Hey Family,



My locs are growing like weeds and I really love them. I rarely think about my hair which is great improvement because before my locs my hair was the center of my world. I would always have to keep my hair in mind and budget. If I could not afford a day at the salon I would need to have a wig or ponytail ready to make sure I look presentable. I won’t mention the countless amount of products needed to keep my hair tamed. Now my kinks are working for me and I only think about my hair once a month when it is time to get it tighten. Isn’t that great!

Products…what products? When I feel like it I may purchase some hair milk but most of the time my hair product is found in my kitchen cabinet. Olive oil works great for me. I massage it into my scalp about once every two weeks and I’m good. I wash my hair once a month because I don’t have dandruff and no build up. To keep my loc’s moist I use 8ounces of water mixed with 3tsp of conditioner. I spray this concoction on my locs every other day and it works fine for me. I love the low maintenance of my hair and it’s healthy. When it’s raining outside (which it is doing today) I don’t worry about bad hair days. I can sleep without thinking about smashing my hair style at night and wearing a head scarf is optional.

I love my locs but I can not say that I am committed to them for the rest of my life. However, I will say that I am committed to natural hair for the rest of my life. Natural just works for me… I look so much prettier with natural hair styles, like I was meant to rock what God gave me. Plus after this I can never go back to going to the salon once a week and relaxing religiously every 4 weeks, paying the cut AND the style and loads of crappy products…No sir.

So if you are new to the loc world sit back and enjoy…don’t rush the process cuz it’s a journey. If you are considering locs I have one word for you…..research! Know what you are committing to and get as much information as possible and make the best decision for you and your lifestyle.

Hair We Go…..Again.

As most of you know I wear my hair loc’ed. However, there was a point in my life when locing was not an option. People I was addicted to weave. When I say addicted I mean I had to have it. I would obsess about getting my weave done more that I cared about paying my car note. Seriously.

Chile walking into the beauty supply to look at all the weaves made me high. I marveled at all the colors, textures, curly, kinky, straight, bone straight and wavy. I could look at the wall for hours. I just loved it. I would take my time and find the most perfect hair I could find and run out the door like I just copped a big ole eight ball of crack (lol). But if I wanted my hair to be super bad I had to make sure my relaxer was on point … if not I would need to pick up some Elasta QP or hopefully my stylist would have some of that Affirm. I may come out of the beauty supply $50.00- 75.00 lighter but I felt great.

Then I would go home and soak my head with conditioner and glue remover. I would pour half a bottle of conditioner on my head with about two bottles of glue remover. I placed a plastic bag or cap on my head for a few hours. This made the removal of the old hair much simpler. However, sometimes the glue would be real stubborn and I would have to tear off some of my real hair to remove the weave. Once the weave was totally out I would take a wide tooth comb and comb out all the glue. I always placed my weave in a pile once I removed it. I would often look at it like an old friend going on to college or the army and you’re sad to see them leave but hope the best for them.

The down side to the conditioner/weave removal process was the glue would get gummy and stick to everything in sight. If it got on your cloths you can forget it because it was never coming off. If it got on the carpet or walls it would be hell to get out. Needless, to say I had a weave removal uniform…. yes I did. I would wear this raggedy t-shirt with some bleached up jogging pants when I took out my weave. Once the glue and the hair were out I would wash and blow dry my hair.

It’s sad to admit but it was hard for me to look at myself in the mirror without my weave. To me the hair made me feel beautiful and seductive. Without the hair I felt like a bald head ugly girl that desperately needed the weave to feel whole again. I would quickly tie my hair up with a scarf and waited for the next day so I could let my stylist work her magic.


I would show up to the salon at my appointed time and waited with baited breath for her to get to me. But the wait was okay because I would pour over magazines looking for the perfect style to rock my new weave. Once I found the style I wanted I would hold on to that book for dear life. Then I would pull my weave out the pack and look at it, ran my fingers through it, and I totally loved the smell of a new pack of weave. After feeling it and smelling it I put it back in the bag and waited my turn.

Now once I’ve waited between 1-2 hours depending on how overbooked the stylist is I would get my turn to set in the seat. I handed her my book and said I want my hair like hers! Now the transformation began. This normally took about another 1-2 hours depending on how I was getting my hair. I loved to feel the cold glue press up against my scalp. Then I would feel the soft hair fall on my face……….I was in heaven. Then she would start cutting with the razor. As she got further in the process my excitement would be on full blast. She would go over each section with the flat iron. I love smelling the oil sheen and spritz sizzling on the hair as the hot flat irons made each strand of hair more perfect than before.

Finally reveal time… and the stylist turns me to the mirror and I can hear Stevie Wonder singing …Isn’t she lovely, isn’t she wonderful. I would inspect the hair and make sure that it was to my liking and if not ask the stylist to tweak some areas if needed. But when I left I was in full DIVA mode. Before I left I had to put on a little mascara and lip gloss.

In 24 hours I went from feeling like the ugly duckling in the mirror to a full beauty queen. This went on for 16 years until finally I got tired of wasting my money and feeling so damn insecure. I challenged myself to feel beautiful outside the confines of weaves and wigs. I took the scissors to my head and chopped off all the perm. I went to my loctian and said I want locs. Now trust me the locs was not love at first sight. Trust me I did not feel beautiful at all but I was determined to break myself from feeling ugly because something as stupid as hair. People would say little smart remarks or not say anything at all. I don’t think the first 2 months of me getting my locs no one said anything positive about my hair. It felt like it was me against the world, but I was determined to win. My family asked me questions like what are you doing with your hair, friends just did not say nothing or would tell me about someone else with short hair and how THEIR hair looked good. Indicating that mine did not look so good. I did just what Jay said in the song… I brushed the dirt off my shoulders and kept pushing. Now that I am 2 years into the locs people that were hating before say things like… man I wish I had the courage to do that or do I have to cut off all my hair or my favorite do they have loc extensions that I can wear until my hair grows out. I understand that everyone is not into the natural thang and I am fine with that. I am not one that will belittle a sistah for rocking a weave or relaxed hair. Do what makes you feel beautiful… but when your self esteem and worth is connected to hair then it is time to check yo self.

Side by Side

I wanted to show you guys a side by side comparison. It seems like my hair is gaining more width and less length. I tried to put a hat on the other day and I had too much hair! My hair just seems to swell and get bigger. I am noticing more bunching than I did when I first started the process. Anyone has any idea how to undo bunching? The pic of me with the red glasses was taken 8 months ago. The other one was taken last week. As you can see I have a lil more length but to me it seems like width.


It takes longer to retighten my hair. There are sometimes when I just want to jump of the chair and come back another day. I can’t imagine how long it will take once my hair reaches shoulder length. Also my hair takes a very long time to dry…there use to be a time that I could wet my hair and roll it at night and it will be ready to go by morning. Ummm that is no longer the case; I can’t tell you how many times I woke up with wet hair.

Like I said before the compliments are coming in and I hope I inspire others to go natural. Yes there is a time when you go through the “crazy” look but it is apart of the process. Some people elect to wear wigs but I say what is the point of going natural if you must hide behind a wig.

My hair is much softer than it was when I relaxed my hair and it now I place product in my hair about 2 times a month. I mainly use water. Oh last month I did make a mistake and revert to my old ways. My scalp was itching so I thought it would be a great idea to grease my slap…………..WRONG. The oil got really goopy in my hair and every time I scratched my scalp my finger nails were filled with grease. I used some Cream of Nature product and it did not work well for me. I had to wash it out because it was creating a mess.

Update

Hello Family and Friends,

I apologize for my lateness in updating my blog. Well my hair has been changing up a storm. One of the very first things I noticed was the length and the the massive number of locks on my head. It seems like my hair grew over night. One day I looked in the mirror and my hair was slightly touching shoulders. I cant put it into a full ponytail just yet but it will happen soon. Now never counted my locks but when I try to style my hair there seems to be so many different strands.








It may be the weather but my scalp stays dry. I need to keep my scalp oiled or I will start flaking. I actually feel sorry for my loctian because she has to do the up keep on my hair. It seems to take longer now that my hair is growing to get my hair re-tighten





I normally dye my hair black but the black has washed out and my hair is turning the ugly reddish brown color that I hate. The texture is really thick and full. I have buds on all of my locs. It took almost two years but finally I am fully loc'ed






My hair has gone through many stages and some of them were terrible. When I first started locing I looked like a scared chicken by the head. I had a lot of straight ends and many people questioned what I was doing. But now I get compliments all the time. So keep in mind that sl's takes time and plenty of patience. What can I say...it's a process







I normally dye my hair black but the black has washed out and my hair is turning the ugly reddish brown color that I hate. The texture is really thick and full. I have buds on all of my locs. It took almost two years but finally I am fully loc'ed.
So far I still love my hair and happy with the way it's growing. But locing is not for the faint of heart.

NO MORE BRACES

Long Time, No See!

It's been quite sometime since I last posted. Well life has a way of getting in the way....if you know what I mean. Well my locks sure are growing! The are getting thicker and maturing nicely. Some are longer than others, some are thinner than others, some are hard at the end, some have balls on the ends, and others are still open........but never the less I still love them! Waking up in the morning and giving them a spritz of my home made concoction is all they need to fall in place and look fierce.

It is not always a love affair. Last week my stylist was off with a cold and my hair looked like a baby afro with locks sticking out. Man if I could have placed a scarf on my head and went to work I would have. But generally there are few times that I am disappointed with my locks.

As they grow out people are starting to ask me more questions about my locks. Of course in the beginning the compliments were few and far between and who could blame them looking like this








But now people are like.......girlllllllll I love those locks.