Monday, February 28, 2011
Just Because
I know I have not posted full pics of my head lately. Judging by my recent description of my hair situation many may think I look a hot mess by the head daily. Well … I used to but know I can disguise the problem areas a little bit more. Here are a few pics of me with an updo……… BTW excuse the messy bathroom the lighting is just a little bit better in there!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Come To Jesus Moment
Hey Everybody,
My locks are finally taking a turn for the better. About six months ago I decided to start DIY’ing my locks. There were many challenges; a few of my locks were knotted up because I did not pull the lock through the hole tight enough. I was scarred to handle my locks too aggressively at the time. Then there was the issue of thinning locks. More than a few of my locks were very thin at the root. I am still not sure who to blame on this one. My consultant retighten my hair with a crochet hook, which could have pulled out too many hairs at the base. I did not notice this problem until I started DIY’ing. At first I was just very careful when I did my reti but then some of them got so thin they were hanging on to 3-4 hairs. Eventually a few came out at the root (white ball still attached to hair). I had about 6 locks just come straight out my head, creating bald spots.
I had between 25 and 30 weak locks, most were so weak they could not be combined because any manipulation would cause them to break directly from the scalp. So I decided to cut the weak locks off, this was a dramatic step. I have over 400 locks so removing 25 to 30 seemed like a breeze. Well it was not! I had missing locks all over my head! My hair looked a mess, I had about ½ inch of loose hair in various places of my head. I was missing at least 8 locks right at the front of my hair line, 7 at the very top, 4 each on the left and right side of the head and about 6 at the nape of my neck. My hair broke off badly at the hairlines because the roots of the locks were so thin in at area and the locks were hanging on by a thread.
I was really upset and thought about removing my locks and starting over. I didn’t know if I should be mad at my consultant or mad at myself for letting this happen. Then I watch a YouTube video from Necoleisthenewblack and she was discussing her locking journey, she basically said she DIYs and make many mistakes but it is apart of the journey. This inspired me to keep my locks and just wait it out.
In the meantime I started back using Carol’s Daughter products because I needed my hair to grow asap. Then I began to twist all the short loose hairs and pinning them down out of the way. It had the appearance that they were locked and it didn’t look so crazy anymore.
Finally after 3 ½ months the hair was finally long enough to lock. Last week I put 17 new baby locks in my head. The new locks are mostly in the top of my head, the hair lining and the nape. You read right I put the locks in myself with the nappy lock tool. I was very proud of myself. I am totally self reliant with my locks, I do have access to a consultant if I need assistance.
Let me just say this has not been an easy journey and there has defiantly been some mountain top and valley moments. I am still waiting on some sections to grow out so I can lock them, I suspect the ones that fell out at the root may not be ready until the end of the year or the beginning of next year. But I am now a master at making a bad hair day look good. My friend Gina is good a braiding my locks to hide unsightly areas. I was a little upset because there was not a lot of documentation online to discuss the issues I was having with my locks. Of course there were many singing the praises of sisterlocks but non addressing detrimental issues. What I will say is if you are having problems with your locks please don’t get discouraged… consult a knowledgeable locktian or consultant… but remember you may have to take drastic measures and do be afraid of that. Each of our journeys is different and bad things are to be expected. Below is a pic of two of my new babies on the hairline
My locks are finally taking a turn for the better. About six months ago I decided to start DIY’ing my locks. There were many challenges; a few of my locks were knotted up because I did not pull the lock through the hole tight enough. I was scarred to handle my locks too aggressively at the time. Then there was the issue of thinning locks. More than a few of my locks were very thin at the root. I am still not sure who to blame on this one. My consultant retighten my hair with a crochet hook, which could have pulled out too many hairs at the base. I did not notice this problem until I started DIY’ing. At first I was just very careful when I did my reti but then some of them got so thin they were hanging on to 3-4 hairs. Eventually a few came out at the root (white ball still attached to hair). I had about 6 locks just come straight out my head, creating bald spots.
I had between 25 and 30 weak locks, most were so weak they could not be combined because any manipulation would cause them to break directly from the scalp. So I decided to cut the weak locks off, this was a dramatic step. I have over 400 locks so removing 25 to 30 seemed like a breeze. Well it was not! I had missing locks all over my head! My hair looked a mess, I had about ½ inch of loose hair in various places of my head. I was missing at least 8 locks right at the front of my hair line, 7 at the very top, 4 each on the left and right side of the head and about 6 at the nape of my neck. My hair broke off badly at the hairlines because the roots of the locks were so thin in at area and the locks were hanging on by a thread.
I was really upset and thought about removing my locks and starting over. I didn’t know if I should be mad at my consultant or mad at myself for letting this happen. Then I watch a YouTube video from Necoleisthenewblack and she was discussing her locking journey, she basically said she DIYs and make many mistakes but it is apart of the journey. This inspired me to keep my locks and just wait it out.
In the meantime I started back using Carol’s Daughter products because I needed my hair to grow asap. Then I began to twist all the short loose hairs and pinning them down out of the way. It had the appearance that they were locked and it didn’t look so crazy anymore.
Finally after 3 ½ months the hair was finally long enough to lock. Last week I put 17 new baby locks in my head. The new locks are mostly in the top of my head, the hair lining and the nape. You read right I put the locks in myself with the nappy lock tool. I was very proud of myself. I am totally self reliant with my locks, I do have access to a consultant if I need assistance.
Let me just say this has not been an easy journey and there has defiantly been some mountain top and valley moments. I am still waiting on some sections to grow out so I can lock them, I suspect the ones that fell out at the root may not be ready until the end of the year or the beginning of next year. But I am now a master at making a bad hair day look good. My friend Gina is good a braiding my locks to hide unsightly areas. I was a little upset because there was not a lot of documentation online to discuss the issues I was having with my locks. Of course there were many singing the praises of sisterlocks but non addressing detrimental issues. What I will say is if you are having problems with your locks please don’t get discouraged… consult a knowledgeable locktian or consultant… but remember you may have to take drastic measures and do be afraid of that. Each of our journeys is different and bad things are to be expected. Below is a pic of two of my new babies on the hairline
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