Guess what?

Yes, I have switched it up again and combed out my locs that were progressing quite nicely. Why did I do it you ask? Well I restarted them using another method. I know you are probably thinking that this chick has hair ADD but honestly, I don't. I am 100% sure that I am locing. but the twists weren't feasible for my lifestyle. Quite a few of them had actually started to loc towards the ends, but the roots were another story. I'm a frequent washer, at least once a week and more often than not, more than once a week. I have scalp issues so washing or at least wetting my hair is a MUST. I just didn't like having to deal with the constant unraveling every time I washed so I decided to start them over using braids. Took me 3 days and I just finished up yesterday. Honestly, I don't like the look as much as I did the twists but this is definitely more manageable for me. (I washed as soon as I finished up with my last braid) Had a shampoo bar that I just had to try. Anyway, it felt lovely to wash and still have my braids intact, no unraveling, no need to re-twist or retighten. Loving it. I just want them to get that Older look too them because they are considerably more "scalpy" looking than my twists were. Anyway, I guess they were born on inauguration Day! Whoo Hoo!

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Good News New Yorkers: J crew is Having a Sample Sale

Clothingline, is hosting J.Crew’s Sample Sale in New York City.

WHEN:
January 20 - January 25
Tuesday 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

WHERE:
The Sale will be held at:
261 W 36th Street
(between 7th & 8th Ave)
2nd Floor


DETAILS:
Items will be up 70% off retail.
Mens, Womens, CrewCuts, J.Crew Collection & Madewell will be available.
Over 20,000 units of clothing will be at the sale.
Dressing rooms will be closed during this sale.
Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, debit cards, and cash will be accepted.
The entrance and selling floor closes up to 30 minutes prior to the close of the sale.
Call 212-947-8748 or email jordan@clothingline.com for more information.

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HIL Disease is a real problem

I am suffering from HIL (hand in loc) disease. I mean it's a real issue for me. I can sit and play in my hair for hours on end without even realizing it. I find myself. twirling, pulling massaging and doing all kind of things to my hair. Impatience is another thing that I must overcome. I'm just ready for my hair to loc already. I'm lucky in the sense that I believe with my hair texture, it won't take long for me to loc. I'm guessing by 4 or 5 months I should have progressed fairly well.

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My poor babies

I have been neglecting my hair so. I almost became a semi freeformer as I haven't had the time to re-twist. I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not but I redid my twist locs on Christmas day, Took me three days to complete. I was satisfied with them overall but I wanted to make my parting neater. Anyway. I rolled it up using pipe cleaners and had beautiful curls while I was away. Needless to say, my head was itching something terrible so as soon as I came home, I washed it. That was about a week ago. I re-twisted the top and sides but never got around to the back so ya'll know I was looking a hot mess. Last night, I finally got around to finishing my re-twist and now I'm sitting here in some pipe cleaners(make shift curlers) wondering what the end result will be. I also oiled my scalp with coconut oil in an attempt to combat some of the itchies due to dryness.

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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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Parabens, Petroleum and Mineral Oil Oh My!

Disclaimer: First Let me start off by saying that this is MY opinion and My Opinion only!!!

This posts stems from a question regarding a particular hair product. Someone was interested in trying it out, loved the ingredients and loved the price but then saw parabens listed way down on the list of ingredients and then said "Those ingredients sound lovely but oh it has parabens, Oh Well, I have to find something else." Now I don't know if this person has had bad experiences with parabens, her hair hates them or she's just going by what she's heard which brings me to this little ditty, If it works for you, by all means keep doing what you're doing.

I personally am not one to buy into the all the hype about no petroleum, mineral oil, and blah blah blah. I will try the product regardless of the ingredients if I think its something my hair might like. If it works for me then great, if it doesn't then time to find something that will work. When I was younger, I had my scalp greased, semi regularly and my hair never looked better, was thick, full, natural hair. While I did get my hair straightened as a child, I never had any chemicals in my hair until I was about 11 or 12 years old.

Anyway, my hair was healthy and strong back then. It amazes me that someone can get a slew of compliments on their hair, raves about how healthy it looks, how much and how quickly it grows and how shiny it looks. The person can say that they grease their scalp with Blue Magic Hair grease and then all the hoopla about how bad petroleum is for your hair starts. Never mind the fact that you.... just complimented the hell out of this person's hair and the fact that its thriving. Now this person who has seen nothing but great results from incorporating this into her regimen automatically stops using grease because of the hype. Why? If its working for you keep doing it. Everyone's hair and scalps are not the same. What works for one may not work for the other, I don't care if you are hair twins.

Case in point. My hair loves creamy anything, leave-ins, conditioners you name it. I read rave reviews about Giovanni Direct Leave-in. Ran out and got a bottle and it did nothing for my hair besides make it hard. Worked wonders for other folks but did nothing for me. YOU are the best person to determine what is GOOD for your hair. You know your hair and what it responds to better than anybody else. If Petroleum works wonderfully for your hair by all means use it, If mineral oil is your things, don't stop. This may not be the popular thing to say but I just thought I'd share.


DISCLAIMER: I am by no means advocating the use of these products if they have not been proven useful in your regimen so don't run out and buy some Vaseline on account of me

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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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