How it was... How it is...

Hey y'all!!

I had some free time today, and I was like "I need to catch up on my blog."

So here I am.

I just counted and realized I'll hit 21 months on Monday. I mean literally counted. lol I don't really ever think about how long I've had them anymore, so when I did the math, I was shocked and had to count it out to make sure. lol

I know I have a couple of new lockers following, so I wanted to do a post that shows how some of the things I worried about when I started locking are going now.

 

• The loc that couldn't -  When I started, I had a loc at the nape of my neck that kept coming undone during my first month.  It was braided at the top and bottom and loose in the middle.  I took it down and rebraided it, then secured the end with a black rubberband. I worried about this poor loc for at least 3 weeks straight. 

1 month, 2 months, 21 months

It's fine now.  All that stress for nothing because it looks just like my other locs.

• Combined locs - In September of 2012, I combined 4 locs into 2. I worried that they would be huge, or that they wouldn't lock together, or that they would be totally noticeable in my hair.

They slimmed down and started locking together. Can't see them unless I look for them.

• How much thicker will they get? - This was a concern even before I started my locs. I wanted relatively slim locs (which is funny to me now, because most of my current fav locs on other people are thick). 

Month 2, Month 21. 

 LOL The first pic is back when I first got these beads. I used to have to pull 3 braids through, now some locs are too thick for them. :) So basically, they got thicker, but not more than I expected.  I ended up with the size I wanted.

• The front won't lock - I worried about this for a long time.  My front locs didn't really get going until months 5-11.  And even then, it was going so slow that I worried they'd all be braids forever and I'd hate them. 

Month 5, Month 21

 I've still got one braid that refuses to loc... and I love it. It gives my hair character. People ask me all the time how I got that one to do that and I'm like *kanye shrug* lol Again, I notice it if I look for it, but day to day, I don't even think about it anymore.

Now you see it, now you don't lol

 First pic I held the loc out so the camera could catch it, second pic I let them fall naturally.


My hair isn't growing - It has to shrink to lock. That's a fact. The sooner you deal with it, the easier it will be. It will take you a while to see progress in length if you started with longer hair, because shrinkage is a mofo.  Don't think that because you can't see the growth in the mirror, it's not actually happening.

Top Row: Day 1, Month 10 Bottom Row: Month 17, Month 21

I hate to quote Drake but... Started from the bottom now I'm here!

If I could give one bit of advice to new lockers, it would be:

Patience is the key. Mother Nature will work it all out, so don't worry. 

*flips locs* Deuces!!

A Very Merry UnBirthday Pt. 2

Look how soon I'm back!!  LOL


I finally finished tightening my hair yesterday.  The re-twisting was cool and I definitely will use it in a pinch, but OMG I was so happy to wash my hair!!  I'm not used to having anything in my hair and that gel was making my scalp itch like crazy!!

I'm really here to tell you about something I've learned since starting.  When you first start your locs, you have this vision in your head of what they are going to be like.  When you first have your installation, it may or may not match what you pictured.  Don't sweat the small stuff!!

When I first started I had a few braids that I thought were going to produce locs that were too big for what I wanted.  I split them into 2 smaller braids.  In the last 10 months, I've learned that what I thought I wanted isn't what I actually want, and that super small locs are not for me.  I'm too damn lazy to be trying to tighten 200-300 locs myself lol

Most of the locs that I had separated, I have since combined. As a matter of fact yesterday, I turned 4 locs into 2.  I have 4 more that I plan to make 2 eventually, probably after the new year.  *shrug* We'll see.

Usually I just latch the roots together and twist them, but these have thick ends from budding, so I twisted, then rubberbanded. I'll take the rubberbands off on my 1 year anniversary, which gives them about a month and half to get with the program.  I know some people don't like to use rubberbands, but I used one on my loc that wouldn't lock and didn't have any problems with it.

New babies!!

I'm out for now, talk to you later!


*flips locs*

Deuces!!

Making Lemonade

Hello all!!

I know I'm a horrible blogger for being gone for so long, but summer is my favorite season and I try to spend as much of it outside with my family as possible. But I'm here now, so let's get to what's really important... the hair!!

I hit 10 months yesterday!  I was happy and nonchalant at the same time. The overall excitement has worn off for me, which I actually think is a good thing.  It means that my locs aren't new to me anymore.  They are another part of myself that I just expect to be there like my fingernails or eyelashes. :)  To be honest, I hit 3 years natural on 8/18 and didn't even remember until a couple of days later.  For someone who spent the first 2 years consumed by my hair and various products, the fact that I forgot was a moment of pride for me.

Here's a couple of pics of what my hair is looking like at 10 months.

Back view - still got a couple of braids in there. :)

Ponytail... I don't usually wear this out of the house, but I still sleep like this most nights.

Random basketweave.  I do this a lot when I want my hair out of my face.











So I know you're like what the heck does lemonade have to do with her hair?

Well tomorrow I'm going to a wedding.  My plan was to spend 2 days this week tightening my hair.  It's been about 9 weeks since the last time I've tightened. (What can I say... it's summertime and I'm lazy! lol)  So I got through about 1/4 of my hair and then my yarn needle broke!  So rather than keep buying things that will break, I ordered a nappylocs tool.  Great...except it won't be here until sometime next week. So in the meantime, I decided to try a retwist.  I don't normally do that because I wash my hair about every 3 days so it would be a waste of time, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

It actually came out pretty good!! 

So that's what's up with my hair.  I promise that it won't be 2 months before I update again!!

Texture shot!!

Until the next time, keep it nappy y'all!

*flips locs*  Deuces!!

7 Months...almost :)

Hi everyone,

I haven't been updating like I should have been.  No, this is not one of those instances where you follow a blog and then the person just disappears for 2 years!!  I'm actually getting ready to move in 2 weeks so things have been a little crazy.  I've been working overtime to get everything caught up before I'm off and I've been packing (which I hate!)


My 7 Month anniversary is in a few days and I had some time to update now so I decided to use it!  This is going to be just a short photo post to show you where I'm at now.  I promise to give you the update you deserve once I'm all moved and settled.

Half pony on a hot day!!

The back!!  Still have a couple braids that refuse to give in LOL
                                          











 

As you can see, some of the front has finally started to lock!! *snoopy dance*  














I latched my hair yesterday.  It had been 6 weeks since the last time I latched.  My new growth ranged from:

                





This...          

....to this!  Yeah... I know crazy right!













That's all I got for now.  I'll be back once I get moved.  In the mean time, keep it nappy y'all!!

*Flips locks* Deuces!!

Let's Talk About Latch Baby!!

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

Sorry I've been away so long.  School started back up and life got hectic.  I seem to have everything under control now, so I'm back on my blogging!


Let's talk about latching! 

I have a sensitive scalp, so I have to wash my hair at least every 3 days. This is the main reason I have decided to interlock my roots.  This is my 2nd time latching since I started locking.  The first time, I had 4 weeks of new growth and it took me between 2 and 3 hours.  This time I had 7 weeks of new growth and it took me 6.5 hours!  Lesson learned... I will be staying on a 5 week schedule! If I wanted to spend 6 hours doing my hair, I would have kept putting twists in every three weeks lol.

I used a yarn needle for the ones that haven't gotten too thick yet, and a latch hook for the nape of my neck which has bunched and locked into weird shapes. :)

My tools

To get my locks into the yarn needle, I fold one in half and thread it through the eye.

I use a 3-6-9-12 rotation although I have found a few that aren't growing as fast so for those I have been using 6-3-12 or 6-9-12.  I do try to always end at 12 so that my hair is pointing down when I'm finished.

Here's a before and after of my hair... as you can see, I clearly needed to tighten my hair lol

I have been storing up pics while I was on my blogging break so sometime this week, I'll have a style post... and then my 3 month anniversary is coming up!!

Until next time, keep it nappy!!

*flips locks* Deuces!!