their hair 'permed' even as children. So I remember having frizzy, poufy hair and loving it. Of course it ruined your hair and once when I had been using lemon juice on my hair followed by a perm, the lightened hair (it was a streak - 60s ;) ) turned to goo and broke off. For the women I knew with very curly hair they got hours back in their life when they gave up straightening it. In the opposite direction I got hours back in my life when I stopped wearing make up and curling my hair. Those hours can be a real pleasure and entertainment for people. I remember when it was for me. I am more curious though why in general we are not satisfied with who we are and pick opposites of ourselves to model ourselves on. Just curiosity. No criticism meant.

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FiftyShadesOfGregg t1_isulpf4 wrote

Personal preference was only one of the things I listed. Racism regarding natural hair styles should not be ignored in conversations about chemical relaxers.

As a curly haired person, using a straightening iron is time consuming, yes. Styling curly hair is also incredibly time consuming, as I explained above. I takes hours. What actually saves time is relaxers, which is what are being talked about here. Your assertion that curly haired friends all saved tons of time wearing their hair curly instead of the alternative of a relaxer doesn’t ring true at all, unless they’re exceptionally blessed with curly hair that is easy to maintain.

As to why we aren’t happy with what we have, I explained that too. There are countless examples of “makeovers” in pop culture where curly hair is straightened, and where nerds who are mocked and considered ugly have curly hair.

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disdkatster t1_isun8xl wrote

Sorry you feel it necessary to suggest I am lying. I am sharing my experiences and my thoughts. Not my business to make decisions for other people. That is their business.

1

Emotional_Ant5163 t1_itui9ik wrote

I strongly disagree with the time you take to care a curly hair × Straightned hair (I had already both). When you have curly hair, you take more time washing and waiting to get dry.

But when you get it straight you have to wash more frequently because your hair doesn't suck the oils produced by your scalp anymore. Beside that, you will have to start to blow-dry your roots after 1 month because they are growing curly. If you try to do the quimical straightening each 2 months, you will spend a loooot money, your hair will be destroyed with so many aggression and you will have to spend a lot of time in hairdresser. (It takes at least 3 hours to get the treatment done).

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FiftyShadesOfGregg t1_itvy08s wrote

it sounds like your curly hair was happy with just regular brushing and air drying? Mine was not, and a lot of girls' isn't (particularly those who opt for relaxers). So add in time for brush styling and diffusing (diffusing took an hour). My curls never looked good the next day, so I'd have to re-wet and style (or just put it in a bun). My curls were really picky and finnicky, because my hair is low porosity and fine. So for me, curly hair took way longer than what you're describing. I get a Brazilian blowout every 4 months or so, and for the entire time in between blow drying takes like 5-10 minutes, OR I can actually let it air dry, something I could never do with untreated curly hair. The treatments do cost a lot of money, so that's the trade-off. But the time saved is the biggest factor for me!

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Emotional_Ant5163 t1_itw0t10 wrote

You don't have curly hair. If you had, would be impossible to air dry after 1 month you have 1 cm of roots already of hair with different texture.

0

safetyalpaca t1_isqin67 wrote

I mean it’s not like every person in those groups do those things

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disdkatster t1_isqro4r wrote

I don't believe I said that or implied that. It is not as bad now as it was when I was growing up but when I was a child I loved my friends hair which was very curly and white blond. The first thing she did when she got old enough was to straighten her hair so she looked like the 'cool kids'. My hair was straight as could be and my family gave me permanents to make it curly. When I grew up I then move to the other side of the country and made friends with a women who would not go out in the rain or damp, spent hours making her hair straight and was never happy with it. Then after years of this she said screw it , let it go natural it was beautiful.

Men do this with losing hair. To me the worse thing in the world is a comb over, while bald can be very attractive.

This is MY take on things. Not telling ANYONE what they should do. I just have always found it a bizarre human characteristic. Not sure why people are pissy about this opinion.

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SparkleKitty t1_isr0esw wrote

You want what you don’t have

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disdkatster t1_isr25m9 wrote

Yeah, so it seems. I envy the dense curly hair because I don't have it and never had to fight with it. I still think it is beautiful though.

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Canadaaayum t1_ispxmrq wrote

.....if ingested orally.

Did I crack the article?? Didn't read....

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