6 MONTHS!! (Halfway there!)

Saturday marked my official 6 MONTH LOCIVERSARY!!

I'm only halfway to my first major loc-related milestone!

I didn't do much to celebrate, I had a friend-date in Valentine's Day (definition: friend-date (n.) - a date with a friend of which there is no romantic interest) since N and I couldn't see each other. The spot that we went to was a little punk rockish and though it does normally fit my usual style (i'm usually a cross between punk, goth, and emo), I decided to do something different.
Before loccing, I always wanted to rock a Mohawk/Fauxhawk but I never quite knew how to accomplish it. The sectioning method never looked right to me and pins just wouldn't work right so I just never wore one. I don't know what reminded me of the style Saturday, but i tried again...the first time since I've locced my hair.
I was never a big fan pins. They can come loose, they sometimes break hair, and they're not always easy to maneuver so that they're not see. I'm also not too peachy on potentially impailing my loc with a hair pin...it feels like I'd be stabbing myself in the finger. So I went straight for the sectioning method and this is what I came up with:

The back looks just as I wanted it to, but I couldn't quite come up with something just right for the front. I don't want it to look just as the rest...that looks odd to me. I tried doing a basket weave on the front, but that didn't look quite right so what I ended up doing was leaving a few locs out in the front to act as sort of a bang. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but at least it didn't look weird any more and it helped frame my face a bit better. As time goes on I'll try to perfect it as best as I can. Until then, i love my lochawk!

To the newer locced newbies

I found out recently that my friend, Camille has decided to begin her own loc journey. Her journey started yesterday. It's kinda crazy how locced hair has become a culture all its own...it felt like an addition to the family.
I'm still a newbie to the locced life myself, but I feel that at 3.5 months I've had a bit of experience and can share with the newer newbies what I've learned and/or experienced.
So Cam, this is for you!

1. First and foremost; do your research. If you don't have any locced friends you can ask questions, turn to the internet. There are many bloggers and vloggers that talk a lot about their locs and their experiences. But obviously if you're reading this, you've already figured that out. I briefly talked about that in my Backstory entry.
   
2. When starting your locs you really don't want them to be much thinner than a pencil. While thinner locs look nice, they are tiresome to take care of and are prone to breakage when they are mature. If you have locs that are thin and you're noticing that they're starting to get thinner, try combining them. Some people will twist them together, others will sew them together. There's a lot of information online about combining locs, see what they have to say and decide on what's best for you.
   
3. Avoid butters and waxes. While theoretically they seem like they would loc your hair faster, they actually just make your hair sticky and cause buildup and mildew in the long run because they never fully wash out of your hair. Gel, however, breaks down much easier in water and can be washed out...meaning no buildup.
4. Try your best to stick to natural products. Your hair is natural, it only makes sense to use natural products, don't ya think? I've read about others using Aloe Vera gel to retwist their locs. I would love to start using Aloe Vera gel to retwist mine, but I think I'm gonna finish off the gel I'm using now before I start. I just hate wasting things and it's not like my hair is hating the gel I'm using now anyway. (I talked about the gel I use in my Brief Product Review post)
   
5. If you plan to get your hair professionally done, keep watch on what they are putting in your hair and how they are handling it. Stay away from products that contain petrolatum and mineral oil and, as I said before, avoid butters and waxes. Also, know that locs are generally twisted in a clockwise motion. Don't think that just because the person is working in a salon that they must know what they're doing, often times they just know what they're taught and not neccesarily what's healthy for your hair. When chosing a loctician, it's a good idea to choose one that has locs themself; at least they'll have personal experience. When I was thinking about having a salon start my locs, the loctician there was a permed woman...sorry, but I just couldn't trust that. If she were at least natural, I could've felt better about her. Personally though, I think it's best to DIY; I believe it creates more of a bond between you and your locs.
6. Many people think that you can't wash your hair at all in the baby locs stage; this is just a myth. If anything, the water helps your hair loc faster since the water encourages your hair to curl. The only thing you should be careful of is using too much water pressure; you don't want the pressure to unravel your locs. What I did was use a container to pour water over my head when washing. (Check out my 2 weeks/Just to Clarify post)
   
7. There is an awkward stage when your locs are new. Don't get discouraged...just stick with them. It isn't called the teenage locs stage for no reason...think of it as your locs going through puberty; they'll get through it.
8. Though you may not want to display your locs during it's awkward stage, you don't want to keep them covered up all the time...let them get some air every once in a while.
9. Keep them moisturized. I've found that a spritz of water and essential oils keep both my hair and scalp happy and healthy. I normally spritz before bed and in the morning and whenever I get a chance in the middle of the day.
10. Last, but definitely not least, listen to your locs. You'll find that they have their own personality. When they aren't happy, they won't hesitate to tell you.

So that's all I could come up with, but I would be more than happy to share my own experiences and answer any questions anyone else may have. Don't hesitate to ask.

2 months

I have now reached the 2 month mark of my loc journey. To "celebrate" I washed my hair WITH WATER PRESSURE! You never realize how much of a difference the little things make until you don't have them for a little while (and in my case, also go back). Before today I'd be just been using a container to pour the water/rinse through my hair. While that did get it clean enough, most times it seemed as though the water is washing over the dirt and dander rather than washing it away. I typically did at least 5 rinses to wash my hair. Washing it today, however, i didn't need as much to get as clean. Unlike pouring the water over my head, the pressure of the water seems to push the dirt off the head and hair.

So what's so important about washing my hair with pressure? The significance is that after washing my hair with pressure, my locs remained intact! This means that my hair is definitely locing! I also noticed the change in length as I can now feel them on the back of my neck! WHOO HOO!!

Well I'm not sure if I am making much sense in this post because I can't organize my thoughts right now: I'm falling asleep as I write this, so I'm done for the night.
Goodnight, people!

1.5 Month Lociversary

So I did write an entry for my 1 month mark, but my internet connection dropped just as I hit the button to post and I lost everything I wrote :-(. From then i haven't really been motivated enough to write it over (until now, of course).

This Thursday night marks 1.5 months into my journey. This morning while i was driving to class i happened to have my hands in my hair while thinking to myself "i really need to re-twist these again." That's when I noticed one of my locs starting to bud [budding - knots starting to form on a loc]!! I'm so happy and excited. i think I want to adorn that loc with a charm/hair jewelry just for sentiment. I'll wait until it's more mature before I finally do it though...it will likely be the first one to fully loc anyway.


I wish you could tell in the picture which one is budding, but oh well. If/When I get a charm, you'll be able to tell. Maybe I can make something myself! That'd be even better! Hm...I need to get some designs together :-D

2 weeks/Just to Clarify

As of Thursday, my locs are now 2 weeks old.

I was experiencing some very itchy scalp during these two weeks. At first I figured it was just my hair going into shock since I would normally wash my hair weekly, so I diluted some castile soap (organic and leaves no build up, a huge plus for people with locs) and rinsed it through my hair. As I was rinsing, I saw a lot of gunk rinse out with the water. The itchies were gone for a little while, but then before my scalp completely dried, it itched like crazy again! But for fear of scratching my head raw (because it just itched that bad), and creating flakes in my hair that would look like really bad dandruff (since I wouldnt be able to comb it out) , I forced myself not to scratch. A a week later i did the same thing again, figuring that maybe there was more gunk than I thought and I needed to rinse more, but I got the same result. The difference that time, however, was that I broke down and finally just scratched.

I was so grossed out by the crud I felt on my scalp and then felt under my nails. That was when I realized my problem...build up. Before locing my hair, I hadn't clarified for over a month because I had a lot going on and just forgot. And the castile soap,though it does clean, doesn't clarify. So today I moistened my hair with a spray bottle of water, got some clarifying shampoo, and went between and around each loc spreading the shampoo on my scalp. When I rinsed out the shampoo, I saw all the gunk rinse out with it and I rinsed until the water started to run clear. Then I rinsed one more time with diluted castile soap, let it sit for a minute, then again with water. My head felt lighter and my scalp felt like it could breath. The ultimite test was that I could scratch my head without getting major gunk under my nails.

My lesson for the day: shampoo can still be your friend

Starter Locs

I started my locs today!
I had a friend start them for me this evening since I leave tomorrow morning to go back to school in NC. I really don't have much to say about it now, but I wanted to share the beginning of my new journey with you.


The first pic is the last picture I took of my hair out. Right before I left to get my starters.
I took the second pic right after I got back home...clips still in my hair and all. This is how I'm sitting right now as I write this post.


And so the journey begins...