A little Concerned. . .

BYI shall be meeting my half year milestone in about 5 days and I can honestly say it is still a wonder to me that I have, and plan to continue to, stick with this new journey.

Now on to my concerns. I just recently finished a Re-ti on Wednesday night which only took me two days to complete ¡Woop Woop! \(^.^)/ [shaved off a good two dayd off of my time right there]. Anywho, while I was retightening I decided to attack some holes in my locks towards the back of my hair. I found some really helpful YouTube videos on it here and here. 

Being that I was going through, in great specificity, to inspect my locs I came across a few that really had me concerned. (I'll be attaching pictures).  I have a few locs that seem to be bunching. Now, I'm not very certain of this because these could be the good 'ol buds I've been waiting so long to see but I'm not sure.  If it is bunching, I can say that it is my fault and may be due to the conditioner that I put in my hair after my color.

Now that my hair is dry (I re-ti on damp hair) these 'trouble areas' are a bit firm but some are squishy. They occur somewhere around the middle-end of the loc but definitely where the braided portion/loose ends of the loc are (as opposed to where the interlocked new growth is--i can tell where that starts and ends). I just don't know how to tell if I messed up or if this is what I've been waiting for. So if you guys could help a sister out based on my horrible pics or any other ways of identifying this, PLEASE leave me a comment below.  And if we all deem it bunching I will also needs some helpful solutions. So:

       Calling all those loc'd before me.

       This is a P.S.A.

       I.need.help.

Thanks in advance lovvies. :)

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.

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.

Month 4!

4 MONTHS!

Today makes exactly 4 months to the day and I have been putting off retightening my hair. Why? No real reason although, I do want to see how long I can go without a re-ti. (You know, for future references). So, im down 4 weeks now since my last re-ti, excluding my edges, which I did a week ago because I had somewhere to be. Im gonna push for 6 weeks though. I've been a little busy transistioning into a new residential setting and whenever I do have free time, I am attending to something other than my hair. 

Another reason why I feel I can push this out a little longer is because I dont think I have as much new growth to be doing it monthly.  Also, I love the lift I get at the roots from the lack of retightening. My hair seems so much more fuller without my parts showing through.

So let this be the start of my lil' ol' experiment. We will see in two more weeks if this was a good idea or a not so great one. We will also see if this makes my re-ti take longer since I'll have presumably more new growth to work with. And, we will see if ill ever be this lazy again LOL.

Until then, lata lovvies.

Why Locs?

Why Locs, why locs?

So, I Know I have already spoken about my fascination with the hair style, in and of itself but I have not spoken about what truly made me turn from loose natural to loc'd natural.

Let me first start off by saying that I loved my loose natural hair. I have a looser curl pattern so it curled up really effortlessly without much product-- and I have dabbled in my share of products while relapsing from being a PJ (product junkie).  I tried out various brands of styling products like Miss Jessies and Shea Moisture, which happen to be my favorites. I also tried deep conditioners, leave in conditioners, shampoos, the whole nine.  It began to be just me spending money for no good reason since I would always run back to my favorites. 

So, I told myself that I would stop experimenting with products and stick to a selected few that I knew worked. In that way, I saved money.

My go-to styles were twist-outs, buns and mini twists. I would protective style my hair every few months to change things up.
Coming up on the new year, 2013, I was getting really annoyed with my hair for a few reasons:

     1). It was getting longer and unmanageable. A pain in my toosh some days-- although I was ecstatic with my hair growth, I was not too happy on wash days when having to part and detangle. #ugh
    2). I was beginning to hate styling it all the time. If I didnt set my hair at night,  I would have to rock out with an afro the next day. No problem there unless I wasnt feeling it. And then, if I did wear the afro, what a pain it would be to detangle.
     3). The time constraints. When natural and with lengthier hair, one has to literally have a wash DAY. Between sectioning, washing in sections, rinsing in sections, conditioning in sections, rinsing again, and then styling in sections. Twas driving me mad.

I longed for something simpler. After some time, twist-outs, braid outs, all the manipulation put into your hair to get it to curl a certain way gets old.  The ability to get up and go was everything I ever wanted, which was why I would protective style every so often.  Coming up on my decision to lock my hair in March,  I was wearing my hair in mini twists. I loved them and redid them every 3 weeks to a month just so it wouldn't tangle or, essentially loc.

That's when it dawned on me! An epiphany! Why am I fighting what my hair already wants to do on its own. The tangles, my twists meshing together after a month- HELLO! LOL! its my hair in its most natural state. So why not take the plunge? And thats exactly what I did. And I love and have loved every little itty, bitty minute of it.

Now dont get me wrong, some days, I hate it and others I don't but that's with any and everything.  Take it one day at a time. And it's something to look forward to, the fruits of your labor-- knowing that one day, I'll have locs down my back and all the time in the world because I wont be sectioning my life away. LOL!

Until Next time Lovvies.

P.S. Upcoming posts include a montage of photos of mu hair journey, why I went the microloc route and more! Please stay posted. :)

And I lied to you-- #ForgiveMe

Guys..

I did you wrong. Lol.
So I know I had said I would try and put up more looks during this heat wave week.  See what had happened was. . . It was just too damn HOT. Everyday I threw this hair up in a pony and let it be. I just couldn't be bothered. I did try with tremendous effort one morning but it was jus another variation of the roll and tuck once again.

Today was my day off and my hunny's bday, so I actually took it out of the ponytail for a change.  Last night, I decided to retighten just my edges because they were getting out of hand.  This morning, after getting dressed, the number one motive was, "Get it all out of my face."  So, I simply parted my hair down the middle and put two platts on either side and pinned them in place, leaving the back half out and hanging.  This style was so simple that I reconsidered putting this post up a few different times. However, I thought to myself "nooo, I gotta put up something."

And of course, your pics as always. Lata Lovvies.

Heat Wave Anyone?

Today headed the beginning of a week long heat wave. Don't get me wrong, I love the summertime but I hate to sweat. So this weather called for all things up and out of my face. While getting ready for work I came up with a simple variation of the roll and tuck. I parted my hair in the back into two sections and rolled them to the front, securing with a hair pin. I then took all the leave out from both sections and made an off-centered pompadour. Quick and cute and definitely kept me cool. Stick around throughout the rest of this week and lets see how creative I can get with these styles. Lata Lovvies.

3 months Today!!

#POW! 
So today, June 25th makes 3 months since install. I am in the middle of retightening (have the back two sections to do still).

Any differences? No, not many. My hair still has the braid pattern (no surprise there--) which makes me consider tasking myself with doing over each lock from root to tip with the interlock method.  The very last row of locs in my hair, feels a little firm and does little to no unraveling which is a good sign. :) I have no budding that i know of as yet.  However, I am still washing once a week and rinsing every other day.  I am currently wearing my hair in a bantu knot out because, as you all know, i hate the spacey nature of a fresh reti.  I am also looking into some products and watching some vids to kind of tweak my regimen a bit.  Anywho, i'll put up some pics, of course.

And I just want to thank you all for reading and keeping up with me. I see my views sky-rocketing and i'm just fascinated by the thought, support and interest shown.

Until then, Lata Lovies

Always up for a change.

Ive always been the type to change my hair styles up every two seconds. Literally. Whether with my own natural hair or with weaves added in, I was always down for protective styles. Sew-ins, braids, twists, crochet braids-- it didn't matter, I loved them all.

A part of the reason why I went the route of microlocs is for that same reason. I need to be able to have the versatility to appease my desire that pops up every so often. I figured with smaller locs, it would be easier to disguise if need be. With traditional locs, wigs can be worn but im not much of a wig connoisseur. The smaller the lock the greater the chance of me being able to braid it up, tuck em in and sew-in tracks or even single braids. I never thought to look on YouTube for anyone who has attempted these plans of mine because I just didnt think I would find anyone sharing that interest.

Well imagine my surprise when I found this video that I will link below while watching some of the channels that I am subscribed to. This lovely lady's YouTube name is MsArtistri and she just took the idea right outta my head. Im not into making videos and plus I need a new lappy first before I reconsider but I am too grateful to find someone who thinks the way I do. So check this video out and subscribe to her channel. I plan to crochet braid my hair maybe in the fall so be looking out for that.

Until then, Later Lovies

Watch "Havana Twists: Hiding my Locs!" on YouTube

Two months!

MAY 25TH 2013! marks my two months of bliss. I have had my microlocs/ braidlocs in for a whole 60days. Its been awesome, I still love them. As you can see from the frequency of my posts lately (or the lack thereof), not too much has changed. At least nothing significant enough for me to talk about.

Overview:
-Frizz is the name of the game. Its all over, cant even hide it or stress it and I don't. Comes with the territory.
- The ends of my hair are a tight spirally curl and I adore them. Gives my hair some pizzazz and character
- I've been going to the gym lately and because of all the sweat, I find myself washing my hair twice a week.
-I still do rinses every other day

I will be doing a somewhat of a comparison between the locs in the bac of my head started with interlocking and the braidlocs in posts to come so look out for that. Also, I will be retightening my hair next week on my days off since it has been four weeks since my last re-ti.

Until then: enjoy some pics from my birthday on the fourth and some recent shots of my hair.