Bkt Orrrrrr TEXTURIZE???

[Lebiya]

　
I have been going back and fourth between the two for a looongg loooooooooooong time…I just Cannot make-up my mind and I’m stressed out!!

The reason why I don’t want to bkt is because I don’t like the idea of having it bind to my hair…I fear it may not allow moisture in…but that’s the least of my concern….it’s the high heat + blow drying that concerns me the MOST. It’s waay to much heat and I don’t even want straight hair. I just want a looser curl pattern. I have 4z hair with no curl pattern. I do not want to deal with multi-stand knots N-E-MORE.

..What would you do and WHY?

 

[I Am So Blessed]

well as everyone knows by now, i texlaxed and i love it. i was tired of single strand knots as well. and now everything is smooth sailing. i dont have to worry about heat and i have lots of thickness and waves as you can see in my siggy,<-smiles)

all i do is keep my moisture and protein game up. thats it.

eta, i would say texturize

 

[Trini_Chutney]

BKT because it wears off after awhile. If you texturize and don't like it for whatever reason you have to grow it out.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

BKT because it wears off after awhile. If you texturize and don't like it for whatever reason you have to grow it out.

so true, you either have to worry about the chemical from relaxing or the heat from the BKT, its stressful.

thats why i did a patch test for almost a week and saw how i liked the texture first and then did my whole head, unfortunately with the bkt you cant do a patch test first.

the heat part scares me.

 

[EbbonyTx]

Umm sorry newbie here! But is bkt and what is texlaxing/texturize

 

[isawstars]

if i had the money i would bkt. since you're paranoid about using heat, i'm going to assume you rarely use heat... is that right? if so, then this one time is not going to be to the effect of someone who uses heat every week for 6-12 months.

if you are worried you won't like texlaxed hair i would bkt first before making your decision. but honestly... i think you should just go with your gut feeling and what you're most comfortable with. that is what adora did regardless of what people told her and she is happy with no "what ifs"/doubts.

no one knows your hair better than you good luck.

 

[MarieB]

so true, you either have to worry about the chemical from relaxing or the heat from the BKT, its stressful.

thats why i did a patch test for almost a week and saw how i liked the texture first and then did my whole head, unfortunately with the bkt you cant do a patch test first.

the heat part scares me.

You can do a patch test with BKT..a lot of women have done comparisons with different brands this way to determine which (if any) they wanted to use. And some people have done them just on their leave-outs to blend with sew-ins. I know the support thread is hella-long, so I'm not even going to look for links. But I do know sheba1 is a 4-something who BKTs and keeps her curls. I'm sure she'll chime in herself, but she mainly does it for easier detangling and banishing single-strand knots.

OP, I think your decision depends on how permanent a treatment you want. A botched tex-lax might leave you with straighter-than-you-want results, and will pretty much be permanent. A BKT will eventually wear off. HTH.

 

[Foxglove]

I always thought in the back of my head if I ever got sick of being chemical free I would BKT before texturizing

ETA bc bkt is supposed to be temporary

 

[MarieB]

Umm sorry newbie here! But is bkt and what is texlaxing/texturize

BKT=Brazilian Keratin Treatment, a treatment that bonds keratin to your hair with heat (there is a huuuuuge support thread on http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=357933), and the first page describes brands and processes. The whole thread is over 250 pages, so pace yourself if you're gonna go through the whole thing.

Texlaxing (as I understand it) is deliberately underprocessing a relaxer in order to barely loosen the curl, so you can wear the hair curly, do wash n go's, or whatever, without permanently straightening the hair.

Oh, and welcome!

 

[EbbonyTx]

Thank you MarieB

 

[I Am So Blessed]

You can do a patch test with BKT..a lot of women have done comparisons with different brands this way to determine which (if any) they wanted to use. And some people have done them just on their leave-outs to blend with sew-ins. I know the support thread is hella-long, so I'm not even going to look for links. But I do know sheba1 is a 4-something who BKTs and keeps her curls. I'm sure she'll chime in herself, but she mainly does it for easier detangling and banishing single-strand knots.

OP, I think your decision depends on how permanent a treatment you want. A botched tex-lax might leave you with straighter-than-you-want results, and will pretty much be permanent. A BKT will eventually wear off. HTH.

ohhhh, okkkk thanks

 

[imaccami]

I would texlax because the long term effects of BKT aren't known and what is known about the active ingredient is very negative. People have been relaxing since forever.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

I would texlax because the long term effects of BKT aren't known and what is known about the active ingredient is very negative. People have been relaxing since forever.

totaly agree

 

[Kash]

i would bkt because its temporary. and the amount of formaldehyde in bkt is the same amounts in nail polish...so it's no big deal to me.

Relaxers on the other hand may have been around forever but there are still gazillions of black women walking around with jacked-up, burnt-out, no edges, scalp burns and forms of alopecia due to relaxers.
so bkt gets my vote.

 

[imaccami]

i would bkt because its temporary. and the amount of formaldehyde in bkt is the same amounts in nail polish...so it's no big deal to me.

Relaxers on the other hand may have been around forever but there are still gazillions of black women walking around with jacked-up, burnt-out, no edges, scalp burns and forms of alopecia due to relaxers.
so bkt gets my vote.

But no cancer. Improper usage of anything will cause awful results.

I was reading another site headed by a scientist and she tested different BKT formulas, nearly every one she tested had formaldehyde levels higher than allowed by the FDA, even the so called formaldehyde free ones.

Anyway, to each their own. I would never use BKT.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

But no cancer. Improper usage of anything will cause awful results.

I was reading another site headed by a scientist and she tested different BKT formulas, nearly every one she tested had formaldehyde levels higher than allowed by the FDA, even the so called formaldehyde free ones.

Anyway, to each their own. I would never use BKT.

i said this in another thead, i would not btk if somebody paid me to do it.

and "ditto" @ bolded

 

[winnettag]

I vote BKT because it strengthens the hair, let's you do curly or straight if you feel like it and it wears off. Also, you might not be able to get consistent results from texturizing.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

op, you should have put up a poll

 

[ChristmasCarol]

Water will kill you, if you drink enough.

BKT has been around for more than a decade...it's just new to African-Americans. I have yet to see a long, lush head of hair ruined w/BKT. Search all the threads and you won't find a before and after picture with damage - only sketchy accounts with no pics. Hollywood stars and Hispanic women have been doing the treatment for many years. Nicole Richie was talking about how she stopped using relaxers a few years ago and uses BKT instead so that she can bleach her hair and not have it fall out like it would with a relaxer. Last I checked, Black women's cancer rates were largely due to weight/lifestyle - not nail polish or BKT.

Oh yeah, if you decide you don't like texlaxing, you'll have to BC or wait years to grow it out.

 

[Chameleonchick]

I would do BKT before texlaxing.....to make sure, because once you texlax you can't go back without cutting off and starting all over again.

 

[grnidmonster]

I honestly have tried to texlax and each time I did it or had it done my hair couldnt handle it and broke off, horribly. I was skeptical about BKT and prepared to have it all break off again. To my surprise it is thriving with BKT and I have been applying since August 2009-about 4 or 5 applications.

I said all that to say this. I think both are bad chemically, not one more than the other. But, if you are willing to take the health risk for either, you have to deceide what works best for you and what you can live with. For me it was BKT.

Best of luck.

 

[imaccami]

Formaldehyde is recognized by governmmental agencies as a carcinogen and BKT usually has levels of formaldehyde 10 times over the safety limit for formaldehyde. It's absorbed through the skin and nasal pasageways.

I don't think it's a big deal if someone has to grow out their texlax. The texture of a texlax shouldn't be too different from their natural texture so it shouldn't be too difficult to grow out, there wouldn't be a need to BC.

Sodium hydroxide (lye) can cause blindness if it gets in the eye, and can cause chemical burns on the skin. I haven't been able to find any source that links it to cancer. So, for me the risks are much greater for BKT than lye.

Here are a couple of articles:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/26/earlyshow/health/main3414868.shtml

But Brazilian Keratin Treatment (BKT) uses formaldehyde, a chemical known to cause cancer.

On The Early Show Friday, Dr. Ellen Marmur, a dermatologist at New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center, raised red flags about the potential health risks of BKT.

It's grown rapidly in popularity in the United States over the last six months.


Formaldehyde is considered a carcinogen by a number of health and safety agencies.

Apparently, noxious fumes are released when it's applied, posing potential risks to the customer, the person applying it, and even others in the vicinity, Marmur says, adding that it's not just the risk from the actual application of the treatment, but from what happens in the months following it, when the chemical breaks down, that worries her.

There haven't been any conclusive studies about BKT, but experts are concerned about the possible inhalation or absorption of the formaldehyde in it.

2The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel, a group of doctors and scientists who assess and set recommended safety standards for cosmetic ingredients, determined point-two percent is a safe level of formaldehyde. However, samples tested by an Allure magazine investigation contained at least ten times more than that, and experts say amounts of formaldehyde in BKT vary.

Marmur stresses that, "It's not regulated at all. And why take the chance when there are other, safer options?"

Authorities have linked one death to BKT. It happened in Brazil

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde

In 1987, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen under conditions of unusually high or prolonged exposure (1). Since that time, some studies of humans have suggested that formaldehyde exposure is associated with certain types of cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies formaldehyde as a human carcinogen.

 

[Theresamonet]

^^^ Wow...some women will do anything to look cute, won't they. Smdh.

 

[blackbarbie986]

i would bkt before i texlax, bkt wears off.

 

[ryanshope]

BKT versus Texlax

BKT

Pros:
Temporary
Protein Treatment


Cons:
Some formulations have formeldyhyde
Requires very high heat temperatures
Must use a SLS free shampoo
Requires a "bake" in time for hair to set


Texlax
Pros:
Hair returns some texture

Cons:
Caustic chemical(calcium/sodium hydroxide)
Permanent process



These are just basic differences. If I "HAD" to have straight hair, I would go with the BKT
or brazilian keratin treatment. The reasons are they do make formulations that are "formeldyhyde" free. Also the results are "supposed" to be temporary; I haven't seen a BKT head post treatment to evaluate how accurate that is. Relaxers have been around for long time, but relaxers are major contributing factor with regards to women of color and unhealthy hair. Also LOTS of cosmetics have a percentage(albeit small) of formeldyhyde in them as a perservative(nail polish, nail glue, conditioners, mascara, etc).
http://www.safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=599
So yes, I would be concerned about the percentage of formeldyhyde in the treatment used and select the lowest concentration or a formeldyhyde free version.

I was "texlaxed" for a long time and while my hair grow and I retained length, it was kinda pointless for me because I still had to rollerset/flat iron for "straight" hair. Also, matting/tangles was a major issue if I stretched too long and as my hair got longer. So for my texture, texlaxing wasn't an ideal solution.

 

[ChristmasCarol]

^^^^ Sheba1 has a thread somewhere where she shows her washngo after the treatment wore off. There was also a recent thread by a member with 4b hair and her hair reverted after only 2 weeks.

 

[Keshieshimmer]

I don't think one is worse than the other. NaOH is pretty nasty. The only bad thing to me is the limited knowledge on long-term effects if BKT. We already know that constant relaxing can make hair very fragile and can fall out.

I would chose out of a hat. haha

 

[Lebiya]

I vote BKT because it strengthens the hair, let's you do curly or straight if you feel like it and it wears off. Also, you might not be able to get consistent results from texturizing.

Can you please tell me how bkt does this?

 

[Lebiya]

well as everyone knows by now, i texlaxed and i love it. i was tired of single strand knots as well. and now everything is smooth sailing. i dont have to worry about heat and i have lots of thickness and waves as you can see in my siggy,<-smiles)

all i do is keep my moisture and protein game up. thats it.

eta, i would say texturize

Your hair is absolutely gorgeous!

If I texlax I would definitely keep some texture like that.

 

[ChristmasCarol]

^^^It coats the strands with keratin - eventually, it washes away.