5 months and I Dye'd!

So on Sunday, 8/25 my babies became 5 months old! I still love them as much as the first day and I find myself playing in them more and more lately feeling for changes in textures or some possible budding.  The back is definitely farther ahead in the process compared to the front of my head (where I have looser curls.) A few are pretty firm but I still have my curly ends.

This long period of laying in wait reminds me of my transitioning from relaxed to natural. After about 8 months I began to hate the two textures and decided to big chop. Too bad there's no choice of chopping here or I think I would have been about ready to get those scissors. Either way, I am so very anxious to have these locs mature.

On Monday morning, (yes before work LOL) I decided to color my hair.  It was returning to that ashy black/brown color (which I cant stand) from the frequent washes.  I know some people may say, "you're not suppose to color yet its too early" but I have deemed this MY journey and I didn't see any harm in it.  I used Clairol's Textures and Tones in Silken Black and I only utilized one box.  (I thought about using a rinse but with the amount of times I douse my head with water-- that would have been pointless).  I followed the instructions listed and kept my hair covered in a plastic shower cap for 30 mins to allow the color to process and then I rinsed like mad. I squeezed the locs to make sure all the product was out and then shampooed with my V05 Clarifying shampoo.

Now after the two washes my hair felt like hay-- hard and dry.  So, I used the conditioner that came in the box. Initially, I was skeptical because I haven't used any conditioner and I didn't want slippage.  But I opted to go along with it and I am happy that I did.  My hair felt twenty times better and it still feels just as soft two days later.  Until using the conditioner, I didn't realize how much I've missed using it.  I did have some slippage towards the front of my edges but that happens with or without conditioner. 

I may or may not have slowed down my locking process by doing this but I don't think it was moving that fast to begin with. They're all still here and accounted for so I count that a blessing.  Next month makes half a year that I've kept up with this and I am very proud of my own determination and will to stick-wit-it.  I know I'll be extremely happy when its all done. 

Until then,

.Lata Lovvies.

Its a Go!

This post is looongg overdue. I definitely finished my re-ti a week ago. Life has been getting in the way.

Anyway, my retightening did not tske any extra time with the added amount of new growth that I acquired. 4 days either way I look at it--4 weeks v. 6 weeks.

I do like the idea of waiting longer for adequate new growth, and also the fuller looks. So, I'm sticking with the 6 week rotation.  Monday night, after I finished my re-ti, I set my hair with flat twist and bantu knot (or chiney bump) the ends of the twists.  The next day I had a curly 'fro'.  I dont realli know why I pinned up the front but one of co-workers told me I look like a child. Well, Cheers to never growing old! :)

Enjoy the pics.
I'll be back in a few days for my 5 month update \(^.^)/.

Until then,
.Lata Lovvies.

What a Workout!

So I've been on a health kick. And we all know that by kick I mean roaring rollercoaster.  There are so many ups and downs that come with trying to get healthier.  In any event, I think my issue comes moreso from getting bored to easily-- whether it be with food or with exercising.   So I always need something new to try every so often or back to sedentary I go LOL.

While chatting it up with one of my best friends forever, we came across the topic of working out. We spoke of boot camps- but my schedule doesn't permit, and gym memberships- which my wallet doesn't permit. I love doing at home workouts, (with no one there to judge or stare, no one coming over trying to tell you how to lift a dumbell correctly) and I am slowly getting into being into an avid runner (or shall I say jogger).  So, she brings up workout DVDs and I just had to slap myself in the forehead for not thinking of it myself. It fits in perfectly. 

Anyway, she suggested I try any of Denise Austin's DVDs and I thought well why not? She tried it herself and loved both the workout and results. So, being the Queen of Research, as it stands, I went home after our talk and looked up the various workouts that she had to offer,as well as the reviews.  Long story short, I liked what I sae and I was more motivated than ever to get started. I mean I was PUMPED.  But I had slow my horses because in order to get my hands on any, I had to order them and wait for them to ship-- and I know myself enough to know that by then I would be right back in my sedentary funk.

So I took a leap (or what I thought was a leap) and searched for her workouts on YouTube hoping that I would find actually full length workouts and not infomercials or more reviews. And to my surprise, I found lot one but a whole lot of them. 

Today I did the Ultimate Fat Burn Workout . It was a 20 minute workout in a interval circuit with some high intensity parts followed by an active recovery.
One word to describe the 20 minutes I spent with Austin: Awesome. The music was upbeat, she did a great job calling out the moves. It was as if the fellow exercisers(?) in the background weren't even there because they remained quiet and out of the way-- unlike some others I've seen in the past who are just too excited for words and can barely contain themselves. Of course, someone was there to showcase simpler versions of the moves which was helpful. However, all in all, it wasnt bad.  By the end I was dripping sweat which, to me, means mission accomplished.  I would definitely recommend this to anyonenloking for something new to do to stay active. It wasnt CRAZY INTENSE. So for those already fit and looking for a challenge-- ehh not so much. But this was all I needed and then some. I plan to keep this up and make an update on my progress in the months to come.

I tell you no lies, Google and YouTube are God sent. 

Until next time,
.Lata Lovvies.

Re-ti Time

And let the long awaited retightening session begin! So as foretold,  I waited 6 weeks this time around to do my retightening and I think this may be my schedule from here on out. 
Reasons being:

1). Im lazy. Of course this was reason number one LOL. But its true, my life seems to be busier these days which puts my hair on the back burner.

2). I can see growth. A lot of the time when I re-ti in 4 week increments, portions of my hair have not grown enough to do one full rotation. With six weeks I have just enough hair all over to get that done.

3). The fullness. Again with six weeks of growth at the roots, most of my parts are hidden and I get a nice little lift at the roots which accounts for a more fuller look when my hair is down.

4). Not too tight. This kind of goes along with point number two, but again with all the growth that is acquired, I am noticing that I can get one full rotation and then some. However, I am leaving it at just that, one rotation-- thereby, I am not yanking at my roots to get through a really tight second rotation. This helps in keeping a fairly healthier scalp and avoids weakening the base of my locks.

So, 6 weeks it is. I may have to touch up my edges in between because they tend to slip bit that is about it. I've attached pics as usual-- showing the new growth. Stay blessed.

Lata Lovvies.

Loc Puff?

I cant believe it!
I mean I really didnt believe it would happen for a while.
The one thing I thought I would have to give up indefinitely once I crossed over from loose to loc'd natural. But...
NOPE.

So as u can tell, I am super excited that my hair, thanks to these bigger barrel curl, can still be worn in a "Puff". I mean, I'm not sure I can actually call it a puff with locs-- loc puff? Whatever. Either way I was too stoked.  I am beginning to see more of the versatility and realize that im not very limited at all when it comes to my babies. Oh how I love them so.

Well, this was Day 2 of my curls. Of course, while I slept on them during the night, the back and sides were a flattened out mess. That motivated me to give this a go. And BAM! Loved it!

.Lata Lovvies.

Perm Rods!!

So on Tuesday, I was off from work and pretty bored with my hair.  I was tired of what I call my semi-straight look ( because my ends are curly).  The majority of the time I just wear my hair down and out, so to allow it to do it's thing as much as possible.  But that was getting old.  So I ventured out to put some 'oomf' in my look.  

So I started around 11:20 am on a whim.  I took out the perm rods and used my water and rosemary oil mix to dampen my hair. There's only 5 drop of the oil in the mix.

I sectioned my hair into 3 parts, with one in the back and two in the front, and I started from the back and worked my up.  I put approximately 4 locs per rod in the beginning but I saw that I didn't have enough rods to complete it that way. So towards the middle of my head I began to put 6 per rod.  

I used the gray, pink and blue rollers.  No specific reason other than that those were the ones I had on hand.  I decide to put the bigger rods (gray ones) toward the bottom layer of my head and the smaller ones on top.  

It took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes to install the perm rods. It was pretty easy and I would have been done sooner if I wasn't distracted by the T.V.  LOL.  Ghetto was the name of the game when it came to drying my hair.  I have a hand held blow dryer and could not find my separate bonnet dryer attachment ( I call it an elephant).  So I just held the blow dryer and moved it around my head.  I did this more or less for an hour or so.  It took no time at all to dry and I credit that to damp hair instead of soaking wet hair.  

So I took the rods down and these were the results: 

I didn't separate them right away and I was fine with that.  My hair hung a little bit shorter which was a great change.  I loved the bigger barrel curls. This style also does an excellent job of hiding the new growth that has yet to be retightened due to my experimenting with a new re-ti schedule.  In the future, I do plan on rolling 2 locs per rod so I need to get a few more rods.  But I definitely loved the look.  It quenched my craving for something new and was very easy to do.  I do plan on styling it and seeing how long it will last since, I did not use any products to assist with hold.

Until then, Lata Lovvies.