After a profound surge in both natural hairstyles and hair culture over the last decade—not to mention the introduction of the CROWN Act as slowly but steadily growing legislation across the United States—it may surprise some that there is still vigorous debate between self-avowed “naturalistas” and those who choose to chemically straighten their natural textures. After all, isn’t the point to be able to wear our hair any way we damn well please?
Nevertheless, just last Wednesday, Allure magazine revived the debate on what many consider to be opposite ends of the textural spectrum, noting that a wave of former devotees of natural hair have reverted to relaxers as a lower-maintenance way to care for their tresses. Despite the fact that there are now more product lines catering to natural hair than ever before in the history of the American beauty industry, maintenance remains an issue—as does the textural bias that still persists, even on #TeamNatural.
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“It was just a struggle for me to figure out my hair and determine what it likes, what it needs, what products that work with it,” YouTuber Ashley White (All about Ash) told Allure of her decision to abandon her natural hair regime in favor of a relaxer. “It was taking a lot of time and a lot of effort, or just more time and effort than I want to put into my hair to just achieve a simple style.”
Atlanta-based hairstylist and hair loss expert Jasmine Collins presented another angle on the issue when she offered: “Natural does not equal healthy. Just because your hair is natural, does not mean that it’s healthy. There are some people with natural hair that’s unhealthy, and there are some people with relaxed hair that’s healthy.”
While two things certainly can be true at once, a new Oxford academic study posits that relaxed hair may be unhealthier than previously known. As reported by The Guardian, the study, published in the university’s Carcinogenesis journal in May of this year, draws direct correlations between the use of chemical relaxers and increased risk of breast cancer.
Source: Is Our Haircare Endangering Us? A New Study Compounds Fears About Relaxers and Breast Cancer
