Last month I had the opportunity to try give the new Beautiful Textures Naturally Straight Texture Manageability™ System a try on my hair. One of the main reasons I decided to go natural is because I thought it was a healthier and more affordable way to get the type of hair versatility that I wanted. The beauty of natural hair is that you can get the straight look without the permanence of straightening with a relaxer.
For curly girls like me with Type 4 hair though, that beautiful silky straight hair normally doesn’t last very long. You know what I mean. You get bone straight hair only for it to rain and your “press & curl” is looking more like Chia pet. Sad but true.
Well, the folks over at Strength of Nature created a hair system that was meant to help with that issue. As one of the editors of TalkingTexture.com, I write there daily about great ways to take care of both natural and relaxed hair as well as great products you can use to achieve the styles you want. So naturally, I had to give the Beautiful Textures Texture Manageability System a try.
I know what you’re thinking and no, it’s not a relaxer. The Beautiful Textures Texture Manageability™ System serves a few different purposes. If your natural, it can help to keep your press and curl straighter and frizz-free (even in humidity!) for longer than usual. If you’re transitioning, the system can help with the relaxed to natural transition by blending your two textures together more seamlessly. And if you’re relaxed, the system can even help you stretch the time in between relaxers. All this without any permanent effects, harsh chemicals or damage.
As part of the trial, Beautiful Textures sent me to the LW Salon in NYC to have a hairstylist apply the system and press my hair out. I hadn’t gotten a press in six months so I was eager to see how much my hair had grown out.
First, she prepped my hair by rinsing and detangling my hair and applying the Naturally Straight™ shampoo to cleanse. Next, she applied the Inner-Active™ leave-in conditioner to my curls and left it on my hair for 20 minutes. This was when the magic started happening. I actually felt a slight tingle while the conditioner was setting in. Next she began to blow-dry my hair and immediately I could feel a difference in my curls. It took her no time at all to blow my hair straight and my hair felt super soft.
Then she straightened my strands using a flat-iron. I’ll admit this was the scariest part. I’m so concerned about heat damage so I made sure to communicate those concerns up front to the stylist. Also because the system does soften the curl, you want to make sure not to apply too much heat. As with any press & curl, controlling the temperature to avoid heat damage is top priority.
I was so pleased with my final results! My hair was silky and smooth and it LASTED.
I have really fine hair so I actually don’t like for my hair to be super straight. I hopped in the shower a few times with no shower cap, just to see if my hair would puff up a bit. It did NOT revert. This stuff really works. It won’t frizz up unless you actually soak your strands in water.
I did a few different styles with the system in, including these flat twists. After a few days, I started to miss my curls so I dampened my hair a bit and flat twisted it with styling creme. These were my results:
What I love is that you can use the system just to soften your curls up a bit and not necessarily just to wear your hair bone straight. Since using the system, my hair is noticeably softer and more manageable than before. It detangles easier and I still have my precious curl pattern.
Here are my curls after a full shampoo, right back to normal:
Overall, I was incredibly pleased with the system. I would absolutely recommend it. My words of advice for using the system are as follows:
– Use caution with heat (as per usual). The system does great to soften curls, and will do so even more for naturals with a looser curl or even with color so make sure you take precaution to go light on the heat setting to prevent damage
– Follow the directions carefully. The key to this system is the Inner-Active leave-in conditioner so make sure you leave the conditioner on long enough for it to work its magic.
– Allow at least 1-2 washes for curls to bounce back. This system REALLY works, meaning if you have a looser curl pattern (like Type 3 for example) or finer hair, it might take a little longer for you to see your curls looking the exact same as pre-treatment. It took me two full shampoos because my hair is really fine. If you have thick, Type 4 hair your curls should come back right away.
Don’t believe the hype? Some of my fave bloggers have written reviews as well, all with different hair types.
Check them out below:
Lexi With The Curls: http://lexiwiththecurls.com/week-1-first-wash-from-beautiful-textures-texture-manageability-system/
Glamazons Blog: http://glamazonsblog.com/2014/02/beautiful-textures-texture-manageability-system/
Lipstick Fashion: http://www.talkingtexture.com/try-tms-carmen-blakely-of-lipstick-fashion-mascara/
Chime Edwards (YouTuber): http://www.talkingtexture.com/trytms-youtube-vlogger-chime-edwards-goes-straight-for-the-first-time-in-years/
MsVaughnTV (YouTuber): http://www.talkingtexture.com/try-tms-msvaughntv-goes-straight-for-7-days/
Thanks for linking to us! Love your tips – all so true. Your hair looked gorgeous and still does! x
Thank you!
Love the results. It looks like a relaxer!!
It does! But it’s not permanent and your curls bounce right back after a few washes. Way better than going the relaxer route if you like to switch it up 🙂
Looks really good…I am going to give this a try thank you for sharing this x