You No Longer Have Natural Hair If It Is Chemically Colored

Decrystalle Williams writes:

"I'm just curious if you are going all the way natural chemical free why would you put color on your hair? Isn't that a chemical as well?"

Kurlee Belle Answers:

To back up the title of this blog post, I realized that I needed facts, because at first glance it may seem a little outrageous. The dictionary defines the adjective "Natural" as 'existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind' or to be more specific when referring to a fabric, 'having a color characteristic of the unbleached and undyed state.' Hair is defined as 'any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans, mammals, and some other animals.'

Pairing the two definitions, Natural Hair, would be defined as 'fine threadlike strands that grow from the skin of humans, having a color characteristic of the unbleached and undyed state.' Therefore, one's hair which has been subjected to chemically processing through manmade bleaching or dying is technically not considered natural.

The main ingredient in Lye and No-Lye Relaxers, respectively, are sodium hydroxide and guanidine hydroxide.  These chemicals work by raising the pH of the hair so that the structure can be altered. Relaxers destroy the peptide bonds in the hair so that the hair becomes straight. Peptide bonds create strength in hair, so essentially adding a relaxer to your hair destroys it's strength. Once the peptide bonds are destroyed, they can never be repaired or restored no matter how many conditioners or deep treatments are used. Relaxers also deplete the fatty acids found in the natural sebum produced by the scalp which attributes to hair thinning, dryness, and breakage. The pH levels (pH of 7 is neutral, pH of 0 is very acidic, pH of 14 is extremely alkaline) of lye relaxers range from 12 to 14 (Draino which is used to unclog drains has a pH of 13. Scary right?)

The main ingredients in bleaches and permanent coloring are hydrogen peroxide or ammonium hydroxide. These ingredients work at a pH of 8 or more to the lift the cuticle so that the melanin can be altered. Bleaching affects the hair's strength because it disrupts the cuticle. Semi permanent color however does not include bleach but includes ammonium to lift the cuticle. Bleaching/coloring the hair involves high pH levels that lift the cuticle and destroy melanin to add pigment.

The effects of using a relaxer or coloring the hair are irreversible, therefore the hair is no longer in it's natural state. Depending on what your reasons are for going natural, you may want to avoid coloring. If you went natural because you wanted to grow healthier hair then beware of using color because it weakens the hair. If you went natural because it is in 'trend' then coloring is not a problem.

What does natural hair mean to you?

How To Recover From Color Damaged Hair

The reds, blondes and oranges all look great but some hair types do not work well with color--mine happens to be one of them. Color is a great way to spice up natural hair and make those curls really pop. Some women can get their hair permanently colored and not experience split ends or breakage.  Other women get color and their hair breaks, splits and looks dry. If you have recently had color that has damaged your strands, here are a few tips to growing healthy stronger hair.

#1- If you have had color before and find that your hair became damaged my advice to you is to leave the color alone. You can try and convince yourself that you just didn't take care of your hair in the past and it will be alright now, but better safe than sorry (learn from my mistake). Chances are if your hair was damaged by color in the past, it will be damaged by color in the future. 

#2- On average, hair grows about 1/2 an inch per month. Trim about 1/2 an inch each month until the color is completely gone. Trimming will prevent the hair from splitting and damaging the entire strand. 

#3- Stay away from harsh shampoos, opt for a moisturizing or conditioning shampoo. Color damaged hair can be dry and brittle, using harsh shampoos will contribute to dryness. Moisturizing or conditioning shampoos will help to nourish the strands. 

#4- Weekly deep conditioning or hot oil treatments will assist in improving the condition of your hair. Undamaged strands will benefit tremendously from deep conditioning which means you will be growing stronger healthier hair. 

#5- Heat should be avoided when the hair is damaged. Applying heat to damaged strands will speed up the breaking process. When in doubt always air dry. It is best for healthy or damaged hair. 

Have you experienced breakage from color or highlights? What happened? Tell us your story. 

Skin Tone & Hair Color

I've been contemplating for awhile whether to color my hair or not. Struggling with the fact that natural hair is dryer than straight hair and hair color can be very drying. With this in mind, I know that getting a color would mean increased maintenance. With all of these thoughts running through my head, I didn't figure out which colors would compliment my skin tone, so I decided to do some research or "google it".

A new hair color if done right is like an instant makeover. Changing your look from Plain Jane to Sasha Fierce. But I had to keep in mind that , the same rules that apply to Rihanna, who is a red head one day and a blonde the next does not apply to me. Depending on what line of work you're in, certain colors should be avoided. Like purples, pinks, blues if you must rock a conservative 'do'.....When deciding on a color the first thing to consider is whether your undertone is warm or cool.

People with warm skin have yellow or gold undertones and look better in gold jewelry. Cool skin has pinkish or blue undertones and look fabulous in silver jewelry.

Warm Skin Tone Hair Color Matches: Gold, Honey, Caramel, Copper, Red, Mahogany, Strawberry blonde, Chocolate, Ginger, Orange based reds, Dark browns, Rust....

Cool Skin Tone Hair Color Matches: Platinum, Ash-blonde, Cream, Sandy, Coffee, Jet Black, Fawn, Mid-level blondes, Flat browns, Wine, Mahogany, Burgundy....

This are really great facts to know because whether a color is permanent or temporary you're going to have to rock it for awhile until it grows out.

What's your skin undertone and what colors look best on you? Feel free to share.
Credit to: thehairstyler.com