I recently texlaxed my hair for the first time and I am very happy with the results

I recently texlaxed my hair for the first time and I am very happy with the results! I retained much of my natural curl pattern, but my hair is so much easier to manipulate and style now. It is thick, healthy and growing.WHAT IS TEXLAXING?Texlaxing is to pre-treat your hair prior to relaxing with oil or conditioner and then combining additional oil or conditioner with the relaxer itself before application. Texlaxing also requires reducing the amount of time the relaxer is left on the hair and eliminating or minimizing the comb-through process during application. A mild relaxer or kiddie relaxer is usually used for this process. The oil or conditioner, the decreased processing time and the minimal manipulation of the hair during the relaxing process is much milder and gentler on the hair. The oil or conditioner slows down the chemical reaction of the relaxer. It also keeps the hair moisturized and conditioned throughout the relaxing process. The idea is to leave the relaxer mixture on your hair for just a few minutes including application and processing time. You are basically doing a mild, under-processed relaxer. While your hair will retain some of its natural curl pattern and does not become stick straight, Ceramic Coating it will be much easier to manage and you may have more styling options.
Have you ever gotten a relaxer and for weeks afterwards your hair seemed thin and stringy? I've had this happen many times, but after texlaxing hair seems to remain full, thick and healthy. No more thin appearance, no shrinkage, no clumping and no tangling.
During the texlaxing process, your hair is much less stressed than it would be using a harsh relaxer undiluted. If you add a conditioner or oil (as I did) to the relaxer before applying, your hair is better protected and conditioned throughout the process. Hopefully, this will lead to less damage, less breakage and less dryness than you may have had with regular relaxing.
I came up with my own method of texlaxing and the results were great. I had no problems at all and my hair remains in good condition. After texlaxing, I realize that I am no longer "natural", but the texture of my hair, prior to texlaxing, was supernatural. The texlax process retained much of my natural hair pattern but straightened it out just a little bit, making it much easier to work with. It's not like a curl and it's not like a relaxer. It's neither nappy, kinky, curl nor straight, but I can now do what I want with my hair. Best Non Stick Coating If I wanted it straight I could blow-dry it straight and flat iron it after I wash and condition it, but I have no desire to do so. If I want to wash it and let it air-dry, it is still manageable with a little hair oil and humectant. It can also be roller-set or twisted/braided and a twist-out or braid-out can be done.
IS HAIR STILL NATURAL AFTER TEXLAXING?
If you are big on saying that your hair is "natural", please understand that once you texlax your hair it is, in fact, chemically processed and no longer what some may call "natural". As for me, natural did not work as far as maintaining my 4C hair in its natural state. It's beautiful for some, but I just didn't like the way it looked on me and it was out of control.ANOTHER BLACK DEBATE? TWO: FIRST IT WAS THE LIGHT SKIN VS. DARKSKIN ARGUMENT AND NOW IT'S NATURAL VS. RELAXED.
My choice to go back to relaxing or texlaxing had nothing to do with forgetting my roots, trying to look European, attempting to fit into some illusion of beauty or not wanting to look "afro-centric". It has nothing to DO with lack of self-esteem, self-hatred, anti-blackness or lack of cultural pride. It's about personal preference. Being natural or unnatural does not diminish blackness, black loyalty or pride in any way as some people like to contend.
The natural vs. relaxed black pride hair debate is getting just as tired as the light-skinned/dark-skinned debate. Why must we always divide ourselves as a race based on the superficial? Why can't we be happy with the beauty that is us, with all our varying and beautiful skin-tones from creamy vanilla to deep mahogany? Why separate people into classifications by how they choose to wear their hair? People are who they are regardless of the way in which they wear their hair, just as the clothes or make-up does not do not change whom a person is inside. These types of arguments cause us to miss out on the celebration of blackness!
WHY I WENT FROM RELAXED TO NATURAL TO TEXLAXED
I love me in all my ebony gloriousness, but the truth is that I simply could not manage or maintain my hair in its natural 4C state. After I washed it, it would take about an hour to untangle it while it was wet and the minute it got dry, it shrunk, crumpled, matted and tangled and looked dead and dry. No products would alleviate this situation. I make no apologies for my decision to attempt to go natural and then returning to chemical processing. It's my head and my hair and I have to do what works for me. India Arie sung "I Am Not My Hair" and she is right. I am definitely not my hair, but I do like to look nice and feel confident about my appearance without having a constant war with my hair and wearing a style that does not suit my face.
Hair that is 4C is extremely course, kinky and nappy and it is prone to tangling, clumping and shrinkage; at least mine was. About eight months after a hair horror, which resulted in a big chop, my natural hair grew back in and that's when I realized that my hair was 4C in texture. I had no idea what to expect when my hair grew back to some length, but I sure did not expect what sprouted out of my scalp!
HAIR HORROR STORY
As we all know, relaxers can destroy your hair, especially at the hairline and temples. It can cause weakened and damaged hair along with thinning and breakage or hair loss (alopecia). The worst possible scenario is that relaxers can cause scalp or hair follicle damage. I was victim of this about a year ago and it was devastating and traumatic.
I'd been relaxing and dying my hair for several years without a problem. I would do both on the same day. About a year ago, I did the same process I'd always used. I put an no-lye regular strength relaxer in my hair, following all directions. Then I conditioned my hair. Shortly afterwards, on the same day, I dyed my hair black like I always did, followed by a second conditioner. All was well for a few days, but then I noticed that my hair was falling out badly. My edges and temples were getting thinner and thinner. I tried deep conditioning and hot oil treatments but the shedding continued.
One night I washed my hair in the shower and when I went to rinse out the shampoo, I realized that my hair was all over my hands. It was also all over the shower floor. I was horrified. I rinsed out the rest of the shampoo and jumped from the shower in a panic, grabbed a towel and begin to dry my hair. It was coming out in clumps all over the towel! When I finally got up the nerve to run a comb through my hair, I noticed that the Water-Based Paint sudden and massive shedding had stopped. Then I looked in the mirror and screamed. I'd lost about three inches of hair all over my head, leaving me with about three inches of hair remaining but it gets worse. Not only had I lost about half of the total length of my hair, but I was left with a hairline so thin and sparse that my scalp showed through and both temples were almost completely bald. It looked like somebody had shaved off all the hair on both temples. Each side of my head had a bald spot about an inch wide and going back about three inches. The hairline at the nape of my neck was also broken off badly. It looked like someone had tried to give me a mohawk with an axe blindfolded! About three days later, the bald spots on my temples became inflamed. They were sore, red and had bumps all over them! I feared that the temple areas were permanently damaged and I'd destroyed the follicles completely
I can't blame anybody but myself. I can't blame the relaxer and/or the dye that I used, because it was probably a combination of using both on already damaged hair. I'd never used those two particular brands together and there must have been some kind of horrific chemical reaction from the combination of both products. It took about another two weeks for my temple areas to heal and they were raw and painful. I had to apply A+D Ointment mixed with Neosporin to them nightly. When I went out I had to wear a wig. I got one that somewhat resembled black hair. It was neck-length with a tight, natural-looking curl pattern that was similar to a straw-set. This look was more suited to my face and style.
Once my scalp at the temple areas healed, they were still pretty much bald. I began to moisturize and treat my hair daily, especially the temple area, with Wave Nouveau Daily Humectant Moisturizing Lotion mixed with a little Carefree Curl Instant Moisturizer. I also put some Extra Virgin Olive Oil mixed with a little water in a spray bottle and every night I'd shake it up and mist my hair all over with it. Once a week I'd co-wash and deep condition my hair, using a deep conditioner mixed with a little olive oil, a raw egg and a little baking soda. It sounds crazy but it worked. I was happy to see my edges and hairline fill back in and the temple areas as well. They were short but covered with hair finally. All this time I still wore a wig to cover and hide the damage and a few times I got my hair braided, but I felt that braids further stressed my hairline. I also did not like the cost and the amount of time it took to have braids done and removed.MY BIG CHOP
About eight months later my hair was in much better condition and growing back nicely. I decided that since I'd already gone eight months without the creamy crack (relaxer), I might as well do a big chop. Okay, maybe I did a medium chop. It was time to cut my hair short and go natural, but I found out that I am one of those females that does not look good with short, natural, 4C hair. I also had not dyed my hair in eight months and it was about four different colors. A total hot mess!
I finally did it. Chop! I got a pair of scissors and cut off all my hair all the way down to the new growth, which was about three inches long all over. Natural is wonderful, if you can deal with it. It depends on the grade of your hair and how a short and natural hairstyle suits your face. It did not suit mine and I could not get a comb through it when it was dry. It was like steel wool. I tried all kinds of product for natural hair and watched about a zillionYouTubevideos on natural haircare. I saw some beautiful ladies with the loveliest natural hair. Some of the natural curl patterns were amazing but I had absolutely no curl pattern at all. Teflon Coatings There were tons of videos to watch and most ladies stated that they loved their natural hair and it looked great on them. I only saw a few ladies, like myself, who were willing to admit that they couldn't deal with their natural hair because of the maintenance and because they just did not like the way it looked on them. One girl was literally in tears over the state of her natural hair. I could feel her pain. I felt like a failure with natural hair when so many had great success. No products worked for me and I tried everything! I stayed in the beauty supply stores and was constantly ordering stuff online. I spent crazy cash on these products, but nothing made my natural 4C hair manageable.
I needed to do something and fast. My schedule was about to get pretty hectic with work and educational pursuits. I considered a texturizer or relaxer until I came across some videos on texlaxing. I decided to try it for myself. I was scared because of my previous hair disaster. I was afraid I might burn all of my hair off again but things had reached crucial proportions.A WORD OF WARNING
There is always a risk that any chemical process can damage your hair, temporarily or permanently. Once you texlax your natural hair it is no longer natural. Texlaxing is simply a milder version of a relaxer and it is a chemical process that alters the structure of the hair and changes the texture and hair pattern. Water Resistant Coating If it is not done correctly, your hair may end up much straighter than intended. Also, you may lose the natural curl pattern you once had. Everyone's hair is different and the results of any chemical process cannot be guaranteed to be safe. If you have previously dyed hair, this process will strip all or most of the color from your hair. Your hair may even revert it back to it's natural color, so be aware of this and more importantly, if your hair has been recently colored, you should not be putting ANY chemicals in it and should wait at least several weeks. This presents a problem if you've been dying your hair for a long time or have gray hair coming in. If you can't dye your hair, you end up with a multi-colored catastrophe! I did find a way to dye my hair back to black/brown safely and naturally after texlaxing, with no chemicals, no damage, no ammonia or peroxide and no PPD (Para-Phenylenediamine), but that is for another article. You cannot repeatedly mix processes and chemicals close together on black hair with damage that can range from mild to severe. Remember what happened to me when I relaxed and colored my hair on the same day? Trust me, you don't want to go there!
HOW I TEXLAXED MY NATURAL 4C HAIR