Hair Rebonding Cruelty

CEBU, Philippines - Tampering with God’s creation is always cruel, even if the tampering is just on the hair.

Women and men with wavy, kinky or curly hair are flocking to salons to let an iron device come through their hair to make it sleek, shiny and pin-straight. Blame it on consumerism, materialism and covetousness – even if the electric styling device is literally cruel to the hair, we do it in the name of vanity.

By definition, hair rebonding is a chemical treatment done to the hair so it becomes straight, sleek and shiny. The treatment is said to be a permanent procedure. But then a rebonded hair needs re-touching because new hair growth will always be what it originally was. The reason why God made your hair with a natural bond that is curly, wavy or naturally straight is to give your hair physical quality. A rebonding procedure is such that chemical bonds of the hair or the hair structures are broken and reconfigured.

Hair bonds are strong so that these are not easy to break. But because man is vain, hairdressers have found ways to break hair structures using a straightening cream softener or relaxant. It is when the bonds are broken that these can be rearranged or configured straight using an electric styling device. The reconfigured hair is then bonded again permanently with a neutraliser.

Thus the name rebond because the natural curly or wavy hair bonds or structures are broken and then rebonded or restructured into straight hair. The use of strong chemicals to break the hair structure is believed to be one of the most damaging things that can be done to human hair.

Hair rebonding is also called Thermal Reconditionng. It is because when hair is softened or broken and ready to be configured, straight configuration is done by thermally ironing the hair using a hot ceramic flat iron set at 140 to 200 degrees Celsius. Protein hair-protecting treatment is applied, then an electric styling device or iron rods pull the hair straight. Hairdressers reason that it is the protein protecting treatment that preserves the hair from damage. Truth is, God created the human hair such that it does not burn. So wonderfully did God create the hair from burning that thermal ironing or reconditioning of the hair is half of the whole rebonding process, requiring patient ironing of paper-thin hair strands.

Neutralizing the hair with the neutralizer cream then stabilizes the hair into straight shape. As the hair is rinsed, protein conditioning treatment is applied, rinsed again, blown dry then ironed as a finishing touch and ending with silky, shiny look. The whole process takes four to six hours depending on the length and thickness of the hair.

Hair rebonding is a 1996 Japanese innovation but was introduced and became popular in the Philippines in 2001. It used to be that hair rebonding can cost as much as P5,000, far more expensive than buying a sack of rice. But these days, there are rebonding treatments at P1,500 for any hair length. Hair rebonding has become more affordable than it was five years ago, prompting more people to tamper with their curly hair.

Though many hairdressers say that the treatment will not cause hair damage or hair loss, still the potential of damage is real. People go at any length, even cruelty, to the hair for vanity – be it rebonding, coloring or perming. The hair raising reality is that all vanity, especially when done in cruelty, can turn that massive mane into just a memory.