Hair Texture and Impatience

Well, my daughter is waffling now--a typical teenager. Now she says she just wants braids. I told her I am NOT spending an entire weekend braiding her hair, just for her to take it down in 6-8 weeks....

I like my hair a lot. It is growing fast. One of my friends commented just yesterday on how fast it is growing. It covers my ears now--which is good because it is so cold outside!

I actually have a couple of locks in the back--yes already! I think I mentioned that in a previous post. But this is unusual because of the texture of my hair. My hair is so loosely coiled that I am sure it will be another 4-6 months before it starts to lock. I wish my hair wasn't so resistant to locking! I am so impatient, I know.

With my first set of locks, most of my hair was so not wanting to lock that I had to do what some of our "white" family have to do when they want locks--back comb my roots! I only had to do it once though. After that I twisted with gel, using clips to hold my twists down until they dried.

I am happy that with this method I can avoid the back combing!

Re-Tighten #2

I did it! I re-tightened all my microbraids with the NappyLoc Tool. It took longer than the twisting (my first re-tightening), but I really like the results. These pictures were taken the day after I finished.

It took me about 9 hours to do my whole head. Twisting only took about 5,so the time investment was substantial. But, again, I liked the way my braids looked and felt after better after this re-tightening, so I will continue to use the tool.

Some things to consider if you are thinking about using the tool:

1. Don't be afraid to adjust your tool. I got the smallest size available and the loop was still to large for my braids. So, at first, re-tightening was really frustrating because the end of my braids kept coming out of the tool! I used some pliers (covered with a towel) to crimp the loop so it was narrow enough to hold my braids.
   
2. You have to be very careful not to grab neighboring braids when you are pulling your hair through. I did this a few times and had to undo some freshly re-tightened braids to fix it! Otherwise, they would have joined (grown together), resulting in locs that are too big!
3. Re-tighten when you can get in a full rotation. When you are using the interlock method, you pull your hair through the root at 4 positions on a clock: 3, 6, 9 and 12. It is best to end at 12 so that your braid lays down. If you stop at another position on the "clock" your braids might be pointing in all different directions! Washing takes care of some of this, but....
4. Don't over-tighten! The first few I did (I worked from back to front), I got a little over enthusiastic. I ended up with a couple of bumps on my neck because they were too tight! This is also a good way to weaken your locs, so don't do it!

After I re-tightened, I washed my hair. I oiled my scalp and put in some leave-in conditioner (not a lot). I really like the Carol's Daughter line of products. I braided my hair while it was wet, then sat under a dryer for about an hour. My hair was nice and wavy! It was so nice that my daughter said she wants braidlocs now! She is finally convinced to go back to dreads!!!! I am so excited! We are going to braid her hair up this weekend!

Need to Re-tighten

I just took these pictures. I am about to re-tighten my hair. I will use my NappyLocs tool. And I'll post more pics when I am done.

Out on the Town

Last weekend, my sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., hosted a Heritage Ball. My friend Sloan came. She is the one who turned me on to Sisterlocks, so I had to take some pictures of her and her beautiful hair when she was all dressed up!

Tighten Up #1

Here are a couple of pics after I retightened all my braids. I chickened out trying the Nappy Tool I purchased, but have promised that if what I did doesn't hold, I'll used it.

I used my old method of twisting with wax and gel after a thorough wash. It took me a long time--about 5 hours. As I twisted, I used metal clips to hold them in place, then sat under the dryer after to set it in place. This morning, before I had my DH take the pictures, I misted my hair with Carol's Daughter Leave-In Conditioner for Dry Hair. The next time I re-tighten, I am contemplating trying her Hair Honey instead of straight bee's wax. It contains wax, shea butter, and a lot of other good, natural stuff. If you have tried it, please let me know what you think!

Three Week Pictures

Here are some pictures I just took. I have had my microbraids three full weeks now. I have washed it twice in that time. Very little slippage. I have used my Nappy Tool to fix a couple in the back, and tighten a couple in the front.

A Gentleman's Locs

Check out these pics. My cousin Freddie buzzed through town on his way to NYC and I couldn't resist taking a couple of snapshots of his dreads. I am so glad I had my camera in my bag. Absolutely gorgeous, don't you agree? He was upset with me when he first saw me--sans my locs, but got excited when I told him they are on their way back!

Two week pictures--October 2008

Here they are! I took some pictures last week and finally got a chance to download them. Sorry the quality isn't better. I will try to get my husband to take some close-ups with his new camera soon.

Got Me a Nappyloc(TM) Tool!

Hey all!

I am excited because I got my NappyLocs Tool in the mail the other day. I used it to retighten a couple of my braids in the back--yes, already some have grown out; some others in the back have just come completely loose (just 2 or 3), probably because I haven't been tying my head up like I should. I ordered the smallest size tool. It is pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. My only challenge is that my hair is so curly on the ends that it was hard to feed the end of my braids into the opening. Once it was in there, though, it stayed in and I was able to do a couple rotations (just using the simple 9-6-3-12 pattern that came with the tool) pretty quickly.

Shout out to my cousin Leecy--she is in the contemplation phase. I have encouraged her to go to the Locked Hair Blog Exchange to get more info and inspiration. If you are reading this and you haven't been there yet, follow the link on the left or click on the text in this post!

WOW! I got tagged too.

I have been tagged!!!!!

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share 6 non-important/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag 6 random people by posting links to their blogs.
5) Let each of them know they've been tagged

Here are my random facts:

1. I am afraid of heights.
   
2. Academic writing is really hard for me.
3. I live in a development where all the houses look the same. After 4 years, I still have trouble finding my house.
4. I love Disney World!!!!!!
5. I don't like butterscotch.
6. The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth.
   

What a Community!

I am amazed at the number of black folks embracing this movement. I am also overwhelmed at the amount of information that is out there on the web to help others make the journey. I wish I had access to all of this 10 years ago, when I started my first set of locs!

Peace, Dr. Locs II

My Daughter

I had to add this photo. It was taken right before my daughter decided she wanted to change her hair. She had been wearing locs since she was about 7 or 8 years old. She is 14 in this picture. For the last 18 months she has been going between straightened and braided hairdos, trying to find herself. I hope that she will find her way back to natural...

My Beginning (again)

Last weekend, I braided my hair. Yes, it took me all weekend and yes, I did it myself. I have about 400 microbraids. These are some pics of them. They aren't all the same size, the parts aren't perfectly straight--I did do all of this myself after all; it is really difficult to get the back of your head together, even with three mirrors! My ends are really curly. That gives you an idea of the texture of my hair. I have also added some pictures to a previous post so that you can see what my hair looked like when I had my dreads before.

I ordered a Nappylocs tool last night. I have a friend who has Sisterlocks and she recommended it. I have also been doing a lot of investigating into the different methods of maintaining dreads with a tool (just do a Google search with that phrase and you will get some good hits). I really want to avoid twisting this time, which is how I maintained my locks before. I don't want to have to worry about my hair getting wet between washings, and messing up my twists. And I was always avoiding swimming, unless it was close to time for me to re-twist!

Peace, Dr. Locs II

Shift in My Thinking

I haven't posted pics yet because I haven't had time to download them. I'll try to get to it soon. The test locks were cool. More on that later. (I added this picture, which was taken just 3 months before I cut my hair. The girl next to me is my daughter, who cut her dreads the previous Spring.)

I do have an update though. I think I have decided not to do Sisterlocks. Sisterlocks look really awesome, but are really expensive to get and maintain. I have been really struggling with whether I want to make that $$ commitment. Despite what you may believe, PhDs don't make a lot of money. And when you add student loan payments to the mix--do I need to go on?

So, I think I will do what I did when I started my dreds before--braids. When I started my dreds ten years ago, I put my hair in a bunch of single braids, then just started twisting it as it grew out. But, my dreds ended up being pretty thick and got really heavy, especially the last two years I had them in. My hair grows pretty fast, and even with cutting it regularly--every 6 months I would hack off about 6 inches (no I am not exaggerating)--it was thinning from the weight and regular twisting.

So as I am thinking about all of this, I hear from the consultant that put in my test locks. She had some surgery on her hand and will not be able to do anybody's hair for about a month. That was my sign that I should reconsider.

This time around, I will start with much smaller braids--micro braids. This will give me the versatility I am looking for without the expense. And, I can continue being in control of my own hair!

Now I just need to get motivated to get braiding....

The Beginning

I am the Dr. Liz mentioned on the drlocs blog. After years of persuasion, I have finally convinced my sister (and maybe our mother) to free herself and go natural.

I had traditional locs for almost 10 years, until last February. My hair was starting to thin, so I cut them out and started looking for another natural hair style. I'll be posting pictures soon so you all can see what my hair looked like before and what it looks like now.

After a lot of searching and asking questions, I have decided on Sisterlocks. I had a consultation early this week and now I have some test locs in. I'll keep all of y'all posted on the progress.