A Brief Overview of Hair Straightening

It has been said that a person's hair his or her crown of beauty. Indeed it is. Over the years, people have done a lot to their hair to make it more beautiful or to make a statement that reflects personalities, fashion preferences, or trends. Hair is more valuable than the most bejeweled crowns; it is not, therefore, difficult to understand why throughout the generations, people have been constantly developing substances, tools, and techniques to refine the fine art of beautifying and taking care of hair.

Thus, people color their hair with various dyes. Some form their hair into shapes, such as, Mohawks. Others style their hair so that it comes out in waves or in wiry curls. The ways this crown is custom designed are limitless.

One of the most common things that people do to their naturally curly or wavy hair is to straighten it. Hair straightening, as its name implies, is a technique that entails flattening and straightening hair through various means. The objective is to make hair smoother and obtain a sleeker, shinier appearance.

There are a lot of ways to straighten hair. These ways can include chemical relaxers, Japanese hair straightening techniques, Brazilian hair techniques, hot combs, or hair irons. There are also shampoos, conditioners, gels, and other products that can straighten hair. These hair straighteners can vary in effectiveness.

Tools such as hair irons and hot combs offer only temporary straightening. This is the same with most shampoos, gels, and other products. So if you see advertisements that boast of these products capable of permanent hair straightening, don't believe them!

On the other hand, chemical relaxers and some other more complex methods can alter the structure of existing hair permanently. Specifically, the drug interferon alpha modifies the existing hair follicles. This causes a permanent alteration in the hair structure.

The key word here is existing. Present hair growth may be treated with straighteners; however, new hair growth cannot. After some time, the new growth will prevail, necessitating a new treatment.

When did hair straightening become popular? Well, it started out in the twentieth century, with African Americans who have tightly curled hair. Due to social norms and the longing to be accepted in American society, they started to develop ways to straighten their hair, resulting in artificial styles. At that time, straightened hair was for blacks, a part of the 1960 Black Power movement. Curly- or wavy-haired whites began to follow suit when they showed admiration for blacks' new hairstyle. Aside from hair straightening, dreadlocks and Afro cuts remained to be a trend among blacks. Today, many African American women straighten their hair for aesthetics.

The development and wide usage of hair straighteners became even more trendy starting mid-1990, rivaling the popularity of perming and curling hair that was the prevalent style and technique during the 1980s.

Aside from women, long-haired men, especially those who are members of heavy-metal bands, began to straighten their hair too. Of course, this has become viable and convenient due to the introduction of hair irons and hot combs.