Hello ladies,

I hope you are all well.  As a hair care blogger, one question I get asked a lot is “what is texlaxing?”   This is usually  followed by “oh is this the same as texturizing).
In this post I will explain what texturizing it and how it differs from texlaxing.  Happy reading!!!

What is Texturizing

Texturizing is a chemical process which is designed to loosen the curls/coils in afro hair.  Relaxers ( which are used to texlax) on the other hand are designed to remove the curls/coils in our hair.
Texturizing is achieved by using a purpose designed kit/product (ie designed specifically for texturizing). The texturizer is a creamy consistency and is applied to the hair/new growth in the same way as a relaxer.

This shows the type of results than MAY be achieved with a texturizer

Please note that texturizing will not change your curl/coil pattern. It will simply loosen your existing one. Texturizing will not create curls/coils in your hair if they do not already exist. For example if your natural texture has a zig zag pattern, texturizing will not change the zig-zag to a curl. Texturizers will permanently loosen your curl pattern and if used incorrectly can lead to over processed hair, damage and breakage.

What Is Texlaxing

Texlaxing is deliberately under processing hair during a relaxer procedure. The relaxer is not allowed to fully straighten the hair. This enables the hair to retain more of its elasticity and thickness than fully straightened relaxed hair.
Texlaxing is achieved by using either a lye or no lye relaxer which is weakened by adding a little amount conditioner or natural oils (eg, olive or coconut oil) to the relaxer. The relaxer can also left in the hair for a shorter period than recommended by the relaxer manufacturer. All this is done to prevent the relaxer from making the hair 100% straight.

Texlaxing creates a look of natural hair that has been stretched out or blown out with a hand drier.   Like texturizers, relaxers permanently alter your hairs pattern and can lead to over processing and damaged if used too often or incorrectly.

The Problem of Inconsistent Textures with Texturized and Texlaxed Hair

Texturized Hair
Because there are readymade texturizing kits available for purchase, a lady who texturizes (and/or her stylist) only has to figure out how long to leave the product on to achieve the results she desires. Please note however that results may vary because the lady might have

• different curl/coil patterns on her head, some sections may have looser or tighter curls/coils than other sections.
• Varying porosity levels: the degree by which each strand of hair absorbs and reacts to the chemicals can vary from strand to strand.

Please note that every lady’s hair will react to the process differently. For some ladies it can result in straight hair.

Texlaxed Hair

Texlaxing can result in a wide variety of looks.

Some texlaxed ladies hair looks as though it is still natural and some looks more relaxed.
Because there are no readymade texlaxing kits on the market currently, most ladies (and /or their stylist) have to figure out their own personal texlax formula or method.
The formula/method is basically knowing what amount of texture she wants to leave in her hair and then figuring out

• how to much oil she needs to add to her relaxer
• how long to leave the weakened relaxer in her hair for to achieve this desired result.

There is a degree of experimentation required and this can result in different textures.  For example, over the years I have learnt that to achieve the texlax result I want, I need to weaken my relaxer with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, cover my new growth with castor oil and the relaxer should not be left in my hair for more than 17 minutes (this includes application and smoothening).

Throwback picture of my damp texlaxed hair. You can see some straight fully relaxed strands near my shoulder.

Please note that factors such as the varying curl/coil patterns and porosity levels on a lady’s head can further contribute to the problem of inconsistent results.

My PERSONAL Reason For Preferring Texlaxing to Texturizing

Sticking with the same chemical
I choose to texlax because I am already familiar with relaxers so I know how my hair will react to it.
I feel like I am on familiar ground. I don’t want to start experimenting with a new product that I am not used to which will create permanent changes in my hair that I can’t predict.

As the saying goes, better the devil you know…

It may not work well for my hair type.
From what I have dug up online from professional stylists and ladies who texturize their hair, most advise that texturizing will work and look better on ladies whose hair naturally has curls or waves.  It appears as though your natural hair type should be a deciding factor on if texturizing will be a good option for you.
Well my hair (my natural new growth) has zero curls or waves so based on the recommendations of professionals hair stylists and texturized ladies I do not think it will work well with my hair.

I hope this post has cleared some things up  for anyone who had questions about texturizing versus texlaxing.

My next blog post will be about how to buy leave-in conditioners (which double up as moisturisers for use in between wash days). I will also share tips on how I achieve moisture and protein balance during the week. Come back soon ladies.

X

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Hello ladies

I am so excited to kick of this new series of posts about buying hair products.

Whenever I am buying products, I always come across ladies at the stores looking very confused.
Many ladies, especially those who are not a hair journey, tend to focus on what the products claim to do as written on the front of the product bottles or on the descriptions at the back. Trying to decide what products to buy based on what the product claims to do is what leaves most ladies perplexed, in my opinion.
For example, before my hair journey began, if my hair was breaking I would simply head to the product store and look for “something” that claimed to stop breakage. If you are familiar with hair products you will have noticed that almost all products claim to fight breakage, make your hair soft and bouncy, etc. So how do you know which ones can actually do what it claims?

To become a savvy hair product shopper there two things you need do:

• Know what products you need.
  Buy what you NEED for hair care (not what you have seen around and are interested in, not some miracle hair growth product). Be aware of the function of the product you are buying.
• Focus on product ingredients not product claims.
  It’s all about being familiar with some of the ingredients which are good or bad for our hair.
  You don’t have to become an ingredient guru. With this series, I intend to give straight to the point and practical tips to make buying hair products a lot easier. First up is shampoo.

What Do You Need: Shampoo

You need two types of shampoo on a hair journey:
1) – A sulfate free shampoo: this is a gentle cleanser which can to be used for regular cleansing (weekly, every 10 days or every two weeks)
2) – A clarifying shampoo: this is a harsh cleanser which is used to remove stubborn dirt. It should be used occasionally (once a month or every 6 to 8 weeks)

How To Buy

A Sulfate Free Shampoo

• Products are usually grouped together by brands, eg, Crème of Nature products (the brands shampoos through to its styling products) will usually be grouped together.
• Start by looking at the shampoos of the brands you are familiar with. Look at the front of the bottle and check to see if sulfate free written at the front. Do not be distracted by statements like gentle cleansing or moisturising shampoo.
• If the front does not have sulfate free written on it, read through the ingredient list at the back. It SHOULD NOT CONTAIN any of the following ingredients
  -sodium lauryl sulfate
  -sodium laureth sulfate
  -ammonium lauryl sulfate
  -ammonium laureth sulfateShampoos that contain these ingredient are NOT sulfate free.
• If the brand you are looking at has shampoos which contain sulfates, look through the shampoo products of another brand. You could also ask the store assistant for help but do let them pressure you into buying a sulfate shampoo if they do not have a sulfate free one.

A clarifying Shampoo

• Start with shampoos of brands you are familiar with. Look at the front of the bottle, is clarifying shampoo written at the front?
• If the front does not have clarifying shampoo written on it, read through the ingredient list at the back. It SHOULD CONTAIN any of the following ingredients
  -sodium lauryl sulfate
  -sodium laureth sulfate
  -ammonium lauryl sulfate
  -ammonium laureth sulfate
• Shampoo that contains sulfate are strong enough to clarify and are usually very easy to find because most shampoos contain sulfates.

My Personal Favourite Shampoos

Sulfate Free
My go to sulfate free shampoo is Creme of Nature Argan oil Moisture and shine shampoo. I absolutely love this shampoo and so do my sister and my mum who has natural hair. I believe that if shampoos were made in heaven, this would be it.

Clarifying Shampoo
My clarifying shampoo is Organic Root Stimulator Creamy Aloe Shampoo.

Additional Tips for Buying Hair Products in Nigeria

1) Don’t wait
Do not wait until your staple products (the ones you use regularly which works well with your hair) runs out before restocking. If your product has finished and then you try to get more there is a high chance (in Nigeria) that the stores you buy from may all be out of stock of the product at that particular time. You would be forced to buy something else which may not work well with your hair. So it’s wise to plan ahead and restock in due time.

2) Double stock or buy big
If you have a product that is a staple that you KNOW your hair loves, if buy two or buy a big bottle/jar if you can afford to.
Even if the stores have loads of it in stock at that particular time , don’t take it for granted, by the time your product runs out they may all be out of stock. So if you buy big or double stock you should be covered for a few months. This is especially helpful with deep conditioners. Most ladies on a hair journey will use up their deep conditioners at a much faster rate than their shampoos so make sure you are well stocked on your fav deep conditioners.
I hope you have found this post useful.  I realise that this series will probably benefit newbies me than hair journey veterans however I do hope that every reader gets something it.

What do you struggle with the most when trying to buy hair products?

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Hello ladies

I don’t try new products very often but when I do, if its a great product, I am always happy to share with you all.  I decided to try a new conditioner out of curiosity.  I actually first learnt about this product from one of my consultation clients. I reviewed the ingredients and though I should try it out for myself because I thought it might work for my hair…….I was right.
I am now on my second bottle and this is now a staple product for me.  I hope they never discontinue it or change its ingredients drastically.

                                                          The Product

Creme of Nature Argan Oil Strength and Shine Leave in Conditioner

                                My Previous Leave –in Method and Products

After shampooing and deep conditioning, when my hair was damp, I would spray on a little amount of Aphogee Keratin and Green Restructurizer.
I would then apply a mixture of S-curl and Cantu Shea Butter leave-in conditioning cream whilst my hair was still damp. I would air dry.
To moisturise during the week I used s-curl and Cantu Shea Butter mixture.

                                 My Current Leave in method and product

After shampooing and deep conditioning,  I apply Creme of Nature Argan Oil Strength and Shine Leave in Conditioner to my damp hair and let it air dry.
To moisturise during the week I used S-Curl and Cantu Shea Butter mixture.

                                  What I Love About The Product

Silicones

It contains a lot of silicones. My hair loves silicones and so I love silicones too.
Silicones are a type of emollient. Emollients lubricate our hair fibres making it easier to detangle and comb. They seal in the hairs internal moisture and block out external moisture (this helps to reduce how frizzy  hair becomes in humid conditions). Emollients also helps to smoothen hair cuticles so that it looks healthy and shiny. Emollients therefore helps to make our hair look and feel good/smooth.

Silicones have a bad rep unfortunately because SOME of them are not water soluble and can build up on the hair. Product build up can prevent moisture absorption and can lead to dry hair because moisture is blocked out. Dry hair = higher risk of breakage. Silicone build up can be removed by using a shampoo that contains sulfates. I love silicones for its benefits and my hair responds very well to it….and I can literally wash out the negative elements of silicone

Its Consistency (very watery and light weight, non-sticky)

The consistency makes this products very easy to apply.

Like most decent hair care products, water is the first item listed on this product’s ingredients list. Following water on the ingredient list is Cyclopentasiloxane which is a type of silicone. Whilst some silicones are heavy and leave hair feeling weighed down, Cyclopentasiloxane is a type of silicone which  evaporates and will not leave hair weighed down at all………hello fluffy and bouncy hair……….

my last wash day – air drying my finger detangled hair with just the creme of nature strength and shine leave-in applied. I had to distort the picture because no one needs to see up my nostrils 🙂

Moisture Protein Balance

If you are familiar with my regimen you will know that I like my conditioners, leave ins and weekly hydrating products to be protein and moisture balanced. I often have to achieve this by mixing protein and moisture products together.

The Creme of Nature Strenght and Shine Leave-in contains moisturising and protein elements. I love that the protein it contains are hydrolized which makes it better at binding with and filling in cracks along the hair fibres

Shine

It makes my hair shiny……..That is all.
Shiny hair minus grease and stickiness.

All in all I am very pleased with this product. My sister who has a different hair type ( her hair strands are finer than mine) loves it too.
Have you tried and loved a new product recently?

In my next post I will be talking about my love hate relationship with combs and a new lesson I learnt about combing from the recent Naija Hair Can Grow event.  See you soon

x

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow