August 2015 – Rehairducation

Lade August 25, 2015

MY NEW TEXLAXED WIG: My first impression of textured hair extensions by Nazuri Curls

Hello ladies,

It’s no secret that I love wigs. I have owned many wigs over the course of my hair journey and I am so excited about a new addition to my collection: a texlaxed textured wig.

With the rise in the number of ladies with afro and texlaxed hair, it’s great that there are now hair extensions created specifically to match our hair texture. Over the last year or so I have been noticing a type of textured hair extensions which I thought would blend very well with texlaxed hair. I decided to get my hand on some from a company called Nazuri Curls and I have made a u-part wig with it. I can sum up my first impression in one word: love!!!!

ABOUT NAZURI CURLS

Nazuri Curls is a hair extensions brand which produces textured hair extensions and closure pieces. They are based in the UK and have a distributor in Nigeria however their wefts can be shipped worldwide. There are four types textures created by Nazuri which are Afro, Kinky, curly and Straight.

I first noticed the brand at a few hair related events last year. I attended a small hair care gathering a few months ago and noticed the organiser had some beautiful textured hair extensions. I asked her what brand it was and when she said Nazuri I was sold.

I was about to place my order when I received an email from Nazuri asking if I would be interested in reviewing their extensions and off course I jumped at the opportunity. I was given a discount on my purchase and one of the main reasons why I accepted the offer is because Hairducation readers get a discount too.

THE HAIR
I chose to buy two bundles of the straight texture in 18” and 20”. Nazuri Curls advise that the hair is low maintenance and sent me a very detailed care guide. As a wig lover and more importantly as a wig maker I have come across many types of hair extensions over the years so I recognise great hair extensions when I get my hands on it.

Some of the things I love about the straight texture include it’s:

Softness
For some reason I expected the hair to feel dry and a little scratchy. I was pleasantly surprised by how soft the hair felt.

Density/fullness
Normally when making wigs with long hair extensions you are advised to buy 3 bundles. I decided to buy just two and as you can see from the pictures the wig is so full. At some point I was even concerned it would be too full.

Weight of the wefts
Now this point is really important from a hair care perspective. Wigs and weaves can be great protective styles but if they are too heavy, they will do more harm than good. The Nazuri Curls Straight wefts are light……super super light weight. When I wear a wig I don’t like to feel the weight or tightness of it on my head. Having worn the wig for the first time it certainly scores 10 out of 10 on this point.

Smell
Yes, you read right….. smell. I have come across hair extensions from some brands that smell unpleasant and this can be a little off putting. The Nazuri hair smells sooooo lovely. On the day I received the wefts, I was playing around with my mum and had the wefts in my hands, I covered my mum’s face with them and waited for her to say something like “get it off”…but she said was “oh that smells nice”

Texture
Its crazy how much the kinky straight hair matches my texlaxed hair texture. It looks so much like how my own hair does on my wash days. The extensions are however more lush looking, fuller and certainly feels softer than my own hair. It is also thicker at the ends than my own hair.

The pictures on the right are of my own hair on at the end of my wash day. The picture on the left is the texlaxed wig made with the Nazuri Curls straight hair extensions. Don’t they look so similar???

I have was seen the hair on a natural haired lady (her hair was blow dried), it blends well with my texlaxed hair and if the extensions are straightened, will blend well with relaxed hair. Talk about killing three birds with one stone.

ROCKING IT

I have only begun wearing the wig this week and I can’t wait to style it in a multitude of ways. I am glad its low maintenance because I don’t want to spend too long looking after the wig, after all it is supposed to be a mini break from hair care responsibilities.

There are only two little cons I have noticed at this point. One is that the top part of the weft has a slightly different texture to the rest of the length. I think the top part looks like a braid out whilst rest of the hair looks like texlaxed hair. When I actually put the wig on it wasn’t an issue at all.

I am not quite sure if this next point is a con…the hair is full. I am a slim woman so I was a bit concerned that the hair would be so big it would wear me rather than the other way around. However now that I’ve actually worn it, I don’t think it’s too big….and its fullness is growing on me more and more.

I will write another post soon to show how well my own hair blends with the wig and how the hair is holding up. Don’t forget you can get 10% off Nazuri Curls hair extensions by using the Hairducation discount code.

You can see their other curl types by clicking here.

My next post will be about how I care for the hair I leave out when wearing u-part wigs. I have learnt how to prevent my leave out hair breaking and thinning out and will share my secrets in the next post. Come back soon ladies.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade August 24, 2015

HOW TO BUY HAIR PRODUCTS : Leave-in Conditioners

Hello Ladies

I hope you are all well. This blog post is the 3^rd in the series on How To Buy Hair Products.
Today’s post will focus on leave-in conditioners. I intend to explain the uses of leave-in conditioners, the types of leave in conditioners that you need and what ingredients to look out for when buying them. I will also share a flow chart which will help you decide which leave in conditioner to use on your wash days and through the week.

What Are The Uses of Leaves-in Conditioners

A leave-in conditioner should be used after you have rinsed out your deep conditioner.
Leave-in conditioners helps to smoothen our hair and boosts its flexibility and strength. A good leave-in conditioner should also give your hair slip which will make detangling easier. Most leave in conditioners can also double-up as moisturisers for use in between wash days

What Types of Leave-in Conditioners Do You Need

On a hair journey you need two types of leave-in conditioners.

A protein leave-in conditioner – for strength
A moisture leave-in conditioner – for elasticity and softness

Although both protein and moisture leave in conditioners are needed, I should point out that moisture leave-ins tend to be used/needed more often than protein ones.

How To Buy Leave-in Conditioners

As I have mentioned in previous posts in this series, when buying products it is best to be familiar with the product ingredients rather than relying on what is written on the front of the product or in the description at the back . This is because many products claim to have many benefits for our hair but by being familiar with product ingredients, you can tell which ones can actually do what it claims.
Ingredients to look out for in a Protein Leave-in conditioner

Look at the ingredients at the back of the bottle or jar and see if the following ingredients are listed. Preferably one or more of these ingredients should be amongst the first 5 items found on the ingredient list. Keratin
Collagen
Pathenol
Soy protein
Silk protein
Oat protein
Wheat protein
Amino Acids

Please note that some of these proteins may start with the word hydrolyzed, eg hydrolyzed wheat protein or hydrolyzed soy protein.

Ingredients to look for in a Moisturising Leave-in Conditioner

Look at the ingredients at the back of the bottle or jar and see if the following moisturizing ingredients are listed. Preferably one or more of these ingredients should be amongst the first 5 items found on the ingredient list.
Aqua(water)
Cetearyl alchohol
Cetyl alchohol
Stearyl alchohol
Urea
Glycerine
Please note that there are many more types of moisturising ingredients that may be found in moisturising leave-in conditioners. Those listed above are some of the most popular ones which are commonly used by product manufacturers.

How to Decide which Type of Leave in To Use

My Personal Favourite Leave-in Conditioners

A) Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioning Repair Cream (protein)
B) Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave-in Conditioner (Protein – with this product, I suggest that a very little quantity should be used and it is NOT suitable for daily use)
C) Elasta QP Feels Like Silk Leave-In H2 Conditioner (Moisture). The ingredients of this product has now changed but I haven’t tried the new version.
D) Luster’s S-Curl No Drip Activator Moisturizer (Moisture)
E) Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends (Moisture – called Long Term Relationship in the U.S)

That’s the end of this post ladies. Knowing when and how to use moisture vs protein is something that so many newbies struggle with so I hope the flow chart/table helps.

I have a couple of really exciting posts coming up.
One is about a highly requested topic: how I care for the hair I leave out when wearing u-part wigs. This will also super helpful for ladies who wear weave-ons with some of their hair left out and are experiencing breakage of their leave out hair. It is going to be a great post and I hope you’ll be back soon to read it.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow

Lade August 10, 2015

Texlaxing Vs. Texturizing: A short comparison

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.

Lade

Learn | Change | Grow