Before I talk about texlaxing, I think it’s a good idea to say what it is. Texlaxing is basically intentionally underprocessing your hair when you relax it. Instead of achieving straight hair, you end up with hair that has a bit of texture to it. Hence the prefix ‘tex’. About a year ago, my hair was left underprocessed after relaxing and since then I’ve been underprocessing my hair.

What are the benefits of texlaxing?

Your hair looks thicker. If you have hair strands that are fine, ‘texlaxing’ your hair might be better than relaxing it completely straight. If your hair is scanty or thinning out, ‘texlaxing’ will also help your hair to look fuller. I have very fine hair strands and texlaxing did help thicken them out a bit.

What are the disadvantages of texlaxing?

1. Your hair will not look as sleek as it did when you used to relax your hair completely. You can make it look sleeker by roller setting and flat ironing. The only times you can get your texlaxed hair looking really smooth are when you roller set. In addition, you will need extra effort to get your hairline looking as straight as you want.
2. Since you might need more manipulation getting your hair sleek and smooth, I consider this a disadvantage on its own.
3. If you have previously relaxed ends, there will be 2 lines of demarcation: firstly between your new growth and your texlaxed hair and secondly, between your ‘texlaxed’ hair and your completely straight hair. This can result in breakage when you comb through your hair. You can overcome this by combing your hair in small sections or simply trimming of the relaxed ends. You can also try to use products that have adequate slip.

Hair care: popular terms and lingo

How can you achieve ‘texlaxed’ hair?

1. Using a low pH relaxer or relaxer for fine hair
2. Leaving your relaxer in for less than the manufacturer’s processing time
3. Mixing a little oil, conditioner or serum into your relaxer.
4. Applying oil or serum on your hair strands before applying the relaxer.
5. Not combing through your hair when you apply the relaxer.

For the most of last year, my hair was ‘texlaxed’. However, towards the end of the year, I found myself struggling with my hair texture. I liked the fact that it looked thick. However, I was not happy with the fact that it didn’t look as smooth as it used to before I started my hair journey. I kept weighing it in my head: thicker texlaxed hair or not so thick straight hair?

In the end, I’ve decided to relax my hair just straight. Not overprocessed or very straight. Just straight enough. I will continue using my Beautiful Beginnings relaxer for fine hair. For now, I will base my scalp very well and also apply some oil to my strands to prevent damage to my scalp AND over-processing my hair. If I don’t like the way my hair looks by December, then I’m going natural!! 

*Update 27th January 2015* : I did get a relaxer afterwards using Beautiful Beginnings relaxer for fine hair and it ended up being over-processed. I have finally decided to stay ‘texlaxed’.

Related articles:

• Back to the basics: Knowing your relaxers
• Back to the basics: Safely using chemical relaxers:
• Texlaxing: what, how and why? (JUSTGROWALREADY.COM)

About the author

Dr Fomsky

Nigerian-born Dr Fomsky is a God-lover, a wife, a mom of three, a medical doctor by day. Plus she owns a Nigerian-based online hair product store called Sizzelle.
Dr Fomsky is very passionate about hair, skin and weight management. Since she's had her babies, she's been struggling to keep her weight and her tummy down!
At night, she likes to read books, write blog posts and leave comments on other blogs. She lives in Alberta, Canada and is also the author of Solving your relaxed hair breakage book .
DR FOMSKY'S HAIR TYPE:
LAST RELAXER DAY: December 15th, 2016
BIG CHOP: January 14th, 2017 Natural Hair, Unknown Porosity, Fine Hair strands, Low to Moderate Density
CURRENT HAIR LENGTH: Unknown
FAVOURITE DEEP CONDITIONER: ??

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