Natural Hair: The Truth About Texturizers

Hey Curlies,

The other day I got an email from a woman who was thinking of applying a texturizer to her natural hair because she felt that her curls were a little too kinky. She wanted more of a looser curl. She wanted to know what she should do?

Texturizers are a mild form of a relaxer, so if your ultimate goal is to become or stay chemical free, I do not advise this.

They claim to...

• Loosen the curl pattern
• Create manageable hair
• Made of "all natural" ingredients

They indeed will loosen one's curl pattern permanently, but no matter how much they claim to be all natural, they most likely are not.

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In reality they contain sodium hydroxide(lye) or calcium hydroxide(no-lye) as relaxers do. The chemical is not meant to sit on the hair for long to prevent the "bone straight" effect that relaxers have.

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This look often tends to led to dry hair and may need lots of moisturizers to keep the "wet/S-curl" look.

Unlike a relaxer, a texturizer should only be applied every few months depending on one's preference. Like a relaxer, you should never apply a texturizer to hair that already has had the chemical on it in the past.

Be sure to know that once the application is done, it is not reversible and if you are not happy with the results, you will need to do the big chop again to grow out your nature texture. Do not believe anyone if they tell you that texturizers will "help make your transition to natural hair easier." Honestly, it will just set you back.

Remember that it is solely up the individual about applying a texturizer. I always say that what works for you is always best.




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Tune into this episode of Curly Conversations for a more in depth chat about texturizers: