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Pressed hair is a temporary allusion of straightening.  Because the hair is not straight only the cuticle layer has been temporarily smoothed to give the appearance of being straight.  Under the cuticle the rest of the hair shaft is unchanged and unaffected by the process.  The hair quickly returns to its natural state when wet or after a short duration (10-14 days).

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To really understand and appreciate this procedure, cheap it is necessary to explain what the Press & Curl transformation is.

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Curly, diagnosis wavy and kinky hair has up to 3 times as much sulfur and hydrolyzed bonds as straight hair.  These bonds soak up and hold the natural oils (sebrum) or artificially applied oils that are able to penetrate the hair shaft.   This is why there are few complaints concerning greasy build-up on people with those grades of hair.  People with naturally straight hair, especially blonde or red hair, have little or no bonds in the hair, which translates in meaning that there is little or no medulla layer in their hair shaft.   Yet, this same hair will accept a permanent curl or wave in most cases.  This is one of the facts that prove my theory that the permanent curl is primarily formed on the cuticle and not on the bonds.

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Some textbooks state “Curly, wavy or kinky hair has up to 12-14 over lapping layers of cuticle; naturally straight hair has no more than 7 layers of cuticle.”  This statement is true.  However, as is the case in so many areas of textbooks, this statement goes without explanation.  Here, now for the first time, is the explanation. Because curly or kinky hair has so much more bonds in the cortex and medulla than straight hair, these bonds are contained and confined in the same amount of space as in straight hair.  As a result, these bonds are spaced so close together that they cause retention on the hair shaft like a compressed spring.  The cuticle layer reacts to this by backing up on one another much the same way as plastic cups would when stacked together, or a compressed rubber band   On straight hair, the cuticle layer would be spaced apart instead of stacked one against the other.  One amazing and confusing fact about this is both straight and kinky hair has the same amount of cuticle, but on kinky hair, the layers are overlapping up to twice as much, this renders Afro hair to be able to withstand higher heat and stronger chemical treatments than most other cultures.  This is why most Afro salons use stove heated tools because they allow for higher heat to perform services on virgin afro hair. When kinky hair is chemically relaxed, many cuticle layers are destroyed; those left are spaced about the same as on naturally straight hair.  All of the bonds remain intact.  However, they are transformed from round to oblong.  Once you understand the preceding information, you are now equipped to comprehend other unanswered questions that are not explained in textbooks.

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WHAT TRANSFORMATION DOES AFRO-CENTRICT HAIR GO THROUGH WHEN PRESSED?

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When cuticle layers back up on one another on kinky hair, they do not fit neatly in place like stacked plastic cups.  Instead, they are forced into each other by the retention on the hair shaft caused by the excessive bonds in the cortex and medulla.  When one cuticle layer is forced into the layer in back of it, this causes the layer in back to flare out.  When hair is pressed or flat ironed with the tools designed for this purpose, this flared out cuticle is simply smoothed or PRESSED flat against the body of the hair shaft.  The heat of the comb or curling iron softens the cuticle, allowing it to give way easily to the pressure applied by the back of the comb.  This principal is basically the same as ironing wrinkles out of a sheet.  The heat from the iron softens the fabric so that the wrinkles will give way to the weight or pressure of the iron.

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Pressing oils or creams serve three purposes:

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1.  Protects hair from excessive heat of the pressing comb or curling iron by absorbing excessive heat.

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2.  A lubricant to allow for smoothness by putting a thin layer of oil between hair and the comb.

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3.   The oil left behind coats the hair shaft holding the flattened cuticle close and resisting moisture that can cause the cuticle to return to its normal position (reversion).

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After a Press & Curl, the hair is still considered “Virgin Hair” because it has not been chemically altered in any way.  A Press & Curl patron can receive a chemical service such as a relaxer or curly perm anytime without a series of hair reconstruction treatments first.  Unless the hair has been damaged by miss-use of the Pressing process by doing it to close together or getting the irons to hot, or both.  This causes the cuticles to fuse together or burn off resulting in disastrous or unfavorable results when relaxed or curly permed.  The chemicals in the relaxer will dissolve the hair, because there will be little or no cuticle resistant before penetrating the rest of the hair shaft. The curly perm will not be as disruptive, but the curl will not form or be weak because the curl primarily forms on the cuticle.  It is not advisable to press hair after a relaxer, because there will not be enough cuticle left to withstand the high thermal heat associated with pressing, because the relaxer destroys 1/3 or more of the cuticle resulting in the hot irons making direct contact with the soft spongy cortex that will be damaged or burned off the hair at the point of contact.  The heat of a curling iron should be reduced also when used on relaxed hair for this same reason.  This is due to the fact that the relaxer chemicals and the smoothing procedure destroys up to 1/3 of the cuticle and elongate (stretch) the structure of the hair shaft, leaving the cuticles spaced apart about the same as on naturally straight hair, greatly reducing the tensile strength of the hair.