I mentioned in this post that I was thinking about texlaxing my hair but I postponed having to make that decision until after I see the results of this stretch period. This was my first time stretching my relaxer to 26 weeks and that's huge for me, someone who used to unfailingly slather on the white potion every 4 weeks.

My relaxer day coincided with the launch of EbonyLife TV and this is what the end result looked like:

My length check is due around the first/second (?) week in August. I'll give myself my first heat (blow dry) treatment then, take pictures and compare it with this picture:

In the meantime, I've done nothing but wash and condition my hair once (sometimes twice) a week and shoved it up in a bun like so:

ON TEXLAXING

Now that the 26 week stretch has been conquered, I feel empowered with all the knowledge I've obtained on my own hair — you never stop learning about yourself, do you? For the first time since I moved to Nigeria, I think I can actually help my hair achieve what it's been trying to for a while now. It just wants to grow weave and fuss free and I can't keep using my TV commitments as the reason I abuse my hair. I'll do a post soon on how I now style my hair myself when I am on set. But first, lets talk about texlaxing.

The decision to texlax has pretty much been made for me. I looked through some old pictures of when my hair was at its fullest and these were periods when my hair wasn't relaxed bone straight from root to tip.

I also watched this video:

So, I know that I'm not going natural anytime soon — everything isn't for everybody and hair nazis need to get off their high horse on that 'you relax your hair because you want to be white' nonsense. What you choose to do with your hair is entirely your own personal decision on something you live with everyday of your life. Whether you are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I too was initially cross when I first heard of what she said about people who choose to relax their hair) or Nicki Minaj. Some people just want their hair to be short and curly, some want it bone straight, short and all Halle Berry looking. Whatever you decide, do what suits you! — And then I'm suddenly reminded of these guys as I say suits you:

Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes!

I know that I really appreciate how I can comb my hair as often and easily as I want when it is relaxed. I know that I really love the fullness my hair has when it isn't relaxed bone straight plus my hair just seems to grow better (healthier) when it is textlaxed and as Petra says in the video above (around the 1:53 mark), a relaxer shouldn't be used as a way to straighten your hair. Let it loosen your curls to the way you are most comfortable living with and managing your hair on a daily basis and when you want "bone straight", reach out for the hair straightener.

Another reason I say that the decision has pretty much been made for me is thanks to my hairdresser at Xpress Image (XI) Salon in Victoria Island, Lagos. Last time I sat in her chair was January 2013. She relaxed my hair, I looked in the mirror after she was done and was truly baffled as to why at the end of my three month stretch (then) my hair was shorter than what I started out with.
I used to frequent XI almost every week but on that day in January, I blew a gasket and told her I would not be going back there for treatments anymore. My hair was just simply not growing and my hairdresser (Yetunde) never payed attention to what I said or what my hair needed.

At the time, they were the only salon I knew of in V.I that used Affirm relaxers — a relaxer I switched to a few years ago when Lusters ArtEffex was discontinued. I spent a decent amount of time combing Balogun and other (super)markets looking for Affirm and when a friend recommended XI, I was very impressed by their service and the way they followed the hair relaxer rules. They did little things like:

telling me that they were trained by an Affirm representative — and it showed!
they used a salon professional sprush to apply their relaxers
they used stopwatches, one per customer to monitor relaxer application times

Theirs was the first (salon) chair I sat in Lagos and did not constantly worry over whatever they were doing to my hair. I trusted them entirely. They seemed to be the most caring hair dressers I'd come across in Lagos and believe me when I say I have nightmare stories from other salons. From my first visit, I decided that this would be the only hair salon for me going forward. Unfortunately though, the standards are starting to slip and I noticed it happens mostly when their "madam" is not in the salon. Take my last trip for instance. My dear Yetunde decided to spend 10 minutes applying relaxer to half my hair, another 7 minutes walking and talking around the salon and then realised she didn't have enough lye relaxer in her tub for me so, she went to their storage room to get some more. At this point, I realised that she not only wasn't using the stopwatch but she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing either. After 20 minutes and me drawing her attention to the fact that one side of my hair was evidently not going to get relaxed today, she then hurriedly applied relaxer to the last two sections and expected me to sit and wait for that side to relax before I could wash my hair. Livid, I was. I didn't want to wait. I knew the damage it would do. I waited 5 minutes.

Needless to say, I washed my hair and about half my head was over processed, another half was texlaxed and then some random parts didn't even get a whiff of the relaxer. Yetunde's solution (after arguing that the reason my hair didn't relaxed was because I haven't relaxed it in 6 months), was to suggest I come back in 4 weeks so that she will relax all my hair again. Yeah. She said that. And that is when I decided that I will not only texlax my hair going forward but I will be doing it myself same way Jeni does.

Which reminds me

When I used to texlax my hair, I used super strength relaxers and added about a cap full of olive oil. This time though, I'm researching the benefits of stepping down to a normal or baby relaxer instead or using a relaxer like Syntonics. Here's hoping Sizzelle Store will stock whatever relaxer I decide to switch to.

Speaking of Syntonics, I tried the kit out a few years ago and the shampoo had more of an effect on my hair than the relaxer itself. I walked out of the salon (not XI) with my hair even more kinky than it was when I went in. Lord knows what I was thinking, I'd already been warned that it was for people with fine hair but I thought sure, that means it will be gentle on my scalp and not give me bone straight hair. Oh boy did my hair laugh in the face of that relaxer. That said, I did buy the kit at Balogun market the day after I gave up looking for ArtEffex. Perhaps the one I bought and used was counterfeit?

In any case, there you have it. My hair is relaxed and will not be relaxed again until the first week in January 2014, so help me God. I will share style and maintenance updates with you between now and then including a list of websites that I find helpful along the way.

Peace, Love & 24 Weeks to go

26 Weeks Later

Which reminds me