What a good washing can do...

So I washed my hair and it was the BEST wash ever. Only because I didn't spend 400 hours re-twisting it. All I did was re-twist the first two rows. I latched a good 10 locs or so in the back, put the locs in 6 braids and sat under the dryer for like an hour.

I didn't really want to sit under the dryer but it was late and I was NOT going to bed with wet locs. Y'all know that's no bueno, right? From what I've heard that can lead to mildew-y stinky locs.

Eww...

The following morning I took out the braids and wow.....the locs were sheer awesomeness! Don't mind the silliness. I was havin' a good day.


I am happy. I love them. And all is well with the world.

Tis all for now!

....still trying to get my thoughts together for my Good Hair review. This is harder than I thought.

Curlin' the locs, Part II

Soooo I got curl happy again.

First of all, I will say that retwisting AND curling the locs takes a LONG time. A loooong time. A good 3 hours to be exact. And that does not include sitting under the dryer. This is one long behind process that I can not see myself doing too often. I'd much rather pay someone to do it.

And that says a lot since I am cheap and always trying to stretch a dollar. HA!

This time around I used perm rods rollers. I SO much prefer these over the ones I used before. I got a much tighter curl...and the curl holds up! Three days later and I still have nice curls.

See!






Okay, the more I look at these photos the more I'm like, "Wait....where the curls at?" They are there! I promise. For some reason my camera didn't capture them as well as I thought they would have.

That's some buffoonery.

But trust me when I say there really are curls there. I have to tweak the process a little bit more. It's not easy.

And another thing....guess who will be doing a definite re-dye? The color is not popping the way I want it to. I'm wait a good month or so but I will definitely be re-dying the locs again. I can't help it.

I'm a rockstar with locs!!!!!

Excellent Retwisting and curling video!

Thank you so much to my girl, rmcandelight for sending me this on YouTube. This video REALLY does a good job at showing you how to re-twist longer locs. The model has insanely beautiful locs. I almost fear my locs getting that long because it seems like it would take forever to re-twist. Woo!!

The model's locs kinda look like my loctician's locs in length. My loctician looooves curling her locs and they look gorgeous when she does. I think I'm going to buy some perm rods just to have. I don't intend on doing the small curls just yet because I don't want my locs to look crazy crazy short. I have to get a little more length to them first.

I've been shooting a lot of videos lately only because once again I'm behind on....life. LOL, been crazy busy. But stay tuned!

The best re-twist everrrr!!!

I look a hot mess...just came from the market and was sweating like---insanely. So ignore the face and focus on the locs.

This has to be be the BEST re-twist I have eveeeer done. Perhaps it is because my locs are really loc'd and easier to re-twist. Or maybe it's because of the amazing body butter I used from Pure Essence Body Care. Stay tuned from a review of them.

I don't know. All I know is my hair feels absolutely amazing. They smell divine. They are soft. And they just look beautiful. Next week they will be 7 months old. Al-freakin'-ready!! Wow!!

Got a lot of reviews/rantings/photos coming up within the week so stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out the re-twist I did last night. Loves it!!!









Okay....I threw on some lipstick.



Peace and loc've

4.89 months-6th retwist

The locs went to the beach for the first time since their birth. But they didn't hit the water. I managed to do a whole lot of swimming in the pool and in Miami Beach without getting the hair wet.

Which is a challenge because I looooove swimming and it's hard to be in water without dunking my head under. Ah well. So before I went to Miami, I re-twisted the bad boys up and here's how they looked three days later.

Uh oh...check out the "locs on the neck" action. Heyyy!



Way too scalpy up there if you ask me.



Not that I mind the fuzzies but I'm wonderin' why they are back after only 3 days. I mean, damn....it took me close to 3 hours to finish re-twisting.



Look at how different the locs look without a flash!




The Soldier loc


WTF is goin' on here?


They are lookin' good to be almost 5 months. I'm proud of the kids! I will be retwisting them a little bit more tomorrow and only because I will be heading to New York. I really want the fuzzies to be under control for at least MOST of the time I am there. Dear locs, can yall do that please?


I think I am going to do a short--retwisting video too so stay tuned for that.


Peace and loc've

4 months-6th retwist

This post has been sitting here for almost a month!! I forgot to post pictures of my locs at 4th month. Silly me! I only have three but hey....






I did the re-twisting myself. Nothin' special...

Peace and loc've.

3 Months-4th re-twisting

I know, I know....I haven't done an update in 34 years. But I'm back!

The locs have turned 3 months old on March 14. Yay!!! Somehow I feel like they should be older than that considering I have one loc that is COMPLETELY loc'd but whatev. LOL!

No really...this loc is a serious loc.

Before I took my trip to Los Angeles, I re-twisted my hair. I am getting better at palm rolling (I'll go into details about how to do that later). Every time I twist my hair, I can't help but think how easy it is. It will be HARD going back to my loctician simply because I am saving a good $80 every time I do my own hair.

Not that those $80 ain't worth it. I mean....yall know how much I treasure the hair appointments.

But until I can find the time and money, I will be doing some DIY twisting.

Like I did last time, I used Dr. Bonner's Magic Soaps (aka castille soap) in Peppermint. I really like this stuff. The peppermint tingles my scalp and I feel like I get a really good cleanse.

What the...is that hair touching my neck. Heyyyy!!


This sounds wild but I like my hair more when it's wet. The locs are just so plump and beautiful.


Sans the white soapy-ness. And look, my hair is actually falling now.


I'm lovin' it! But what I'm not loving are the locs in the back of my head. They are just too annoyingly soft. They will not loc.



But will they stay twisted during a wash? Yes! And at the end of the day....that's all that matters.

I ended up having to wash a second time because I had so much build-up. As much as I wanted to condition my hair, I didn't. I read somewhere that conditioner can make baby locs fall. Definitely don't want that. I used condish the last time and didn't have any problems but I didn't want to get into the habit of using it.

Clean!


I am cracking up at the locs that decided to run to my forehead....very bang-like.

And then I sat down and twisted for a good 2 hours. This time around I used a butter from Darcy's Botanicals. I love her Etsy shop. (thanks Amina!) I'll be reviewing that product as well. As much as I loved the smell, I didn't feel like it "held" my locs enough when I palm roll-ed. So I went from using that to using my homemade aloe vera gel/shea butter/olive oil mix.

The finished product!




I pinned each and every one down and sat under the dryer for 10 minutes. They looked absolutely perfect. Who is this person?


Oh...me 3 months ago.

This is a drive-by post and once I finally get settled I will get to posting some more on the locs, my concerns, products and controversial topics.....yall know how I am.

And uh....how soon is TOO soon to be coloring the locs? It wouldn't work with the profession I am in right now but I am itchin' to go red. Don't give me the side eye. I've been purple and orange before so I think I can handle a little red.

Hmm....


Peace and loc've.

I washed and re-twisted my locs!

Yes family....I am crazy excited about this new venture.

Having locs is freedom but I always felt dependent on my loctician. And I didn't get this way until I started planning trips. I would look at my calendar and be like,

"Dang, if I leave on the 14th I need to make an
appointment on the 12th,"

It got frustrating. I want my hair to look beautiful while I make my travels but my schedule didn't always work out with my loctician's schedule. What's a girl to do?

Um....do her own damn hair! I've been doing it for almost 4 years since I've been natural so why stop now?

And I did...

Big ups to my newly appointed loc'tor (that's a mentor of locs) BSquared86. I spent a good hour looking through her Fotki photo albums. Her hair texture seems to be similar to mine and I love how she updates each month and shows comparison photos. She inspired me!

So....I washed my hair with Dr. Bonner's Magic soap. I added a little tea tree oil to it and concentrated on my scalp....you know I've got that dandruff issue.

I gently rinsed and then used my Oyin Honey Hempy Conditioner. I let that sit for a minute and then checked out the hair to see if the locs were doin' okay....they were!





Here I am frettin' that I would wash my babies out and all they did was puff up. I gently rinsed...

Look how clean my hair looks!



....the inner afro-hippie in me secretly wants me to rock my locs just like that. Free, nappy and beautifully messy. But alas the classy chic lady won this round.


I made a mixture of shea butter, olive oil and aloe vera gel.



I sat down for a good 2 hours and palm rolled each twist. THIS video shows how that works. Although I should add that this lady has "dreadlock extensions" . WTF are dreadlock extensions? I have an attitude about that the way I have an attitude about weaves but that's another post for another day.


I clipped down the locs and added some of that black paper stuff on the edges. This is what my loctician uses to keep the hair slick in the front.



Then I sat under the dryer for a good 20 minutes.

Yes, I use heat. Very little and on a low temp.

The results....



Not bad for my first attempt! I was elated. I thought that I would miss some of the locs in the back but I managed to re-twist each and every one. I will post pictures of how they look in a few days. I'm thinking I can do this myself from now on!

I will cancel my appointment with my loctician and visit her at the end of March.

DIY maintenance. I'm lovin' it!

Peace and loc've

3rd Appointment-Day 62

I am lovin' you all's comments on "Black hair"...I think I will do more discussion posts because it is soooo interesting to see what Black women think about hair. Thanks for your input!

These pictures are a little delayed. I so forgot to upload them!

I had my 3rd appointment and can you believe that some of my locs are budding already? It's only been 2 months!

My greatest concern right now about my locs is that they are too small. My fear is that they will get heavier over time which will result in them getting thinner and thinner. I almost regretting getting them THIS small. I am definitely NOT turning back so I have to decide what I will do.

-Start Sisterlocking them ($$!!!!)
-Start combining them
-Deal with what I have for now and cross that road when I get there
(any advice from loc rockers would be soooo nice!)

I was remiss in telling my loctician how I felt. I I should have. I definitely will the next time I visit her.

Overall all though, I am in love with my hair. I think it's beautiful. My scalp was nowhere near as dry as it was last month's so that's a blessing.

I have decided that this time around I will start re-twisting myself. As much as I love my loctician, I never really wanted to be super dependent on a hair dresser. So I have to learn how to do this myself. In the next week, I will get to it. I will definitely be logging that journey.

Here are my babies...






...and some close-up texture shots.





It is amaziiiing what my natural hair is doing right now. I've always been fascinated with locs but even more so now because I am seeing the transition that MY hair is making. I mean....I can't even remember my comb coils.

I really wonder what my family will think when they realize that I am indeed growing locs. I swear folx wanted to get me counseling when I first cut my hair off and went natural in '05. I am the only natural lady in my immediate family.

We have to take "family photos" (gags) for my Dad's 50th birthday. It will be my Step-mother and three younger sisters. I'm sure all of them will be sporting fresh perms and/or sew-ins.

Meanwhile, I'll be the one standing out with my locs cheesin' like a mofo.

Peace and loc've.

2nd Appointment-Day 32

Ohmigoodness, I loooooooove the hair salon. It's a certain kind of peace that I have never felt in hair salons when I was a permie that I feel now. I can't really explain it. I think it's because I love my loctician so much. I know, I know. I'm bragging about her....again. I so can't help it.


Ms. Tonya looooved how my hair was looking after a month's progress. She wasn't even disgusted with the dandruff like I was. She just scratched my head. For a good 4 minutes. I was in heaven.

And then she washed it. For a good 10 minutes. I was in heaven.

And then she got started. We watched "A Family That Preys" and I forgot how good that movie was. The 6 of us were in their screaming and laughing and just having a good ole' time. And then she put me under the dryer for a good 40 minutes. I spent my time blog hopping on the Berry and reading my "Blogging for Dummies" book [NOTE: Am I not obsessed with blogging/blogs or what?]

40 minutes passed and she gets to removing the silver clips and moisturizing my hair. I anxiously try and take a peek at my hair and she keeps me a head-lock.

Literally....my loctician is a mess, yall.

And then she tells me to close my eyes ,grabs my hand and leads me to the mirror.

"Open them," she says.

And this is what I saw:






Here's a texture shot...



Can you believe this? I mean this was my hair last month.



It looks completely different, right? And so much longer! I loooove it. They are mighty small and as I mentioned before, that is my preference. They almost look like Sister Locks and when they get fuzzy (because I KNOW they will), they won't look so bad.

She used a different method this time. I STARTED off with comb coils but from this point on she will use the palm rolling method to do my locs. And yep....they are officially locs now.

They are just a little too thin. I guess they'll puff up???? I don't know. I was too overwhelmed to ask many questions. I made an appointment for 3 weeks from now instead of 4. Waiting 4 was torture.

I'm excited!