Which is better Heat training or Texlaxing?

[Majestye]

Hi All... Here's the deal... Which would you say is better.. Heat training your hair or Texlaxing?

I've been trying to transition, but I've realized I can't transition without some kind of heat (straightening comb, flat iron...something!) I henna'd and now my hair is thicker and it tangles, where it didn't before. I can't deal with the wet tangles!!!

So yesterday I succumbed to thoughts of just texlaxing my hair for the following reasons:

• 9 months out of the year - I will wear my hair straight or in a weave
• I don't wear - rod sets, bun outs, twists, braid outs, bantu knots, etc...because, I don't feel my hair is long enough to really enjoy those styles.
• Most "natural" styles - don't appeal to me.
• The summertime is the only time I would want to wear it wet.

That being said...I really crave seeing my natural waves, and want to see what my natural hair looks like all grown out. Then I came across the Heat training thread, and Brittany's videos and am thinking maybe I can rebuke the creamy crack a little while longer, and have the best of both worlds.

I want healthy long hair with some texture (i'm not sure I can handle 100% natural texture), and I believe that there are many roads to the same destination. Just trying to figure out which road is for me.

Please help! and give me your perspectives, on which you think is better for 4a/b hair: Heat training, texlaxing, or if you think just washing and straightening would be better. TIA!!!

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I don't know. It's more of a heat vs chemical discussion, right?

 

[hopeful]

I think it's 6 in one hand, 1/2 a dozen in the other. The thing is a few minutes too long with a relaxer and you can lose more texture than you wanted. And that's that. And just a little too much heat and you can go from heat-trained to heat-damaged. I think it's a matter of what you feel most capable with: heat or chemicals. Or what the stylist is best at. I think people who relax at about 80% have the most success because they are not trying to maintain a natural look, just trying to keep a little thickness.

 

[prospurr4]

I have given both of these options much thought and agree with hopeful: it's whatever you (or your stylist) is most comfortable doing.

I chose texlaxing because I feel more in control using chemicals than heat. I never suffer burns or overprocess, and I get great results. Detangling is easy, and I can duplicate most styles that are worn by both naturals and relaxed heads.

On the other hand, I hate messing with heat. My techniques are terrible, and I end up with much broken hair and maybe a burn or two. Also, I'm not willing to spend HOURS just to straighten my hair.

I am a total DIYer and never want to depend on a stylist again, so I go with what I know. It really is a personal decision, so I wish you success in whatever you decide.

 

[tHENATuRALhAiRpRoJEcT]

if i had to choose, it would be TEXLAXING all day
BUT ... when i tried it... my hair was 50-11 thousand different textures (and yes i made that up)

 

[brittanynic16]

I think you know what side of the fence I'm on .

If heat trainig is done properly (gradually) then you have a very small chance of heat damage.

 

[Sianna]

I think that you run the risk of damage with either heat or chemicals, but if I had to choose between one or the other, I would think the lesser of two evils would be texlaxing. With heat you would be repeatedly exposing your hair to danger and possible damage, but with texlaxing, you would just do it the one time and then from there do your touch ups. If done right, you should be able to retain some of your texture and fullness, would have a looser curl pattern and would be able to achieve a straight look with less heat. Should you decide to do so.

HTH! And let us know whatever you decide to do!

 

[Sugar]

It depends on your hair. My hair couldn't handle heat training because heat and my hair aren't the best of friends. Most likely I'd end up bald. Texlaxing is a great option for me. It may be different for you.

 

[Yen Oak]

I still have bad memories of getting burned by the hot comb/pressing iron as a child...so I'm going to pick texlaxing. However if I want to go straight, I think I might just cornrow it and throw on a Bev Johnson wig...

 

[taz007]

I was a terrible heat trained natural (Exhibit A - 1st siggy pic). I am currently bonelaxed and supposedly transitioning to texlaxed (I am starting to rethink the telaxing ...)

 

[lexiwiththecurls]

Heat training is heat damage.If your curls are altered by heat (to make it easier for the stylist to do :-( ), that means your hair has been damaged and not "trained" as some of these stylist like to call it. I would suggest for you to research and understand what "heat training" really is before making that one of your options.
If you mean by being a natural who straightens most of the time, that is a different story. I know several naturals who straighten their hair 90% of the time but it totally reverts back AKA "not trained".
Honestly, personally I never understood why people want to go natural if they choose to straighten all the time. You risk getting head damage from straightening all the time...so it makes more sense to get a relaxer/texturizer versus having heat damaged hair that feels like straw and is lifeless.

If you feel like you cannot handle your hair 100% natural, then maybe all natural isnt for you. But since you said your hair is wavy, then a texturizer might completely straighten your hair and it sounds like you want the option of wearing it in its natural state during the summer.

 

[jwhitley6]

I'd say if your hair handles the chemicals well go ahead and texlax it. I relaxed once and it broke my hair off horribly so I transitioned back to natural in six months. My hair does great with heat, though. But yeah, since you're used to relaxed hair and prefer straight styles I'd def say texlax. Good luck!

 

[kblc06]

I say heat-training. I pro-natural in any case, but one always has the option of discontinuing the use of heat to revert back to their natural texture. Chemicals are much more potent substances with the potential to cause irrevocable damage to hair follicles over a long period of use. Plus, they are permanent so in order to regain your natural texture, you would have to either BC or transition. When carefully using heat, the process of straightening is reversible. I have rarely seen heat straightened naturals who have visibly damaged hair. Generally, their hair is longer and thicker on average than even many texlaxed heads.

 

[QueenNefi]

I say neither. For me long stetching is the key.

 

[PearlyCurly]

Heat training is heat damage.If your curls are altered by heat (to make it easier for the stylist to do :-( ), that means your hair has been damaged and not "trained" as some of these stylist like to call it. I would suggest for you to research and understand what "heat training" really is before making that one of your options.
If you mean by being a natural who straightens most of the time, that is a different story. I know several naturals who straighten their hair 90% of the time but it totally reverts back AKA "not trained".
Honestly, personally I never understood why people want to go natural if they choose to straighten all the time. You risk getting head damage from straightening all the time...so it makes more sense to get a relaxer/texturizer versus having heat damaged hair that feels like straw and is lifeless.

If you feel like you cannot handle your hair 100% natural, then maybe all natural isnt for you. But since you said your hair is wavy, then a texturizer might completely straighten your hair and it sounds like you want the option of wearing it in its natural state during the summer.

I agree, Heat Damage is Heat damage, period. You are basically slowly burning your hair straight!! Heat training is just a nice lie to tell your hair when it ask "Why am i straight but curly at the same time??".

I honestly do not get why ppl will burn their hair straight or semi straight instead of just getting a relaxer. Whether you want to believe it or not, You are damaging your hair over & over again. With a relaxer you only have to do it once a year & if you do it properly you will not get any damage from it!
Plus if you relax to a certain texture, all you have do is roller set your hair to get it pin straight VS. straightening your hair w/ heat! Or roller set your hair to get curls VS. straightening your natural hair, then curling it with or w/o heat too.

I LOVE natural hair but if someone would come up to me asking should i heat train, or Relax? I will nicely tell them to think about for a few more months, if it doesnt work out then RELAX it.

 

[PearlyCurly]

I say heat-training. I pro-natural in any case, but one always has the option of discontinuing the use of heat to revert back to their natural texture. Chemicals are much more potent substances with the potential to cause irrevocable damage to hair follicles over a long period of use. Plus, they are permanent so in order to regain your natural texture, you would have to either BC or transition. When carefully using heat, the process of straightening is reversible. I have rarely seen heat straightened naturals who have visibly damaged hair. Generally, their hair is longer and thicker on average than even many texlaxed heads.

I disagree.
A relaxer is not more permanent then heat damaged!
If your hair does not revert back once the water hits it then that mean it is Damaged aka PERMANENT aka You have to cut it out.

 

[Majestye]

Many thanks to everyone for your input and responses! You have been more than helpful!

I used to texlax, only I didn't know what it was! I was just intentionally underprocessing my relaxer without taking the texlaxing precautions. I just never quite got the same texture with each touch up (every 6 weeks). I had growth, but breakage too...but that was not necessarily due to texlaxing...probably poor hair care habits!

Now that I'm on the forum, I think I'll be able to manage true texlaxing and hair care in general.

I plan to texlax and stretch to about every 12-16 weeks. My hair can tolerate heat and/or a relaxer as long as I take care of it, so my choice is based on wearability. I'll probably be wearing weaves until my hair gets MBL, I think texlaxing will work out better for me for a number of reasons (blending, texture, etc...) verus being able to only heat train in between weaves.

For all of you ladies that texlax...do you have multiple demarcation lines? or does the residual elasticity help to reduce breakage issues? (with proper care of course)

Thanks again!

 

[Majestye]

I say neither. For me long stetching is the key.

Would this be stretching for long periods and then relaxing straight as opposed to semi-straight?

 

[Majestye]

Sorry for the double posts. Still learning!

 

[ChristmasCarol]

My oldest DD is heat trained and has TBL hair. It gets kinda curly, but not like before. You can call it damaged, but 99.9% of the people who see it thinks it's quite awesome. If I decide to grow my hair beyond MBL/WSL, I'm pretty sure I will heat train.

There's a pic in my albums, and I'll load more later - if she let's me. She may not, cuz she thinks people will say mean things because she's heat trained and not "natural".

ETA: Sorry, she's Hip Length, not TBL - I know how ya'll can be, lol

 

[ChristmasCarol]

Pics now uploaded

 

[LayneJ]

OP: Based on your preference (of straight hair), I would say heat-training is better.

The benefit of texlaxing is that you are able to retain a lot of your natural texture, and also easily obtain straight hair. If you prefer straight hair the majority of the time however, skip the "middleman" (relaxer)--because even as a texlaxed head, you'd most likely have to use heat to achieve straight hair.

And speaking of brittanynic; her air-dried hair is relatively straight. If you heat-trained to that point, you could skip the blowdry and just flat-iron on a low/medium setting.

Keep in mind though, if you heat train you will have 3 different textures--your natural hair, your loosened, heat-trained hair, & your relaxed hair. It won't be that way forever, and it may not even have much of an effect, but it could potentially cause trouble.

My oldest DD is heat trained and has TBL hair. It gets kinda curly, but not like before. You can call it damaged, but 99.9% of the people who see it thinks it's quite awesome. If I decide to grow my hair beyond MBL/WSL, I'm pretty sure I will heat train.

There's a pic in my albums, and I'll load more later - if she let's me. She may not, cuz she thinks people will say mean things because she's heat trained and not "natural".

ETA: Sorry, she's Hip Length, not TBL - I know how ya'll can be, lol

Your daughter's hair is very pretty! Good job, mama!