Happy Natural New Year!

I would just like to close this year by wishing everyone a blessed new year.  Of course, I had to include some pictures.  I did a lot more styling late 2011 and there is more to come.



Nov 2011




Dec 2011





Dec 2011



Are You Feeling This?

The traditional lockers rock some great updos.  I think that's how I got inspired initially to do my twisted updo.  I'm really feeling it.  Are you feeling it like I'm feeling it?

To achieve this style make numerous two-strand twists over you entire head.  I curled them on Lock Loops overnight (this step may not be necessary).  In the morning, I start at the nape pinning and tucking twist over twist, it is a random process. It looks intricate but its quite easy.

Just be thankful for what you got

Daughters, I'm sure, are fine but sons can say things that make you feel good.  My son and I were playing tennis recently.  I was playing pretty good for someone who has been skipping the workouts for awhile.  I told him don't let the gray hair fool you.  I then corrected my myself and said silver hair.  He took it a step further and said you mean platinum.  Oh yeah, I like that.  From now on I got the platinum.





I combined two locs for the first time.  The one on the bottom was too thin.  I plan to cut the two-headed dragon in a couple of months.





Last week, I kept my hair in two-strand twists.  My sister said they looked like churros.  Ask me if I care.

I'm starting to enjoy my locs even more now.  I got a style idea the other day.  I'm not sure if I've seen anyone else do it.  I hope to pull it together next week.  Stay tuned and have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

Halloween Look

I'm calling this Egyptian Queen

Sorry, no good pics of the entire look.  I didn't purchase the dress as a costume but I got inspired to style it for Halloween.  I had all of the accessories already, down to the snaking bracelet (placed on my upper arm), Chianti Wine nail polish, and the sandals.  I'm still wearing variations of the updo and getting lots of compliments.  Be blessed.

B-Day Style Two-fer

Hey Everybody

I decided to try a braid-out for my b-day.  I got this two-fer idea from a Youtuber, check her out in the link at the bottom.

So these are my locs in a braided basketweave. Looks like I needed more braids along the perimeter. Next time should be much better.

 

The braid-out

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91mQlpvCMbA&feature=channel_video_title

From Damage to Health

Two years in and I'm still trimming those overpressed ends.  I cut the end off of a dozen or so more locs.  The hair below was loosened within a couple of minutes.  No locing was going on.  I'm fortunate that I have been able to hold onto this hair for so long.  I'm sure by year 3, I will no longer have straight ends.

In this picture, you can see that one side is definitely longer. For some reason, the right side is breaking off more than the left.  I'm not worried, just going along with it.


History

Two-strand twists June 2009

Blow dried Sept 2009

Sisterlocks Oct 2009


Now

Oct 14, 2011

Oct 14, 2011

It's My Locversary!!!

October 14th

I spent so much time on this post.  I lost my text and had problems with getting the pics right.  This is gonna have to do for now.  These are pics to show my progress over the two years.  I will post my latest pics this weekend.

Oct 2009





Nov 2009









Dec 2010

 







May 2011



 



 

Sept 2011





Something different

This was an attempt at a twist-out.  I actually really liked the pre-style.  I wore it for two days.  The twist-out wasn't so hot.  No pics.  I plan to do this up-do as a style again.  If the twist-out works or not; I'll be fine.  I know that my twists need to be tighter to get wave definition.

Celebrating

October is my b-day month and my locversary.  I considered doing 30 styles in 30 days, but I decided against it.  What I will do is share more about my loc journey for the entire month.  I haven't talked about my product usage in awhile.  Below is a picture of the products that I have been using lately.  Most of them are definite keepers.



Immediately After Coloring

Naturtint-I used this haircolor in August to permanently get rid of my brassy ends.  Well, the color came out too dark so I got the bright idea of shampooing with V05 to lighten it a little.  It worked.  I liked the color but it continues to fade.  (The V05 was too drying, I've been using it as a body wash instead).  Naturtint was 20% off when I purchased it, still ran me $14.  I will give it another try probably this month.  The color I used was Natural Chestnut.  I didn't color my whole head because I don't want to cover my silver.  It's mine and I plan to keep it, at least for now.  One box of color barely covered my ends.

Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo-This shampoo makes my scalp tingle, it cleans w/o drying my hair and it is sulfate-free.  I usually used it before applying temp color.  It is a keeper.

Nature's Gate Shampoo-This shampoo is also sulfate-free.  I purchased it several months ago to use for the weeks following my temp color because, it has color protection.  It smells like pears, it worked fine, I wasn't crazy about the scent.  Not sure if I will buy it again.

Sisterlocks Moisture Treatment-I like this product.  I use it as a leave-in conditioner after shampooing.  It softens my hair just enough.  I liked the scent but noticed that when I purchased it earlier this month, the scent was clearly different.  It doesn't smell bad, its just not what I was used to.  It is a keeper.  I called SL customer service to ask about the scent; I'm still waiting for a call back.

Extra Virgin Coconut Oil-I ditched all of the other oils for this one.  I have been using it for months.  I like to apply it along with the SL Moisture Treatment after shampooing.  It is not oily.  It absorbs quickly into my hair and skin.  It rinses away easily.  I know this because I wasted some on my sink.  It cleaned up so much easier than other oils.  Keeper!

Sisterlocks Green Tea Shampoo-I purchased this shampoo for the first time, recently.  I've only used it once but I think I like it. 



Three weeks after coloring



It's in the picture

I pulled my hair up for a quick style on the way to work yesterday.  When I arrived, I decided  to take a picture to see how the back looked.  I noticed something odd in the picture.  After looking more closely, I realized it was a Lock Loop that I failed to remove.  If I had not taken that picture, I would have been walking around half the day with that thing in the back of my head.

I coming up on my 2 year locversary.  Hope to have lots of pics and lots of styles.  My overpressed ends are probably gonna have to go soon.  Some of them departed on their own.  The rest will need to be cut.  It doesn't look too bad but they tend to tangle and they are really thin.

Stay tuned. 
P.S. If you haven't blogged in the last 6 months and your locs are 3 years or younger, we miss you.  Please update.  Thanks.

Locs in New Jersey

Not sure why my locs looked different (thicker) on the East Coast

Some Styles

These are a few of the styles I've tried lately.  It still does not fail; if I wear an updo I get compliments.  When my hair is down, usually nothing. 



 

Instead of flat twisting, I just sort of rolled the sections inward.  Flat twisting would have left short pieces sticking out.



I got the bright idea to take down some locs in the front due to their size. Twenty minutes in and only 2 inches up the loc, I got that idea out of my head. 'Work what you got' is likely to be my motto because I'm just willing right now. The locks in the front are pretty much sealed and the straight ends are gone so definitely not a good plan for me to try to re-do them.





Hey Lockers

What's new with my hair?  Well, my truly natural hair is really starting to take over my semi-natural hair.  To be more specific, I have two textures competing and the natural hair is winning.  In some areas of my head the ends are disappearing.  In other areas, the semi-natural is still strong and surviving.  I will post upclose pics soon. 

Last month, I wore a simple updo and got more compliments on that day than ever before.  I don't have pics.  I just piled my hair up, no big deal.

I learn more and more about my hair as this journey progresses.  The spritz and go does not work too well for me because my ends are not natural; they simply droop and frizz.  Its good that I prefer my hair with some curl.

Tip:  My former SL consultation advises her clients to not pull, curl, style etc. for at least a few days after a re-ti.  She feels that the extra pulling can lead to hair loss.  I have been trying to follow this advice.  To make it work for me, I shampoo and roll my hair, then re-ti the next day. 

I know I promised to do more styling and take pics.  I'm working on it.

Until next time, be blessed. 

18 Months!!!





April 2011

Day After Installation Oct 2009

April 14 2011