Straightening Hair

whose hair are you talking about? which styles?

Jos - I can only guess your talking about ppl. with naturally kinky hair textures? The only way that I know to get long, flowy curls with that hair type involve micro braids, weaves, or straightened/blowed-out/relaxed hair that's been curled (aa people don't re-perm their hair to make it curly).

Do consider Lisa Tucker ( American Idol) to have flowing hair? She wore her hair both curly and straight on the show---but I am referring to the curly style. If so, then depending on the particular texture of the hair, you can do that style with gels or mousse to set the curls. I wear my hair like that and I do not straighten it. When I was little my mom used to roller set my hair on these huge rollers the size of coke cans!!! Anyway--my hair would be flowing.

[font=Century Gothic]Uh...yeah they do...what used to be the Jheri curl...now folks just call it curly perms. Now the technology is better, and requires less moisturizer...and it's not "wet".[/font][font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Maybe the "long-flowing curls" are from rollers, curling irons, or twist/braid-outs (twists or braids done damp/wet, let dry and then carefully untwisted). Or, as Adrienne said, from extensions/weaves/braids.[/font][font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]A great site to check out is motowngirl dot com.[/font]

Sorry crina - I was working under the impression that the Jheri curl went out with Eddie's heterosexuality. LOL! No really - I was invisioning the addition of a curly perm on top of already relaxed hair. :eek:

[font=Century Gothic]LOL![/font] :p

Speaking on the subject of having hair extensions and such since I was a little girl I dont think getting a weave or extensions done makes me less "black" or conforming for caucasian culture it's just fun for me personally because I can do alot of different things with it, add awesome color highlights and stuff such as red,blonde,etc., and plus it makes my hair grow by having it up in braids for the six months that I have had my hair in a weave my hair has grown a major amount to where it was to my chin and now its shoulder length and I haven't had to relax it either. Extensions aren't for everyone, but in the case of my sisters and me they have done wonders for our hair by allowing it to grow, and cut the time that it used to take to do our hair in half by allowing it to style and go.

Amen........ The first step to helping your child embrace his/her ethnic diversity is to acknowledge the hair. As an African American Mom of a biracial daughter I do that. My daughter has cross cultural hair, but it needs the same time and attention as the hair of a solely African American girl. It really isn't a big deal and there are folks out there who are willing to help adoptive parents its just a matter of asking.........

I'm heading over to the new forum that embraces ALL families (soulofadoption dot com slash forum slash index dot php). I hope at least some of you will join me over there! :grouphug:

Hair always seems to be an issues, huh? My friend and I actually do training on African American hair and skin care. My friend is African American and an adoptive mother of two African American girls. I am white and the adoptive mother of 4 Asian kids and 6 African American kids. I believe an African American hairdresser would tell you that each child is different and we shouldn't base our decisions for our child's hair on what we feel, but on how the child's hair looks and feels. Some kids have hair that needs to be straightened in order for it to be healthy. Also, if you adopt a child who has already had her hair straightened, you have to keep it up or the new growth hair will break easily. Some bi-racial children do well with straightened hair and some don't need it at all. My friend wrote a book, Black Children/White Parents - Putting the Pieces Together that includes a chapter about hair care. Since she wrote the book from an African American adoptive mother's point of view it may be different from some other books out there. I would also recommend the book It's All Good Hair. Both books can be ordered from [url="http://www.momsconnected.com"]www.momsconnected.com[/url]. I don't know if we are supposed to talk about products on this forum, so if not, I apologize.

OK, why are we picking on Eddie?? I'm cracking up at work!!!

I am sorry but I do not agree with this at all. Although one may choose to straighten their hair, no ones hair "needs" to be straightened to be healthy. In fact ALL hair straighteners ( relaxers or rebonding) that are chemically based DAMAGE hair to a certain degree (some more than others, but all cause some amount of damage).

This is partly true. However a good stylist experienced with natural hair can help the process along. Once hair is relaxed, it doesn't have to be relaxed for the rest of a person's life.

I agree with each child having different hair but I can't agree with the statement about hair needing to be straightened to be a healthy. Natural texture hair is best because it is not chemically or heat straightened. Natural textured hair is stronger than altered hair. Regular use of heated items like curling irons, pressing combs, flat irons and blow dryers can cause damage. I used to be a daily offender with the curling iron and quit using it after my hairdresser showed me the damage it caused. I have chemically straightened hair and let it air dry now and never use a heated implement more than once a week. Straightened hair just appears healthier if you are comparing it to CC hair. I'm also curious why you said that some biracial children do well with straightened hair and others don't need it. Are saying that biracial chilren need their hair straightened if it's not on the straighter side naturally? I don't think it should make a difference.

Lexie and Sleeplvr, you're right!! AA hair is most healthy when it's natural. However, if we tried to get everyone on board with this, we would put a whole industry out of business!!