My Hair is Coming Along

So My hair is coming along.  I have started latching since I wash so frequently and I have really gotten the hang of it. I don't like to spend money frivolously so I started off trying to latch with a latch hook since I had one already.  It was easy to get the hang of it since I know how to latch hook but It kept getting tangled in my hair and was just a mess.  I then tried to make a tool out of a paperclip.  The clip turned out to be much easier but my hair still kept getting caught on the clip and the tape that I wrapped around it to cover the  part where I twisted the paperclip.  I then moved on to using a yarn needle and I absolutely love it.  No catching on the hair, no awkwardness, it glides through the hair easily and it really is a breeze to use.  Yes,  I have  gotten the occasional two locs latched together and believe me its no fun trying to undo but other than that it's been working out quite lovely for me.  

I'm still going back and forth about the size of my locs.  I  love the look of bigger locs on other people but I wanted the size of sisterlocs for myself.  I had them small (not sisterloc sized) but then started worrying about them being too small.  so I combined some.  Then I saw photos of people who's locs seemed as small if not smaller than mine and then I wanted to make mine even smaller.  (hard to do once you've latched ) so I had to leave them be.  No (while they are a nice size, I still think that once they mature they might get even bigger and I don't want that. I was watching someone's You tube video, she also had braidlocs which were similar in size to mine when she first started them,  no they are huge. She even commented on the fact that she didn't expect them to get as large as they were and she didn' combine any.  That threw me for a loop because everything that I have read concerning locs states that they will swell and then condense not get larger.  Most who have started their own say that you should make your parts as large or small as you want your locs to be but hers didn't fit that theory.  I'm about a month in to my journey and mine are larger than I expected them to be considering their size when I first put them in.  I hope they condense to a size that I'm comfortable with.

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Wash day again due do the 'Itchies"

Today I washed my twistlocs. It's a true process for me. Normally when I decide to wash(since my hair hasn't loced yet ) I usually braid and then band my hair to cut down on the unraveling at the root. I normally band near the root and again near the end of the plait. This method works great for me but I have a hard time removing the rubber band from the end of the plait. It usually gets tangled in my ends and is becoming a real hassle. Since I really don't have a problem with my ends unraveling, I decided to skip the braiding and banding at the ends and just band near the root (sort of mini puffs all around).



The last time I washed, I used my prescription Loprox shampoo. I think it left a scab in my hair so this time I used baking soda , water and apple cider vinegar. I also used a drop of Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Castille Soap. (I need to see bubbles what can I say *shrug*) Anyway, I love the way my hair turned out. I still had some problems removing a few bands despite my not having banded the ends but my scalp feels wonderful. (I still get the occasional itch) but nothing like before. I really think my itchiness was due to dryness. If anyone knows of a sure fire way to combat dryness without hindering my locing process...I'm all ears. I know folks like to.... make spritzes with essential oils, carrier oils and water but that only works for me until it drys. By the next day, my hair has usually soaked up anything that was put on it and I'm back to being dry again.

Anyway, after I rinsed for a while to make sure I got everything out, I rubbed some jojoba oil in my hands and lightly oiled the puffs. I then removed the bands and oiled my scalp(very lazily I might add because I didn't feel like going through all of the parts) with my Jamaican Black Castor Oil. I can't believe how soft my hair is. Thats odd because personally, I don't think oils really work for me. The softness that I'm feeling today, I think has more to do with the baking soda/ vinegar wash than anything I did afterwards although I do believe it made a huge difference with my scalp. I tend to think of oils as more of a sealant than an actual moisturizer so if you know of any moisturizers(preferably creamy) other than glycerin or something that will cause product buildup....HOLLAAAAA! But anyway, I just sat there and played with my twistlocs for over an hour I believe. lol I can't wait until my hair starts to loc, I'm curious to see how they turn out. I'm sure I'll be combining some near the crown because that's my thin area and I don't want to experience any breakage due to weak locs. I took some of the twists, that I believe to be weak, out and braided them to give them a bit more strength. We'll see how it goes which is one of the reasons why I wanted to make them small ...this way if they don't turn out the way I envisioned, I can always marry them and make them bigger.

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I Want Locs Already

I really need to stay out of my hair(and leave the photo animation alone haha) I had to redo quite a few of my twistlocs because I wasn't satisfied with the parting. (looked extremely crooked to me) Anyway, Some had progressed as well as can be expected for me having put them in on Thanksgiving or the day after. (I have to check to make sure) I still am not totally satisfied with the parting so I may do a thorough inspection when time permits so I won't have to redo anymore.

I did them really tiny because I was trying to get them sisterloc size, Besides, It will be easier to combine them if later on down the road, I decide that I want them bigger. rather than to start off big and later decide that I want them smaller. So you can have an idea of how small I'm talking, here's a few photos.

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I'm loving my Twists/Locs so far

As I've said in previous posts, I am seriously considering locing my hair. I have had twists in for about 3 months so far off and on. I plan to see how long I can leave them in without redoing them or wanting to wear my hair out. Anyway, I wasn't quite satisfied with the way my twistlocs turned out so I redid them on Thanksgiving (or the day after) to a size that I'm happy with. I've washed them quite a few times because I can't deal with the itchies and while I have had some unraveling near the root, the base tends to stay put. I am in the process of retwisting now (been at it for 3 days now because I do a section at a time lol (yeah I know I'm lazy but I don't have too many more left to do.) They look kind of scalpy in the crown area because that's where I had my scalp issues but hopefully they will thicken up a bit so the scalpyness won't be much of an issue. They were also newly twisted so that's part of it as well.

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