Crystal’s question: Can you please do a review of this product? I am African American and want to get away from chemical straightening. Is there such a thing as a natural hair relaxer?
The Left Brain responds: 
The Beauty Brains have blogged before about how to straighten your hair (see 7 Ways to Straighten Your Hair for more details) but I’ve never heard of this Bodiphier product until now. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this is a natural, non-chemical alternative to relaxers. You can read all about it on the Bodiphier website but essentially this product is a weaker version of a lye relaxer.
Bodiphier Ingredients
Purified Alkaline Water, 100% Natural Soda Ash & Minerals, 100% Natural Citric, 100% Natural Menthol, Cetyl Wax, Emulsifying Wax, Petrolatum, Mineral Oil, Lanotrol, Volpo 10, Methyl Paraben, Propyl Paraben, 100% Natural Protein Powder, Shea Butter, 100% Natural Protein Oil, 100% Natural Soy Bean Oil, and Fragrance
The key active ingredient is soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, which is an alkaline material used in a variety of industrial applications from food preparation to pool sanitization. Sodium carbonate raises the pH of the product and allows it to soften the chemical bonds that connect the protein fibrils in hair. Once these chemical bonds are broken, or relaxed, the hair becomes straighter.
Lye vs Bodiphier
I would have to say that Bodiphier’s claim about being milder than typical lye relaxers is true. That’s because the active ingredient in true relaxers is sodium hydroxide, a chemical which is more more caustic than sodium carbonate. Bodiphier’s pH is 12, which is a bit lower than most relaxers that tend to be 12 to 13. But while Bodiphier will be less damaging to your hair it will also provide less of a relaxing effect. Depending on your hair type, this may be perfectly fine, but don’t expect Bodiphier to be a safer way to straighten really kinky hair.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Bodiphier is a more gentle, but less effective, way to straighten hair. However, it’s not really fair to say that’s it’s more “natural” than relaxers. Both types of products use ingredients that are chemically derived from natural sources.
What do YOU think? What’s your favorite way to straighten or relax your hair? Leave a comment and help straighten out the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. Thanks
I’m wondering if I used the Bodipheir hair relaxer but got absolutely no results can I now use the Phyto product or will this cause a problem?
i used this a little over a year ago….let me put it like this….DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY…it sucks…after that, i decided to go natural..best decision i ever made……
don’t bother w/this product. my pre-teen had been begging me for a relaxer and I thought this might be a good alternative…NOT! I thought the research I did was good, but this didn’t straighten her hair very much. It did relaxer her very tight curly kinky pattern. At first when I blowed dry and flat ironed, it looked nice. But her hair has been shedding like crazy ever since! I put it in Oct. 31 and now in Dec. her hair is significantly shorter. Never again, I feel so bad. We are using natural deep conditioners and great care to get her length back.
My 11 year old has very tight curls in auburn. Helped her apply Bodipier and wrap with warm towels (more effective than blow drying the plastic cap-left product on xtra 10 minutes. No discernable change in curl.
Big disappointment. I knew company would not offer refund (has no guarantee.) $ave yourself the trouble.
Big waste of money !!!! no chemicals!!! so why was my head burning right when i put it on im so disgusted in this product
I’m about to make my second purchase today. Here is my opinion on the company & the results.
This is a small company and they do need to make some improvements on customer service and the packaging of this product. My problem was due to the poor packaging the oil and shampoo spilled out and mixed deeming it to be unusable. However when they did get back to me (4days) it was to apologize for the inconvenience and to let me know they shipped my replacements. To my surprise the replacements were full size instead of the samples that come with the kit. As for the product if you’re expecting it to relax hair exactly like the usual perm you will be disappointed. I like this system because it makes hair manageable without all the side effects of a perm (no burning, sores etc.) It gives hair more of a pressed look if you use the rest of the products with it. I started to use this product on my daughter’s hair to keep her new growth straight as her old relaxed hair grows out. I spent $95 at a salon for my daughter to have her hair relaxed last Easter. The hair dresser left my daughter unattended with the perm in her head saying to let her know if it started to burn! In turn my daughter suffered chemical burn in multiple areas of her head and severe breakage to the point she is bald on her left temple and now getting scalp injections! Yes we have a lawyer, but he can’t make hair that was once down her back return. This has been one of the best products on the market that has brought some ease to my daughter’s situation. I purchased 2 kits on my first order and It’s a fraction of the cost paid to a professional that didn’t behave as such. If you want to be able to flip back & fourth between a pressed/straight look or a natural look this would be the product. Just keep in mind the results vary depending on the texture of your hair in its natural state. I was satisfied with my daughters hair to the point that I used the 2nd kit on my own. Today I’m buying it for both of us.
Is there an all natural recipe I can make at home to clean and or condition my hair with out regular shampoo or conditioner? I have naturally kinky curly, coiled hair, but need something to moiturize it to keep dryness away and give definition to my natural hair.
I have really kinky african hair. the bodiphier didn’t straighten my hair at all. it kinda relaxed it but it still stood straight up on top of my head, an afro, which is what I began with. For that I coulda just got an afro blow out kit for 6 bucks at sallys. a huge waste of money and the packaging is sloppy. they put it in a ziplock bag which leaked out before I was ready to use it. it smells strong just like a regular relaxer. waste of money and disappointing. I just ordered my phytolaxer. We will see . . .
I used the Bodiphier this week and I must say that I was a bit worried if the product would work on my hair. I have very coarse hair and wanted to badly to stop using a regular relaxer/perm. I did my research and read all reviews, both good and bad and decided to give this product a try. I was in need of a retouch badly so I used the bodiphier. And I must say, that I am completely satisfied with this product. Like I said before, I have VERY COARSE and THICk hair and this product made my hair straighter and it feels and looks healthier. After washing a regular relaxer/perm out of my hair, my hair would be so brittle and weak when wet. Alot of my hair would fall out while blow drying it. But, when I washed out the Bodiphier my hair felt squeeky clean and strong. While blow drying it, very little of my hair came out and I saw immediate results to my roots. Don’t expect your hair to be completely straight like it would be if you use a relaxer/perm, but you will be happy with this product if you follow the directions. You must comb through the hair every 10-15 minutes and place a shower cap or heat cap after each combing. I would reccomend this product to anyone and I will not use a regular relaxer/perm on m again.
Ummmm… I have been going to my hair stylist for, literally, years getting this put on my hair. I LOOOOVVVEEE this product. I am black and I don’t have a horrible grade of hair and it grows pretty good on it’s own. Still, nothing too special about it. Maybe those who are getting bad results should go to a professional and have it put on. I can say, from experience (my stylist and I fell out and I tried to do it myself— but we’re good now), that putting it on by yourself probably won’t give you the results you could get.
This is a waste of money i tried and got nothing but hair breakage and of course the website only posts good reviews on its website. DONT BUY AT ALL!
This works on the same basic priciple as traditional relaxers.It used Soda Ash which is higly alkaline and have the pH of about 12. It works for stronger hair but people with already processed hair need to be careful as it can make the hair very brittle and prone to breakage.
I am also interested in this product. I have fine black hair currently processed but seeking a safer more natural approach.