The physical characteristics of curly hair in comparison to relaxed hair differ a great deal, but why is it so? It all comes down to the alignment of the physical side bonds and chemical side bonds of the hair itself. For starters, physical side bonds are broken by heat or water but the bonds reform once the hair cools down, or dries, which makes it like a temporary breakdown. Think of naturally textured hair when blown out and straightened with a heat styling tool or being manipulated and reformed by a twist out, bantu knot out, or rod set. Do you kinda get the idea?
On the other hand, with relaxed hair the chemical side bonds, the disulfide bond to be exact, is permanently broken which is why when wavy or curly hair is relaxed it has a new straight form. Even with this significant difference both textured and relaxed hair still need lots of TLC. This is why the two types of manes are more alike than different. I breakdown how curly and relaxed hair are alike, and give you advice on how to care for both types of hair.
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