WHERE HAVE I BEEN???

It's been awhile since I have blogged. I have been on vacation since the end of June and have been off traveling and relaxing. I took my locks to Fl and finally enjoyed the day at a water park. Next week I will take my locks to the Dominican Republic. I have lots of photos that will be posting shortly. I hope that all my followers are doing well. Stay tuned for tons of new pictures. I'm a week a way from being locked for four months!!!

First Re-Tightening! and Triplets

This is the side view of my hair before the re-tightening on the left. Note how the parts are no longer clear. Here's that same area in the smaller picture after. What a big difference.

This was what I called, "The Lock Mess". I don't really know when this happened. Everything was great until I noticed this. I usually wear my hair down, in a "loc soc" or "loc scrunchie" so I didn't notice what was going on.

Today I had my first re-tightening after 6 weeks from install date. I could not wait any longer. I called Patricia and emailed her photos of my locks. She agreed that we needed to move up the date of the re-tightening. I had sooo much new growth in the crown, back and sides (1/2" - 3/4"). I grew three new baby locks along the front of my hairline. I am so proud of them. I had some slippage but only in the back left corner. Notice the before and after photo. Believe it or not only one lock slipped there. The rest was new growth that made it appear as if the locks were gone. Due to the amount of growth that I experienced my re-tightening took 7 hours. I was pleased with the results and the obvious growth of my locks. I will have to schedule my appointments for every five weeks for now while my hair is experiencing such rapid growth. I don't mind because I like to keep my hair neat. The top picture is after and the second picture was taken right before my re-tightening.

Well I'm smiling again and loving my locks. My loctician and I agreed that for the month of June I would only use the SL starter shampoo although if makes my scalp itch, in order to sufficiently roughen the cuticle and help my new locks as well as the lock that slipped stay in the locking pattern.

In July I can return to using the SL Green Tea shampoo which I really like. The fragrance is very pleasant and my scalp did not itch from using it.

Girls!!!! It feels so good having my locks retightened and close to the scalp again. I should be good for the next 5 weeks. My two month anniversary is approaching.

The Bendable Rods

I enjoy co-ordintating my loc socs with my outfits and the bendable roller set gives me a nice curly puff every time. Here are the results of the bendable rod journey.

I set my hair damp on the rollers for about four hours. I generally wear my hair with a loc soc for now because my hair on the very front crown area is not as full as the rest of my hair because it is a different texture.

I enjoy using the bendable rods. They are very easy to use and my hair sets very quickly. I usually wash my hair at night and sleep in them but this time I washed my hair in the morning and only left them in for four hours. This is the third washing. I'm an old pro at it now. I had to give in and do my bendable rod set because my locks are much easier to control.

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Hair Accesories Galore

What do you do when you no longer need all the hair care products that I used to purchase??? You buy hair accessories, but not just any old hair accessories. I have always enjoyed getting packages in the mail so now I order hair accessories on line. These are a few of my latest deliveries. I think they are great for the newly SL'd like myself. I like the pink for the warm weather. They are so comfortable I forget that I am wearing them. I am beginning to appreciate the fact that I don't have to worry about sweating out a "press n curl". Bring on the warm weather. This will be great when I have to get tough. It is so much fun shopping at cheaplocsocs.com and soclocsock.com which were both delightful . Shipping was as fast as 24-48 hours from the time I placed the order to wearing my new gear. The headwear shown in this blog were all purchased from soclocsock.

I must admit that I am enjoying the journey way too much. I have taken on a new hobby of sorts.... collecting loc socs and loc scrunchie. I have always enjoyed being color co-ordinated but having these new styling tools has taken me to a "Whole nava level" lol. Check out these pictures of my newest arrivals. I love the way this converts so easily to change the look and is the epitome of sunshine.
Selection: Both sites offer a wide variety of colors. Soclocsocks offers more styles. I currently have twenty four and counting..

Shipping: Both companies ship their products out very quickly.

I received my order within 3 days of placing it.

Customer Service: Each site provided excellent customer service.

I actually received a hand written note explaining how to wear on

of the products from Locsoclocks as well as a promo code for their

"Mother's Day 2009" sale.

IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES: Cheaplocsocs has and elastic band the end of one or both ends which will be tight if your head circumference is great than 22 1/2" You may find it uncomfortable. The soclocsock does not have any elastic banding on any of its products.

1 Month

Happy with the face in the mirror. One month in the locking pattern and all smiles. I have been using Loc Socs to accesorize my hair.

At work I enjoy the versatility in being able to wear my Loc Soc. The head wraps featured in this blog were purchased at cheaplocsocs.com . My scalp is much less visible at this point. I generally roll my hair on bendalble rollers after washing it while my hair is still damp. The curls last until I wash my hair.

What I have learned over the course of the first month.
1. My hair will always shrink at this stage.
2. I am no longer worrired about my scalp showing.
3. I am not a fan of braiding and banding although I do do it every time I wash.
4. I like the botanical SL shampoo over the SL starter shampoo.
5. I love matching my outfits with Loc Socs and loc Scrunchies.
6. I have definitely developed the, "fingers" in your hair disease.
7. I am seeing a change in the texture of my hair already.
8. Even my kinky hair can slip. I lost two locs which I will have to have re-installed before my first official whole head re-tightening next month.

Goals for month 2
1. Make my own hair jewelry and/or head bands.
2. Leave my hair in its natural state after washing for one week each month w/o roller setting it.
3. Wear my hair in a "up" do.

Reduced Shrinkage

I figured out a way to reduce some of the shrinkage that I was experiencing. I decided to roll my hair on bendable rod rollers. I dampened my hair and stretched it as I rolled it. I went to bed with the rollers in my hair and the next morning although my hair was curly I had regained a great deal of the length that I had lost due to shrinkage. Maybe this can help others as well. I got several compliments on my hair today as well. Notice the difference in these pictures and the pictures from "The Big Wash".

The Big Wash

I hope that I made enough braids. I looked at various blogs to see if I was doing it right. I think its right. Well here it goes. The top picture is my hair after the wash. I think it came out okay although it shrunk alot. I used the SL starter shampoo.


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Last Look Before Shrinkage

This is my hair right before my first wash. As I look into the mirror I know that this is the last time that my hair will ever look like this. I know that it must be done but I must admit I am sad to say goodbye to my little skinny looks. Here comes SHRINKAGE!!!

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First Day Out

Today I felt great going to my conference in Manhattan. I dampened my hair, braided it and then set it on bendable rods. I was pleased with the results. I think that this will be one of my favorite styles for now. The parts are filling in already and I have not as of yet done my first washing. So far I am loving my new baby locks.

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Sisterlocks

I have finally started the journey. I found my loctician on Doc Locs blog. Patricia is a Sisterlocks trainee looking to complete her certification. She was offering a free installation for the first four inches of hair. I could not believe what I was reading. This was a dream come true for me. Unsure as to how long the offer had been on the web I took a chance and sent her an email letting her know that I was definitely interested. I was nervous because I had reached out to get my hair done. I did not know that she was only offering it to the first three people who responded. As luck would have it I was the fourth person to respond. I was saddened and dissapointed. I thought that my journey would seriously have to wait. I broke the sad news to my husband. Patricia called me to let me know that she would still do my hair if I was interested at a reduced rate. Long story short it did not work out with the second person which moved me to the third spot!!!
I met with Patricia a few days later for my consultation and test locks. I had four strange looking strings in my hair that I just starred at when I got home. I was proud of my four test locks and found myself anxious for the first week to pass to see what would happen when they were washed. They got a little bigger and became very curly. Over the course of two weeks there was no way that I would have been able to remove those test locks!!
It took five consecutive days and thirty seven hours to install my 510+ locks. I was pleased with the end result. My vacation plans were destroyed but my locks were in.

Why sisterlocks?

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I was enjoying the freedom of having my hair in the two strand twist style. They were a new way to express myself. I had purchased headbands in every color imaginable to co-ordinate with my outfits. I think my colleagues would drop by just to see what I had wrapped around my head for that day. One evening at my weekly bowling league one of the ladies whose hair is locked in beautiful long traditional locks said to me, "Oh you're getting sisterlocks?" I had no idea what she was talking about but she encouraged me not to give up. I had thought about locking my hair several times over the past ten years but always found myself falling into the vicious cycle of having my hair permed.
That evening I went googled "Sisterlocks". To my surprise I found myself fascinated with the google images that appeared. Over the course of the next month I must have spent 100 hours researching everything there was to know about Sisterlocks. I had read the entire block history of so many women who inspired me to step out and take the journey into the endless styling possibilities and beauty that Sisterlocks had to offer.
I also learned that this experience did come at a hefty price tag but I was used to pay over $275 for a custom wig or $2,000 for a hair system. Why not invest in growing my own hair so that if my hair was flowing down my back it would truly be my hair. I had been three years since my last relaxer. I had cut off all of the permed hair over the span of those three years. There was really nothing standing in my way. The sisterlocks community was so vast. Each blog I read, each story that I followed made me more and more excited about the prospect of locking my hair. After months of research I shared my desire with my husband. He was a little apprehensive because over the past eight years with him I have gone through many hair phases with the same zeal that I was expressing about the idea of getting sisterlocks. Being the supportive husband that he is he said that he would be happy with whatever I decided to do with my hair.

Let's Keep it Real

I decided at the close of 2008 that I would go natural. I had finally had enough of not really being true to myself. It was a very big decision to reveal the real me. I had hid my true identity for many years. At first I told myself that it was more convenient to wear extensions but then I felt strange when I did not have them in. I was my hair!! I felt incomplete without my hair".
Well, I decided to start off with two strand twists. I was very pleased with the results even if the parts weren't straight. My husband encouraged me to have my sister help me do the next set which she did. I must say that my first day back at work I was a bit nervous. I was unsure how my colleagues and my students would react. Would there be a lot of stares, comments or people wanting to touch my hair. I had all that and more. There was no turning back. I had crossed the bridge into the land of freedom and I have no regrets.
I can not get over the amount of potions, lotions, curling irons, flat irons, mousses, glazes and sprays that I no longer had any use for. For what it's worth I'm proud to say I am keepin' it real.