Fro-back: My fro's favorite place...

In college, I absolutely ADORED going to the beach a few times a week. My girlfriends and I would anxiously wait for Saturday. We would pack up the car with cheap snacks, towels and books and head 35 minutes South of Tampa Bay to Clearwater Beach.

Isn't it crazy how looking back at old hairstyles can bring back soooo many memories? I'm shocked that my hair is as brown as it is in that picture. I colored my fro waaaaay too much.

Some things never change.

You know you love being natural when...

My homie Yana me this. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier since I love Clutch. I mean, LOVE!!

Fellow naturals, y'all know that this is true!

You Know You Love Being Natural When…

• Either your T-shirt, tote bag, key chain or any other accessory says you are.
• You can’t remember the last time you straightened your hair.
• You have your own library of natural hair books.
• You don’t own a flat iron.
• You belong to more than one natural hair social networking community.
• You have a natural hair blog.
• TWA, ACV, EVOO, Co-wash, Poo/Pre-poo, EO and Hand-in-Fro are a part of your vocabulary.
• You follow or subscribe to other naturals via Fotki, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.
• You are aware of the effects of petrolatum, SLS/SLES, parabens, paraffins, and ‘cones’ and you are not a chemist.
• Instead of avoiding water, you run to it, even using it as a styling aid.

(source)

Y'all know I had to get in on the fun...

You know you love your locs when...

• You haven't combed/brushed your hair in months. Or years!
• You use the same 2-4 products.
• You refer to your locs as babies.
• You know the stages that locs go through.
• You ask other people about their locs and how old they are.
• You have embraced the fuzzies and realize that they aren't going anywhere.
• You know the exact day and year you started loc'ing your hair.

Us naturals and loc'ers do tend to be a little clique-ish, don't we? We have our own terminology and secret handshakes. Nah, I'm kidding about the latter but in a world of straight hair, I think it's cool when afros and locs stand out.

But then again, I am biased. :)


(photo source 1)
(photo source 2)

A Visit to the Loctician after a 6-month hiatus...

Well um, I can safely say I won't wait THAT long again before visiting my loctician. While I don't mind doing my locs by myself, I can't deny the love I have for getting my hair done professionally. I mean, we call professionals 'professional' for a reason. My loctician can wash, condition, twist and do my hair better than I can.

So I need to stop being cheap and go at least every 2 months. I recommend that everyone go as often as they can afford it. Remember all of those issues I had with deciding to latch? Or locs that were too skinny? Or trying to figure out how to color my hair purple? All could have been alleviated with a visit to the salon.

Ah well..you live and you learn.

Look closely...can you see? LOL, probably not. I went back to palm rolling. And there I will stay. Very soon I will do a post on why I went from palm rolling to latching and back to palm rolling.

Can you believe my loctician didn't have any issues with build-up when she washed my hair? Nope!!! Meanwhile back at the ranch, I get build-up EVERY time. When I told her I was doing an apple cider vinegar every time I washed, she gasped in horror.

And then she saw the purple loc and laughed. She said if I was desirous of wild colors like that she could get intertwine some type of silky yarn in the locs. I know someone is going to say, "I told you so." Yea yeahhhh, lol.

I told her I wanted to color again (surprise, surprise) and she told me that the next time I came in, that would could. Woo hooo!!

And then I decided that I wanted a style. I really wanted an updo because I know they are better for working out but I decided on something a little more casual.

The real question is WHY can't I do these styles by myself? Ah well... Next month I think I am going to go back to get some color and an up-do.

Lesson learned: Loc'ing is a journey. And along every journey, it is important to have guidance. My loctician was always great at that. But I stopped going to her and the minute I did....all of the problems started. What I thought I could handle myself via research/YouTube-ing and DIY projects turned out to bring me nothing but irritability, frustrations and locs with Y-roots.  So while I pride myself on being able to maintain the health of my hair, it ain't gon kill me to a professional help me out on this journey every now and then.

YouTube's Loc'd craziness

Let me tell y'all something about YouTube.....it ain't made for the weak. If you find yourself to be extremely sensitive and bothered by things that strangers type, then don't bother to make a video and publicly display yourself.

It's true. While I have learned a great deal by watching helpful videos on YouTube, I have also been called every name in the book. I get at least 10 comments a day about how "Black" I am (um...okay) to how hideous my hair is. It's the norm and I've learned to delete those comments the way you delete spam in your inbox. My hair video Pelo Negro gets the most hate. I get far right and far left too. Some folx will say...

"Yeah, Black hair is the best and Black people are the best and we rule this world."


And then I'll get..


"Black people are the worst, their hair sucks and White people rule the world."

Ridic, right? Check this one out....

Can you believe that? "Locs forces the hair in a militant state"? I don't mean to put this user on blast but they already did so by commenting on my video. Without bashing this person's existence (I ain't gon lie...I wanted to b/c I thought this statement was INSANE), what do you think about this statement?

OH--and Happy Black History Month!!! Or life if you celebrate it everyday like me. :)

I got my hair did!

I will do a formal post on that. I have some friends in town that are making me go out. *sigh* They say sitting at home and blogging on a Saturday night is wack.

Yea yeahhhh..

I forgot how wonderful my loctician's shop is. Let's just say even though I'm trying to save money, I think I'm okay with going to see her at least every 2 months. Post coming soon!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I don't know about this latching thing....

Well, it's been almost a month since I've latched my hair. The first row of locs get re-twisted every time I wash but the rest of them bad boys have afro-roots. From far away it doesn't look too bad but when you pull some locs up and take a look at the roots...


Bay bay! Somehow I don't mind it. My scalp is getting a break and it feels good to not have latched in a while. It has given me some time to really think about some things.

I really don't like the way my latched locs look. And I think it's because I've screwed up quite a few locs. Like this one...


And this one...


Oh, and this one too...


I'm sure there are a few more. And even the ones that have turned out okay...I don't really like. They are thinner than palm rolled locs, have more of a box-y shape and don't have that "traditional" loc look that I really desire. Like this...



That is a fuzzy and hard loc. I love it and it is my preference. I'm so torn. I mean I LOVE latching because it allows me to work out without worrying that my hair will slip. I love it because I can swim this summer with freedom. But latching also takes entirely too long to do. And it is quite clear that I haven't gotten the technique down. And if you mess up a loc, it is hell trying to undo it. IF you undo it which I don't because I don't even know where to start.

Can I even go back to palm rolling? Will my locs look all funny with the palm roll-latch-palm roll thing going on? I don't know. I have a lot of questions for my loctician. I hope she tells me I can go back to palm rolling. I mean, yeah....there will be a good inch of my locs that look all crazy but that's a risk I'm willing to take. We shall seee....

Oh, I forgot to post this. I dyed this loc purple too.


Now THAT is purple. 'Scuse the bra strap.

'Til next time....

Purple locs: the results...

So a lot of folx were discouraging me from doing this. But like a good rebel, I don't really be listenin' to people. LOL! The whole dye-ing your own hair thing is a sensitive subject, I guess. Some people are SO against it. And I can understand why. Putting any kind of chemical on your hair is extremely risky. Color literally strips your hair. It's a damaging process. It's almost as bad as perming. Actually, my cosmetology friend says that coloring is worse than perming.

But I'm a bit of a risk taker. Tattoos, piercings, moving across the country, jumping from a boat in the middle of the ocean, yeah....I live life on the edge. Not to mention if my hair ends up falling out because of damage, I'd cut it all off and start over.

Because it's just hair. Who cares. Just my philosophy. But having said that, I ain't stupid. So before I went crazy with the purple dye, I tested one loc first.

I used Manic Panic's Ultraviolet...


That so isn't its true color. It is crazy neon purple in real life. Now I realize that it would have been test to lighten my hair even more but the whole "bleaching color treated hair" scared the mess out of me. So I wanted to see if I could get some color from my already light tips. Like this one...


It's pretty bright. Surely it would take soooome purple right?

Well...



I left that dye on for a good hour while I ran. Yes, I was running down the street with a loc wrapped in foil. HA! It's not as purple as I wanted but I guess it's enough to satisfy the purple locs obsession I have. I guess. And then when the locs dried....



What a joke. Apparently my hair has to be freakin' white to even take on a hint of purple. Oh well. At home bleaching....I will not be doing. Not to mention you need A LOT of water pressure to get that dye out. Okay, I get it. Dye-ing locs is tricky. So while I can't be stopped in the color department, from now on it will only be professional. My one loc ain't THAT purple but it'll do.

I need a little red now. Just a few locs. I'll ask my loctician about that when I see her on Saturday.

And I suppose seeing a sista with the most beat locs (she had a ton of colors) I have ever seen prompted this fear of at home bleaching. I thank her. For had her locs not been as beat up, I would probably be on the road to raggedy locs myself.

Thank you, sista.

Peace.