5 Things to Combat Thinning Hair

I have thin hair.

I am just on the other side of some really bad post partum shedding.

But there are a few things I have learned along the way to help combat shedding and thinning hair.

1. Biotin

I have been taking Biotin off and on for a few years. I do notice a big difference in the condition of my hair, nails and skin when I'm taking them consistently.

2. Monistat

When I first heard this, I thought it was crazy. And like a crazy person, I tried it. It worked. I used it to regrow my edges, because when I wear ponytails, they thin significantly.

3. Castor Oil

Used on a regular basis, castor oil can really thicken up hair. It's thick, but it does the trick.

4. Protective Styling

One thing you can do is really protect your hair. Instead of wearing it out everyday or in some other high manipulation style, braid it up, put it under a wig, bun it. Give your hair a rest. It will thank you later.

5. Texlaxing

This by far, really helped to thicken my hair. I relax for the manageability factor, but I always hated how thin my hair looked freshly relaxed. Texlaxing is simply not processing your hair fully. In essence, under processing. This leaves quite a bit of texture and much thicker, fuller hair.

Texlax Update - May 30, 2010

2:47p

This texlax did not go as well as I planned. In fact, it was kind of a disaster. My time management was horrible and I used double protein on accident and didn't have adequate time to deep condition my hair after the double dose of protein.

I did have some breakage after the deep condition and I was horrified, but my hair seems to be recovering fine now, with no additional breakage.

The main disaster was that I left the relaxer on for too long on the front of my hair and it came out a lot more straight than I would have liked it to be. It still has some texture, but it is not uniform with the rest of my texlax.

I have done some research and I've decided that I have not been relaxing my hair enough to get the texture I want. My hair has more texture than I would like and that leads to tangles and lots of frustration for me. Since I mainly would like to wear my hair straight, I have decided that while I won't relax bone straight, I'll relax my hair somewhere in between my previous texlaxes and bone straight.

It doesn't make sense to underprocess to a point where it causes frustration for me and thus hair loss when I can texlax to a point that is managable but also doesn't compromise my texture too much.

This texlax has been a learning experience for me, as I'm understanding what my hair needs and what I need in order to manage it. I believe that I can have healthy hair if I do process it a tad more than I have been doing and still gain the benefits of thickened, manageable hair.

Flat no more

11:07a

Every time I see this blog post and this picture of my flat ponytail, I cringe. The whole reason that I decided to texlax in the first place was to thicken my hair so that flat hair would no longer be an issue for me.

Having bone straight relaxed hair, I always struggled with having body and always had an issue of thin hair right after a relaxer.

Finally being almost fully texlaxed, I have that problem no more. Evidence below.

My airdried pony tail that is full of body and life!

Both pony tails were airdried, but this one has so much more body and girth. I love it. Any doubts I had about continuing to texlax are gone. It does take more effort than bone straight hair, but the results are so worth it.

Texture Shot

11:23a

11 week post texture shot of slicked back hair

Texlax Photos - March 13, 2010

10:39a

Right after texlax with moisturizer in (Elasta QP H2) and coconut oil

side shot

the hair in the back is fully texlaxed. loooove the curls

a shot mostly of my fully relaxed ends

Texlax Update - March 13, 2010

9:12a

After 11 weeks and 3 days I texlaxed. My original goal was 14 weeks but I realized that my stretch was more harmful than helpful with my health and length goals. I was experiencing a ton of shedding and a lot of breakage with the two textures.

The process went very smoothly and I love my texture. I attempted to see what a WNG would look like on my hair so I let it air dry for a bit, schrunching up my relaxed ends as it dried. It wasn't the greatest. My relaxed ends really weigh down my curls. I do plan to trim away the ends soon.

I realized that I was damaging my hair with the frequent flat irons I was doing and decided no more. No more flat ironing. I air dried my hair to about 80% and then flat twisted. I have been moisturizing, sealing and retwisting every night. So far so good.

I plan on attempting another 14 week stretch which will make it June 19, 2010. I'm hoping that with the spring quickly approaching, I'll be able to wash more, which I have noticed helps me stretch longer because of the frequent conditioning of the new growth.

On Being Texlaxed

9:16a

In May of 2009, I decided that I was tired of flat, limp, bone straight relaxed hair. I did some research and decided that I wanted to texlax my hair. I don't remember the exact date of my relaxer before my first texlax, but my first texlax was on July 18, 2009. I didn't see much difference that time as only my roots were texlaxed.

Over the next 6 months I did a two 10 week stretches and a 14 week stretch. I am in the midst of a 14 week stretch now (my next texlax will be March 31, 2010). This has been my hardest strech so far. My roots aren't the issue, but the detangling has become a major job. When I was bone straight, I didn't have to detangle at all. This is all new to me.

The thing that makes me the most happy is that my hair is much thicker and alot healthier as my strands aren't relaxed within an inch of their life. I have to change my thinking though. I'm used to being able to wash, detangle, and dry all in an hour. I haven't been leaving enough time for myself to do all those things and be gentle with my hair. As a result I have experienced some damage from me just being careless and in a rush. Lesson learned.

My hair does better when I just leave it alone, but having found boards like LHFC, I haven't been content to leave my hair alone. I've tried all types of things that didn't benefit me and may have even set me back. I've gone from long to short to even shorter. Lesson learned again.

Being texlaxed takes more work being that I am dealing with a texture that is curlier than the hair that I was used to having for 25 years. I realized that the moisture/protein balance is crucial for texlaxed hair and that coconut oil is a life saver! Another great lesson learned.

Last night was wash night and I loved seeing my texture. It excites me to see that my hair is growing and is so much healthier than where I started from. It may not be easy but it really is worth it.

Close up picture of my texlaxed hair

Another shot of my texture - my ends are still relaxed bone straight

A happy surprise. I found a several spiral curls at the back of my head where I have virtually no more relaxed ends

Another shot of the curls!

9 Weeks Post Update

Happy with my Hair!

4:05p

Today I am 9 weeks post my last texlax and so far so good. Stretching seems to be getting easier for me. I have been either washing every week or two, depending on the condition of my scalp. I've had some flakes and some itchies which make me want to wash sooner. I am seeing a bigger difference inbetween my textures now that the majority of my hair is texlaxed. I will need to up both the moisture and the protein to stave off any breakage. I do think that my hair is thriving and I'm really enjoying it.

Still not so great on the styling end. I need to experiment more, which I have been doing. I tried a twist out that fell flat...literally. It just didn't take. And I tried pin curling, but they didn't come out great either. I need to revisit my technique. I have been wanting to rock curly styles lately so I need to invest in some new rollers {as my girls had a fun day with my rods and destroyed them!}

I tried a new conditioner that was INCREDIBLE which I'll post about later this week. What I've learned about my hair is that it loves organic!

I also tried a new flat ironing product {low budget CHI Silk Infusion} and I used it on my daughter when I blow dried her hair and it turned out incredibly!

So I made two great purchases this week. I'm satisfied!

My Texture

3:15pm

My blackberry doesn't take the best pictures, but I wanted to show my texture. My hair is almost fully texlaxed. There are a few inches of relaxed ends that I do plan to cut at some point in time.

Stretching

9:53a

I stretched my last relaxer for 14 weeks and I was surprised at how easy it was. I could have never imagined stretching 3 1/2 months before now, but I had no problems at all. I actually felt that I could have gone longer, but really wanted to relax before I went home for Christmas.

I have been wearing my hair straight (flat ironed) consistently and that really helped to aid in stretching. I didn't deal with a ton of shedding as I normally do when I need a relaxer and my new growth was managable.

I would venture to say that I am close to being fully texlaxed and I really want to see how my texture will be as I can't really tell since a lot of my ends are still relaxed. I know that being texlaxed helped in regards to being able to strech because of the strength of my strands, I didn't see much breakage at all.

I have found a few products that are my staples and currently are the only things that I am using right now. I will update my regimen for 2010 tomorrow, including the products that I use. There are only a few products that I want to try that fit in with my regimen and I will update as I begin to acquire those as well.

My next texlax is scheduled for the very end of March. I think I will try 15 weeks as my goal.

September 15, 2009 Texlax Photos

11:27a

I took a few pictures after my most recent texlax {I talked about it here} to document my progress. These pictures are after my hair was dry are really only to show the texture. After my recent cut, I will be mostly texlaxed very soon. This stretch - 10-12 WEEKS!

Texlax Update

10:00a

I texlaxed last night only two weeks shy of my original goal of 10 weeks post. And same as the last time I texlaxed, I could have gone for another few weeks or more. I texlaxed because I am going to get my hair RECUT, into a style that I can manage and doesn't drive me insane {I'll post pictures of the infamous cut at a later date...I'm still not over it yet}, so I needed to have a fresh texlax so that the cut would be good. I used the same method and product as my last texlax except for a few things that I did differently.

In the step between washing it out and neutralizing, I wanted to do a hard protein treatment to add back any strength that may have been lost during the relaxing process. I thought I had a protein treatment, but I actually didn't since I've gotten rid of anything that has protein in it, since protein and I do not get along. So I actually used an egg and mixed it with Africa's Best Hair Mayo. I applied that to my hair {it was incredibly messy. good thing I was in the shower} and let it sit for a few minutes. I didn't let it sit too long because I didn't want to cause any damage.

I then neutralized with the Creamy Aloe Shampoo that came with the relaxer. This is the BEST shampoo. It softened, detangled and really did moisturize my hair after the egg treatment. I almost thought for a second that I wouldn't need to deep condition. But I'm not crazy. So I deep conditioned with the ORS Olive Oil replenishing pak, that was also included with the relaxer. I left that on for about 3 hours and when I washed out, my hair felt incredible.

This time I added 1 1/2 cap fulls of oil to my relaxer {probably equal to 1 1/2 teaspoons} and I think this was the right amount. I got no burning even though I had scratched my scalp absentmindedly earlier in the day and the results were right on point.

Now all I have to do is get this cut fixed. One of the pluses of my butchered hair is that, in the back, there is maybe two inches of relaxed hair left, the rest is texlaxed. I can't wait until I'm fully texlaxed.

I had a breakdown earlier this week and contemplated going back to bone straight, but I'm glad I came to my senses, with the help of Renise B of course.

Hopefully, this time, I will make my goal of 10 weeks post. 8 weeks wasn't bad at all.

What in the world is a texlax?

9:42a

I had never heard of texlaxing until my best friend, in her research, stumbled upon it and passed the info on to me.

Texlaxing is basically under processing your hair while doing a chemical treatment {aka: perm or relaxer}.

What's the point? Well, the point is that you don't take your hair to the absolute edge of it's life. The relaxer removes the natural wave pattern {i.e., kinkiness} from the hair, which leaves the hair weak and pretty much lifeless. Texlaxing relaxes the hair slightly, enough to where it is manageable.

I did some research and found out the best way to texlax {for me} is to add oil to the relaxer so that it slows down the processing of the relaxer. I added maybe a teaspoon or two of oil to the relaxer and applied as normal. It allowed me to leave the relaxer on as long as I normally do {possibly even longer} and still not over process my hair. When I washed out the relaxer, my new growth still was wavy, but not as tight and tangled. Because of this, my hair feels stronger and looks a lot healthier than it normally would right after a relaxer.

I have to say that I am hooked on texlaxing. I'm one week post and I'm not sure at this point if I will be stretching {as stretching reduces the frequency of the chemical treatment}, but I am loving my hair. I'm sure my hair is appreciating me right about now too!



{texlaxed hair in a twist out style}