An ionically charged Lalpha phase can be prepared without shear by mixing a small amount of methylformiate to a L-3 phase from alkyldimethylaminoxide, hexanol, and water. If the structural transformation induced by the hydrolysis reaction of the ester is carried out in the presence of a high magnetic field, a macroscopically aligned lamellar phase is obtained. The alignment process was studied by H-2 NMR measurements. The NMR measurements allow the estimation of the time constant of the alignment process, and at the same time, they can be used to control the degree of macroscopic orientation of the system.