for naturals that decided texturize/texlax/"silken"..what made u decide to?

[FineChyna]

Currently I am natural and reading some of the comments here I know there are some folks that were natural and opted to texturize/texlax or use a "silkener" (which i know is a texturizer but i am just putting that word in now).

What factors led you to your choice? Are you satisfied with your choice?

While I am enjoying my natural hair I am not enjoying the shrinking, tangling and the very different hair texture my hair has around the hairline in comparison to the rest of my head. it wasn't a big deal when i wore braids, wigs and such but now it is becoming an annoyance now that i want to wear my hair out now.

All i want to do is loosen the curl a bit so I can get more length, especially in the front since when it is curly it shrinks near my cheeks and ears(which doesn't work with my face shape) and the rest hangs down past my shoulder and maybe get the hairline closer to what the rest of my hair looks like. no matter what i put on that secton it doesn't appear to have a def curl pattern while the rest of my hair does and it looks weird.

anyway i ask all of this because i want to see what precautions i should take if i am going to use a chemical and to see the reasons why others did it and if they are satisfied with the results. Oh and if you can post what you used that would be great. Thanks

 

[Whimsy]

I went back to texlaxing due to boredom. Just wanted a change. That said, I'm currently transitioning back to natural.
I used a regular relaxer and just texlaxed with it quickly.

But if u just want a looser curl and more length why not do twistouts or braidouts?

 

[LynnieB]

I went back to texlaxing due to boredom. Just wanted a change. That said, I'm currently transitioning back to natural.
I used a regular relaxer and just texlaxed with it quickly.

But if u just want a looser curl and more length why not do twistouts or braidouts?

this is a great option! Have you tried this yet? also you can get some hair gel and create some finger coils in the areas giving you the most trouble. they shrink some but not as much as unmanipulated natural hair would. after they dry, you can pull them down a little more for added length.

try using a silicone product in those areas too, the cones create a sorta moisture barrier.

 

[Naturallong81]

I recently texlax, texturizer, put some relaxer in my hair because the knots were killing me. i plan to just touch the roots up every 6mths or whatever i got rid of my nots and i'm happy.

P.s the avatar was my hair natual it was just flat ironed

 

[cece22]

I texturized cause all that extra combing of the naps was crazy. 4a/d coils and shrinkage just too time consuming for me personally. And guess what my hair is still nappy just not as nappy so go figure.

 

[BrownSkin2]

I recently texlax, texturizer, put some relaxer in my hair because the knots were killing me. i plan to just touch the roots up every 6mths or whatever i got rid of my nots and i'm happy.

P.s the avatar was my hair natual it was just flat ironed

What texturizer did you use and for how long?

 

[BrownSkin2]

I texturized cause all that extra combing of the naps was crazy. 4a/d coils and shrinkage just too time consuming for me personally. And guess what my hair is still nappy just not as nappy so go figure.

I see that you are armpit length... How long have you been texturized and what tex did you use?

 

[sareca]

I wanted my hair to show its length without any extra manipulation. Even when I did braidouts and twistouts my hair still looked short. I DO NOT look good with short hair. I didn't want to feel ugly for 3-4 years waiting for my natural hair grow long enough to show length.

I wear my hair in wng styles everyday, it takes little to no manipulation to make 'em purdy, it slows length, and takes no time to recreate each day and most people think it's natural.

ETA: I don't need direct heat to straighten it.

 

[audacity.]

this is a great option! Have you tried this yet? also you can get some hair gel and create some finger coils in the areas giving you the most trouble. they shrink some but not as much as unmanipulated natural hair would. after they dry, you can pull them down a little more for added length.

try using a silicone product in those areas too, the cones create a sorta moisture barrier.

OT: LynnieB, Your hair is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

 

[LynnieB]

OT: LynnieB, Your hair is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

thank-you DenverGirl :Blush2:

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

I texlaxed because my hair stayed puffy from humidity. I straightened out my texlaxed hair a little more because the tangles were insane. I'm about 75% straight now.

 

[FineChyna]

this is a great option! Have you tried this yet? also you can get some hair gel and create some finger coils in the areas giving you the most trouble. they shrink some but not as much as unmanipulated natural hair would. after they dry, you can pull them down a little more for added length.

try using a silicone product in those areas too, the cones create a sorta moisture barrier.

to answer both of you and whimsy sareca summed it up best

I wanted my hair to show its length without any extra manipulation. Even when I did braidouts and twistouts my hair still looked short. I DO NOT look good with short hair. I didn't want to feel ugly for 3-4 years waiting for my natural hair grow long enough to show length.

i have been trying braid outs and usually within a few hours the front starts creeping upward and out which is not a good look for my face shape. i even tried everything to get the front to not shrink up so bad but the problem is because the hair needs to be loosened or grow more. the back is fine since it is longer than the front

granted i can wait a few more months and work harder at growing/retaining the length but i also have the problem that when i flat iron/blow dry my hair it does not stay straight for long. it could the type of flat iron i am using but who has money to spend on tons of flat irons and products? i honestly don't

i even went to salonsto get it done and it doesn't stay or the it looks frizzy for some reason.

i am just feeling that there is not a lot of alternatives for my hair length right now and i am kinda fed up with things

 

[cece22]

I see that you are armpit length... How long have you been texturized and what tex did you use?

I wish I was armpit length i'll have to revise my siggy. It's supposed to reflect that arpit length is one on my hair goals.

 

[sprungonhairboards]

I wanted the option to wear my hair straightened if I wanted. It was NOT an option with my natural hair, took way too much heat and reverted after about 10 minutes, even indoors and I still never got the texture I wanted if i was going to wear my hair straight.

I probably still would'nt have texurized if it wasnt for all the Phyto hype going on around here at the time. It was soooo deep, the holy grail of relaxers, I was like for real??? so I bought 2 boxes and gave in. I'm very happy with the decision. I still wear my hair mostly in natural no heat styles, but I have less frizzies, more length and cooperation and when I want a change I have the option. I doubt I'd ever use anything else though. It's either Phyto or natural for me.

 

[Jenaee]

I've been thinking of doing the same thing. I'm gonna wait it out until the summer tho.

 

[PatTodd]

I am thinking about doing this too, in June...mainly for length and manageability. My hair is 3C with a patch of very tight 4a in the very top middle of my head, which prevents my wash n' go's from laying the way I want. Detangling is a ! The only thing that is stopping me is a fear of overstraightening my curls, and a weird sense of "loyalty" to my natural texture. Though I continue to wrestle with the decision, I think I am going to do it though...it's just a matter of time.

 

[trini_rican]

Like PatTodd I too am considering doing a texlax. Co-signing with the other posters on manageability factors and shrinkage. I was gonna do it a few weeks ago but when I went to the BSS I was overwhelmed with the amount of relaxers/texturizers that were there. They all look good but I decided to write names down and do a search on the board for names - thanks for the shout out to Phyto I think I'll go that route.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I did it because of Length, I wanted to see more length but when I done it, my scalp just didn't feel the same, I felt really bad, Because I wanted my Natural hair but I wanted it longer, Then the dryness, But Now I am opted to use more quality products for my hair, because the cheapies just didn't do it for me. But I am hoping to give it a year to see what happens, Because when I look back at my natural hair while texlaxed, my natural hair looks so beautiful and was growing quite well I was just in a Hurry to have a puff in 6 months LOL!! But now I am cool and starting with half an inch of natural hair which is gelled back with a comb phony pony. Because I don't want to wear the Twa again. But I am not really to worried about my hair as much as I use to be, I just do what I do and let it(my hair) do what it do

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Hey, NP! You BCD again? Go girl! I'm going to relax next year because I am a failure at doing my natural hair. I will relax strait, no more texlaxing, because I had the same problems with it as I had with my natural hair. I miss the ease of styling and no shrinkage. It's what's best for me, so I can stop stressing about my hair.

 

[FineChyna]

just want to bump this up to see if anyone else has some insight here

 

[sareca]

Hey, NP! You BCD again? Go girl! I'm going to relax next year because I am a failure at doing my natural hair. I will relax strait, no more texlaxing, because I had the same problems with it as I had with my natural hair. I miss the ease of styling and no shrinkage. It's what's best for me, so I can stop stressing about my hair.

That's just what happened for me, I stopped stressing the day I texturized. At least I stopped stressin' about day-to-day styling.

 

[honeybadgirl]

i crossed over for several reasons:

started an exercise regimen
tired of watching the weather to decide if i was going to wear it out!
tired of the frizz factorerplexed
easier to manage
didnt think i was managing my hair well in its natural state

 

[Ntrlmystik]

As much as I love my natural hair, I take better care of my hair when its relaxed. My natural hair has been the same length it was since my 1 year nappiversary. Granted I got a few haircuts but damn! Even though, I'll miss it, I am excited. Also, my relaxer routine in less work than my natural routine and because I am starting a business this year, i don't have the time.

 

[bgyrl]

Does anyone know the difference between texlax and silkening. I am thinking about texlaxing this weekend.

 

[FineChyna]

Does anyone know the difference between texlax and silkening. I am thinking about texlaxing this weekend.

i think a silkener is the same as a texturizer so you hair should be still curly/wavy but a looser curl pattern if you do it right and the product isn't too strong

texlax is a using a texturizer as a relaxer. basically you smooth your hair straight with the product.

the funny thing is if you make a mistake with the texturizer will will have "texlaxed" hair

 

[honeybadgirl]

actually in the past when i made progress and retained length was when i relaxed, stretched, and wore wigs and weaves. i only stretched because i was wearing wig etc. my hair grew alot but my ends would need major trims BUT i still had alot more hair than when i started so it didnt matter.
um...wait...did that have anything to do with the topic

 

[sprungonhairboards]

Does anyone know the difference between texlax and silkening. I am thinking about texlaxing this weekend.

There's technically no such thing as 'silkening'. That's just a term Curves salon made up to make you think you're getting something special for your $300 texturizer. It also applys to their method of application.

Texlaxed is just leaving the relaxer on a shorter amount of time so the hair isn't completely straight, and closer to it's natural texture, but straighter than if it was texturized. I dont think most people use texturizers to texlax. They use a milder relaxer and/or just leave it on for a shorter time.

 

[bgyrl]

Hmm, Im confused because I was looking on lhcf and I saw that texlax is when you put a mild relaxer on your head for like 5 minutes to still have a curl pattern. So which one would I do the texurizer or the mild relaxer for 5 minutes to still have curls.

 

[sprungonhairboards]

Hmm, Im confused because I was looking on lhcf and I saw that texlax is when you put a mild relaxer on your head for like 5 minutes to still have a curl pattern. So which one would I do the texurizer or the mild relaxer for 5 minutes to still have curls.

Well, the end results are gonna be based soley on your hair and vary from person to person. I can only speak for MY hair but girl please, a commerical product specifically advertised as a 'texturizer' left on MY hair for 5 minutes would do absolutely nothing. If anything it would be poofy and kinda frizzy with less definition that I started. It would look and act like an underprocessed relaxer.

A mild relaxer left on for 5 minutes wouldnt give me the desired effects ether, but my hair doesnt process in minutes. But it would be closer to the direction of straighter/wavier/ looser curls than poofy and frizzy.

When I texurize I leave a mild relaxer (phyto 1) on for about 20 minutes total. That includes application and smoothing time. But I could leave it on for an hour and my hair would never get straight using such a mild gentle relaxer.

Soooo RU completely confused yet?

 

[bgyrl]

No im not confused anymore I am just wondering which method and brand to use for my type 4a hair because I dont want to mess up. I just want a looser curl pattern. I heard if you smooth it it makes it straighter.