It’s no secret that curly hair takes a lot of work and effort to style. You need to detangle it, use curl-enhancing creams to bring out the natural spirals, and think of a hairstyle that will best showcase your pretty ringlets. But one of the most intricate parts of styling curly hair is working on the edges.
Edge styling has become quite the trend in recent years. Curly girls work extra hard to perfect those retro swooped edges, even if it takes half an hour.
But if you’re growing more and more frustrated about having to deal with your coarse and frizzy edges, you might benefit from loosening their curls a bit. Texturizer is a great way to do that.
You may be thinking: Is it even possible to apply texturizer on edges only? Won’t it transfer to the rest of your hair anyway?
Truth be told, it’s super easy to isolate the texturizer just on the edges that you want to smoothen out. In this post, we’ll find out how to go about it.
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What Is Texturizer? What Does It Do For The Hair?
Texturizer is a chemical product applied to the hair to smooth it down and loosen up your curl pattern.
It’s commonly used for women with coarse, coily, 4C hair that can get unmanageably poofy and frizzy sometimes.
Texturizing solutions alter the structure of your hair, transforming it from tight, coarse, kinky curls to smoother, less frizzy waves.
The texturizing process can sometimes be confused with a relaxer service.
However, a texturizer is a lot less intense than a relaxer.
It’s sometimes called the “milder version” of relaxing since it doesn’t completely straighten out your curls.
It just makes it a little looser, tamer, and wavier.
Relaxers are also more damaging to the hair than texturizers.
While most relaxing solutions contain ammonia and sodium hydroxide that can damage and dehydrate your hair, texturizers are lighter and less potent in formula.
But you also shouldn’t confuse texturizers with a perm.
Texturizing your hair won’t give you a new curl pattern in any way – it simply tames your existing one without flattening it completely.
Is It Okay To Apply Texturizer On Edges Only?
Yes, it’s completely okay!
The smoothening effect of texturizer will only work on the sections of hair you apply it to.
So, if you want to defrizz the small locks on your hairline only and still maintain your luscious spirals for the rest of your mane, you totally can.
Texturizing just your edges is a terrific way to make your hairline look neat and sleek while still showing off your natural curls.
By smoothing down those edges, you make them more manageable when you style your hair.
If you loosen them up enough, you might not even need to bother styling them at all!
If you’re tired of putting in extra effort just to make your edges look good, a texturizer will be a lifesaver.
Focus application only on your hairline, and you won’t be caught up on tedious edge-styling anymore.
How To Apply Texturizer On Edges Only
The most important step of texturizing your edges is making sure you buy a texturizer that is effective but won’t deal so much damage to your strands.
Edges are mostly fine baby hairs, so you need to be as gentle with them as possible, even when you’re chemically altering them.
A gentle, hair-loving texturizer I can recommend is the African Pride Olive Miracle Curls & Coils Texturizer.
It’s formulated with hydrating, reparative natural ingredients such as castor oil, olive oil, shea butter, aloe vera, and biotin to keep your hair strong even as you texturize it.
What’s great about this texturizer is that it doesn’t leave your hair pin-straight even if you leave it in your strands a little longer.
It merely softens your hair and loosens your curl, making it wavy and smooth to the touch.
It’s perfect for those who want to make sure they don’t lose their curl pattern after texturizing their edges.
After you find the perfect texturizer you’re comfortable with, it’s time to get to work.
Here’s how to texturize your edges, step by step:
Cover Your Hair
Tie your hair in a bun or ponytail and wear a silk cap over it.
By covering your hair, you’re protecting it from texturizer, since we’re focusing only on the edges.
Protect Scalp Against Burns
Apply a layer of petroleum jelly or coconut oil on your forehead, near the edges you want to smoothen.
This is to protect the skin by the hairline from sustaining chemical burns from the texturizer.
You might want to apply some on your ears, neck, and down the side of your face too.
Related Post: How To Treat Chemical Burns On The Scalp
Separate The Edges
With a fine-tooth comb, start separating the edges you want to work on from the rest of your hair.
Use the edge of the comb to push these tiny hairs forward.
Prepare Your Texturizer
Follow the instructions on your product’s packaging to ensure you get the best consistency and efficacy.
You can use either a wooden stick or a brush to mix your texturizer into a smooth, creamy texture.
Apply The Product
With a small applicator brush, apply the texturizer on the edges you pushed forward.
Make sure that each strand is saturated with the solution.
Leave the product on for five minutes.
You can leave it for a shorter period than that if you want to retain most of your springy curls and just loosen them up.
Alternatively, you can also push it to 10 minutes if you want a semi-straight, sleek look to your edges.
Wash It Out
When time is up, jump into the shower and wash everything out with a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo.
You now have tame, smooth edges!
No more fussing about frizzy baby hairs that can’t seem to stay in place.
Dry your hair properly and style as desired.
How Long Does Texturizer Last On Your Edges?
Texturizing is permanent, so your edges will stay tame and smooth until the hair grows out.
You can cut off the texturized edges when they grow long enough.
The texturizer doesn’t wash off like semi-permanent hair color or toner.
That’s why it’s such a good idea to texturize just your edges if you need to.
You won’t be forced to texturize your entire mane and deal with the stress of touching up when a stark, super noticeable demarcation line starts to form with regrowth.
If you want to maintain the smoothness of your edges, you need to touch up the regrowth every two or three months.
I mean, you wouldn’t want to have edges that are half straight and half curly, would you?
Why Aftercare Is Important After Using Texturizer
Although texturizers aren’t as damaging as other chemical processes, like bleaching or relaxing, they still contain harsh chemicals.
This can make your hair strands intensely dry and even rougher in texture than they were before.
The chemicals in your texturizer can make them a bit more fragile too.
And you can’t forget that edges are mostly fine, delicate baby hairs that are naturally prone to breakage in the first place.
If you choose a texturizer that isn’t formulated with gentle ingredients (or leave it on too long in your strands), chemical damage is pretty much inevitable.
So, you must put in extra effort to moisturize and repair your hair after you use texturizer on it.
When your edges are feeling dehydrated, give them a deep conditioning treatment.
Not only will a deep conditioner soften your edges, but it will nourish and add shine to the rest of your curly locks too.
Deep Conditioner
One of my fave deep conditioners is the ORS Hair Mayonnaise With Nettle Leaf & Horsetail Extract.
It’s made with a combo of moisturizing oils and strengthening proteins – perfect for damaged, chemically-processed hair.
The treatment comes in a large 16oz tub, so you won’t run out quickly!
This deep conditioner is infused with olive oil to intensely moisturize and condition your hair while adding luster to it.
Meanwhile, whole egg proteins help fortify and rebuild strands that are weak and vulnerable to breakage.
Related Post: DIY Protein Treatment For High Porosity Hair
Moisturizing Cream
When styling your edges, try to use moisturizing creams and gels on them.
Products with a lot of slip will help make edge styling easier too, so go for ones infused with nourishing oils and butters – like the SheaMoisture Red Palm Oil & Cocoa Butter Curl Stretch Pudding.
This curl pudding is great for keeping those smooth edges in place all day long.
Its emollient, oil-rich formula also moisturizes your hair – perfect for healing your chemically-processed edges.
It’s formulated with organic ingredients such as shea butter, red palm oil, flaxseed oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter.
That makes this curl pudding a deeply nourishing styling cream, which is what your edges need after you texturize them.
The curl pudding also makes for an awesome styling product for the rest of your hair.
It’s especially useful if you plan to put your hair in braids or twists.
Conclusion
Applying a bit of texturizer is great for anyone trying to tame their frizzy, coily, hard-to-manage edges.
With smoother strands along your hairline, you will no longer have to stress about your time-consuming edge-styling routine every single day.
That means you can sleep in more often now!
But you can’t forget that even using texturizer on edges only is still considered a chemical process.
That means your hair can still incur some damage, so you have to pamper and moisturize it afterward.
Another thing to note is that texturizing your hair – even just a small, isolated section of it- is permanent.
So, if you’re thinking of using a texturizer to make your edges more manageable, make sure you’re in it for the long haul.
Best of luck to you and your soon-to-be smooth edges!