# CAN A TYPE 4 TEXLAX AND GET WAVES???



## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

I'm wondering if any ladies have type 4 hair and achieve waves/loose curls with texlaxing.  If it's possible, I definitely would like to do this.  PLEASE  post pictures of your texlaxed hair (wet or dry) and your natural texture!  I've been trying to make this decision forever!  It would help if I could see some examples. 

ETA: Also please include the type and strength of relaxer you use and how long you leave it on!  Or if you relax bone straight and then do some type of protein treatment afterwards, include that information too!  TIA!


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## Chameleonchick (Jan 4, 2009)

If you look in my fotki you can see texlaxed hair and natural. http://www.public.fotki.com/mokahdeelyte


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## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

Anyone else?


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## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

Bump bump bump!


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## Ramya (Jan 4, 2009)

Type 4a maybe but if I understand type 4b correctly it will just give you limp/semi straight 4b hair.


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## HappyHairDreams (Jan 4, 2009)

I have a wave pattern, no curls though.


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## smwrigh3 (Jan 4, 2009)

I have a b4 and a wet picture.. Imma try and see if I have any after air drying pictures... my hair is 4a in the front (i think!)


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## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

smwrigh3 said:


> I have a b4 and a wet picture.. Imma try and see if I have any after air drying pictures... my hair is 4a in the front (i think!)



Beautiful!!  What kind of relaxer did you use and what strength?  How long did you leave it on?


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## Dommo (Jan 4, 2009)

yes....Im a a type 4a and i'm relaxed and when im lazzy i can just wash and go...my hair gets really curly and wavy; great for vacations


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## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

Dommo said:


> yes....Im a a type 4a and i'm relaxed and when im lazzy i can just wash and go...my hair gets really curly and wavy; great for vacations



Any pics?   Also what relaxer type and strength do you use and how long do you leave it on?  I'm wondering because I'm really considering self relaxing after I have my stylist do it this time.


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## isawstars (Jan 4, 2009)

I asked my stylist something similar before I started texlaxing.  Her response was short and sweet.  If you don't have a natural curl/wave pattern then you won't have curls or waves when texlaxing.

My hair type is a mixture of 3c and 4a.  I have defined curls in the back of my head and a mixture of waves and curls everywhere else.  I'm hoping that once I cut off the remaining relaxed ends, some of my waves will bounce more and be more defined or curly.


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## sunshinebeautiful (Jan 4, 2009)

isawstars said:


> I asked my stylist something similar before I started texlaxing.  Her response was short and sweet.  *If you don't have a natural curl/wave pattern then you won't have curls or waves when texlaxing.*
> 
> My hair type is a mixture of 3c and 4a.  I have defined curls in the back of my head and a mixture of waves and curls everywhere else.  I'm hoping that once I cut off the remaining relaxed ends, some of my waves will bounce more and be more defined or curly.



I was gonna pop in and say the same thing.


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## gorgeous86 (Jan 4, 2009)

isawstars said:


> *I asked my stylist something similar before I started texlaxing. Her response was short and sweet. If you don't have a natural curl/wave pattern then you won't have curls or waves when texlaxing.*
> 
> My hair type is a mixture of 3c and 4a. I have defined curls in the back of my head and a mixture of waves and curls everywhere else. I'm hoping that once I cut off the remaining relaxed ends, some of my waves will bounce more and be more defined or curly.


 
I agree with the bolded. This is why I voted no.  I think with 4a hair _maybe _you could have waves,  but not with 4b hair, that has no set curl pattern (at least mine doesn't ) JMHO


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## A_Christian (Jan 4, 2009)

I'm "3c/4a" and have a lot of waves/curls during long stretches. My stylist uses Affirm Mild.  She doesn't leave it on long at all, I should have timed it during my last re-touch but I didn't. Sorry I know that not your thread but my response is   but the waves appear after a few months into my long stretches.  

Last year I only had two relaxers and the waves popped up a few months into my six and a half month stretch. For some reason my hair seems to wave up more when I use Elucence MB Shampoo and Affirm 5 in 1 Reconstructor.  Something in those products seems to make the texture "pop" more but I think the texture has more to do with being underprocessed/textlaxed.


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## *fabulosity* (Jan 4, 2009)

Air dried


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## Prose Princess (Jan 4, 2009)

Fabulosity you have the look I'm trying to achieve!  It's gorgeous! When I airdry my hair frizzes up and has no shape at all. I would love to be able to airdry and have some waves/curls! Could you please share your relaxer routine? *off to stalk your fotki*


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## *fabulosity* (Jan 5, 2009)

Prose Princess said:


> Fabulosity you have the look I'm trying to achieve!  It's gorgeous! When I airdry my hair frizzes up and has no shape at all. I would love to be able to airdry and have some waves/curls! Could you please share your relaxer routine? *off to stalk your fotki*


 
Aww thanks.. but I hate it. I wish the ends would curl up more or do something! This is after washing with Wen or Hair One.. DC'ing... and then using Hydrathermal Naturals Daily Growth Lotion as the moisturizer and Avosoya oil to seal. I didn't towel it dry. When I towel it..it gets frizzy. I just towel dried the ends..so they wouldn't drip everywhere while I was waiting. I was trying to practice a WNG..but I still wouldn't wear my hair like that anyplace..look at my fotki for the back.. it looks a HAM.

I relax 3-4 times a year. last year I stretched 6 months but I had too much shedding and breakage and won't be doing that again. My stylist uses Affirm or Revlon relaxer..we tried Phyto and it wasn't for me. She rinses it out basically after she's finished applying it everywhere.. so I'm thinking 10-12 min processing time? Not sure.. but it's not long.


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## lashannasmall (Jan 5, 2009)

If you have 4b hair, it will not look like the chick a couple of pics up. Sorry. I texurized the front of my 4B hair once for a weave and it just looked like limp 4 b hair. you cannot create curls where there are none.


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## *fabulosity* (Jul 4, 2009)

lashannasmall said:


> If you have 4b hair, it will not look like the chick a couple of pics up. Sorry. I texurized the front of my 4B hair once for a weave and it just looked like limp 4 b hair. you cannot create curls where there are none.


 
who??? This chick?? 
Cluck cluck...
Can you tell that I've already been in the holiday "spirits" 
I don't really follow the typing stuff to the T

I'm thinking I have to be in the 4s...


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## Junebug D (Jul 4, 2009)

As a 4b, no. See the pics of my disaster relaxer experience in my Fotki album.

Also, the texturizer only worked for me when my hair was extremely short (like 1/2 an inch).


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## BonBon (Jul 4, 2009)

I texturised a few times in high school and I also straightened once when I was older, splashed water everyday for a wash and go.

 My hair looked wavy when altered but I am sure I have 4b


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## ajoyfuljoy (Jul 4, 2009)

Some parts of my hair (that are tight spirals) look like loose curls when "texlaxed" and the other parts of my hair that are more 4b just look kind of frizzy.

The curls/coils have to be there. Otherwise you will not get a curly look.

I just mess with nature and do braidouts all the time. People think I have curly hair anyway  Works for me!


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## Evolving78 (Jul 4, 2009)

i am 4a and i have curls and waves in my hair.  it just depends on how fast your hair processes.  i have a pic that i posted before and it is only a ponytail pic.  my natural texture is tight/coily


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## BARCA (Jul 5, 2009)

I think so. I'm between 3c and 4a. If 3c curls are about the size of a pencil, and 4a curls are the size of the spring in a pen, mine are somewhere in the middle. Some closer to 3c, and some closer to 4a. And some fitting in both categories. Here's my texlaxed hair:


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## that_1_grrrl (Jul 5, 2009)

I'm a 4b with a curl/wave pattern. When I was relaxed, my hair was really wavy when wet. I used to add mousse to my hair while it was wet to lock in the curl. So, yes, if you have a curl/wave pattern, you will have one when you are texlaxed.


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## 20Pearls_Girl (Jul 5, 2009)

*For me, it depends on how much I am texlaxed. The areas that are closer to natural have more waves.*


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## vkb247 (Jul 5, 2009)

I voted yes because I have waves in the front of my texlaxed hair because the hair there naturally waves more than coils like the rest. I also have a friend that considers herself relaxed but is not bone straight. She can easily do a wash and go that is nice and wavy.


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## glamazon386 (Jul 5, 2009)

I'm a 4a and had waves when I was relaxed. No curls though. I'm sure I could keep my curls if I was texlaxed.


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## sylver2 (Jul 5, 2009)

nah i never had waves without bantu knots or braidout or something and im 4a-b. no 3 anywhere.


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## anon123 (Jul 6, 2009)

shan_2001 said:


> As a 4b, no. See the pics of my disaster relaxer experience in my Fotki album.
> 
> Also, the texturizer only worked for me when my hair was extremely short (like 1/2 an inch).



Your hair album is locked.


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## ~Hair~Fetish~ (Jul 7, 2009)

I'm type 4a/b and I only started texlaxing a few months ago, so only about 2 inches of my hair is texlaxed.  The rest is bonelaxed to death. 

I've included a couple of pics of a wash and go that I did recently.  No curls, but it waves up loosely... decent enough to leave the house.


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## ajoyfuljoy (Jul 7, 2009)

sylver2 said:


> nah i never had waves without bantu knots or braidout or something and im 4a-b. no 3 anywhere.


 

Sylver you are our relaxed 4b she-ro!


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## ~Hair~Fetish~ (Jul 7, 2009)

Second day hair after lightly dampening with a spray leave-in and running some moisturizer through it.


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## VictoriousBrownFlower (Sep 12, 2009)

*I'm a 4a and my texlaxed hair waves and curls when airdried.*

*Here is my natural hair*










*and here is my texlaxed hair *






*If your natural hair has curl/wave to it then your texlaxed hair will have curl/wave regardless of type... it can't create waves/curls only loosen them.*


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## sowhut (Sep 12, 2009)

BronxJazzy said:


> *I'm a 4a and my texlaxed hair waves and curls when airdried.*
> 
> *Here is my natural hair*
> 
> ...


 
your hair is gorgeous both relaxed and natural.

im a 4 something? and im texlaxed :


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## vainღ♥♡jane (Sep 13, 2009)

i've never seen it come out decent on 4 hair.  ​


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## JayAnn0513 (Sep 15, 2009)

My curl pattern is very very weird. My hair doesn't really curl in a attractive way even now with less than 4 inches of relaxer left. Texlaxing didn't do a darn thing for my ability to wash n go. That's why I stopped.


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## Shay72 (Sep 17, 2009)

BronxJazzy said:


> *I'm a 4a and my texlaxed hair waves and curls when airdried.*
> 
> *Here is my natural hair*
> 
> ...


 
Okay you just gained a fotki stalker.  I'm in this phase where I think everyone's hair looks like mine .  BUT.....I think my texlaxed hair looks very similar to yours.  I'm early in my transition but if my natural hair looks anything like your natural hair I will be in heaven .


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## lovenharmony (Sep 17, 2009)

I believe I'm a 3c/4a and I use Affirm Fiberguard for sensitive scalp. The photo is right after a fresh relax...


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## Charz (Sep 17, 2009)

Shay72 said:


> Okay you just gained a fotki stalker. I'm in this phase where I think everyone's hair looks like mine . BUT.....I think my texlaxed hair looks very similar to yours. I'm early in my transition but if my natural hair looks anything like your natural hair I will be in heaven .


 
Her natural hair is like mine!


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## VictoriousBrownFlower (Sep 17, 2009)

Shay72 said:


> Okay you just gained a fotki stalker. I'm in this phase where I think everyone's hair looks like mine . BUT.....I think my texlaxed hair looks very similar to yours. I'm early in my transition but if my natural hair looks anything like your natural hair I will be in heaven .


 

Awww thank you. You seriously made my day


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## JMH1908 (Oct 16, 2009)

Yes you can like the other ladies has mentioned above, depending on your texture. I rocked the wash n go mostly all summer..loved it! And got lots of compliments..at the same time kept the heat out of my hair


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## Ganjababy (Mar 30, 2010)

I voted no, but then I remembered that when I was a teen and first started relaxing my hair would be a curly 3b when airdried but when I was relaxed in the last decade or so it was a frizzy, tangly mess when I airdried. 

I dont know why. I lived in a warm country and used a lye relaxer when I was a teen and used no lye and lived in a cold country with very hard water as an adult. I don't know if that made a difference or if my texture changed.


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## Britt (Mar 30, 2010)

lashannasmall said:


> If you have 4b hair, it will not look like the chick a couple of pics up. Sorry. I texurized the front of my 4B hair once for a weave and it just looked like limp 4 b hair. *you cannot create curls where there are none*.


 
This needs to be said again .... 
A 4b that texlaxes and does a wash and go will not look like for example DLewis' texturized wash and go's. In order to get waves and/or curls, there needs to be some form of wave/curl pattern to begin with so that when it's texlaxed the curl/wave is just loosened.


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## Nonie (Mar 30, 2010)

My answer to this question is, depending on how long you leave the relaxer, yes, you can get waves. But will anyone be able to see them? If you're 4B, maybe not.

The size of waves created by stretching 4B hair are so tiny that if we were to round it off as we do in Math, we would round it off to straight. Happily Me has texlaxed hair, and I'm sure close-up it looks wavy but from far, it just looks straight-ish.

It's the same story when it comes to WNG on 4B hair. Close-up, yes, you see coils and a few might be clumping:


But from far, it looks like an uncombed mess and not anything like say 4A or 3's: 


All this is because the size of the coils are so small that they do not stand out. They don't stand out when they contract and shrink and they will not stand out when they are stretched into waves either. 

So really, the reason to texlax should not be so that you get a certain look you see on another type, but rather so you can have hair that doesn't shrink up and knot up but is looser and easier to comb. The only way to get looser coils is to perm your hair and use rods to set it in bigger coils like they do when they create a curly perm or jheri curl.


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## Nonie (Mar 30, 2010)

Just wanted to repeat this again: *it's not that there are no curls in 4B hair why we don't see waves*. It's that the curls are so small they don't stand out and when they are stretched into waves they still don't stand out. Now 4A might see waves...because their curls are visible from afar. 

For those who need a visual, here's 4B hair stretched and seen close up and magnified:



There are waves when you stretch 4B coils/curls. But look at the center of that mass of hair and you see what it is that one would see from afar. It'd just look more like blown out 4B hair:



So again, the statement "You cannot have curls where there are none" would only apply to heat damaged type 4 or 3 hair, to type 2 hair and to type 1 hair all of which are not curly. 4's and 3's are naturally curly and grow out of your head curly. It's what you do to it after it's out that takes curls out. Like in the pic below, we're looking at the same hair you've been seeing with coils in the pics above, but when I wash it stretched in a braid and let it airdry in the braid, this is how it looks (no coils) when I undo the braid:





Ooh look^^ waves! ​
The wave pattern created by braiding is so much bigger than that created by stretching my hair with my hands and that's because the bends in the braids create curves bigger than the curves created by the pattern in my hair. And just like the wave pattern from braiding is bigger and more noticeable, so would coils created by perming with rods that are of a bigger circumference than 1/8 of an inch or so. 

So the only way to get 4B hair to look like 3 or 3C/4A or even 4A would be to perm it and use rods of the circumference you want your coils to have.


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## supermodelsonya (Apr 12, 2010)

^^^Thanks for that NOnie!


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## Sianna (May 29, 2010)

IDK if this helps or not OP, but I remember seeing somewhere, a girl who did a... I think it was a relaxer, but she did it on her hair while it was in two strand twists. I think she may be a member here, but unfortunately, I don't know her name.

If you are wanting to have curls or waves and you have 4b hair, this might be a way you can achieve that. 

Sorry I don't have more info, such as what relaxer she used, how she would do a touch up or whether it was actually a relaxer vs a texlax. The results were very pretty though!

Maybe someone else here saw her and will be able to give more info.


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## Hersheygurl (May 29, 2010)

I'm 4a and I get waves texlaxed. I think I may have some 3ish sides and nape, but not sure. It may sound weird, but since having a baby, I think my hair is a hodge-podge of textures, but mostly 4 a with deep waves when I texlax. 

I don't really have any natural pics, but may try to dig up some younger pics of me with my ponytails. (texlaxed pics are in LHCF album) I've always had a wave pattern. To texlax, I normally use Vitale High Comfort mild relaxer, and basically apply and rinse it right back out. (I coat my hair completely with vaseline and coconut oil). I tried SE mild, but it breaks my fine hair down too fast and seemed to cause excessive shedding.  I normally texlax 2X a year, but am wanting to transtion.


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## glamazon386 (Jun 14, 2011)

Sianna said:


> IDK if this helps or not OP, but I remember seeing somewhere, a girl who did a... I think it was a relaxer, but she did it on her hair while it was in two strand twists. I think she may be a member here, but unfortunately, I don't know her name.
> 
> If you are wanting to have curls or waves and you have 4b hair, this might be a way you can achieve that.
> 
> ...



Her sn was lovelymissyoli


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## CurlsBazillion (Jun 14, 2011)

not raining on the texlax parade because I'm not personally familiar with it but can't you almost guarantee wave/ curls with Wave Nouvaeu?  I found a this video awhile back and I thought her hair was gorgeous.  Just a thought OP.

http://youtu.be/S4_Svs3nfPk

ETA oh and this video too...  http://youtu.be/bGzy41ld6Lc


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## Nonie (Jun 14, 2011)

DayDreamist, Wave Nouveau is not very different from a curly perm aka jheri curl. In both cases you have to use rods to recreate the size of coils. So a type 4 person would have to get the hair chemically straightened then wrapped around rods of a larger size to create curls or waves the size of say type 3. So yes, if OP had 4B hair and wanted to chemically process in a way that stands out, then getting a curly perm (jheri curl, wave nouveau, etc) would be the way to do it. But I think OP was wondering if it were possible to get waves w/o fully processing one's hair.


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## CurlsBazillion (Jun 14, 2011)

Nonie said:


> @DayDreamist, Wave Nouveau is not very different from a curly perm aka jheri curl. In both cases you have to use rods to recreate the size of coils. So a type 4 person would have to get the hair chemically straightened then wrapped around rods of a larger size to create curls or waves the size of say type 3. So yes, if OP had 4B hair and wanted to chemically process in a way that stands out, then getting a curly perm (jheri curl, wave nouveau, etc) would be the way to do it. But I think OP was wondering if it were possible to get waves w/o fully processing one's hair.



I get that but if it was me I wouldn't want to chance it not knowing for sure how my hair would turn out and then hate it.  I've been paying alot of attention to texlax threads lately not because I'm interested in doing it but because I was unaware of it until I joined LHCF.  I just wanna learn more about it as far as details other than the basics and why its a better choice than the curl.  I say that because I understand wave nouveau's first step is to straighten the hair chemically but what if someone does it like a texlax then continues with the rest of the steps as usual?  It was a thought and I'm curious.


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## Nonie (Jun 14, 2011)

DayDreamist, I think the results might be slightly different if you don't fully straighten hair before curling it around rods and the curls would not be smooth.

You know how texlaxed hair isn't as smooth or sleek as fully relaxed hair? Now imagine that you leave a bit of a wave in your hair and then you wrap that wavy hair around a rod. I think it'd look like a rollerset on natural hair rather than smooth curls that could be mistaken for natural type 3 hair. I think it'd look something like this:





I don't think it's that complicated really what your hair will look like when you texlax. Texlaxing just loosens your coil. Loosening our coils doesn't change their size, it just stretches them out. So if you hold a few strands of your hair and pull them out a bit, then you can see what texlaxing will achieve for you. If you pull too hard, you get what it will look like if you leave the relaxer on too long. If you pull just a bit, you see what it will look like if you leave it on for a short while. If you have 4B hair, you will not get 4A hair from texlaxing. You'll get hair that looks like it's blown out. Not sure why folks find it so hard to picture what their hair will look like. Texlaxing is loosening coils aka stretching hair out...it's not creating fancy coils you didn't have.


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