Let's Vote: Is Phytospecific Relaxer Natural or Not?

[Luscious Locks]

Most relaxers, except for thio based relaxers and Phytospecific, use guanidine carbonate as an activator (it acitives the sodium/lithium/or calcim hydroxide). In Phytospecific the guanidine carbonate actives soy and egg. Do you all know what guanidine carbonate is? For those who don't it's super heated (~ 400 degrees) lime. Yes lime... like the stuff you put in your drinks. So, I want to know:

Do you consider Phytospecific to be a natural relaxer or not?

Keep in mind that some flatirons get up to 400 degrees.... Let's vote!

Yes or No, and post comments if you'd like.

 

[Charz]

How can a relaxer, a chemical process be natural?

 

[LunadeMiel]

If it's permanently altering your curl pattern than no.

 

[Solitude]

^^^^^ Your curl pattern can be permanently altered by non-chemical components, such as heat.

However, the Phytorelaxer does use guanidine carbonate as the OP stated. I guess the question would be what the definition of "natural" is. I voted yes, just for fun. I use Phytorelaxer and I love it. It's super gentle, odorless, and it never burns.

I'm actually switching to all Phytospecific products. I loaded up! For those who are interested, the sale ends today. Phyto friends and family sale

 

[LunadeMiel]

^^^^^ Your curl pattern can be permanently altered by non-chemical components, such as heat.

However, the Phytorelaxer does use guanidine carbonate as the OP stated. I guess the question would be what the definition of "natural" is. I voted yes, just for fun. I use Phytorelaxer and I love it. It's super gentle, odorless, and it never burns.

I'm actually switching to all Phytospecific products. I loaded up! For those who are interested, the sale ends today. Phyto friends and family sale

I agree. I also don't consider heat trained hair natural either

 

[taz007]

^^^^^ Your curl pattern can be permanently altered by non-chemical components, such as heat.

However, the Phytorelaxer does use guanidine carbonate as the OP stated. I guess the question would be what the definition of "natural" is. I voted yes, just for fun. I use Phytorelaxer and I love it. It's super gentle, odorless, and it never burns.

I'm actually switching to all Phytospecific products. I loaded up! For those who are interested, the sale ends today. Phyto friends and family sale

^^^ Yup, I have already stocked up for the year . Love their F&F sale!!!!

 

[LushLox]

No relaxer can be considered 'natural'

 

[PDub]

I don't know if it's natural or not, but I LOVE IT!! I'm in total and complete love with my hair since I started relaxing with Phytorelaxer II!! I will not use anything else. And yes, I stocked up with the F&F sale yesterday!!!

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

Is the question asking if the relaxer is natural as in natural ingredients or If hair that has been relaxed by the specific relaxer still considered no? Because it seems like people are answering the latter. Are you considered natural if you use this relaxer? No. Is the relaxer natural in the sense that it uses ingredients that naturally exist? Such as using a lime kitchen concoction with food and stuff? Um.... That idk because I don't know for sure if that relaxer contains other man made chemicals but I'm assuming it does so I'm going to say no again.

 

[Nayna]

I think it's just a better relaxer than most. But it's not a natural relaxer. I remember searching for natural relaxers and came across this and I think it was baka beautiful or whatever. I dunno. Anywho here's an article I found on it.

Phytorelaxer: The Lie Of No Lye Relaxers

 

[EllePixie]

How can a relaxer, a chemical process be natural?

Agree with this. And Charz, your hair looks awesome in your siggy!

I agree. I also don't consider heat trained hair natural either

Also agree with this. Once you have purposely permanently altered your curl pattern, whether it's with heat or chems (heat still alters the chemical bonds in your hair), it's no longer natural. I say purposely because some naturals have used heat once incorrectly and get heat damage, but it's usually in a certain spot - that's still damage but I wouldn't say they aren't natural anymore.

 

[Lynnerie]

I don't believe there is a natural relaxer at all. There has to be some type of chemical to activate it and if there is a neutralizing process to stop the breakdown that tells you right there it isn't natural. I believe Phyto is milder than most relaxers though.

 

[Tiye]

Guanadine carbonate is the active ingredient in many drugstore relaxers including Motions, ORS no-lye, dark n lovely, etc. Guanadine carbonate isn't lime water, it's an extract from sea gull crap (well that's the source I know about). Calcium hydroxide is the lime water base used by typical no-lye relaxers. Phyto doesn't use calcium hydroxide as a base - they use a conditioning base with 50-11 ingredients however mineral oil, propylene glycol and lanolin are prolly the key hair softeners. And note that box relaxers add conditioning ingredients to their base as well and you can also add more on your own.

From the sephora website ...

PS642 Straightening Balm:
Water / Aqua, Mineral Oil / Paraffinum Liquidum, Emulsifying Wax Nf, Propylene Glycol, Egg Extract / Ovum (Extrait D'œuf), Steareth-100, Peg-75 Lanolin, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Oleth -20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Peg-10 Rapeseed Sterol, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein (Soja), Fragrance / Parfum, Egg Oil / Ovum (Huile D'œuf).

PS653 Inductor Index 2:
Water / Aqua, Guanidine Carbonate, Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol, Yellow 5 / Ci 19140, Red 4 / Ci 14700.

PS645 Milky Restructurer:
Althaea Officinalis Root Extract, Cetearyl Alcohol (Dérivé D'huile De Coco), Propylene Glycol, Dicetyldimonium Chloride, Distearyldimonium Chloride (Dérivé De Colza), Mineral Oil / Paraffinum Liquidum, Water / Aqua, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride (Dérivé De Gomme Guar), Stearic Acid, Ceteareth-33 (Dérivé D'huile De Coco), Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein (Dérivé De Protéines De Blé) Amodimethicone, Acetamidoethyl Pg-Trimonium Chloride, Canola Oil, Fragrance / Parfum, Lanolin Alcohol, Oleyl Alcohol, Isolaureth-6, Octoxynol-40, Sodium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Yellow 5 / Ci 19140.

The active ingredients in any relaxer are natural. Sodium hydroxide comes from ashes. Just coz something is natural doesn't mean it can't alter aspects of your physiology.

 

[Charz]

Agree with this. And Charz, your hair looks awesome in your siggy!

Thanks love

 

[Luscious Locks]

Solitude, and Tiye said exactly what was on my mind. The definition of natural is too elusive. The pH of many natural substances can alter your hair or body permenantly.. over time who is to say that it would not damage your hair or scalp? I do believe, however, that Phytorelaxer is a great product.

All I know it that I love Phyto, and I too have stocked up at their F&F sale which btw has been extended to today. Phyto hair is happy hair!

I hope this question probes people to create a definitin of what they personally consider "natural" to mean. I am currently doing this.

We're here to learn and grow after all.

 

[HappilyLiberal]

It's not natural but I think it is gentler than most relaxers.

And, you can burn with any relaxer including Phyto if used incorrectly--my only major burn while self-relaxing came from the Phyto II. It was completely my fault for using it before I washed all of a sulfur-based growth aid out of my hair; but I burned badly nonetheless. So PLEASE be careful when using any straightener.

 

[Boujoichic]

In Phytospecific the guanidine carbonate actives soy and egg. Do you all know what guanidine carbonate is? For those who don't it's super heated (~ 400 degrees) lime. Yes lime... like the stuff you put in your drinks.

When I looked up Guanidine Carbonite this is what I found It appears to be ammonia based not sure how it comes from the lime fruit.

Guanidine, also called carbamidine, is a strongly alkaline and water-soluble compound, NHC(NH2)2 It is formed in urine as a normal product of protein metabolism in the body by the oxidation of guanine. Guanidine has imine group and aminoacetal functional group in the small structure. Aminoacetal (aminal) is the functional group which has two amine groups attached to the same carbon atom. Imine is a compound containing the bivalent =NH group combined with a bivalent nonacid group, as R-HC=NH. It is produced by the condensation reactions of aldehydes or ketones with ammonia (or amines). Imino is a prefix denoting the presence of the bivalent group =NH attached to nonacid radicals. Imine can reduced and hydrolysed to prepare corresponding amines. Imine is involved in Diels-Alder reaction, Povarov reaction, Aza-Baylis-Hillman reaction and Eschweiler-Clarke reaction. In industry, guanidine, containing nitrogens and N=C solid bond, and its modified derivatives are versatile intermediates used in the manufacture of plastics, resins, rubber chemicals, nitroguanidines (explosives), photo chemicals, fungicides, and disinfectant. It has also biotechnological application of protein separation, purification and as a protein denaturant. It can be used as an oxygen scavenger to prevent corrosion damage. It is used as a component of rocket propellants because it produce a large amount of heat when burned.

Also to answer your question I would say no

 

[kmn1980]

Phytorelaxer: The Lie Of No Lye Relaxers

I'm gonna' say no to the OP's question. But I'm glad you posted this link because I've always had the understanding that there's really no such thing as a "no lye" relaxer. My mom's stylist who has been doing hair nearly 40 years said that without lye, your hair wouldn't get straight so it's not possible that a relaxer that does what it's supposed to do is free of lye.

 

[Lady Esquire]

This Phyto topic is an old topic. There used to be a time where 100x a day ladies were arguing over this brand. IMO, its a relaxer just like all the rest, with its own twist, but does the job of all the others.

 

[Melody.Monroe]

Cocaine is "NATURAL"...it's just that some "natural" things can hurt you. So I think that technically it is natural because even natural substances can alter things. Water running over a hard-coarse-jagged rock with eventually turn it into a smooth water stone...

Just saying...

 

[lizzyb168]

.......

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

:endworld:

 

[Solitude]

I think it's just a better relaxer than most. But it's not a natural relaxer. I remember searching for natural relaxers and came across this and I think it was baka beautiful or whatever. I dunno. Anywho here's an article I found on it.

Phytorelaxer: The Lie Of No Lye Relaxers

I wouldn't really consider the "thebeautybrains" a great source of information, especially on topics concerning African-American hair care.

:endworld:

What is this supposed to mean?

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

^It speaks for itself as the post topic is baffling to me. Natural ingredients do not automatically mean good. Gasoline is natural; but, I'm not drinking it. A relaxer is still a relaxer, no matter the ingredients. A dabble or two of an additional property does not make it less caustic.

Also, there's no such thing as African-American hair. Texture is texture without a necessary racial component. Kinky crosses racial boundaries as does straight hair; therefore, thebeautybrains can be a valid place to seek information.

 

[Solitude]

^It speaks for itself as the post topic is baffling to me. Natural ingredients do not automatically mean good. Gasoline is natural; but, I'm not drinking it. A relaxer is still a relaxer, no matter the ingredients. A dabble or two of an additional property does not make it less caustic.

Also, there's no such thing as African-American hair. Texture is texture without a necessary racial component. Kinky crosses racial boundaries as does straight hair; therefore, thebeautybrains can be a valid place to seek information.

First off, please don't be so quick to jump to the drama. Those type of little emoticons and saracasm/negativity are the reason why so many people have left this site. That is why I ASKED you what you meant, rather than assuming. If you had nothing to add to the thread, why post "the end of the world is nigh" and turn the tone negative?

IF you had actually clicked on the article originally posted, then you would have seen that the question posed to beauty brains refers to "African-American textured hair," which is why I used the term. It's also clear that the term Afro-textured hair is quite commonly used and accepted as a valid way to describe type 3 and type 4 hair kinky/curly/coarse hair. Race has nothing to do with whether "beauty brains" is a good website. There are thousands of "beauty" websites that exist only to generate hits and ad revenue. I believe that beauty brains is one of them.

Second, no one....no one in this entire thread...said "natural means good." Nor did anyone say "chemicals equal bad." I think everyone agreed that Phyto is a good product, that it's more gentle than other relaxers, that it permanently alters hair and comes with the same risks as any other relaxers. Some said it's a chemical, some said it could possibly be considered natural.

Based on the well-thought out answers discussing the chemical components of relaxer, this is obviously a topic that is debatable, so I don't see why it's baffling.

Good luck with your transition and journey to natural. I won't be posting any further thoughts in this thread....I already knew that the natural/transitioning army would appear and attack soon enough.

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

First off, please don't be so quick to jump to the drama. Those type of little emoticons and saracasm/negativity are the reason why so many people have left this site. That is why I ASKED you what you meant, rather than assuming. If you had nothing to add to the thread, why post "the end of the world is nigh" and turn the tone negative?

IF you had actually clicked on the article originally posted, then you would have seen that the question posed to beauty brains refers to "African-American textured hair," which is why I used the term. It's also clear that the term Afro-textured hair is quite commonly used and accepted as a valid way to describe type 3 and type 4 hair kinky/curly/coarse hair. Race has nothing to do with whether "beauty brains" is a good website. There are thousands of "beauty" websites that exist only to generate hits and ad revenue. I believe that beauty brains is one of them.

Second, no one....no one in this entire thread...said "natural means good." Nor did anyone say "chemicals equal bad." I think everyone agreed that Phyto is a good product, that it's more gentle than other relaxers, that it permanently alters hair and comes with the same risks as any other relaxers. Some said it's a chemical, some said it could possibly be considered natural.

Based on the well-thought out answers discussing the chemical components of relaxer, this is obviously a topic that is debatable, so I don't see why it's baffling.

Good luck with your transition and journey to natural. I won't be posting any further thoughts in this thread....I already knew that the natural/transitioning army would appear and attack soon enough.

Slow your roll. Jeez, the sense of humor is severely lacking. Actually, the implications were already made. I just wanted to lighten up the thread. Apparently, you came in with a sense of dramatic interpretation via your last sentence (e.g. natural/transitioning army, really?). It's not that big of a deal. A message board with varied opinions? Whoa. That's a new concept. (By the way, even if a word or phrase is commonly misused, it doesn't mean it should continue (i.e., African-American hair).

 

[EllePixie]

I don't understand why people take issue with the relaxer not being called natural...it's not, I don't see why that's up for debate. Just because you have natural hair does not mean you use ALL NATURAL products, yeesh, so to talk about some kind of "army" is simply disturbing. If I use Suave on my hair, or Tresemme Naturals, I'm not going to say the product is natural - they have chemical compounds in them. Yes, I am quite aware that almost everything in the world is a chemical, but something containing stuff like caprylyl glycol and distearyldimonium chloride, and a whole bunch of other words I can't pronounce is not natural. Just because something isn't natural doesn't make it "bad," as said previously. If people think it's a great product, it's a great product, end of story. All this other hullabaloo and debate is just inflammatory.

 

[iri9109]

Most relaxers, except for thio based relaxers and Phytospecific, use guanidine carbonate as an activator (it acitives the sodium/lithium/or calcim hydroxide). In Phytospecific the guanidine carbonate actives soy and egg. Do you all know what guanidine carbonate is? For those who don't it's super heated (~ 400 degrees) lime. Yes lime... like the stuff you put in your drinks. So, I want to know:

Do you consider Phytospecific to be a natural relaxer or not?

Keep in mind that some flatirons get up to 400 degrees.... Let's vote!

Yes or No, and post comments if you'd like.

sweetheart, thats not lime like lemons and limes, like the citrus fruit. its calcium oxide (caustic) or calcium hydroxide (less caustic)..an alkaline chemical compound...its not used in drinks...chalk and concrete, yes...but not drinks. whooo that gave me a good laugh...ok science major leaving now...


p.s NO ITS NOT NATURAL

 

[Pompous Blue]

sweetheart, thats not lime like lemons and limes, like the citrus fruit. its calcium oxide (caustic) or calcium hydroxide (less caustic)..an alkaline chemical compound...its not used in drinks...chalk and concrete, yes...but not drinks. whooo that gave me a good laugh...ok science major leaving now...


p.s NO ITS NOT NATURAL

THANKS, THANKS, THANKS BUTTON!

LOL!!!

 

[song_of_serenity]

People get their knickers in a bunch in threads like this. I believe the OP asked if the RELAXER is natural, not IF YOUR HAIR IS STILL NATURAL AFTER USING IT!

And please get over the "natural army" thing. Honestly, not everything is an agenda against relaxed heads. And for that matter, not every relaxed person is anti natural.

Do the ingredients occur naturally in nature in that form? Then it would be a natural relaxer. If mr Chemist had to do some serious chemical creations then no. It's not "natural."