Hair Relaxers Are Promoted As Enabling Black Women To Look More Socially Acceptable

Attractive women are featured on hair relaxer packaging that seems self confident and financially successful

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 - For decades, thousands of black women have used hair relaxers to straighten their naturally curly hair, making them one of the most popular hairstyle product along with hair coloring. Yet, new research has brought attention to the risks associated with using hair relaxers, which include dangerous chemicals like sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, and guanidine hydroxide, that can have major negative effects on human health. These chemicals work to break down the protein bonds in the hair making it limp. The cosmetics industry is not FDA regulated and there are no pre-market tests to ensure a hair straightener is safe. More than 60 chemical hair relaxer lawsuit claims have been filed against Loreal, Revlon, and dozens of other companies alleging that the companies either knew or had an obligation to know that dangerous chemicals lurked in their hair relaxer products. Most insidious is the accusation that the companies knew about the dangers of developing hair relaxer uterine cancer and deliberately kept this information from the public. Manufacturers to this day continue to market their dangerous products to Black women promoting it as enabling women to look more socially acceptable, attractive, and financially successful. The "Dark and Lovely" hair straightener advertising campaign from SoftSheen-Carson features images of women with long, straight, shiny hair. The campaign uses the slogan "Relax and unleash the beauty of you," and "SoftSheen-Carson: The Science of Fabulous Hair".

Hundreds of thousands of Black women were convinced by advertising from Loreal, Revlon, and dozens of other marketers of hair straightening products that they would be more beautiful if they had straight hair. This behavior was reinforced in the media, on television, and in the movies. Black women were convinced to abandon their naturally beautiful hair in favor of a more European-centric look. Hair relaxers, however, are made from toxic, carcinogenic chemicals that leach directly into the open pores of the scalp and directly into the bloodstream affecting the brain and other vital organs. Many women have reported developing uterine, breast, and ovarian cancer as a result of a life-long practice of straightening their hair. Most women have used chemical hair straighteners from a very early age and some have developed cancer in their late 20s or early 30s. Most must undergo full or partial hysterectomies to treat their cancer which may be in an advanced stage, and will never be able to have children. Being infertile leaves an indelible scar on a woman's sense of self-worth and many have had to engage in psychological therapy to cope. Some women purchase hair relaxer products from retail stores at Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, and others and choose to apply hair relaxers in the comfort of their homes. Unfortunately, without professional application and supervision, hair relaxers may be left in too long and result in chemical burns, hair splintering or breaking, and every degree of skin irritation and infection. At its most destructive, chemical hair straighteners can cause DNA damage to the endocrine system, hormonal imbalances, and could even cause cancer in the users offspring.

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We will represent all persons involved in a hair relaxer cancer lawsuit on a contingency basis, meaning our lawyers never charge legal fees unless we win compensation in your case. For a free no-obligation consultation please fill out our short online contact form and one of our hair relaxer attorneys for uterine cancer or breast cancer will contact you to answer any of your questions.