Slave trade in relation to hair (Part 2)

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.