Texlaxed ladies...

[mahogany_horizons]

Hi ladies,

I'm relaxed but am very curious about texlaxing. I think it would give my hair a strength and a thickness that I would adore. I am bsl length. (or almost as you can see in the pic) but i'm concerned about length retention, and most of all, how difficult is it to detangle texlaxed hair?

 

[Tybi]

I just texlaxed Sunday in 2.5 year natural hair and have seen an IMMEDIATE difference in ease of detangling. The handful of hair that I would pull out of the drain after my marathon co-washing sessions has been reduced by more than half. My hair is still just as thick as it was when natural, no one has even been able to tell I did anything at all. I still look 100% natural, but my curls in the back have been stretched out and I can slide the comb right through. I have not had any breakage either. I used the JFM texture softner and left it on for only 10 min without smoothing or combing.

 

[xX-AfroDoll-Xx]

in the same situation BUMPING

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

bumping, too, this is on my mind~what to do ladies, what to do? jfm~is it no lye only? i heard no lye can be very drying...i'd like to try it if it contained lye. i heard silk elements mild is good, sareca uses it....her hair is drool-worthy...

 

[Tybi]

JFM is no lye, but I have not experienced any drying. I think it may be due to the oil you add to it and your hair. But you could do the same with a mild lye relaxer. I meant to post pics, but I had to be up at 4 this morning and I fell asleep when I got home so I look like a hot mess now. Maybe tomorrow after work....

 

[vkb247]

ITA about Sareca's hair. Love it. Have you seen her hoop dancing? That girl is on it...

Anywho... I love my texlaxed hair mostly because it is so easy. I treat my hair just like most natural ladies but I can detangle in 5 minutes tops.

But I don't know if you really need to texlax if detangling is your prime concern. My new growth in my crown is very coarse and used to be a pain to detangle when I have a good bit of new growth. But yogurt/sour cream (mixed with conditioner and honey or whatever really) changed that. Now I really can't tell the difference between the two textures.

But I digress, as far as length retention I personally think that is not an issue. I lose hardly any hair when detangling and I harldy ever wear my hair out but I don't protective style. I mainly puff and go, never trim, I'm not doing anything drastic until I reach my first goal, so I keep every inch I get.

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

JFM is no lye, but I have not experienced any drying. I think it may be due to the oil you add to it and your hair. But you could do the same with a mild lye relaxer. I meant to post pics, but I had to be up at 4 this morning and I fell asleep when I got home so I look like a hot mess now. Maybe tomorrow after work....

so you add oil to jfm? that makes sense that it would counter any dryness. can't wait to see your pics. i'm a ham, too...i was gorgeous yesterday...dang houston humidity ohwell: now i'm an afropuff with straight endz...not cute

ITA about Sareca's hair. Love it. Have you seen her hoop dancing? That girl is on it...

Anywho... I love my texlaxed hair mostly because it is so easy. I treat my hair just like most natural ladies but I can detangle in 5 minutes tops.

But I don't know if you really need to texlax if detangling is your prime concern. My new growth in my crown is very coarse and used to be a pain to detangle when I have a good bit of new growth. But yogurt/sour cream (mixed with conditioner and honey or whatever really) changed that. Now I really can't tell the difference between the two textures.

But I digress, as far as length retention I personally think that is not an issue. I lose hardly any hair when detangling and I harldy ever wear my hair out but I don't protective style. I mainly puff and go, never trim, I'm not doing anything drastic until I reach my first goal, so I keep every inch I get.

girl, you wanted to add, your puff is on point, i'm diggin' your texture and shine...are sareca's lil sis?

 

[xX-AfroDoll-Xx]

i want to be texlaxed now! im just not ready to get rid of my relaxed length i hate short hair on me with a passion its bad enough i got a big head!

 

[vkb247]

girl, you wanted to add, your puff is on point, i'm diggin' your texture and shine...are sareca's lil sis?

,,,...

 

[mrsmercery]

I'm so glad you asked, I've beencurious about texlaxing too. I am natural and I henna, but I'm afraid to use something permanent. Is jfm, just for me? What is a texture softner, are you putting it on all over with each application. Has anyone had a silkening by Ms. Jessie's?

 

[vnaps]

i have just texlaxed my hair.....i'm afraid i may have relaxed it in some sections . it wasnt intentional

i have been texlaxing for the last two touch ups (today my 3rd) and my hair is so much thicker....u can really notice the differnece in the previously relaxed and texlaxed sections...the former being very thin.

i dont think u need to cut any of your previous relaxed ends.....if u dont mind the two different textures.....your roots will just be thicker than your ends.

i'll add that texlaxing is relaxing only difference is you leave the chemical in for less time....minimum smoothing...u can add oils/conditioner to slow processing etc etc.

 

[vkb247]

A texture softner is just another term for a relaxer/texturizer.

A silkening is just a relaxer/texturizer.

These products are available in no-lye and lye just like a relaxer and come in mild to super strength just like relaxers. Please don't be fooled and do your research before you make a final decision. This post from BHM is very useful:

http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=68996

 

[Tybi]

OK here are the pics of my hair. The first two were taken about a week before I texlaxed. The others are from tonight, a week after I did it.

The first day I had actual spiral curls, but they softened after i co washed.

My texture is the same, but as you can see the curls were just lengthened a little. I have zero tangling now and co washing and styling is a breeze. My stretched length is about half an inch longer than in my avatar. I used JFM texture softener for 10 minutes only.

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

Awesome, Tigerlily, i looked at jfm at target do you need two boxes or was one enough? Your hair looks great, and yes, it looks very similar to your natural hair...i luv that! Thanks for posting pics, i was hoping you'd remember...

 

[Tybi]

Thank you Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll! i was going to buy two boxes just in case, but I only actually used half of one. I was not even being stingy!
But I will say that i had straightened my hair a few days earlier to make application easy, and my straight hair is very fine/thin. So maybe that has something to do with it. If you have long thick hair, I would buy two JUST incase, but you should only need one.

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

Ok, I'm wondering about this as well. I'm one of those chicks that felt like I had to relax my hair bone straight every single time. I would use no-lye relaxers because they didn't burn, thus I could leave the relaxer on and smooth it until I was happy. Until I became a LCHF lurker, I really didn't know that I was over-processing my hair. On top of that, I would relax like every 4 weeks.... at the first sign of new growth, and I wasn't conscious about over-lapping. (yes, I know better now!) As a result of relaxing bone straight and so often, my hair isn't as thick and healthy as it used to be. (My siggy pic is me about 70% air dried)

So, my last relaxer, I decided to give this "texlaxed" thing a try. I used the Mizani Honey Butter Rhelaxer for regular hair; however, I cut my processing time way down, and I didn't go through and smooth with the back of a comb like I normally did. Instead, I just kinda did it with my fingers in big sections.

End result.... my new growth was slightly wavy, not bone straight, and definitely thicker and healthier since i didn't over-process like I usually do. I used to take about an hour to apply and smooth... this time I took about 30 min... still too long, but a definite improvement timewise. I also tried to apply it only to the new growth (very difficult), and I used the Mizani Honey Shield to protect my previously relaxed hair (didn't make it wet, goopy, or unmanageable). I'm definitely sticking with texlaxing so that I can regain some thickness.

~sorry for the looong post!~

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

great tips, ladies, sounds like mizani has been lurking on our board...honey to protect previous relaxed ends, huh??? they steal all our ideas (like i've ever texlaxed or even relaxed my own hair....hee hee).

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

I swear, I have learned SO MUCH from the ladies on this forum.
I'm surprised that I still even have hair after some of the stuff I've done! But hey, like Oprah says... "When you know better, you do better".

 

[betty-boo]

Well, I use ORS regular lye to texlax and I really like it. I leave it on for about 15mins. I notice that no-lye relaxers used to get my hair straighter quicker, but lye relaxers process my hair slower. I had bad haircare practices when I was using no-lye and so for me I don't even want to be reminded of that time by using it! My hair has become so much better since.

 

[mahogany_horizons]

Thanks for this information ladies

 

[Treasure2k6]

When i started to texlax i kept my relaxed ends. Its not hard to detangle texlaxed hair either, you just have to find the right Conditioners that work for your hair! I use ORS Replenishing Pak that makes my hair feel like butter.

If you are looking to thicken up your hair, Texlax is the way to go. It has also made my hair alot stronger by doing it this way.

 

[HeyItsHoney]

Texlaxing has been great for me. I can get the best of both worlds! Airdrying = big hair, rollerset & wrap = silky straight hair. I use Motions mild lye and only smooth a little bit. I leave it on about 15 minutes.

I don't use anything fancy. Coconut oil is really the only thing I use to moisturize. I also use it when rollersetting. I have not had any problems with detangling. Just make sure to use a moist condish...the one time I used a protien condish, I ended up with a brillo pad on my head. Decided right then, I was fine without protein! Not everyone needs it.

ETA: Also, my hair does feel thicker and healthier than it did when it was relaxed straight.

 

[Eisani]

Before transitioning, I was texlaxed for about 5 or 6 years. My stylist startewd doing it when my hair never got bone straight relaxing anyway. When I started doing it myself, I used Silk Elements Lye-Mild formula. I never added anything to the relaxer, I'd put oil and conditioner on everything but the NG then get to work. My max processing time was 7 minutes, no combing but sometimes I'd smooth with my hands if I felt like it. I highly recommend doing strand tests (from different parts of your head if u have different textures) before applying to your whole head to figure out the perfect processing time for you.