Retightening #3 December 2008

I retightened about 2 weeks ago, but didn't take pictures until today. I was way overdo for a session--I was at a conference in DC and intended to do it in the evenings, but my luggage was lost for two days!

I retightened a couple last night because I had some slippage. For my second retightening, I thought I might have retightened too much. My head hurt til they loosened up some in a couple days. So this time, I didn't tighten as much as I could have. I think I actually undertightened. Thus the need, just two weeks later, to retighten some again.

So, I am working on finding the right balance. I am also joining some of my braids/locks. After 3 months, I think some are just too small, especially given my hair texture.

I am beginning to wonder if it would have been better to interlock my hair (or have Sisterlocks installed), instead of starting with braids. I would have still gone to DIY. But the braided part of my hair won't lock, so I will eventually have to cut it. I did this with my first set of locks. I started with much bigger braids, though (only had about 100 on my head). Once my dreads were shoulder length, I cut the braid part off. It just looked really weird, especially after the dreads got to that mature, swollen stage. I don't think I'll wait til my hair grows out that much!

Another thing I am struggling with is the time it takes to retighten. When I had traditional locks, I washed my hair every couple weeks and spent only about an hour twisting the new growth with some lock gel. Retightening takes a lot more time. This last session took me about 8 hours. I think I may take some time every week to tighten, if I can manage it. We will see.

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....