Here's a paper I helped author back in 1998 regarding recent advances in the treatment of excessively curly hair. While I know that 1998 was ten years ago, the paper contains good content regarding the history of relaxers as well as how modern-day relaxers work.
Recent Advances in Treating Excessively Curly Hair
Cationic polyamines and starch hydrolysates
Ali N. Syed, Hasan Ayoub and Anna Kuhajda
Avlon Industries Inc., Bedford Park, IL USA
In literature, innovation is defined as the initiation or adoption of new products, processes or ideas by organizations. Such innovations have taken place in the care of excessively curly hair. These developments did not catch the attention of the masses in the US because a relatively small segment of the population possesses curly hair. On a worldwide scale, however, the number becomes larger when we include individuals from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East, Asia and North America, According to some estimates, this segment with excessively curly hair has grown to equal a $1.5 billion (US) industry.
A History
Before discussing the history of the curly hair-care industry, it is necessary to understand the nature of excessively curly hair. Compared to straight hair, excessively curly hair is like a twisted ribbon in terms of its physical configuration. It is difficult to comb both in its wet and dry states, is hard to style and is highly unmanageable. More fragile than straight hair, excessively curly hair breaks more readily upon stretching, excessive combing and brushing. Thus, excessively curly hair requires special handling and specially formulated products that are different from Caucasian hair-care formulas.
