This blog is to document my loc journey that began August 13, 2009. I hope to be able to allow others to follow me in my journey so that I can share everything I learn from experience and hopefully learn from others' experiences with their own natural hair.
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
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
I've had a few days with my starter locs and I now understand, firsthand, why some people have a hard time committing to their locs. Over the past two days I've thought about taking them out either because I realized that my scalp doesn't seem to be ready for locs or I started thinking that my locs seem bigger than i really want them to be. So I figured that I had two options; 1. take them out and prepare my scalp, or 2. take them out and get them redone at the salon by my school. I do have a problem with the salon by my school though; I don't think I can trust a loctician with a perm (hm...maybe that's why they only charge $40).
I ended up solving one of my two problems yesterday though. I took the locs that i felt were too big and I spit them in half. I'm a bit happier with them now.
As for my other problem, I think i will invest in apple cider vinegar and begin doing weekly scalp rinses. Especially since I'm advised not to wash my hair for approximately two months. [Note:Most people can wash after about 1 month, but apparently since my hair is so soft and fine it will take longer to loc and so I'd have to wait longer before my first wash.]
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.
