Loc Extensions??

Well, I've been watching a few vids on youtube about loc extensions. Now, the first time I saw anything about loc extensions, they kinda looked just like silky dreads...a look I definitely do NOT want for my locs. It would be quite obvious that they are extensions if so. However, the loc extensions that they have out now look just like real locs! I dont know why I want them, I guess I'm just being impatient. I want to wake up one morning and have these long gorgeous locs....or maybe I'm so used to being able to change my hair with weaves that I just haven't adjusted to this length or being limited. I love going through all the stages of locdom...the buds, the frizzies, latching too tight, latching too loose, trial and error with different products. Its a very interesting journey to say the least. But Jeez, I want some length!!! NOW!! Loc Extensions? or Should I just wait it out?? **sigh**

Good Hair Day ..finally :-)

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New fav' products!!

Ok, so I love love love these products: Coconut Papaya All Natural Shampoo by Nubian Heritage; Shea Butter Plus Moisturizer and Horsetail & Rosemary Hair Vitalizer by Organics Africa's Best, and Intensive Moisturizing Conditioner by Pantene Pro-V's Relaxed & Natural line. Both of the products by Organics are mineral oil and petrolatum free! I use the Shea Butter Plus to Moisturize my scalp after shampooing or co-washing, and a few time during the week. I use the Horsetail & Rosemary on my locs, not my scalp, for daily conditioning/strengthening. They both work very well, especially the Shea Butter Plus...again because of my eczema the richness relieves and prevents outbreaks. The Coconut Papaya shampoo is very rich as well, but i don't shampoo my hair that often to prevent stripping alot of the natural moisture out of my hair. I still love the shampoo! It cleans very well and I haven't seen any residue after washing! Love it! I like Pantene's conditioner, i use it in between shampoos to co-wash and it does the trick. However it's not as rich as I would like, but it locks in the moisture for the most part. I plan on trying Nubian Heritage's all natural conditioner, which may work better for my hair.
So, are your favorite products??

Going With The FLOW

One of the best parts about wearing my hair naturally is showering!! Showering without worrying about keeping my hair from getting wet...actually, Preferring to get my hair wet! I love it! Letting the water flow thru every follicle...another beautiful moment of FREEDOM! I'm so glad that my hair is locked now, except the little babies in the back that are always unraveling. In the beginning, I still couldn't get my hair wet very often...yes, even us "latchers" have to worry about unraveling. But its been a little over 6 months now, so I'm good to go. When the babies in the back slip a little, I just grab my latch hook and tighten them up a little...not too tight because my hair easily breaks. I also would NOT recommend washing your hair/soaking your hair with water every day because it strips alot of the natural moisture out. Even when I "go with the flow", I condition my hair and rinse before getting out. Another tip, do not wrap your hair while it is still wet...it can cause molding from the inside of your locs. ewwwwwww. Air drying works best for me!
So now, I'm debating on getting a rainshower shower head. :-)

Brown Paper Bag + Locs = Cute Curls!!!

Yeah, I did it! So what! Lol Last night, I reached back into my goodie bag, took all the goodies out and ripped the bag into little pieces to roll my hair. LOL something I had seen my mom do on many occasions as a little girl. I thought it was hilarious, didn’t think it would actually work. So I tried it, mainly because my locs aren’t long enough for the kinds of curls I want right now soooooooooo….paper bag was the next best thing. It worked!! A few in the back fell out already because I used my water & evo spritzer this morning, but overall it turned out pretty cute. You should try it! :-)

my fav lil bra strap! lol

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“Uhhh, Why Did You Do THAT To Your Hair????”

(Before w/weave) (1st month natural) (4-5months into loc journey)

I’ve heard this question so many times already, in many different variations. Sometimes it can be irritating and other times I welcome the inquisitiveness of others. Mainly, when older people…family, friends, foes, whomever….. ask with disapproval “What made you wanna do that?”. As if there is something wrong with not putting chemicals in your hair, not straightening your hair, not putting artificial hair in your head. My response is to smile and say “because this is who I REALLY am”. Eventually it grew on them and they now love it too, or decide not to share their disapproval. Other times sistahs who aren’t ready for the natural hair change or who already are, ask with genuine sincerity. Again my answer is because I wanted to see me when I looked in the mirror and learn to find beauty in it.
Their questions led me to dig a little deeper to find out “who dropped the ball”! Which generation told us that our hair was unacceptable and how did it perpetuate for years throughout black culture. How did it all start?? Why did our grandparents buy into it and teach us to think the same way?
I know these questions are generalizations and I’m sure that there were plenty of families that have taught their little colored kids to love/appreciate/respect their hair and themselves, but the vast majority of us were told that we needed to straighten our hair. I remember my first perm…it was HORROR!!! My grandfather’s ex wife looked at my full head of natural hair with disgust and at the age of 12, sat me down and put a perm in my hair WITHOUT my mother’s approval. It was pure Hell. It burned, it stung, she was abusing every follicle on my head each time she combed it. My hair was just past my ear and super thick, so all my tender-headed folks can understand my nightmare. When I got home, my momma was pissed! She did not intend on perming my hair…at least not that soon. It didn’t take long for my hair to start breaking off and coming out, from that point on my hair was never ever what it was before that woman killed it.
Our generation has just about anything & everything to get that hair “right”, we have pressin’combs, perms (no-lye), ceramic irons, hair weaves, synthetic braids, texturizers….the list goes on and on. Now, this is in no offensive to the trailblazers like Madame CJ Walker who opened the door for us in the beauty/hair care industry but it is a bit disheartening that we couldn’t have found ways back then to manage our hair in its natural state without altering it to appear to the masses.
So now we have to face those folks who are still living in the era of Madame CJ, our grandparents, aunties, uncles, mommas, papas and people of both previous and current generations who still believe that our hair is unacceptable. I don’t think it should be taken as personally as we take it and I don’t believe they are intentionally being offensive. Its just like rude children, it’s not their fault that they were taught to believe/behave in such a way. As we educate ourselves, it is our responsibility to educate others and not condemn them for their hair decisions. Especially those, like I was just a year ago, at a crossroad trying to determine if the natural route was for me or not. All I needed was little encouragement and a little knowledge on how to maintain a cute natural style while keeping my hair healthy! :-)
“Why did you decide to go natural?” It was not a revolutionary movement, I am not making a statement against society, I didn’t intend on starting a follicle frenzy at work, The earth didn’t shake and God himself didn’t part the heavens to send me on a journey to loc’dom…It was merely a introverted decision for self-acceptance.

My Son Wants Locs!!! YAYYYYY :-)

A little bit of background: My oldest son is 8 years old. He has known mommy as a weave wearing woman for 95% of his life, just last year I laid the weaves to rest. I realized that my son actually believed that all women with long hair bought it from a store! L Sad, I know. So when I sat one night and took my weave out, he woke up the next morning and asked what happened to my hair. “Where is your hair mommy? Are you gonna wear it like that? I don’t like that! I like the straight hair better.” After that, I convinced myself that I was gonna keep wearing it natural! My child did not understand, like, or see beauty in kinky hair! I was disappointed and upset with myself. So my journey was not just for me, it was for my children as well. I wanted them to understand that there was nothing wrong with being black….esp after hearing him say that he wished he was white like Zack & Cody!!! At 7 years old, whatever was portrayed by media (mainly Nickelodeon and WETA) led him to believe that white was right and black was wrong. I looked at him and explained that this is mommy’s real hair. This is what most black people’s hair looks like when its not permed or bought from the nearest beauty shop. He looked at me with disgust and it definitely did hurt…. A lot! Natural black hair was not the perception of beauty that neither tv, society, nor his own mother gave him.
Now, almost a year later….my son looks at me and says, “Mommy I don’t want my hair cut anymore. I want locs like you and my daddy!” I melted inside! Not only does my little prince think my hair is beautiful, but he wants to have his the same way! Kids are a product of what they are taught through seeing and listening. If they constantly see weaves/permed hair and hear us demean our hair, this is what they will believe.
His dad has had loc’s for a few years now but it wasn’t official until mommy joined the team! :-)(had to brag a little) LOL
But here mommy goes again demeaning my babies natural hair as it grows...its still short, his last haircut was about 3 weeks ago, and his hair is extremely kinky and thick! Every time I brush it, it just curls right back up and looks very unkept by the time he gets home. He’s an 8 year old boy, rolling around on the carpet, doing flips and playing in the grass does not sit well with his current phase of hair. I am really fighting the urge to rush him to the barbershop! I love that my baby wants locs and now I have to again, retrain my mind that boys do not need a tight shape up and close-cut in order to look well-groomed. I do love men with locs, I think they are gorgeous. I guess I never thought about what it looked like in the beginning, when they stopped getting haircuts. Can I use the same products in his hair as I do mine?? Has anyone gone through this process??

I AM NOT MY HAIR……..??

I used to believe that, I convinced myself that it didn’t matter how I wore my hair did not define me or anyone else. And I guess there is some degree of truth to that for most folks. Its more like, don’t judge me solely based on the texture, tone, or style of my hair. But the style of my hair does bring greater definition to how I perceive myself, a certain level of confidence and self-worth that I did not have before. If you think about it, most people have a connection to their hair or is defined by their style of hair. For instance, you probably won’t find many, if any, ministers/preachers/pastors with a hot pink Mohawk! When people get their hair styled nicely or to their liking, they walk around with a certain confidence. Your hairstyle may change depending on the time of day, event/occasion, mood, or season. Wearing my hair in locs has definitely shown me how connected I am to these follicles. There were times when I wanted to just go to the nearest beauty shop and get a bag of weave, needle, thread and hook-it up! There were other times that I cried in the mirror saying, this is me…This IS Me! It is a test of commitment, strength and courage for me. I always wondered if I could be as confident with my hair natural as I was with a full-head of weave!
When I finally set my hair free, it felt a little strange and naked at first. I loved my teeny weeny afro my twisted mohawk, corn-rows, two-strand twist and all the various styles I was able to create in my hair. I finally began to see the beauty of my hair. Learning what to do and what not to do, how to prevent damage, what products to use and what not to use…it was like retraining my whole hair perception. I would walk the street and see all the beautiful black people of color wearing their hair and some made me smile, others confused me but all gave me joy and inspiration. Then it was time for the true test….to loc or not to loc???
So I rocked some 2-strand twists for a while, just to see if this was something that I would really want to permanently have in my hair. Then I did my first set of locs…which were horrible, my hair wouldn’t loc for crap, I even tried the horrible beeswax! Then I did a second set, back-combed…they were a beauty but after a week or so they were a lot bigger than what I wanted and I just couldn’t do the whole “don’t wash ur hair” thing. Lastly, I grabbed a latch-hook and went to town. I love the fact that I don’t have to use a ton of products in my hair and I can wash/condition it pretty often. The only downfall is that some of them are skinnier than I wanted but I see them plumping up a little so we shall see……….

the Ugliness of Eczema!

(from top: April 2009 pre-treatment, July 2009-3months after treatment)

Ok, so I have ECZEMA!!! Such an interesting skin condition, I’ve tried almost everything to combat it on my face, neck and arms. Didn’t realize it could affect your scalp as well. I kept trying to figure out why my hair wasn’t growing in this one spot in the back of my head, never really thought to link it to the eczema. So one day after washing my hair, I got a mirror and thoroughly examined the back of my head and scalp in that area. What I noticed was the eczema began to spread to my scalp. Anyone with eczema knows that scratching will only make matters worse, which is exactly what I was doing back there before….scratching daily, tryin all kinds of hair products to moisturize my scalp. After my “ahhhh haaaa” moment, I did a little research on the net to see what I could use on my scalp because hydrocortisone is NOT a good idea for your hair. Then I remember my youngest child had cradle cap, the doctor said it is linked to eczema…which both of my sons unfortunately inherited. She suggested using EVO (extra virgin olive oil) because it’s all natural and very effective on healing the cradle cap. The main issue with eczema is dryness and if not treated or scratched, will eventually spread, puss up and scab leaving your skin looking like alligator scales! Ewwww weeeee. So of course, I still had my bottle of evo because I just loved what it did for my son’s hair even after the cradle cap. For the first use, I conditioned my hair with it after a stripping shampoo by Black Earth, and then rinsed the EVO. I started washing my hair more often, starting with an ACV (apple cider vinegar rinse) then shampoo then condition with EVO…did that about weekly for a month. Now, I don’t use the EVO to condition but I use a couple tablespoons of it in my water spritzer a few times a week. The pics above are now and then shots…..So if you have eczema, I suggest using Extra Virgin Olive Oil and other organic/all natural conditioners or shampoos in your hair especially when you have a flare-up which is very common for me when the seasons change drastically. Also, I wouldn’t recommend using any stripping shampoo more often than maybe once a month or only when necessary if you have eczema or any other skin condition that attributes to excessive skin dryness.

A Misguided Journey

When I first decided to wear my hair natural, I thought "I'm tired of wearing weave, let me try something new." It was strictly about my hair.....so I thought. I realized that some folks in my own family had never seen my natural hair, shoot I wasn't even sure if I truely knew what my natural hair looked like despite the fact that I had been doing my own weaves for about 10 years or so. I never really appreciated my hair, I didn't necessarily like my hair. I thought it was difficult, damaged, and most of all unacceptable for me to be seen in public in such a way. So I wore weaves...long weaves, short weaves, curly weaves, colored weaves (1B/360), synthetic weaves, full caps, pony tails... Holla at ur girl! lol It didn't really matter as long as it wasnt MY hair.
I kept seeing women with beautiful natural hair but convinced myself that I just wasn't "an all natural kinda girl". I thought they all were trying to make some robust statement or all fighting a cause because they wore their hair and not someone elses!
I was very misguided!
wonder if anyone else had the same thoughts?? Now I know that it can be just a hair change for some and for others its so much more. For me, it is more about appreciating who I am completely...from my kinky roots to my flat feet. When I look in the mirror I want to see me, not some creation that took hours of manipulation to achieve.
I still love all my weave wearin sistahs, if it makes you happy and whole, then do u! People are so much more than they what we see, natural or not! :-)