April 2010 Re-Tightening

Life has been full since I last posted. I have re-tightened my hair a few times between now and October, but haven't had the time to take pics or blog.

So here are a few. This first pic is of me at the local Mexican restaurant for my birthday It was taken about 2 weeks ago.

The others were taken today after re-tightening and braiding out my locs for a couple of hours. I don't have to band my hair when I wash it now, which is nice, and I re-tightened in about 4 hours.

Some of my locs are "bumpy," I think because of the texture of my hair. My traditional locks looked a lot like this too.

I haven't cut my locs any more! I am trying to just leave them alone and let them grow. It is long enough to pull back in a band off my face, which I like. I've only started doing that the last week or so.

Well, that's it for now. Happy Easter!

A Year Later

I re-tightened yesterday and just realized as I was uploading these pictures that it has been about a year since I braided my hair up and started the re-locking journey! Wow!

In that time I have contemplated taking them out and starting over, changing the re-tightening method, going to larger locks, and even shaving my head. I've been really frustrated with the time it took to do my hair, after having traditional locks for so long that only took me an hour to re-tighten. I have also experimented with some different products--wax, loc butter, gel, etc.


I have also cut my hair at least three times because I've gotten fed up with frizzy ends and unraveling braids. And I combined most of my locs, because I was really tired of spending 8-10 hours on my hair, even if it was only once every 6-8 weeks (on average, though I have experimented with timing of re-tightenings too).


All that to say that despite all the trial and error, I am happy with my hair. I have found what works for me as far as maintenance of my locs. You will too. Just keep the faith and don't give up on your natural hair journey!


Here is what I did for this re-tightening:

1. I washed my hair with Suave Clarifying Shampoo, then used a deep conditioner. I know there are folks who say not to do this, but I have found that I really need to. The beauty of black hair is that we are all unique--keep experimenting and find out what works for you!
   
2. Then I interlocked the new growth by hand. I have found this to be faster than using the Nappy Loc Tool for me. I don't interlock as tightly as I could because that really gives me a headache for a couple of days (and I am not tender-headed). Instead, I twist the small amount of hair at the root. I have found that this just makes for a "neater" looking loc. Yes, I prefer the "groomed" look. I use some Lock n Twist Gel, along with Loc Butter by Carol's Daughter for the interlocking/twisting.
3. I finish with some Carol's Daughter Lisa's Hair Elixer and Black Vanilla Leave-In Conditioner. When my ends get too frizzy (they are still "open"), I use either Carol's Daughter Mimosa Hair Honey or Hair Milk, depending on how bad it is!

My hair is locking very nicely. The size of each lock is good, and I have gotten the re-tightening down to 4 hours. I can live with that! My hair still grows pretty fast, but I don't think I'll cut it again for awhile. I'd like to get some length to see what I can do with it. Stay tuned!!

August Hair Update

It has been so long since I posted pictures of my hair! I just finished tightening it up and took these a few minutes ago. At the end of June, I got fed up with my loose ends and cut about 2 inches off. It is growing back--y'all have seen previous posts where I talk about how fast it grows--but still not as long as it was at my last hair post. A couple of things have developed regarding my hair.

The first is that I decided to join some of my locks. They were just too small and I was spending too much time on my hair for re-tightenings, despite getting faster at doing it. Even with fewer to tighten, this session took 5 hours.

Another thing is that I do have some bunching that I am just leaving alone. Because of the texture of my hair, even with braiding and banding, some of my locks would bunch. I am tired of picking them out. Plus, once I am locked up good, I will be cutting off the braided part anyway. As you can see by the pics, it doesn't look too bad.

One other thing is that my Nappyloc tool is too small now! Between joining some and others swelling--like locks do when they start to mature--I can't fit the ends into the tool. Guess I should order another one.


Update on my daughter: we've had ups and downs. Overall she is doing much better emotionally, although we did have a few bad days right before school started. She was really stressing about some things and ended up having a meltdown on the first day. She spent her study hall with the counselor and came home in a much better mood than when she left. As far as her hair, she has been working on taking out all the little braids I put in her hair. She has changed her mind again! I told her when I put them in that if she decided to take them out she was on her own--I spent 14 hours putting them in!!

My progress on the tenure track was derailed for a few months. I told one of my mentors the other day that I went through this period of feeling like none of this academic stuff mattered. I mean, by the time I get tenure, my youngest will be almost done with high school. I can't turn back time. I have to make them my priority. When I am at home I need to be able to be a mom, not a professor. So, this week I started making the most of my time in the office so that when I am home I don't have to worry about reading an article or writing another page.

And I am working on making time to write every day. I did pretty good this week. I wrote something every day, but didn't always do it for at least 30 minutes. As the alcoholics say, "One day at a time."

April re-tightening--series 4

And more....

April re-tightening--series 3

April re-tightening--series 2

More pictures...

April Re-tightening pictures--series 1

I took these today, but re-tightened last weekend. Still growing like crazy! I am posting these in batches--blogspot is acting wonky and won't let me upload more than 3 at a time....

March 2009 Re-Tightening

Here are some pics of my re-tightening, taken on Monday, March 2nd. I spent part of Sunday on the re-tightening after a good wash, then braided it while it was still wet. Same process as before, except I didn't need to wash with bar soap! Still growing and still fabulous!

On the faculty front: this week has been stressful, for a lot of reasons. Why do people assume new folks know the university policies and procedures??? Through my ignorance, I am finding out that the person who really runs the department is the chair's secretary (duh, Toki, you're just figuring that out??), who questions everything I do (behind my back) and goes running to my chair when "something is amiss."

But, e-mail is a wonderful thing, used correctly. I document my conversations with the chair with a follow-up e-mail, or make my requests for things via e-mail so I have a written response from her. So, the secretary's attempts at sabotage have failed. Still, it's an almost daily hassle that I wish I didn't have to mess with.

I've decided that I need to write a paper on the mental health of URM faculty, because mine is suffering.

I Think I Finally Got It!!

I think I finally figured out the best way to do this retightening thang so that I get the results I want and don't spend the whole weekend on my hair. Let me know what you think about these pictures, please!

First, I banded and washed my hair thoroughly with bar soap--yes bar soap. I really needed to strip all the stuff out of it and get my scalp sqeaky clean--it had been too long between washes.

Then, working from the back, I used my fingers to do the interlocking--if you haven't seen Nubian Locked Princess' YouTube video on this, check it out--instead of the NappyLocs tool. I used a little of Carol's Daughter Loc Butter on wet hair. After the loc was as tight as I could get with my finger method, I used a little Organic Root Stimulator Twist n Lock Gel to smooth it down. I held finished locs in place with metal clips and kept a spray bottle handy to keep misting.

Once my whole head was done, I spritzed my hari with Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla Leave In Conditioner (my scalp needed the moisture after the bar soap).

The whole process took about 6 hours--much improved from 10-14 that I spent the last three times I retightened! And I like these results much better.

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.

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.

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!