Holey Dreads!- update

Remember my post holey dreads? Well here's what I've learned about my baby locs. The bumpy-ness I felt before was because of the relaxed hair being interlocked. It apparently doesn't like it. Also, right at the line of demarcation there was and still is bunching going on. My relaxed hair and my natural texture hair are fighting in that area. Good fight, but I already know who's gonna win.

Line of demarcation of relaxed and natural hair. Sometimes causes bunching in which can make the loc bumpy.


The holes in the locs and the Y shape bases come from rotating in the same direction twice or rotating from the same point while still alternating. Confused? Don't worry. It's me, not you.


If 4 points is being used in rotation then it should go something like : 9,6,3,12. Well if the circumstances are right meaning you wait too long in between you retightenings and your loctician has to do alot of new growth combined with the loctician loosing her place, sometimes it could end up being: 9,6,6,3,12 or 9,6,9,6,3,12.

No worries. I've also learned on my journey that there are few things that I should actually be so upset about and Y shape bases and bumpy locs are not 2 of them. Why? Because it can be fixed. Before I blow things out of proportion I try to think and ask myself these 3 questions:

1. Is the problem REALLY that serious or is it just a nuisance to me?

2. Can I actually solve the problem or have it solved for me in a way that is carefully thought out? In other words, Can it be fixed?

3. What did I learn by meeting this problem and can I prevent it from happening again?


Oh yes, A new start, a new me. What makes me happy? Being stress free!

I'm planning a makeover

I want a new look. I think it's time for an update on my wardrobe. I want to look sexy and fashionable, but also age appropriate. I'm not interested in mini skirts paired with leggings. To me, that's for the teenagers. And I sure don't want the knitted sweater with all the big flowers knitted in the middle paired with tan or taupe color elastic waist pants. That's for my sweet granny. I'm looking for a look that's me. A look that saids I'm cool, casual, fun and feminine. I don't want to look sleazy trying to keep up with the teeny-boppers and I don't want to look like me and my mom could go for sisters. Catch my drift?

I 'm planning to add a more color to my look. I've always gravitated to the outfits of more conservative neutral colors like the browns, blues, and grays. Which is ok, I just need to add color and change it up a bit. I went to this store called Dots and I really liked what I saw. I think I'll start there. I'll probably post before & after pictures just to see the comparison.

I feel as though I'm headed in the right direction. When I saw this bag it was a "I gotta have it" bag. This will be too cute for spring. I think.

These 3 I feel would be great addition as well. Nice colors!

These cuties were found on www.dezignerfashions.com

~~Big shout to my girl for having such cute bags!~~~

Comparisons!!

I'm so excited! I just learned how to put 2 pictures side by side for a comparison using the program Picture It. As you can see, it doesn't take much to get me excited!! Trying to put pictures side by side on Blogger seems impossible. Anyway, here are my comparisons.

Big difference when you get your locs retightened huh.



The arrow indicates how much growth I've had. There's a subtle reddish brown color that has moved about 1.5 inches from my scalp. Yea!!!

My hair at work, school, and home

I've have been thinking alot about my hair lately. I think about how my locs are changing and what impact that will have at my work place. My locs were installed in December of 2008 while my workplace was closed during the holidays.
Before I left for the holiday break I wore my hair somewhat like this....

Well when I returned to work in the January of the new year I looked somewhat like this..

Now obviously there's a big difference. Most people at work thought I had microbraids. You know what, I let them think it. Why didn't I tell them right then that they were locs? What was I afraid of? I don't know. I haven't completely wrapped my head around that one yet. Only a hand full of co-workers know that these are locs that I'm cultivating. Well after 4 months, my locs are changing. They are not as shiny as before. There are becoming a little fuzzy. And surely someone is thinking, When is going to take those braids out? I don't know. Maybe it's all in my head in my situation. I get compliments about my hair. I always had. But now they're from different people. The people that complimented my flat wrap (1st picture above) are now not saying much about my hair nowadays. At first they did because it was different. It was curly looking. Not kinky looking. Now my texture is peeping above the relaxed ends. Well guess who is paying the compliments now. One black natural hair wearer and a couple of Caucasian men. GO FIGURE!

I try my best to keep my hair professional looking while at work, but baby locs are rebels! They go and grow the way they please. They defy gravity. I have even tried to pin my hair up only to find 5 to 6 locs that had escaped after a few hours.

When I leave work I go to cosmetology school in the evenings. There I feel as though I have more freedom. I have actually gone to school without a roller set. No curls whatsoever. Before I went inside, I put my hands in my hair and tossed it up. It was everywhere. Walked in the door and my gentlemen classmates went crazy! :-) It was like.......

~What's different about you today? ~Wow, you just have a glow about you! ~Did you do something different to your hair?(Yeah, freestyle) ~Can I get a hug? ~Can I touch your hair? ~Your hair is so cool! (teenage admirer)

Needless to say that I enjoyed every moment of that, hehehehe.

At home, my honey is wondering why it doesn't look like the woman he saw on the blog yet (Blak Kofi). Ugghh! Men! My daughters all take it differently. My oldest (13) likes it. She thinks its "straight" which is quite the contrary, but her way of saying she likes it. My 9 year old is still trying to figure it out, and my youngest (8) wants to know when will it be straight again, like I had it before. She liked the flat wrap long and straight down my back. My mom doesn't say much. She's more of an observer. My sister is contemplating locs because she likes mine already. My dad hasn't really seen my hair in the past 4 months and my brother could care less if I was bald. :-) That's just the way it T. I. is

Anyway, I'm enjoying it. I love it actually. I must admit I do have some anxieties like, will my hair turnout right? And I consider myself a patient person, but my baby locs are trying my patience. When will they look like locs? When will "buds" develop? I'm learning to calm down. See what new adventures awaits me on my natural hair journey. What obstacles will I face? What triumphs will I have. I think I'll sit back, strap in, relax and enjoy the ride.

4 mos

I follow the lockitup group on yahoo and give my input if I have any, but most of the time I just read to see what others are going through. Well one post that I read recently just stayed with me. I don't remember the arthur of the post but she stated that no locs are perfect, and she's right. I'm still kind of chewing on that. I look at my locs in the mirror sometimes and think to myself, "why my locs don't look like miss lady's blog picture?" Then doubt sets in and I think maybe I shouldn't had locked my hair. But I now quickly put those thoughts in check. These are my locs. They are "Kikilocs." Yep, I have bad hair look days. I say bad hair look because I have learn to accept that my hair is not bad. Neither is anyone else's. It may be straight, wavy, kinky, coily, coarse, or thin, but none of it is "bad" hair. I have locs that are bunching mostly because I still have relaxed ends. I have the little white follicles peeping though. I have a few locs around my hairline that just defies gravity! Some stick straight up in the air and others stick out from my temples. It all looks like I trying to pick up radio signals, LOL. But they are mine. I'm learning how to accept my hair for what it is. I go with the flow. I work with it. My locs are definitely changing in appearance. I'm starting to get the "Oh, you're locking you hair" comments. Instead of the "Oooh, cute curly braids." comments. It's great. I must admit, I anxious for more length so that I can cut these relaxed end off. How so true that patience is a virtue.

~Closer to my scalp it looks wild and fuzzy, but then I see my locs sprout out. Somewhat neater than the root.

~My baby chopped locs showing off some length and color

~Definitely 2 textures going on here.

~Most of my locs at the nape are starting to settle. Not all, but most of them. This is my favorite loc in that area. It stays put and it even starting to curl up at the end like a little ball.