Texlaxed hair = Damaged hair? I don't think so! (Advice needed - lots of pics)

[hillytmj]

Prior to March, my low mani regimen (comb on wash day only) worked. I only combed/detangled under running water with my hair filled with condish. I had minimal tangles or lost hair.

All that has changed. I have AWFUL, RESISTANT tangles AND hair shedding all over the place, like my pre LHCF days. Here is a shot from today. This was after two weeks of no combing (I got lazy and skipped last week's wash). I used to lose hair like this every week, and all my life, I've been a person who can shed like this and still have a head full of hair. My bigger concern is that my hair takes longer to detangle and rollerset and this has become uncharacteristic for me from Sept. 2008 to March 2009.



My stylist says the excess shedding/tangles is due to my ends; however, I disagree because I had my ends trimmed (1.5 inches) about 7 weeks ago. The last 3-4 inches of my hair is texlaxed while the rest of my hair is bone straight (due to an underprocessed relaxer). There are TONS of ladies on this board with texlaxed or two texture (i.e. transitioning hair) with healthy ends, so I refuse to believe that my texlaxed ends = damaged, permanently tangled ends.

If I cut the texlaxed ends (which would give me a bone straight texture from root to tip), I will lose about 3-4 inches of hair. Here is how my hair looks when it's freshly set. You wouldn't know that the majority of my ends are texlaxed and I think it looks healthy.



How can I prevent these tangles? They are leading to more shed hair and it's taking me hours to properly detangle and rollerset now. I already trimmed about 1.5 inches, and I'm still tangling despite daily moisture/sealing, low mani and protecting at night. Five weeks ago I started bunning to help this situation, and I'm ralso eady to get off of my BSL plateau! Please help!

More pics of the situation. (You may have to click to enlarege):

Here is section where 3-4 inches of my ends are texlaxed. The majority of my ends look like this.



These are the kinds of knots I'm experiencing.



Once I get them loose with leave-in (and olive oil if they are really bad), here is what the tangled knot looks like. I think it's a shed hair wrapping around itself.




Thanks!

 

[FluffyRed]

I get a lot of tangling with texlaxing, too.

I think it's because the shed hairs are not falling out, but tangling around the hairs that are still attached to your head.

I'm about to move toward straighter hair. Texlaxing is a lot of trouble!

 

[hillytmj]

I get a lot of tangling with texlaxing, too.

I think it's because the shed hairs are not falling out, but tangling around the hairs that are still attached to your head.

I'm about to move toward straighter hair. Texlaxing is a lot of trouble!

Okay, thanks for the feedback. This makes me feel better because I couldn't understand why my hair had changed so much. I don't want to cut back to APL though. Ideally, I would at least like to get to my midback goal first and then trim it away.

So Fluffyred, are you going to trim or start doing bone-straight relaxers?

 

[SleepyJean]

I think your ends look just fine! I have texlaxed ends, too, and they used to tangle when I didn't comb often. I HAVE to thorughly comb my hair with a wide tooth comb every 2-3 days, or my hair will tangle like nobody else's on wash day. I've had some traumatic experiences. My hair sheds a lot. If I don't get those shed hairs out.... it's bad.

 

[vkb247]

Is your hair this tangled before you start washing? Maybe some part of your wash process is creating these tangles.

Are you detangling from the bottom up? I am fully texlaxed and I don't have any problems with detangling but as my hair gets longer it is starting to take more time and effort to detangle it gently. I clear the ends of a section first, then the roots, and then the center. The works well for me.

 

[hillytmj]

Is your hair this tangled before you start washing? Maybe some part of your wash process is creating these tangles.

Are you detangling from the bottom up? I am fully texlaxed and I don't have any problems with detangling but as my hair gets longer it is starting to take more time and effort to detangle it gently. I clear the ends of a section first, then the roots, and then the center. The works well for me.

No, it's nowhere near this tangled beforehand because I roll it at night and keep it tucked in a bun. Today, I even did an olive oil pre-poo to help loosen the tangles. I parted my hair in sections, saturated each section with olive oil and then gently detangled. I had a lot of shed hairs, but I expected that since I hadn't combed in two weeks.

The super-duper tangling is occuring once it hits water. However, I totally agree with your statement that it takes longer to detangle texlaxed hair very gently, which I am trying my best to do. I think it's the length of time for the detangling session that has been concerning me. When I first started my journey, the texlaxed hair was more towards the middle of the strands, but with regular trims and growth, it's now on the ends. It just caught me by suprise that my regular wash/rollersets would now involve super-detangling and lots more time.

I also was caught off gaurd by my stylist's comment that I should cut my ends, as if texlaxed ends were damaged and unsalvageable. I'm glad to hear otherwise from a fully texlaxed lady like yourself.

 

[hillytmj]

Is your hair this tangled before you start washing? Maybe some part of your wash process is creating these tangles.

Are you detangling from the bottom up? I am fully texlaxed and I don't have any problems with detangling but as my hair gets longer it is starting to take more time and effort to detangle it gently. I clear the ends of a section first, then the roots, and then the center. The works well for me.

I forgot to say that I do detangle from the bottom up with a wide tooth comb.

 

[Duff]

I had these knots too but once I started detangling everyday, it stopped. I have to detangle my fine strands everyday or at least every other day. I lightly detangle with a very wide tooth comb prior to washing.

 

[hillytmj]

Does anyone have any good product recommendations to help with the detangling on wash day?

 

[2inspireU]

I've heard Mane N Tail Detangler is excellent. Go to keepitsimplesista.blogspot.com, Traycee wrote a good review about it. I'm about to buy this because detangling is a chore for me too.

 

[IDareT'sHair]

It Helps My Hair Significantly on Wash Day, to run water on my hair several minutes to "relax" knots and tangles before I even begin to manipulate my hair with either washing and/or co-washing, conditioning.

Incorporating that long clear water rinse at the very beginning allow the products to go through hair a whole lot smoother resulting in less hair combing out or the need to comb through knots and tangles.

Also, the use of my Steamer has greatly diminished tangles.

 

[Missi]

the same thing happened to me. (but I'm fully texlaxed). I would only comb my hair once a week on wash day only & rollerset. since becoming lazy over the past couple months w/ my hair (school & all): I haven't been keeping up w/ my ayurvedic oils. but I believe its amla or shikakai that helps w/ free fall. it allows my shedded my hair to shed easily and prevent tangling.another issue I learned: was since ayurvedic isn't pH balancing products my hair was becoming matted when wet. you can imagine a wks worth of sheddies getting caught up in matting hair: porosity control fixed that.I gotta use my ayurvedic oils more, GNC Hair skin nails, & roux porosity conditioner & drink more than 0oz. of water a day. lol

 

[Eisani]

I was texlaxed for 6 yrs and had no probs w/tangles BUT, I washed (still do) my hair in 4 sections that I keep in loose braids. This helps avoid tangles. I just done one section at a time, wash my scalp while still braided then unravel each section to apply conditioner. You say your hair is already detangled when u get ready to wash so this way tangles should be minimal, but any you may have you can work out once your hair is full of condish. I know some people don't like Denman brushes but I tell ya what, that Denman is a texlaxed girl's dream!! Once my hair is detangled, I use my Denman to remove shed hairs.

BTW, there was no way I could go a whole week or even 3 days between combing/detangling sessions. I was still able to retain all my length and my ends didn't suffer. HTH!

 

[Mystic]

Would saturating the ends with oil before washing help?

 

[hillytmj]

It Helps My Hair Significantly on Wash Day, to run water on my hair several minutes to "relax" knots and tangles before I even begin to manipulate my hair with either washing and/or co-washing, conditioning.

Incorporating that long clear water rinse at the very beginning allow the products to go through hair a whole lot smoother resulting in less hair combing out or the need to comb through knots and tangles.

Also, the use of my Steamer has greatly diminished tangles.

How do you use a steamer? At what point do you use it in your wash process?

 

[hillytmj]

the same thing happened to me. (but I'm fully texlaxed). I would only comb my hair once a week on wash day only & rollerset. since becoming lazy over the past couple months w/ my hair (school & all): I haven't been keeping up w/ my ayurvedic oils. but I believe its amla or shikakai that helps w/ free fall. it allows my shedded my hair to shed easily and prevent tangling.another issue I learned: was since ayurvedic isn't pH balancing products my hair was becoming matted when wet. you can imagine a wks worth of sheddies getting caught up in matting hair: porosity control fixed that.I gotta use my ayurvedic oils more, GNC Hair skin nails, & roux porosity conditioner & drink more than 0oz. of water a day. lol

I've seen lots of posts on the board about this product. I remember my neighbor recommending this for me back when I was eight grade because she said it was a great detangler. I forgot all about that until now. I remember it working back then, so it's worth a try.

 

[hillytmj]

I was texlaxed for 6 yrs and had no probs w/tangles BUT, I washed (still do) my hair in 4 sections that I keep in loose braids. This helps avoid tangles. I just done one section at a time, wash my scalp while still braided then unravel each section to apply conditioner. You say your hair is already detangled when u get ready to wash so this way tangles should be minimal, but any you may have you can work out once your hair is full of condish. I know some people don't like Denman brushes but I tell ya what, that Denman is a texlaxed girl's dream!! Once my hair is detangled, I use my Denman to remove shed hairs.

BTW, there was no way I could go a whole week or even 3 days between combing/detangling sessions. I was still able to retain all my length and my ends didn't suffer. HTH!

Thanks for the input. I'm glad to hear that a lot of texlaxed ladies are able to comb/detangle on a regular basis and not damage their ends. The low mani thing worked for a while, but now it's time to change.

 

[hillytmj]

BTW, there was no way I could go a whole week or even 3 days between combing/detangling sessions. I was still able to retain all my length and my ends didn't suffer. HTH!

This brings up a new point...how can you tell when you really need a trim as a texlaxed head?

My stylist (who I never allow to trim because she's scissor happy) said I needed to cut all the texlaxed ends off (3-4 inches), and based on the comments here and the way my hair looks overall, I won't believe that advice.

I normally go to Supercuts every relaxer (8-9 weeks) to get a trim. Since the texlaxed ends (at least for me) are prone to getting frizzy or tangled even when they are dry, should I maybe flat iron my ends first so I and the Supercuts employee can truly see the length and what needs to be trimmed?

 

[hillytmj]

Would saturating the ends with oil before washing help?

Yes, it did as far as detangling on dry hair, but once my hair hit water, it was all over.

 

[hillytmj]

I was texlaxed for 6 yrs and had no probs w/tangles BUT, I washed (still do) my hair in 4 sections that I keep in loose braids. This helps avoid tangles. I just done one section at a time, wash my scalp while still braided then unravel each section to apply conditioner. You say your hair is already detangled when u get ready to wash so this way tangles should be minimal, but any you may have you can work out once your hair is full of condish. I know some people don't like Denman brushes but I tell ya what, that Denman is a texlaxed girl's dream!! Once my hair is detangled, I use my Denman to remove shed hairs.

I wash in sections too, and that was the perfect solution previously that reduced my tangles. That's why I was so surpised that in spite of oiling my ends before hand and washing in sections, it was still super-tangled.

 

[babyblue]

Over this period have you had any changes in your product regimen? I'm texlaxed too and went through a tangly phase a few months ago where nothing worked. Once I changed my conditioner and leave in the problem stopped.

 

[Vanity1]

I just get a nice thick moisterizer and detangle while in the shower in sections. Works like a charm, and I have what I believe to be normal shedding, mild tangles, nothing too dramatic.

Your shed hair appears to be normal for 2 weeks of not combing though, IMO....

 

[Eisani]

This brings up a new point...how can you tell when you really need a trim as a texlaxed head?

My stylist (who I never allow to trim because she's scissor happy) said I needed to cut all the texlaxed ends off (3-4 inches), and based on the comments here and the way my hair looks overall, I won't believe that advice.

I normally go to Supercuts every relaxer (8-9 weeks) to get a trim. Since the texlaxed ends (at least for me) are prone to getting frizzy or tangled even when they are dry, should I maybe flat iron my ends first so I and the Supercuts employee can truly see the length and what needs to be trimmed?

I would definitely suggest straightening before trimming. IMO, it's the best way to accurately assess what needs to be trimmed.I remember being deceived quite often looking at my air dried ends like "ugh, I need to trim" only to flat iron and see there was actually little to no damage so it saved a cut or at the very least made trimming more like a dusting. I wouldn't let them cut my hair while it's wet

 

[hillytmj]

Over this period have you had any changes in your product regimen? I'm texlaxed too and went through a tangly phase a few months ago where nothing worked. Once I changed my conditioner and leave in the problem stopped.

No, but I definitely think I may need a change. I've been sticking with the Biolage Hydratherapie shampoo and condish only because I have so much of it, but I find that if I don't add an oil to it, my hair comes out hard and dry if I'm three or more weeks post.

What products are you currently using?

 

[hillytmj]

I just get a nice thick moisterizer and detangle while in the shower in sections. Works like a charm, and I have what I believe to be normal shedding, mild tangles, nothing too dramatic.

Your shed hair appears to be normal for 2 weeks of not combing though, IMO....

Thanks, I reallly wanted a second opinion about that.

 

[hillytmj]

Are any of the texlaxed ladies who are rollersetters? Currently, after my rollerset is dry my texlaxed ends are still wavy. I usually apply Mizhani H2O Nighttime treatment on the ends and wrap them around a roller again for a few minutes to get them smooth.

I know it sounds redundant, but this is the best alternative that I've come up with to avoid direct heat.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Chevelure618]

I think to lose that amount of hair after 2 weeks is really nothing. I don't like the tangles at the ends though. I think you should comb more often. The only combing on wash day isn't working with the two textures.

Try Paul Mitchell Smoothing" to smooth the two textures.

I am totally texlaxed and get NO tangling at all...in fact my hair never felt stronger.

 

[babyblue]

No, but I definitely think I may need a change. I've been sticking with the Biolage Hydratherapie shampoo and condish only because I have so much of it, but I find that if I don't add an oil to it, my hair comes out hard and dry if I'm three or more weeks post.

What products are you currently using?

I pretty much stopped using shampoo as often. I co wash 2-3x a week and only use shampoo If I feel build up (maybe 1-2x a mo.)

shampoo: cream nature ultra moisturizing. (green).

For conditioners I only rotate between:
Lekair cholesterol plus
Emergencia
10 en 1 plus
Main and tail moisturizing texturizing co.

leave in:
aphogee pro-vitamin leave in

oil/serum:
sally's $8 generic version of chi silk infusion, coconut oil, avocado oil


this may not work for every head, but I discovered through trial and error that I was using too much moisture making my hair weak leading to shedding, knots and breakage. My hair started to improve and then thrive when I had my lightbulb moment and discovered that my hair needed more protein. After experimenting with different conditioners I realized a common trend being that my hair was left in its most optimal condition when I mainly used products that contained hydrolized collagen and/or silk amino acids as the main ingredients. When only using prods containing the above ing, my hair was left with more elasticity and tangle free without the hardness associated with protein. I barely have shedding in the tub or comb. My moisture/protein balance and the quality of my hair texture also started improving. I could stretch longer because my new growth was softer. Since I had my "duh" moment and discovered this, I overhauled all my conditioners. Now my hair is stronger comb outs are practically shed free and breakage/dryness/knots/tangles are almost non-existant. Like I said this may not work for everybody as everyones hair is different but it wouldn't hurt to experiment.

 

[babyblue]

also stick to products that are pH balanced. Also Occasional use of acidic rinses after conditioning whether home made like diluted acv, or a prepared rinse like roux porosity control are great for helping improve porosity and sealing hair cuticles, helping to to decrease tangles and knots.

 

[Eisani]

Good post(s) Babyblue.