It was not
until the 1900's with the development of products from entrepreneurs
like Madame C. J. Walker that products for grooming African/Americans
were evolving and being developed. Around that time the first
cosmetology schools were developed to teach African/Americans how to
care and groom themselves. More important it was after slavery in
America where the goal was to have "good hair" and the culture of
straight hair evolved in America.
Also called a pressing
comb or straightening comb, the hot comb is a metal comb that is heated
on either a range top or burner to a temperature between 300 and 500
degrees Fahrenheit. By pulling the heated comb through the hair, the
pressure applied during the combing process breaks down the hair fiber's
biochemical bonds. As the temperature diminishes, the bonds reconnect
and keep the hair straight. Typically, the hair remains straight from
one to two weeks or until it comes into contact with moisture or
humidity.
Though originally used by French women in
Europe during the mid-19th century, the hot comb became the foundation
of the Black Beautician industry starting in the early 1900s. Hot combs
were a significant improvement from older methods used by
African-Americans during and after slavery to straighten hair, which
ranged from heated butter knives and cloths, to axle grease and homemade
lye. Today, hot combs are still predominantly used in black salons as a
means for straightening hair without chemicals.
In
1968, Philip LoPresti, M.D., Christopher M. Papa, M.D., and Albert M.
Kligman released a study that stated hot combs had caused inflammation
and scarring on the scalps of mostly black women. Labeled "hot comb
alopecia," they claimed that the condition was caused by the combined
use of petrolatum and excessive heat from hot combs, leading to burning
and scarring along the crown of the scalp.
The first
hair relaxer was invented by Garret Augustus Morgan, Sr., who was born
in 1877 in Paris, Kentucky. At a young age, Morgan, the child of former
slaves, excelled in school and always had an eye for inventions. Like
many African-American children, though, he ended his formal education
after elementary school to work on the family farm. Eventually, he left
Kentucky and headed for Cincinnati, working and getting assistance from a
tutor to continue his studies in English grammar.
African Americans noticed the way their hair changed with the
combination of alkaline hair relaxer and lye soap used to wash hair.
However, it wasn't until 1971 that lye relaxer was officially produced
commercially. Proline, the manufacturers of Dark and Lovely,
manufactured the first official lye relaxer, which consisted of sodium
hydroxide, water, petroleum jelly, mineral oil and emulsifiers. The lye
straightened hair by weakening the internal protein structures of the
hair, loosening the natural curls.
In the late 1970s, African-American women and haircare product
manufacturers began noticing the damaging effects of lye-based hair
relaxers. Lye stripped proteins from hair, leading to breakage and
thinning hair. In 1981, Johnson Products Company, Inc. introduced Gentle
Treatment, the first no-lye hair relaxer. Instead of lye, their hair
relaxer used less harsh alkaline agents, such as potassium hydroxide and
lithium hydroxide. At the turn of the century, many hair relaxers, such
as Soft & Beautiful, began creating herbal and botanical hair
relaxers for African Americans.
