5 Things You Need To Do Before Relaxing Your Natural Hair

Hello, everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, TasalaHQ put up this photo on her Instagram page of a girl who came in to relax her natural hair. Now, Tasala herself has natural hair so she tried to convince the girl before going ahead but she didn't bulge so she went on to relax and cut her hair.

Now, this, of course, got me thinking. Remember when we said that some people actually went natural because they thought it was trendy? A lot of people followed the fad without thinking it through. It did not occur to them that natural hair is a lot of work and now they are frustrated. This girl is clearly one of them.

Now, I know that there are a few other people currently in this situation. That same week, I had a conservation with one of my Twitter followers. She actually saved the picture above and was asking where she could get hers done. I tried to query her but she had already made up her mind.

For some reasons, if you find yourself in any of these situations, here are five things you need to do before you relax your natural hair.

• Blow out your hair

One of the characteristics of natural hair is its elasticity. Natural hair is elastic in nature which means it can shrinkage to any length. Now, depending on your hair type, your shrinkage can be as high as 90% which means most times, you won't know your actual length and you might think your hair is not growing. Before relaxing your hair, try blowing out your hair to determine the actual length. I promise you, you'll be surprised. If you're doing for the first time, remember to visit a natural hair salon to avoid heat damage. 

• Do a silk press

Silk presses are gradually becoming popular in these parts. TasalaHQ and Kemi Lewis of KLS Naturals currently do mean silk presses. So, if you are itching for the straight look, you should give it a try. In fact, it's your best option. Silk presses are completely safe for your natural hair as they do not involve the use of chemicals.

• Get your regimen checked/change products

If you strongly feel the need to relax your hair because you feel you aren't retaining length, then you should consider a complete change of regimen, This means that you would need to try new/different products because your hair might not be responding to your current products. After a while. you might see visible changes that might not require you to relax your hair anymore. 

• Try hair growth pills

This is probably a last resort but some people claim that hair growth pills work for them. There's no harm trying if you're really looking for results. 

• Long- term protective styles.

I can't count the number of times I've heard that doing protective styles back to back encourages length retention. So, if you still think your hair isn't growing, try protective styling for about three months. After which, you should take it down and blow out your hair to see the magic that has happened. 

Now, after you have done all of this and you still want to relax your hair, you can go right ahead. After all, it's your hair and your choice.


Love. curls. and coils.
Ebun Oluwole

Texlaxing: Pros & Cons

Hello Naturalistas.

How are you all doing? Kinks and all? Last week we started to talk about texlaxing and what you needed to know, today we would look at the pros and the cons

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PROS

- Best of both worlds: When they say eating your cake and still having it? Well, this is one example. You have the best of both worlds, the texture, the strength that comes with natural hair and the ease that comes with having your relaxed hair. 

- Different styling options and techniques: You have more flexible styling options and easier techniques to get it done. 

CONS 

- Uneven Textures: As much as you have the best of both worlds, you have to deal with the fact that you have 2 different textures and that can be abit too much when it comes to managing the 2 textures.

- Extra attention to Hair care: You might think that you have gotten away with being able to manage your hair better but with the introduction of the relaxer on your hair and also managing two textures, you would have to take extra care of your hair. There is no running away from this one is there? 

- Thinner ends: You might have thinner ends. This will depend on how the relaxer is applied and it's advisable to avoid your ends in order not to weaken it in any way. You don't necessarily have to deal with this con if you are extra careful from the point of application.

- Prone to shedding: Your hair might be prone to shedding. This will also depend on the texture of your natural hair and the health of your hair before you texlax.

It is important that you do your research will and put into consideration the health of your hair before you texlax. This is just to help you make an informed decision if you do decide to go through with it.

Let us know, Have you Considered texlaxing your hair? or Is your hair Texlaxed? What's your experience with texlaxed hair?

Dealing with the urge to relax your Natural Hair

We've all had those days...your hair won't co-operate, your bobby pins have disappeared and you just feel less than presentable, I know I have. The next best alternative is to reach for that relaxer jar.

This is not a post looking down on chemical straighteners, this is a part of my natural hair experience which I want to share with you dear reader, because I think you can relate.

As a natural and healthy hair blogger, you would expect that I'm die hard for my tresses every day, and would not think of permanently straightening them. After all it's what I write about, give advice about. The fact of the matter is I get that niggly feeling to relax on days I’m late for work cause I spent 30 minutes making it look professional ( I work in a law firm so neat hair is a must), on days I see straight relaxed hair blowing in the wind, on days I see relaxed hair longer than a 14 inch weave, on days i'm too tired to braid up my hair before bed, on days I want to show off my length, on days washing and detangling are a real chore...on days when I just want that effortlessly sleek look, and on days when shrinkage is messing with my high and mighty puff!!

5 Things I Don't Miss About Relaxed Hair

Hello everyone! 

It's good to be back! 

One of the pros of natural hair is definitely the fact that it's stress-free. Yes, once you get a hang of it, you can easily find your way around things with little or no hassle. Also, there are a number of things you don't need to worry about anymore that might have been an issue in the past especially during your relaxed days.

Here are 5 things that I don't miss about the creamy crack;

1. The type of relaxer to use. This was one of the problems I encountered during my relaxed days. I was totally clueless about the different types of relaxers and whatnot so I just used whatever I saw and boy, am I glad that phrase is over.

2. The period between relaxer-touch ups. I'm particularly happy that I do not have to calculate the intervals between touch-ups. I never got it right.

3. The pain of the scalp burns.  I haven't been exactly lucky with relaxers. The worst experience I had was just after my high school graduation. I was in such a hurry to relax my hair that I ended up with severe burns both on my scalp that extended to my nape. It was so bad that I couldn't touch my hair for more than a month until it healed up completely thanks to shea butter. I think that was the point I had a paradigm shift about this relaxer business. It was horrible!

4. Split ends, damaged hair and stunted growth. Eventually, these things pushed me to make a decision that would have a major influence on my life.

5. The excruciating heat from the dryer during roller sets. I've been going under the dryer as early as the age of eight and overtime I gradually detested it and salons in general.

Aside from the smooth and sleek texture of relaxed hair, I don't miss it at all. Recently I had a conversation with my friend whom I also convinced to go natural and we both reached a conclusion that relaxers are tortuous. Yes it was that bad.

Over to you!

What are those things that you don't miss during your relaxed days?

Next time, I'll be sharing some of things I love about being natural.

Love, kinks and knots.
eBunite.