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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My Journey into Nappturality

I realized that I haven't mentioned anything about my own journey into napturality so here is a little question and answer session about my journey. (and no the photo to the right is not me!

How long have you been natural?

I really can't even remember but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say since about 2002 or 2003.


Why did you decide to go natural?
Well, it really wasn't a conscious decision that I made. I, of course, had been a permie until the emergence of braids and micro braids. I had been wearing braided styles since about 1991 or 1992. Occasionally, when I would take them out, I would relax my hair if I was wearing it out for a while or sometimes just the edges if I wanted my braids to look nice. Most of the time I was in braids anyway so becoming natural just kind of happened. I realized that because I was just going to re-braid it anyway, why bother relaxing. I turned to braids because I liked the growth factor. My hair grew so much when I was pregnant and in braids and I wanted to keep the momentum going so to speak. During that time, I was the hair board queen, I started looking at photos of natural hair and all of a sudden relaxed hair seemed less and less appealing to me.

Did You have a long or short transition?
I guess while I was...
wearing the braids, I was actually transitioning without knowing it or at least without planning to so I would have to say long. My plan was to stay in braids but the more natural heads I saw, the more curious I became about my own natural hair.

Did You Big chop?
Not really but I do remember the day I cut off my relaxed ends. I had talked my mother into getting braids, (her first time ever and she had a really cute cornrowed style) After taking them out, she washed her hair without combing it out first and was met with a head full of matted, tangled mess. She then got out the scissors and cut her hair down to a TWA and a week or two later I followed suit. (not down to a TWA mind you,because I had some length from wearing braids for so long) I remember that day like it was yesterday. I had just stepped out of the shower and just decided to cut off my relaxed ends. (a month or two before I had taken down a braid and cut the relaxed ends off of that section) I still wore braids for a while after that until scalp issues and a bald patch made me ditch the braids for good. I didn't totally miss out on the Big chop though as I was forced to do it 2 years ago after a bad dye job left me with broken edges around my hair line to about an inch back.


What Do You Love about being natural?
I love the versatility that I have now that Im natural. I love that my hair is big and beautiful and stands up straight and salutes people as they pass by. I love the fact that water is now my friend, raining out? No problem my hair loves it? No more talk of sweating my hair out, no more swimming without getting my hair wet, no more burns from the curling iron and sitting in hair salons for hours on end.( although that was a rarity for me because I have always been a do it yourselfer as far as my hair is concerned.) I love everything about being natural, I mean really, What's not to love?

What types of styles do you wear?
I mostly wear twists,and twist outs. I ,on occasion when I can get it right, wear wash and goes and puffs (although I haven't worn a puff in a while now). Currently I'm contemplating locing so I've been in twists now for about a month or so. I'm the type that likes to stay playing in my hair and I love to change it up and experiment with products a lot so right now I'm just trying to see how long I can stay in twists without touching them and I'm finding it hard as hell.


What's so hard about it?
Well the most difficult thing for me is to not re twist my hair when they start looking fuzzy and lose. As a matter of fact, after a month or more of twists(I think some even began to bud) I took them down and re-twisted them two days ago in an attempt to make them smaller.

So have you decided to loc for good?
I think I'm just about 99 percent there. I really love the look of sister locks but my mind just cannot rationalize me spending upwards of $600 to have them done. I also like the look of braidlocs and that is something that I would be able to do myself since I was the micro braid queen ( and yes I did my own) but I figure if I somehow changed my mind, un locing a braid would be too difficult to do so for now, I'm settling with my twists. They aren't as tiny as I want them but they'll have to do. I did happen to meet someone who inquired about my hair and told me that her niece had just gotten locks. Of course I talked her ear off and she told me that her niece had gotten sisterlocs for $100 bucks. Now that is definitely doable with me but unfortunately, her niece wasn't with her at the time so I couldn't see if they were actual sisterlocs and how they were done.

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To Loc or Not to Loc, That is the Question?

I have really been toying with the idea of locing my hair (although I doubt that I'll ever go through with it) but I absolutely love locs. I find myself ogling loc'd heads whenever they pass my way. I think I'd look cute with locs and besides, I'd be sure to get some awesome growth which is my number one priority. I just want shoulder length natural hair including shrinkage which is about 95% for me. I've been viewing some natural hair albums and I think if I ever were to get them, I would go with the sister locs. They look beautiful, are about the right size/width, and seem to be more versatile as opposed to regular locs. I tend to like them shorter and thinner. I even thought about twisting my hair and just wearing it like that for a few months to see how much growth I get. I like to switch up my looks a lot and the fact that locs are for life(or until I cut them off) is what scares me most. While I have seen some people who have successfully "Un loc'd" their hair without cutting, I seriously doubt that would work for me. Unraveling my twists after a week or two is hell for me so I couldn't even imagine what trying to un loc a loc would be. I know some people decide to get dreadlocs for spiritual reasons but believe me, it isn't that deep for me. I think they look fly (peep the pic and tell me those locs are not fierce!) and I like the growth factor. That's it, that's all.

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