Kids Hair

Ten Reasons Not to Buy Lye or "No Lye" Relaxers for Children

 

 

The Damages of Chemical Relaxers

TEN REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BUY BOTH LYE AND “NO LYE”
HAIR RELAXERS FOR CHILDREN:

1)     Self Hatred is a deadly disease.

•    Through continuously straightening an African American child’s hair to make it more manageable one could be placing a seed of hatred in the child because the new look is one of a European standard of beauty.  Most African American children are not familiar with what their natural hair looks like and neither do their peers so they are not taught to respect and love it.


2)     Lye Relaxers are subject to cause alopecia areata and male patterned baldness in 60% of men women and children who use Lye Relaxers on a normal basis say once every four weeks.

3)      A child's head is not strong enough to handle a
lye relaxer such as Dark and Lovely, Just For Me, Motions, Empress,
African Gold, African Pride, Bantu, Soft and Beautiful & Cream of Nature.
•    These relaxers are formulated with Sodium Hydroxide. They are also referred to as 'alkaline relaxers' because they contain alkaline caustics, which can cause chemical burns similar to those a person would get if they came in contact with a strong acid.
•     The pH levels are higher than no-lye relaxers. the pH is of 12-14, which is extremely high and these relaxers are formulated with Sodium Hydroxide.
•    The higher the pH the greater risk of damage and hair loss.
•     The “no lye” relaxers are formulated without Sodium Hydroxide and instead are created with calcium hydroxide, guanidine carbonate, and ammonium thioglycolate to make guanidine hydroxide.
•    The ingredients found in Relaxers such as the Sodium Hydroxide are found in drain cleaners, bleach, oven cleaners, toilet cleaners, and other household cleaning supplies.
4)     Though the combination in “no lye” relaxers results in less scalp damage than lye relaxers the damage to the scalp can potentially be the same if not used properly.

// -->

5)     The FDA lists hair relaxers and hair dyes among its top consumer complaint areas. 

6)     Lye and No Lye Relaxers can cause severe burns when irresponsibly placed on the scalp of a child.
•    Dr. Gary Wasserman, chief of the medical toxicology section at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO., still recalls an incident from thirty years ago in which a two year old boy got a taste of a caustic cleaning agent similar to these relaxers and suffered burns in his esophagus and stomach to the point to where he had to get a new esophagus and stomach using a  portion of his bowel.
•     Scarring is the ultimate concern of the chemists and doctors testing these products because some of the scarring can only be removed through surgical procedures.

7)     The hair is made up of protein and this protein is necessary to promote the growth, strength, and health of the hair.
•    Hair relaxers and perms destroy the protein that makes up the hair by rearranging and breaking the bonds that hold the hair in its natural shape.

8)     Hair Relaxers are expensive and the price paid for using them incorrectly is non refundable and irreversible in most cases.
•    Most visits to the beauty shop cost approximately $50 to get a perm and most people who use perms get them at least 13 weeks out of  the year, thus accruing a beauty bill of nearly $700.

9)      The time, patience, and treatment of a child with alopecia areata damage caused from extensive use of permanents is immense and oftentimes discouraging. 
•    The FDA and Board of Cosmetology have not done enough extensive research to explain and warn of the dangerous effects of hair relaxers due to the capital boom of the cosmetology industry and the high demand dollars that particularly blacks spend on hair care.

 

10 )      The period of age 5-12 is a very crucial time for child development and when a child has low self esteem due to poor self image during this time the results are often times difficult to

// -->

 reverse. 
•    More than 40% of African American girls have a case of hair loss or alopecia areata by the time they reach the age of 16 and are forced to thus wear wigs and weaves for the rest of their lives to cover up the damage.

INFORMATION TO KEEP IN MIND:

Sodium hydroxide is the strongest of the three relaxers and will provide the most dramatic results. Sodium hydroxide is a caustic type of chemical that actually softens hair fibers.  The chemical also causes the hair to swell at the same time.  As the sodium hydroxide solution is applied to the hair, it penetrates into the cortical layer and breaks the cross-bonds.

The cortical layer is the middle or inner layer of the hair shaft that provides the strength, elasticity and shape of the curly hair.

Depending on various factors and the condition of the hair to be straightened, the strength of the sodium hydroxide solution may vary anywhere from 5 to 10 percent.

Guanidine hydroxide relaxers are referred to as the "no-lye" relaxers and they tend to be less damaging than sodium hydroxide relaxers. These products, however, still may do some damage to the hair.  It can definitely de-fat the scalp.

Guanidine hydroxide relaxers usually require conditioning treatments before and after. These relaxers are a mixture of calcium hydroxide cream with guanidine carbonate "activator" solution.

Ammonium thioglycolate (nicknamed "thio relaxer") is much less drastic in its action than the sodium hydroxide and even, in some cases, the guanidine hydroxide.   It acts a little differently by softening and relaxing overly curly hair through changes to the hair's cystine linkage.

Thio works on the same formulation principles as thioglycolate permanent waves. With a pH of 9-9.5, these are also considered to be less damaging, yet still require a neutralization step. Thioglycolate relaxers are usually in cream or gel form and can be preceded by a pre-softener.

Thio relaxers are considered much milder,  thus the risk of hair damage is also reduced by comparison to the sodium hydroxide, EVEN THOUGH NO RELAXER IS THE SAFEST WAY TO GO.


Please give as much thought about what you put on your head as you do your body.

 

eHow.com

I Love My Hair!

HEAD LICE

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Lice - More Than Home Remedies

Every child in school or daycare needs lice prevention. If it's too late and your child has lice, we've also got lice cures. All the natural way. No one wants to ever think about lice. But, even the cleanest child can bring them home. School, the playground, parties, and daycare are just a few of the places where a child can get lice.

Learn how to get rid of lice naturally. Kill head lice safely without poisons. This natural lice cure will kill lice not kids! AND, more importantly, the natural way to prevent a lice infestation from occurring!    


It is bad enough that your child has come home from school with lice, you may not need to add POISONS to your child’s head. Some lice products are still made with a poison that was banned for use on crops, most lice products will kill lice and lots of other bugs (would you spray RAID on your child?), and most lice products are flammable. Almost all of the products out there can cause terrible problems if you leave them on too long, use them too often, or use them on a child too young. If you do end up using any of the commercial lice products, at least read every word of the directions first and follow them exactly.

Or, you can try the natural way. Please read all of this before starting. Don't forget to check Natural Ways To Prevent Lice.

Kill the Bugs

Lice can be killed quickly, easily, cheaply and safely with mayonnaise. Simply get a new jar of mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip) from your kitchen shelf or at the grocery store. (Don’t grab one from the refrigerator, as it will be way too cold.) Grab a handful (or several) and cover all of you child’s hair, being sure to get behind the ears and down the neck a little. You can cover this with a plastic shower cap to keep the mayonaise from dripping or getting onto your furniture. Leave the mayonnaise on for two hours to smother the lice and developed eggs. Then, remove the shower cap and throw it away, both of you wash your hands good with soap, and shampoo the hair thoroughly. It may take two or more shampoos to get the hair clean.

You can use Vaseline if you don't have any mayonnaise. The only way to remove Vaseline from hair is to saturate the hair in baby oil, rub in through the hair completely, then squeeze out as much as you can. Then wash the hair three times with Dawn dish soap and hot water (not hot enough to burn!), each time leaving the dish soap on for a few minutes to allow it to work.

Vaseline can be left on overnight if you wish, but this is not safe with mayonnaise because it turns poisonous when it is not refrigerated. Your child may scratch his head while sleeping and then put his fingers in his mouth.

If you don’t trust the mayonnaise or Vaseline to smother the lice, you can make a natural lice shampoo to kill the lice but not poison your child. To a base of five teaspoons of Pure Olive Carrier Oil (or Pure Coconut Carrier Oil), add five drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil, five drops of Rosemary Essential Oil, five drops of Lavender Essential Oil, five drops of Peppermint Essential Oil, and five drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil. Add a small amount of regular shampoo to the mixture, and put this all over the hair - all the way to the edges. Leave this on for an hour under a towel or tight-fitting shower cap to prevent drips. Rinse the hair, and shampoo the hair. (Olive oil and coconut oil kill lice by "dissolving" their exoskeletons, and other oils will not have the same effect.)

Don't use a conditioner at this stage, but you will find that the hair is very easy to comb after using this oily mixture.            

Notes: 1) The respiration of a baby or child under 5 can be slowed down or even stopped if peppermint oil or eucalyptus oil is close enough for the baby to even breathe either. 2) High blood pressure may be elevated by peppermint essential oil. 3) Peppermint or rosemary may be harmful during pregnancy. Just use the recipe without the oil that may be harmful in your case.

Loosen the Eggs

After shampooing, rinse the hair and scalp with vinegar. This loosens the glue that holds the nits onto the hair shafts. Rinse with hot water - but not so hot it that burns the child.

Many of the nits (eggs) rinsed down the drain after the vinegar rinse. Now you have to deal with any nits that are left behind. The mayonnaise may not kill the newest nits since the unborn lice inside may have not yet developed enough to need air yet. Even if it did, schools and daycares will not allow children back in until the nits are removed.

Get the Eggs Out

Comb all of the tangles out of the hair with a regular comb, then comb the hair with a nit comb. You can buy this in the drug store, next to the lice shampoos.

Check the Hair

When you think you are done, you want to use good lighting to check throughly the hair once it is dry. (The nits are much easier to see on dry hair.) Nits are very small and are kind of shiny at a certain angle. They are on the hair shaft itself, with the newest ones being just off the scalp and older ones being as much as an inch away from the scalp. You will have to check the hair by tiny sections, especially around the edges of the hair, at the neck, and behind the ears - although one could be anywhere. If you find any nits, you can pull them off with your fingernails, comb them off with the nit comb, or cut each hair off that contains a nit. Be sure to put each nit or hair into a bowl of vinegar or hot soapy water with ammonia added.

Another Rinse?

If you see more than a few nits, you can use a vinegar wrap to further loosen their glue. Thoroughly wet a towel with a mixture of half vinegar and half water, wrap the child’s head with the towel, and leave it on for one hour. Let the hair dry, then check for nits again.

Eyebrows and Eyelashes

If there are any nits on the eyelashes or eyebrows, you can coat these thoroughly with Vaseline without harm. This should be re-applied four times a day.

Check Again

You will need to check the hair daily for any missed nits and the teeniest ones that have now become large enough to see. If one living nit remains, it could hatch and start the whole process over again, bringing on about eight new eggs per day.

Spread the Word

Every other person in the household will need to be checked - human lice do not live on animals (and vice versa). And, it is only polite to let the parents of any children your child was in contact with know that they should inspect their own children. This sounds embarrassing, but it would be terrible to let any other children get more and more lice before their parents notice on their own. Also, you do not want any of these children giving lice back to your child. It is especially important to inform the school office and your child’s teacher.

Second Application

If you are continuing to find nits, you should smother the hair with mayonnaise or Vaseline seven to ten days after the first application - not the sixth or the eleventh. And, continue to check the hair daily for a few weeks since your child may still be around an infected child or children at school.

Clothes, Combs, Etc.

Your child’s hair is not your only worry. All of the clothing that your child has worn and towels your child use for the last week should be washed in hot water. If there is some item that will shrink in the washer, you can put it through the dryer on the hot cycle for thirty minutes without washing it first. All bedding (sheets, blankets, pillows, pillowcases, comforter, mattress cover) needs to either be washed in hot water, dried dry on the hot cycle, or put into a plastic bag and left sealed up. (They say that lice can only live away from the human host for 24 hours or so, but we like to keep the bags sealed for at least two weeks - just in case - and because more eggs could hatch during this time period or new lice could be brought home.) Bagging will also be necessary for stuffed animals, hats, throw pillows, barrettes, ponytail holders, hair ribbons, helmets, necklaces and anything else that has come in contact with your child or your child’s comb and brush. A very nice comb or brush can be soaked in very hot vinegar or bleach, but you might want to just throw the others away and buy new ones. Vacuum the mattress, couch, chairs, rugs and floors, car seats and backs, car rugs, and upholstered church pews thoroughly then dispose of the vacuum bag.

Natural Lice Spray

There is probably no need for a spray to kill lice on any of these surfaces if you vacuumed thoroughly. If you feel there is a place you could not vacuum, bag, wash or put in the dryer, you can make your own spray that will be much safer than any on the market. The chemical sprays are poisonous. To a base of three tablespoons of Pure Olive Carrier Oil (or Pure Coconut Carrier Oil), add one teaspoon of Tea Tree Essential Oil, one teaspoon of Rosemary Essential Oil, one teaspoon of Peppermint Essential Oil, one teaspoon of Lavender Essential Oil and one teaspoon of Eucalyptus Essential Oil. If this is too thick for your sprayer, you can thin it down a little with water. You would not want to drink this solution (or leave it around for a little one to drink), but it should not leave anything harmful on your furniture or in the air.

How to detangle childrens hair.

When it comes to kids, tangled hair is just a fact of life. Luckily, with the right tools and know-how, these tangled situations can be easily avoided and repaired.

Tackling Tangled Hair

Always have a detangling product on hand for your little curly ones. There are lots of them out there, so it’s important to find something that nourishes your child’s hair as it repairs. Some leave-in conditioners can also be used as detangling products.

Have a wide-toothed comb at home so you can get the knots and tangles out. Detangling combs help control knots and snarls, with a lot less tears. It’s a good idea to keep one in your tub as part of your child’s nighttime hair cleaning routine, too.

1. You can detangle hair wet or dry, but be sure you dampen the hair with the detangling product before you attempt detangling dry curls. If your child arrives home from school or a play date with tangles and knots, use the detangling product and some gentle motions of the wide-toothed comb to get the knots out while the hair is dry. Don’t wait until it’s bath time to work out the knots, they may only get worse as the afternoon and evening progress.
2. If your child want to help,  stand in front of a mirror and show her how you’re helping care for her curls. Kids love to exercise their independence, so why not teach them the tricks of the trade, too?
3. Make preventing tangled hair part of your nighttime routine once you’ve dealt with emergency tangles and knots. Shampoo hair by working hands through the curls, and avoid building up a big lather. Use your fingers like a comb to shampoo and condition, then use a wide-toothed comb to distribute the conditioning product through her hair.
4. Use a leave-in for thicker curls to help avoid knots and tangled hair. Leave-in conditioners such as Kinky Curly Tiny Twists or Blended Cutie Soft Curls and Swirls can be a key step in keeping little curls looking their best and may help avoid the possible “poof” effect too.
5. For little curls with less bulk or finer strands, a light leave-in, or even a combo of water and some conditioner, can be helpful in avoiding tangled, frizzy curls.
6. Tell your little ones not to run their fingers through their hair too much either – and hope they’ll actually listen! Let them know that fingers in the hair could lead to more combing sessions and extra bath times, both of which lead to less play time – it’s true!
7. For kids more prone to tangled hair, you may want to put your child’s curls in a loose pony tail, or even braid them at night. If your child is active during the day, and still gets lots of tangles, braids and pony tails can be good for those times, as well.

I did not write this. I got it from naturallycurly.com