bye bye raw shea butter

It’s a little over a year that I’m a tex-lax sub. 

What is tex-lax? 

A tex-lax is simply a weakened relaxer to loosen the curl pattern, not completely flatten it. This is achieved by reducing the processing time for a normal relaxing application, or mixing the base with conditioner, oil, and Aloe Vera gel. I use the latter.

It's a learning curve!

I have no regrets with moving to tex-laxing. It wasn't the processing that caused me to resent the change, but the product: raw Shea Butter. It left my hair matted, tangled, and hard to clean. The shed hairs were hard to remove, causing a mangled mess of tangles. I suffered quite a lost of years of hair growth as a result.

The discovery was truly a labor of love. I'm sticking with a small haul of products:

• Suave Almond and Shea Shampoo and Conditioner
• Suave 2 in 1 plus (shampoo and conditioner)
• Carol's Daughter: Mimosa Hair Honey, Healthy Hair Butter
• My very own Black Tea Castor Oil 

This is not an easy product to remove from hair when washing. My hair tangles. Now that my hair appears to be more manageable, I’m comfortable washing it once a week and plan to invest in some new hair brushes. 

I am so blessed and pleased to have discovered what has been troubling my tresses. I was so very close to just leaving the tangles and starting a loc journey. My focus remains on healthy hair, manageability, and style lastly. 

Buns are the best style for me due to my workout schedule. They also keep me from touching my hair. They are great protective styles. I alternate weekly, two side by side buns with one bun. 

water is my bff!

As a natural, we often say water is our friend. Water is the ISH! Washing your hair with it is one way, not fearing it ruining your natural coif is another. The big daddy of them all is how a tiny bottle with a little hot water, spritzed lightly over your twists, helps to keep them butter soft.

I am still learning. This is a journey with me through the natural world, as my health and wellness journey is filled with new discoveries. On this journey I found things that served me very little purpose.

I love Carol’s Daughter products. I have not tried them all and I probably will not need to. However, the best thing in the fray is the Healthy Hair Butter, hands down. This is like hair crack. Seriously, I could retire my journey with this. Unfortunately, it is expensive. Now I can budget for it, but it is best that I use it sparingly, once a week maybe to lock down the twists following my co-wash in Shea/Almond by Suave. After about 2 days, it is Now Shea Butter to the rescue along with my secret leave-ins. Instead of coating my hair with Shea and over piling on the goodness, I simply learned to do this on day 2 or 3 and then follow each morning or night with a light spray of water, tie my hair down, and let the moisture of the water and creamy oil texture of the butters get reacquainted.

By the last day of my workout stints before the day off reprieve, I wash it. Oh how I have the best times in the shower washing my hair with conditioners. I mentioned that I am moving gradually away from shampoos. My hair does not suffer with dandruff anymore. Therefore, the shampoos I purchased with dandruff in mind are sitting in the cupboard, virtually unusable.

It’s a slow process, but I am discarding a lot of this stuff. I refuse to use them on my hair just to be rid of them, so to the trash they will go. I will keep Cream of Nature, Jason’s (of course), Carol’s Daughter Vanilla poo/con, and perhaps even try other Suave or VO5 clarifying conditioners.

I am very satisfied with Suave Almond/Shea conditioner as my mainstay. Some of the products are great for when I go straight, like the Cream of Nature conditioning shampoo. However, in the meantime, the once per week washes will consist of three wash cycles…clarifying shampoo, clarifying conditioner, then the love of my life “almond/shea” co-wash.

Daily sprays with my bff…and I am all good. No, I have not forgotten about my hair grease…it’s still a love of mine. We shall see how my bff enjoys grease. Stay tuned!