I Love My 4C Hair!!!

Hey blogger familayyyyy! See, told ya I would be back! Haha. Anyways, for those that have been following me for years, you would have known that I last left you guys as being texlaxed. I liked being texlaxed, but I felt like after a while I wasn't getting the look that I was going for. I initially became texlaxed because I wanted my hair to gain some thickness, and it worked in the beginning. I texlaxed every three months like clockwork and it was fairly convenient. During my three month stretches I noticed my curl pattern, and I was so curious about it. I loved how the hair would coil and I loved how much thicker my hair was towards my scalp. I would secretly cut pieces of my hair where I saw my natural curls begin because I was obsessed with seeing how my hair curled up without the texlaxed hair on the ends. When I was relaxed, I rarely wore my real hair out because I felt like it was too thin. I was embarassed at how weak my hair appeared. My hair gained a little more strength when I decided to transition to being texlaxed, but it was still limp when straightened. I talked myself into taking the plunge of going natural.

Ladies, there are two ways of becoming a natural. You could big chop or long term transition to become natural through the use of protective styles. I opted to go natural through the use of protective styles while gradually cutting my hair. I won't lie, the first serious chops I did on my own by using hair sheers that I bought from Walgreens. I felt as if cutting the hair on my own gave me a sense of control and it wasn't as traumatizing. I no longer went to the hair salon once I decided to transition and again, I did this because I wanted control. I stayed away from straightening, I washed my hair weekly, and I gradually cut my more straighter ends off. I used box braids, crochet braids, and buns to transition. I've been transitioning for about two years now and I finally got rid of my texlaxed hair. The pictures currently show where my hair is and I more recently got a professional trim. 

Pros of Long Term Transitioning:

• You get used to working with your hair and understanding what it loves/hates.

• You can wear styles (like flexi rods/perm rods) to blend your different textures.

• You have hair to work with for other protective styles such as box braids/crochet braids/bunning with or without a hairpiece (phonypony).

• You ease yourself into the idea of becoming natural instead of... (chop-pity chop....ALL GONE!)

• You can transition until you get your hair to a length that you are more comfortable with wearing out.

I said all that to say ....I love being natural. People had all kinds of opinions about me going this route. My mom even hinted at my natural hair making me less attractive, but this is MY HAIR. If someone can't love me because of the hair coming out of my scalp then f*ck em. The funny thing is though, as my hair thickened up, my mom began asking for pointers *insert eye roll*

I'll go more into the opinions of others in another post, but ladies love your sh*t. If you don't, then nobody else will. 4A, 4B, 4Q, 4Z.... rock the hell out of your hair and make apologies to not a soul!

The Versatility of Texlaxed Hair

Hey guys, as promised I'm back.This particular post is about Texlaxed hair and the current state of my hair at this moment.

So What In The World Is Texlaxed Hair? 

The common misconception about being texlaxed is the fact that people think you are no longer relaxed, but that my friends is wrong. 

• Having texlaxed hair does not mean that you are natural
• Being texlaxed means that your hair is still chemically processed, but for a shorter amount of time
• You can texlax your hair with a regular relaxer kit by adding conditioner or oil to the mix (this slows down the relaxers processing time)
• You can texlax your hair with a texture softner (this is the route that I chose)
• Being fully texlaxed happens over time....you need to gradually trim away at your bone straight relaxed ends (It took me two years to be fully texlaxed....I had several major cuts)
• The chemicals still break down your hair when you texlax, but not as much because the relaxer isn't left on for as long as a bone straight relaxer

Let me share something with those who are considering texlaxed hair. I initially decided to texlax because I was tired of having fine hair. I did the research and it seemed like the girls with the thickest (relaxed hair) were texlaxed ladies. So I went for the plunge. I thought using a texture softner would automatically give me wavy/curly hair, but THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS! When you start texlaxing ONLY YOUR ROOTS/NEW GROWTH will be texlaxed. Your bone straight relaxed ends must be completely gone for you to be texlaxed, and that will take years if you don't do a big cut/trims.

People claim that texlaxed hair is not a type or that it is the same as relaxed hair. I guarantee you that relaxed hair is NOT texlaxed hair as far as the makeup of one's hair. 

• Texlaxed hair causes me to experience shrinkage
• My hair is no longer bone straight, unless I flat iron
• My edges no longer lay flat without the use of gel and a head scarf
• My hair is soooooooo much thicker than when I was fully relaxed

If you like bone straight hair....TEXLAXED HAIR IS NOT FOR YOU! (If I had known this info I probably wouldn't have texlaxed because I LOVE bone straight hair/freshly relaxed edges, but I'm glad I didn't).

Currently I am probably a little below shoulder length because I had a big chop in March. That cut left me fully texlaxed. Last weekend I did my first wash-n-go and a puff on my texlaxed hair, bone straight relaxed hair can't do that (my hair is a little past my shoulders when not in a puff, thanks to shrinkage). I hate to say texlaxed hair is similar to natural hair, but sometimes I do believe there are similarities in maintenance. Anyway I've gone on too much....To be continued!