Are We Headed Toward The End Of The Relaxed Era?

After participating in the recent "Are You Natural, Transitioning, Or Relaxed" pole, I saw that nearly 80% of those who participated are natural or headed toward becoming natural. Although I am natural, I love looking at a great head of relaxed hair about as much as any other. So when I visited the Relaxer Reveal thread as I occasionally like to do, I saw the latest picture reveal appeared to be back from March of this year.

Seeing less and less topics and pictures relating to relaxed hair has me feeling pretty nostalgic. I was relaxed for most of my childhood after all. My last relaxer was in 2003. I went natural a couple years after and haven't been seriously tempted to go back since. I love being natural for esthetic and political reasons.

Sometimes I like to think back and remember the smell of my freshly relaxed hair and how soft it would feel. Even running a comb from my scalp through the ends in one stroke (a bizarre concept these days :s). Occasionally I'll even buy a Just for Me or Mizani product for the novelty of it.

Less relaxer usage may not be so evident in real life yet but I believe that we are the first in the know when it comes to hair trends and techniques. Techniques and trends that start in the online community slowly but surely trickle down to our coworkers, neighbors, aunties, and the local BSS.

Black women wearing their natural texture is a great change for reasons I wont get into at the moment. However I miss seeing all the swinging relaxed heads on this board and Youtube. I can't help but feel a bit reflective when thinking that such a huge part of OUR hair history could be dwindling.

Do you think we are headed toward the end of the Relaxed Era? Do you ever feel nostalgic about your relaxed days?

No. Even if relaxed hair ever went away straight hair is here to stay. I don't think a day goes by on here without a natural head asking/mentioning how they want hair stretched hair for ease

comparing the board to what's going on "out there" is not really accurate. Even though a lot more women are ditching relaxers. But we're not at any end of a relaxer era

I don't have any intention on relaxing ever again. I don't even really have a desire to staighten. Even in my everyday life the number of people that relax are next to none. There are alternatives for achieving straight hair with the chemicals.

I work with 90% black women.

the only thing that I know for sure is that fake hair isn't going anywhere. I can't tell who's natural or relaxed

Naw... I don't think relaxed hair is going anywhere. I think natural is just the current trend. Ain't nothing like having a fresh relaxer. I think people are utilizing fake hair more though

Hair forums and YouTube have never aligned with what I see in real life. I believe relaxed hair is a staple. Relaxed hair still outnumbers natural hair in my neck of the woods.

My random thoughts, be it right or wrong: there are a lot of relaxed ladies out there but many are salon relaxed and salon dependent. Therefore, they are not running to the internet to find ways to care for their hair. Aside from that, the relaxed ladies that I do bump into online prefer to take their knowledge directly from relaxed hair blogs vs. participating in hair forums. Natural hair is the trend, thus you see it more, hear about it more. And, there are a lot of new naturals struggling to figure the natural thing out, thus they keep the hair discussions alive and well around the internet. Although I am on an indefinite relaxer stretch right now, my desire to post on LHCF (relaxed hair threads) was impacted by the removal of the LHCF app. Uploading pictures is a pain with having to resize them so I tend to lurk more now.

The majority of black women I see these days are natural or weaved up. I actually don't see many using relaxers anymore. I thought natural hair was going to be a trend but now I actually think it's here to stay (even if it's straight or covered by fake hair). Women aren't as intimidated to try it anymore bc they have so many styling options,products, and other naturals to look up to. I just see so many women being comfortable with natural hair being their base, while they experiment with other options like straight hair, weaves, crotchet etc. A lot of the women I knew who used to wear their relaxed hair, bumped it up to wearing straight weaves for a fuller and longer look. Then a lot of them kinda just started transitioning unintentionally bc they felt safe letting their natural hair grow as long as they had a weave and it wasn't priority to relax anymore.

Victoria44 said:

The majority of black women I see these days are natural or weaved up. I actually don't see many using relaxers anymore. I thought natural hair was going to be a trend but now I actually think it's here to stay (even if it's straight or covered by fake hair). Women aren't as intimidated to try it anymore bc they have so many styling options,products, and other naturals to look up to. I just see so many women being comfortable with natural hair being their base, while they experiment with other options like straight hair, weaves, crotchet etc. A lot of the women I knew who used to wear their relaxed hair, bumped it up to wearing straight weaves for a fuller and longer look. Then a lot of them kinda just started transitioning unintentionally bc they felt safe letting their natural hair grow as long as they had a weave and it wasn't priority to relax anymore.

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I'm with you here. I see more natural than relaxed; and know more natural women than relaxed now. Seems like we're moving out of the dark ages. Even straight hair naturals are still natural. Its definitely not a trend. Black women are just becoming smarter about our hair-- taking back what is ours, owning it, and rocking the heck out of it! I couldn't say this 2+ years ago-- but there is a definite shift.

I don't know about the end of an era but there's a definite shift. Out of all my close girlfriends, about eight of us, I only have one left that's relaxed. I got a die hard relaxer transitioning right now. They don't all know each other and I've only had conversations with two of them years ago about natural hair and those convos were separate. So among us there's not a follow the herd mentality. I just think for various reasons more women are giving it a try.

Much like @divachyk I am also on an 'indefinite' stretch. I was 1 year post in September.

Not even sure if/when I'll relax again, but right now I'm enjoying seeing/having my natural hair back.

Contemplating becoming a Straight Haired Natural perhaps at some point?

Trying to clean up my diet, take more supplements, limit chemicals etc......

So right now, just hangin' out learning my Natural Hair.

I can't believe people are still calling natural hair a trend. It's been the "trend" for the past 10 years it seems.

No, relaxers are here to stay. I think we are at the height of the natural era. We just have more options that are acceptable. Before relaxed hair was the only acceptable option if you had a certain texture of hair. Now we can choose from natural, relaxed or texturized hair. I went natural for the first time as an adult 14 years ago. I'm now texturized. I feel it is just a matter of time before many naturals choose to relax or texturize again. I believe in switching up your look. When I was natural regular heat use was not an option for me as it broke off my hair and caused split ends. While texturizing is a healthier option. My hair is full and I can rollerset/wrap for a sleek look.

@hairina, is the word trend considered negative in this instance? My use of the word was not intened to be that if so. I feel relaxed hair and natural hair are here to stay but the one we hear about most may shift as time goes on as with most things.

I do see alot of women transitioning or rocking their natural hair but I also see alot who were natural forever texlaxing and relaxing their hair. I don't think its going anywhere.

I work with kids and I think that less women are relaxing their little girls hair. When I was in school, nearly every girl had a relaxer. Now I see little girls with natural hair styles and the moms in relaxers and weaves.

When I worked in fashion and higher education in the northeast , relaxed hair was frowned upon for different reasons. Now that I live in the Midwest, my long natural hair is a bit of an oddity since nearly everyone is weaved up.
So the end of the relaxed era is a regional/cultural thing IMO. If I relaxed my hair in my particular segment of the fashion industry, I wouldn't have gotten the jobs that I wanted. And in acadamia, I wouldn't be taken seriously especially since I studied AA Lit. It's sad that in these circles, my hair style was seen as a political stance.

My sister just relaxed her hair 2 days ago lol. Poor baby hair got burned she's 22. My mom said she should have used a texturizer.

She knows about this forum. She's going to end up cutting it again, I know it lol. Hopefully they'll read the info and take note from the relaxed ladies on the board because her relaxed journey is not starting off good at all.

Out of my circle, 9 of us, two women still relax, one went natural and then relaxed again. I was the first in my family to go natural in 2007 and there were lots of side comments, now errbody natural, except one aunt who is always in weaves and whose edges have gone to glory. I don't believe any of them will go back. One of my aunts has the most luscious curls, and she was telling me that she thought she had "bad hair" all her life. She went natural at 49.

Like everything else, location matters, but I was surprised to see how many natural girls attend a middle school I work with in DC. About 75% of them, and these aren't girls from middle and upper middle class families, a number of them have locs as well. My mom slapped a perm on my head by age 5. So either mothers are choosing not to relax at all, or they are letting their daughters decide at a later age, like high school.

To answer the question, I think there will be people who always relax, but I believe that number will become a minority, maybe 25%

Absolutely not. Heck we see natural girls returning to the relaxer all the time. And I have to admit there are things I even miss about having a relaxer. That fresh wrap, the ease of doing a braid out and roller setting. But after going back to a relaxer once before I missed my natural hair more than I missed having a relaxer and so I am natural again.

I think what is most important is not whether black women have given up a relaxer but knowing that we have options and now see the beauty in our natural hair.

I'm still relaxed and may be for a while yet. I have had several touch ups and my hair has been doing well. But I don't bother to post about it because we know that posts are worthless without pictures and frankly I cannot be bothered most times to take the pictures. I miss seeing the pictures of other relaxed heads though. I also miss the active length check challenges.

sgold04 said:

now errbody natural, except one aunt who is always in weaves and whose edges have gone to glory.

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Whose edges have gone to glory!

O . . . M . . . Geeeeeeee, I was not ready this morning for that.

I almost spit out my food.

Oh, girl, thanks for that guffaw. Needed it. Smh.

I don't think relaxed hair is going anywhere. When I'm out and about, I see mostly weave, some relaxed and a sprinkle of naturals. I think natural hair seems more popular these days because some women get very outspoken and take on an almost elitist attitude when they go natural. I see it all the time. They start with the "Team natural," "I can't believe women still get relaxers," and posting negative memes directed at relaxed women. I find that kind of crazy because some of those same women always screaming natural this or that stay weaved up.

As for the relaxer reveal thread, I've tried to post pics there recently but it didnt work. Posting pics has been a hassle since the update.

It's still so weird that relaxing, which wasn't popular until the 80s, is still considered the standard and norm, and not being relaxed was the norm for the majority of the 20th century (and obviously before that). The U.S. is probably the only country were the majority of black women are relaxed, which makes it arguably even more trendy.

Not relaxing is the default state, like how not tanning or not wearing weave or not dyeing your hair are all defaults.

Now women having been straightening or braiding their hair way longer than they've been relaxing. I don't think that's going anywhere. I think you can argue that wearing our hair out in its natural texture is a trend (vs being braided, pulled up or straightened), but not that not using relaxers is a trend.

ckisland said:

It's still so weird that relaxing, which wasn't popular until the 80s, is still considered the standard and norm, and not being relaxed was the norm for the majority of the 20th century (and obviously before that). The U.S. is probably the only country were the majority of black women are relaxed, which makes it arguably even more trendy.

Not relaxing is the default state, like how not tanning or not wearing weave or not dyeing your hair are all defaults.

Now women having been straightening or braiding their hair way longer than they've been relaxing. I don't think that's going anywhere. I think you can argue that wearing our hair out in its natural texture is a trend (vs being braided, pulled up or straightened), but not that not using relaxers is a trend.

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Such a great point @ckisland. I think relaxing as a way to straighten hair has been a trend in the grand scheme of our hair history. We may be seeing an end coming to that trend where the relaxed majority will become the minority. I don't think straight hair is going anywhere anytime soon. More people are simply going back to heat straightening the way our grandmothers did. I think relaxers will still be available in the future like press 'n curls were always still available during the height of the relaxer. We won't see the end of the relaxer itself until some person or group invents a way to permanently straighten hair without breaking or damaging the bonds.

I've been relaxed for a year now, well I returned to being relaxed. I was natural for 5 years and then I couldn't handle it anymore. But I will eventually go back natural, just not right now or in the next 3 years. There are times that I miss being natural, like when I want to do a braidout or twistout. I did a twistout on my hair last week and it was an epic fail.

divachyk said:

Hair forums and YouTube have never aligned with what I see in real life. I believe relaxed hair is a staple. Relaxed hair still outnumbers natural hair in my neck of the woods.

My random thoughts, be it right or wrong: there are a lot of relaxed ladies out there but many are salon relaxed and salon dependent. Therefore, they are not running to the internet to find ways to care for their hair. Aside from that, the relaxed ladies that I do bump into online prefer to take their knowledge directly from relaxed hair blogs vs. participating in hair forums. Natural hair is the trend, thus you see it more, hear about it more. And, there are a lot of new naturals struggling to figure the natural thing out, thus they keep the hair discussions alive and well around the internet. Although I am on an indefinite relaxer stretch right now, my desire to post on LHCF (relaxed hair threads) was impacted by the removal of the LHCF app. Uploading pictures is a pain with having to resize them so I tend to lurk more now.

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Nice point @divachyk. I did not consider it before but I do believe that way more naturals are DIY'rs than relaxed women. Naturally there would be more online seeking knowledge. I also think there is an influx of women 'trying out' natural hair by wearing it kinky/curly who will go back to straightening. The way they choose to go back to straightening however could be relaxer OR heat. I believe the majority of women who will end up going natural or becoming straight hair naturals will not go back to relaxers.

Nope, relaxers are here to stay.

Relaxed heads just evolved with the times like everyone else. Monthly relaxers were the norm and everyone lived in the salon. I always get mistaken for being natural because having super straight hair all the time isn't important to me.

Now - not so much. I know of only 1 relaxed head that still goes to the salon. The rest of us relax at home.

Sure there are more naturals now but so what? Like others have said, weave has pretty much taken over as the style of choice.

I just went back to relaxing a few months ago after only being natural for a year in a half. Most of my life I was natural with only five years spent as a relaxed head. So natural hair never had this big hoopla to me like it would for people who have spent most of their life relaxing. Frankly I don't see myself going back natural anytime soon, there are moments that I miss natural hair, but it's just that a moment nothing that makes me want to go back. As a natural I really didn't care about healthy hair care practices because whether I had this big regimen or did nothing at all my hair would stay the same length and never seemed any healthier. Whereas now that I am texlaxed my spark for healthy hair care is back and I am in the swing of things again. And from where I live relaxed and natural is about 50/50.

ETA: And as far as this board, I feel as though there is a plethora of information already on here for relaxed heads. Especially since this forum has been around a long time, whereas naturals are just starting build their library of information on this site. If that makes sense.

Bunnyhaslonghair said:

We won't see the end of the relaxer itself until some person or group invents a way to permanently straighten hair without breaking or damaging the bonds.

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Yup. If straightening by applying something that doesn't break bonds becomes available, I have to admit I'd look into it and watch phase 1 of folks trying it!