Texlaxers Support Thread

[Jewell]

Its been ages since I posted...Im currently 21 wks post relaxer (mild), and will be intentionally texlaxing or mildly relaxing from now on. I love to have some curl/wave left after processing, and it allows my hair to maintain its thickness over the years. Dont know when exactly I will TU, since Im nearly 8 mos preg and on bedrest, but more than likely it will be in the next 2 wks. Gotta look fly for baby's debut (12/31/12) or somewhere around there.

I'll use Silk Elements Lye Mild instead of Mizani Butter Blends Lye Mild; I think the Mizani was the reason I had excessive shedding at 6-10 wks post.

 

[Mystic]

Congrats on welcoming a new baby soon.., that is awesome!!!

Its been ages since I posted...Im currently 21 wks post relaxer (mild), and will be intentionally texlaxing or mildly relaxing from now on. I love to have some curl/wave left after processing, and it allows my hair to maintain its thickness over the years. Dont know when exactly I will TU, since Im nearly 8 mos preg and on bedrest, but more than likely it will be in the next 2 wks. Gotta look fly for baby's debut (12/31/12) or somewhere around there.

I'll use Silk Elements Lye Mild instead of Mizani Butter Blends Lye Mild; I think the Mizani was the reason I had excessive shedding at 6-10 wks post.

 

[Babygrowth]

Yay! Texlaxed thread! I have a question. I just dyed my hair at 13 wks post. I plan to stretch until January or February. If I wear a wig from November until then is it possible I will damage my hair? I like the color but I want a break from looking at it everyday and trying to figure out styles plus I hear hiding my hair could make it grow faster (of course with a growth aid in my case).

 

[Aggie]

Yay! Texlaxed thread! I have a question. I just dyed my hair at 13 wks post. I plan to stretch until January or February. If I wear a wig from November until then is it possible I will damage my hair? I like the color but I want a break from looking at it everyday and trying to figure out styles plus I hear hiding my hair could make it grow faster (of course with a growth aid in my case).

Hi Babygrowth,

I believe that you have decided on one of the best ways to treat your hair frequently between protective styling. It is VERY important that you maintain a proper hair treatment regimen between the weeks and months ahead while protective styling.

You should wash and treat your hair every 2 weeks or so while PSing. It is counter-productive to do a few months of protective styling without treating your hair underneath the wig. You don't want to end up with dry, unmoisturized, to'-up hair underneath the wig.

Keep treating your hair with protein and moisture treatments and moisturize the hair daily with some type of spray on moisturizer. Check out www.growafrohairlong.com for some added tips on how to go about doing this, ok?

We don't want you to try and grow long hair that is unhealthy, dry and weak, only to lose it after the few months of PSing are up, because it isn't attractive enough to wear out for everyone to see. Texlaxed hair needs protein treatments and it definitely needs moisture to look and be healthy.

All the best!

 

[Babygrowth]

Aggie

Thanks honey! I will check her blog out. I definitely don't want long damaged hair. That really defeats the purpose.

 

[sckri23]

I have a question. Does texlaxed hair always knot up?

 

[Aggie]

I have a question. Does texlaxed hair always knot up?

Well that depends on how much curl loosening you got with your texlaxer.
Now me for example, I get a few knots (not much anymore) because I am not very relaxed at all.

I would say that my hair is only 30% relaxed because I still have quite a bit of curl pattern left but if I didn't add so much conditioner and oil to my relaxer, my hair would be about 80% relaxed, ie, very loose curls.

Plus I use a mild relaxer to texlax with so that is why my curl pattern is still a little tight but just has some waves in it now. I like it a lot.

 

[sckri23]

Bumping this thread again

 

[Dionnesse]

Hi all

I just texlaxed by hair using ORS and 5 tbls of EVOO at 21 weeks post. Just sitting under the dryer in my pony tail rollerset. I'm really pleased with the texture of my wet hair, I didnt smooth the relaxer this time around and I think may have perfected texlaxing finally after a few near successes, by not playing with my hair once the relaxer was on.

I'm looking forward to seeing what my ends are like once dry - it think i may need a hefty trim because of SSKs from bendy roller sets. This really saved my stretch but as a result I have quite a few SSKs which I never experienced before.

I plan on texlaxing again in April at 15 weeks for my birthday.

 

[NGraceO]

I have a question. Does texlaxed hair always knot up?

sckri23

ehh, what kind of knots? single strand? I havent noticed it in mine, but ive only been texlaxed for a very short time (3wks) lol

 

[sckri23]

sckri23

ehh, what kind of knots? single strand? I havent noticed it in mine, but ive only been texlaxed for a very short time (3wks) lol

Like 3 strands coming together to form one have to be cut out knot. But maybe my relaxer was diluted too much. I added less ingredients to this batch so I should be fine now

 

[kikisf]

I have been having problems with SKKs since I stopped heat straightening and started doing twist outs and braidouts. I am wondering if I should try to texlax it straighter? Does anyone else have problems air drying?

 

[Babygrowth]

^^I did. So I ended up making my hair straighter and switching to lye. I realize now that my hair and airdrying don't mix. It actually thrives when I use heat (flat wrap or roller set).

 

[godzooki]

I'm coming home! I've been waring with myself the last few weeks over whether to end my 1 and a half year transition/stretch and finally decided. I want to texlax and will be doing so this evening. So excited!!! I felt such peace with my decision and there were many factors involved in making it. I plan to pick up some Silk Elements lye relaxer (never tried it but, I've always wanted to.)and mix it with EVO. Not sure if I'm going to go for mild or medium? Leaning toward medium (do they even carry that?). Hoping that just adding some EVO will be enough to produce the desired results...Not expecting much as far as length because I've been chopping off my ends as my hair grew. In fact, I'm worried I'll have major thinning at the ends due to the past massive tangling/breaking of my relaxed ends warring with my natural.

 

[Lynnerie]

^ I like the Silk Elements Lye shea butter formula in Mild. I tried the Olive oil version and I shed really bad with it so I threw it out.

They have super, regular, and mild.

 

[godzooki]

I'm thinking 1 tb of EVO should be enough to add?

 

[CocoGlow]

Hey ladies!

Question:

I'm currently natural & strongly considering texlaxing in the very near future BUT

I was reading the funny thread "You Know You're Deep in A Relaxer Stretch When..." and I noticed a LOT of ladies mentioning long & difficult detangling sessions & it scared me

The main reason I'm considering texlaxing from natural in the 1st place is to avoid the long difficult detangling sessions ... and I see that a lot of texlaxers rave about how much easier detangling has become soooo

Are any of you that are texlaxed dealing with long difficult detangling sessions?


How long are your stretches typically?


Do you think the difficulty lies in how long you choose to stretch OR how drasticly different your texlax hair is compared to your new growth?

Thanks in Advance

 

[lamaria211]

NappyRina I'm 4b texlaxed since Oct 2012. I think its difficult at times to detangle no matter if your natural, relaxed or texlaxed you just have to find the right techniques and products that work well for you. I love my texlaxed hair and find it much easier to manage especially when it comes to styling my hair.

 

[sckri23]

My style for today

 

[Lynnerie]

Hey ladies!

Question:

I'm currently natural & strongly considering texlaxing in the very near future BUT

I was reading the funny thread "You Know You're Deep in A Relaxer Stretch When..." and I noticed a LOT of ladies mentioning long & difficult detangling sessions & it scared me

The main reason I'm considering texlaxing from natural in the 1st place is to avoid the long difficult detangling sessions ... and I see that a lot of texlaxers rave about how much easier detangling has become soooo

Are any of you that are texlaxed dealing with long difficult detangling sessions?


How long are your stretches typically?


Do you think the difficulty lies in how long you choose to stretch OR how drasticly different your texlax hair is compared to your new growth?

Thanks in Advance

Hola NappyRina

I've been texlaxed for a year now and I do not deal with long detangling sessions. As a matter of fact as time went on it got easier and easier. My hair is not as curly as it was when I first started texlaxing and I'm ok with that because my hair is just easier to deal with and my retention is better because I don't get knots anymore.

Now, I'm in a stretch right now I'm 11 weeks post and usually I will go 12 weeks but I'm trying to make it to 20 weeks this time. When I'm stretching I do not wear my hair in a wash n go because thats asking for lots of tangles. I make sure I detangle and wear it in a straightened style.

My texlaxed hair now is looser than it used to be so it weighs down the natural part of my hair. I detangle in the shower under running water. Personally I find my detangling sessions easier now than when my hair looked more texturized. I cannot wear wash n go's with a lot of new growth.

 

[CocoGlow]

Thanks Ladies!

It seems like it will be tricky finding a balance between textlaxing my hair enough so that it does become easier to detangle but not soo much that the length is not drastically different from the roots which would prob cause a lot of problems at the line of demarcation ... my natural hair is verrrrrrrrry kinky (per my login name lol)

Lynnerie: I thought it was interesting that you mentioned your looser texlaxed hair weighing down your newgrowth making detangling easier under the shower..that makes sense!

lamaria211: Is your texlaxed hair much looser than your newgrowth as well? And how long do you stretch?

 

[Lynnerie]

Yep its just like when regular relaxed hair weighs down the new growth and its hard to determine your hair type because of it.

I don't post pics much but here are some of my hair so you can get an idea.

1st pic my hair is Natural- I wore wash n go's the majority of the time but as my hair got longer I got my SSK's and it affected my retention. I probably should have chosen another hair style but I got knots even with twists.


2nd ,3rd & 4th pics- I texlaxed for about 5-6 minutes. I immediately loved it but I still had the same issues I did natural. I wanted it a little straighter.

 

[Lynnerie]

I went a little straighter and this is how my hair is now.

1st pic is wet hair

2nd pic how my hair dries

3rd pic you can see the difference between new growth and texlaxed hair

4th pic is a dry pic


I do sometimes miss my natural texture but I don't miss the knots and I can rollerset easier and wash n go. Ofcourse its a hassel to relax the new growth but there will always be pros and cons no matter what choice you make with your hair.

Hope this helps.

 

[CocoGlow]

@Lynnerie

Thanks for posting pics...the visual gives me a better idea of what you mean.

You use Silk Elements Lye Mild for how long? Sorry if you mentioned it before..

Your hair is GORGEOUS both natural & texlaxed and your're so photogenic ..great smile too ...

 

[Lynnerie]

Awww thanks NappyRina.

When I first started I was scared so I only did 5 minutes then I started rinsing. I would texlax in 4 sections. Then I it started doing 7 minutes. I didn't bother doing a corrective because I knew I'd be using heat and heat can also relax your hair. I would test an area somewhere in the back that won't be noticable to see how long you need.

Also, keep in mind that your hair may get even looser if you use heat also. I didn't use heat much when I was natural but I do more and I also think that has affected how much looser my hair is now.

I also recommend that if you want to stay on the curlier side that a texturizer would be better. If you want to be on the looser side then use a mild relaxer. But give it a lot of thought. How long have you been natural. Your hair in your avi is so pretty.

 

[CocoGlow]

Lynnerie

Thanks for the advice & thanks for the compliment...that pic in my avi is about where I was a little over a year ago....I chopped all my hair off Jan 2012 b/c I could not deal with the long detangling sessions anymore & since my fussy scalp needs to be washed frequently I was dealing with detangling practically ALL the time (at least 3x a week)!

So I've been rocking a ceasar cut for a year and started growing it out this past Fall- I have about an inch of hair now

My initial texlax goal is to keep most of my texture (as much as I can while making detangling easier) & rock wash n gos until my hair grows out & then maybe experiment w/ heat and/or texlaxing a little straighter once my hair gets longer... we shall see. This will truly be trial & error for me but I'm excited to give long hair another try

I've been doing a lot of research and I plan to use the Alter Ego Linange Shea Butter Texturizer (really just a mild relaxer) in a few weeks ...can't wait!!!!

 

[lamaria211]

NappyRina My new growth is a 4c and my texlaxed hair is about a 3a,b. I'm 6 weeks into a 12 week stretch

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

@Lynnerie....Your hair is GAWJUS! .

@lamaria211....How did you figure your texture. Is there a specific chart? I never understand how to add the lettering with the number, hence 4a/b/c and etc. I guess for the most part, but I would love to know for sure .

@NappyRina, I was just about to send you a message about your decision to texlax or not. I see your still in limbo with the idea. I was the same way.

 

[CocoGlow]

lamaria211

We have the same texture! I also have a small patch at the nape that is silky and in the 3 category so I don't think I will texlax that section b/c it will prob just get straight

EnExitStageLeft

I'm still gonna do it in January...trying to learn as much as I can from you pros before I take the leap...besides I barely have an inch of hair to texlax

As far as figuring out what your natural texture is ... it's hard for some people while they are relaxed b/c the ends tend to weigh the hair down & stretch it out- but since I was natural most of my life (hidden in braid extensions, then locs then a brief stint w/ a curly perm then relaxer) I knew what I would be working with

From what I've observed a lot of us fall into the 4a or 4b or 3c category or a BLEND and then sometimes it can be silky or cottony - the numbers range from 1-4 (1 bone straight -2 wave - 3 curl- 4 coil) the letters range from A-C & signifies the size/diameter of the coil/curl ("a" being bigger - "c" the smallest -hence those with 4b/c hair like me have the tightest coil, kink, or napp that does not clump but rather interwines) -I hope this makes some kind of sense

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

From what I've observed a lot of us fall into the 4a or 4b or 3c category or a BLEND and then sometimes it can be silky or cottony - the numbers range from 1-4 (1 bone straight -2 wave - 3 curl- 4 coil) the letters range from A-C & signifies the size/diameter of the coil/curl ("a" being bigger - "c" the smallest -hence those with 4b/c hair like me have the tightest coil, kink, or napp that does not clump but rather interwines) -I hope this makes some kind of sense

I appreciate the feedback sis . Its like a crash course in hair typing lol