Not all people are gifted with naturally-straight hair. For one thing, straight hair can be easier to style than curly or wavy hair. Then again, some would prefer their natural hair texture whether wavy, curly, or straight as long as their locks are healthy. Plus points if they are able to get themselves out there and be confident regardless of their hair type.

Hair straightening and its impact on our lives

Still, there are a lot of people especially women who prefer their hair straight. In fact, they would be willing to have their hair straightened in professional hair straightening salons. There is no denying the fact that having straight hair does create a major impact on one’s overall look.

Straight hair also never went out of style and had been a popular choice of hairstyle since hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Since there was no permanent hair straightening salon available during that time, have you wondered how people back then straightened their hair?

A brief history of hair styling products (from the Egyptians to the 1800s)

During that time when Brazilian keratin straightening wasn’t a thing yet, ancient Egyptians apparently used flat iron plates to straighten their hair. It is said that in ancient Egypt, iron plates were used to straighten hair although it did cause some burns during the process.

In the 1800s, it is said that female slaves used butter knives to make their hair look more presentable as stated in Victora Sherrow’s book, Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. Around the 1840s, DIY hot combs started to appear and to be used in the Americas and Europe.

Meanwhile, Sherrow’s book also revealed that following the Emancipation Proclamation, post-slavery blacks applied a concoction of egg, potato, and lye in an attempt to straighten their hair. However, this procedure deemed to be dangerous as it often resulted in scalp burns.

Hundreds of years after, a French stylist named Marcel Grateau invented a hair styling device that also involved the use of heat. However, the major improvement during that time was that it caused less hair damage and burns unlike those used by ancient Egyptians.

The first-ever hair styling tool that has been perhaps the benchmark of several handheld hair styling devices which were invented years after. The 1872 hair styling tool was also said to have been inspired a Scottish heiress named Lady Jennifer Bell Schofield to invent the first-ever hair styling product. Schofield’s hair styler was made of metal plates that are attached to tongs so that it prevents burning the hands while using it.

A brief history of hair styling products (1900’s and beyond)

Just imagine how hard it was to style African-American hair. Unlike today, a lot of women benefited a lot in using various hair products and treatments such as keratin treatment by a hairstylist or having Balayage hair highlights.

An African-American woman named Annie Malone developed a formula specially made to straighten kinky African-American hair. She abhorred the rampant use of lye mixture that caused burns and hair damage, and instead developed a more user-friendly hair straightening recipe.

Meanwhile, Madame CJ Walker, formerly Sarah Breedlove, also invented hair straightening for African-American people, who usually have naturally-kinky hair. While using Malone’s hair products to treat her own hair loss, Walker developed her own hair care products which bore her face on her entire product line.

As for hair straightening device, it was debated that a certain Simon Monroe first patented the flat iron back in 1906. It featured metal teeth that served as a comb while straightening the hair in the process. This became the benchmark for modern hot combs commonly used in African-American households until the 1980s.

Isaac Shero’s version of hair straightener became the forefather of modern handheld flat iron we are more familiar with nowadays. Other innovations followed suit, including a hair relaxing chemical product specially made for African-American hair and a hair straightening treatment meant for men.

A modern take on hair straightening

Nowadays, we have the freedom to keep our natural hair or go to a Japanese hair straightening salon. Hair straightening has gone through a lot since ancient times. Back then, it was highly-risky to style your hair, unlike today. But we have to thank the abovementioned personalities for paving the way to modern hair styling we now enjoy.

Nonetheless, it is within the discretion of the person whether he or she wants to keep their natural hair or go visit a keratin treatment salon in Rockville MD. At the end of the day, it is all about how you bring yourself out there and feel confident no matter what your hair type is.