One Month in!!

So on April 25th, 2013, it was officially one month since install. WOOO! \(^.^)/ So here are some pics: This first one is a shot of the back-- the left is after install and the right is one month later.

This second pic is of the sides; the left pic at install and the right one month later.

And this third pic is a texture shot-- the left is how it looks now and the right was at the time of install.

Can you spot the differences? Well for one, the color of my hair at install is darker because I did rinse it with a black semi-permanent hair dye. But with the constant wetting of my hair the color had no chance. Two, there is the texture difference. Within a month's time, more fuzz has accumulated and my ends are extremely curly and hold a tight spiraled curl without product. And three, there has been quite a bit of shrinkage. It may not be terribly noticeable but I can definitely tell. I'm sure I can look forward to WAY more shrinkage as the locking process begins to occur though. Lastly, about two weeks in, I tweaked my regimen just a tad. I was waiting to post about it to see how my hair would react and because it is doing well, I shall be filling you in here LOL. I continue to spritz my hair every morning with aloe vera and water however, every other day I complete douse my head with water. Its just a rinse, no product, no poo, and no conditioner. I have read during my research before install that water is definitely your friend during the locking process. The constant wetting and drying causes the strands of hair to expand (when wet) and retract (when drying) which will cause the hairs to become more uniform in how they lay and eventually begin to lock. Now, every locking journey consists of trial and error and experimenting but I do find this point to be valid. The ends of each lock bundle together and spiral as one as I showed in my "Just a Look" post. With that being said, I stay far from wet setting my hair as much as possible and only on special occassions to allow my hair to do its thing without my hinderance. So this is it!-- For now. I still have fill you guys in on my color change! X_X Lol #StayTuned ~Ciao Bella