Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas.  Let us set aside our troubles for the moment and just remember that Christ came to earth to save us. Let us reach out to others when we have the opportunity to do so, in whatever way we are able. This is such a special time of the year.  It certainly is my favourite season.

My hair is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds.  I think I now need to cover it at night, because it is falling in my face when I sleep and annoying me. Can you believe that?  I have been using very few products on my hair now, and I just wash with White Rain Shampoo, and  if my hair feels dry, then I spritz it with water and seal in the moisture with Jamaica Mango and Lime Oil.  This is a very light oil, and is not too greasy.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Today marks my one year lock anniversary.  I find it hard to believe that one year has passed so quickly. How does this past hair-year compare to the times when I had my hair relaxed?  Well, I have had very few bad hair days, I have had far less anxiety about hair dryness and breakage, and I have not spent that much money on hair products.  On the other hand, I have spent a small fortune getting the locks installed and maintained each month.  Do I think it is worth it?  Absolutely.  I think my monthly costs can be reduced if I do some retightening myself on a regular basis. I am seriously thinking about doing the retightening class when it is conducted in Jamaica next year.

11 Months

Well, during my last retightening session with my consultant, she told me to make sure that I band and braid before washing.  I have been quite good about doing this over the last few weeks.  This hairstyle came about when I let my hair dry with the braids still in, then setting the hair on sponge rollers.  So I have both crinkles from the braids and curls from the rollers.  I think I will do this again.  I quite like how it turned out.

10 Months

Well, 10 months have passed since my locks were installed at the end of  November last year.  I can honestly say that I have not had a moment of regret about locking my hair.  In the beginning I had moments of insecurity about how looked, but I have never regretted it.

Here is a picture taken a few days ago before re-tightening. It is very fuzzy and is looking a bit untidy.

Yesterday, I had it re-tightened.  Here is a picture after re-tightening, washing and setting.  Looking and feeling much better.

My consultant is pleasantly surprised at the rapid growth of my hair.  She is also urging me to braid and band when I wash.  I stopped doing this months ago, when I found it to be too much of a chore.  Since she asked me to do this yesterday when I was feeling tired and grumpy, after sitting for 5 hours getting my hair done, my immediate response (in my head) was "She has got to be kidding me".

Today, I am well rested and in a much better mood, so I am considering it.  I have already been cussed by N'Drea and JaStu for not braiding and banding, and for committing all sorts of other sins, so I know all the arguments for braiding and banding.  But, grrrrrrr, it really drives me nuts.

For the most part, my hair is very far along in the locking process, but there are a few areas which are steadfastly refusing to lock.  In fact, along my hair line in the front, the short length plus the texture of my hair in this area is such that the locks won't even stay in place.  Some of them completely unravel by the time the next re-tightening is due.

I still get lots of compliments on my hair, which is very encouraging, and the people who see me fairly infrequently are astounded by the rapid growth that they observe each time they do see me.

The gray hair at the front is beginning to drive me crazy.  I don't think I want to colour them though.  I am just afraid that I will have to colour forever and ever if I start.

More Summer Fun

The summer is drawing to an end, but we still managed to squeeze in some more fun. Through rain, extreme heat, sea water, a high speed drive in a convertible, the hair still managed to look just fine.

This was the day JaStu, N'drea and I had lunch together. We had a grand time.



After I washed my hair, I braided it in sections and allowed it to air dry. Not too sure I like this style on me. I think my hair is still too short for this to be flattering.



Looking a little bit wind-swept, but still presentable.

Weekend spent in paradise. Not looking totally unpresentable after swimming in the sea, as well as getting wet in the river.

Eight Months along and having a great summer

This July has been really enjoyable. We have been very busy this month, starting with a swim meet for the girls. They both did very well and we enjoyed the day by the poolside. Too bad we parents did not get to jump in the water to cool off.

Then we did the family vacation thing in Washington DC, and I must say that my hair did very well with the heat and all the activities. Here we are chillaxing at the National Zoo.

Here's a picture of Father and Daughters just before leaving the National Aquarium in Baltimore. We took in the dolphin show, and what a delight that was.

Here we are at the Air and Space Museum. Everybody is tired at this point and we were happy to find a seat.

The girls posing at the Lincoln Memorial.




















Enough with the pictures Mom! We are tired and want to go back to the hotel!
















The summer is not yet over and I am sure we are in for a few more treats. Will keep you posted.

Free Styling

We had friends coming over last night at about 7pm, and I got home from work at 6pm. I showered and washed my hair, but there was no time to set it up as I usually do. I just pinned up the sides with some pretty hairpins, and was good to go.



I have noticed recently that my hair has been shedding a lot. Lots of hair balls are lost when I wash my hair. I think this may be normal, but I am not sure. Some of my locks are sealed on the ends, but many of them are not. The locks that are not sealed are really curly on the ends. I guess this is just another phase of lock maturation that I am going through.

Retightening

Well, I finally got my hair re-tightened after 7 weeks. My goodness! I had a lot of tangling at the roots and unraveling. I will certainly try to re-tightening every month from now on. It is really growing fast now, and even my consultant was surprised. It is now long enough for me to clip up the sides with fancy clips, and I now feel comfortable with free-styling.

Six Months

My sisterlocks are now six months old. I have seen a definite change in the locks over the last two or three weeks, where the locks are now fatter and are very unruly. I am not sure if this is just part of the locking process or it is because I am desperately in need of a re tightening. I am going on seven weeks now since my last re-tightening. Ohhhh!! Bad idea!! My consultant comes on Friday and I can't wait.

I have been doing a little re-tightening myself, mostly with my fingers, and sometimes with my nappy lock tool. This maintenance has helped to keep my hair looking fairly ok, but it is really time to get some professional care.

I treated myself to one of Tomoka's hair twists. I got it today and I really love it.

Conditioner - Did she really??

Well, my hair has been feeling a bit dry recently, so I decided to wash it with a conditioning shampoo (Pantene for relaxed or natural hair - in the brown bottle) and then put on some Infusium leave in treatment for good measure. Wow!! my hair felt so good afterward. The only thing is that my hair took much longer to dry than usual, and that is not usually a problem for me except on this day I was going out and needed my hair to dry quickly. I ended up going out with slightly damp hair, but I think it looked ok. Here's a picture of me and my DH.

Five Months

When I washed my hair last weekend, I noticed more hair than usual in the bath tub, and when I was setting it up, lots of little hair balls ended up on the floor. I think that this means that my hair is finally locking. The locks are in various stages as you can see in the photo. Some of the ends are sealed, some are open and some are ramrod straight. It is a little difficult to see, because my hair still has much of the curl from the roller set.

DIY Retightening

Being an avid do-it-yourselfer, I have been itching to learn how to re-tighten my own hair. I have been wonderfully inspired by Kalia Dewdrop and her lovely hair, and I decided that if she can do it, then so can I. Hee Hee! I really cracked myself up with this one. The task of doing my own retightening was definitely more difficult than I thought it would be.

I bought a Nappy Lock tool, and got going with the retightening. I spent an entire Saturday on my hair, and I managed the front really well. The back however, was a different story. I couldn’t see properly and was more than a bit apprehensive to tackle it. So I left it alone. I had my hair retightened by my consultant a few days after my own attempts, and she found nothing to complain about. She actually said I did a good job with it. Well, I am more than a little puffed up and pleased with myself about this. So, I am encouraged to try the back next time around. I am beginning to relax a little about my hair now that I do not feel that I am entirely at the mercy of my consultant.

I am feeling so positive about this that for my next appointment with my consultant, she will come back in another seven weeks, rather than 4 weeks. Within that time, I plan to retighten my entire head. How’s that for confidence? Will keep you posted.

Wash time again

If you have read enough of my blog, you will recognize that when it comes to my hair, I am a little bit rebellious. So yesterday I decided that I was going to wash my locks without banding the ends, just to see what would happen. Guess what? Nothing at all happened, and not a single lock unraveled. I have been suspecting that the physical "trauma" of pulling out the elastics when my hair is wet, does a lot to contribute to unraveling. So I proved it yesterday. However, having said this, I do not recommend that you try this yourself. It just happened to work for me.

Three Months

Well, it has been just over three months since my sisterlocks were installed and things have been progressing nicely. I am due for my retightening on Friday, and boy do I need it. Since I washed my hair last weekend there has been quite a bit of unraveling and slippage. I have noticed that whenever I braid and band before washing my hair I always get far more unraveling than if I just band the ends without braiding. So until my locks have settled, I will refrain from braiding, and will just stick to banding.

3rd Retightening

I had my hair re-tightened this weekend. There was not as much slippage and unraveling this time around. I asked my consultant if my hair is beginning to lock at all. She said no, not yet. I was a little disappointed to hear this, but I guess my journey of patience continues.

My hair seems to be growing really fast, especially at the sides. One measure of how much my hair has grown is that I no longer need to use perm rods when I wash my hair. I have now moved up to the small magnetic rollers. Once I set it up, the curls last until the next wash, even though I put water in my hair everyday. I definitely could not do that when my hair was relaxed.

The top is still quite thin, and re-tightenings just seem to emphasize the thinness, but I know that after a few days it will look better. The re-tightenings also emphasize the centre part, which I absolutley cannot stand. Grrr! I try creative roller setting to hide it. It sort of works I guess, especially after the second or third wash, when my hair fills out and gets a bit fuzzy.

One really nice thing that has happened to me since I got my sisterlocks, is that my confidence in how my hair looks has really increased dramatically. It is really amazing. I get up in the mornings and wet my hands, fluff up my locks and I go. No more fussing about my hair. I still do have the occasional bad hair day, but even when it is bad, it is really nothing to worry about. My mom who really hated my new look when I got the locks installed, now smiles when she touches my hair.

Two Month Anniversary

This week will make two months since my locks were installed. I have had good hair days and a few bad ones, but so far my experience with sisterlocks has been mostly good. My confidence has been boosted by the many, many compliments that I continually receive from friends and strangers alike. There have been one or two nay-sayers, but I tend to ignore them, and just focus on the positive.

My hair continues to grow quite fast. What has surprised me the most, is that even though I no longer put oil on my hair, it is doing just fine without it. My hair feels moist and supple and looks quite lustrous and healthy. I thought that by not using my usual favourite products, my hair would be dry and brittle. But nothing of the sort.

I still have some very thin spots on my head, but I am hoping that as my hair grows, these thin areas will be disguised. The slippage and unraveling has decreased somewhat. I tried to space out my washings to every two weeks, but I really cannot stand to have my hair "dirty" for more than a week. So I continue to wash it once a week. I like it when my hair smells nice.

2nd Re-tightening

I got my second re-tightening yesterday. I washed my hair on Thursday in preparation for this. For the most part my locks were intact up until I washed my hair. I just had three or four loose locks. After I washed it however, I had a lot of slippage and unraveling. Perhaps I was too rough with the scrubbing. I think I am going to try washing my hair every two weeks, instead of every week. This might help with the slippage.

My head was so very sore and tender after my consultant was done. My hair is not done too tightly, I know that for sure, because she kept on asking me during the entire process. My theory is that my head has become unaccustomed to the handling that is involved in a retightening session. My head is barely touched anymore, since I no longer comb it, except with my fingers. This is the good thing about having locks. The low-maintenance is great.

I am not fond of my centre part, and I managed to train my hair (with perm rods) so that it was obscured. But after the retightening, it is very prominent again. I guess I will have to put up with it until my hair grows long enough to cover it over completely.

I did not bother to post any pictures here, because there is not much difference in how my hair looks since the last photograph.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. 2008 was a rough year for my family, and I hope and pray that 2009 will be an easier one for all. We spent New Year's Eve with friends. A good time was had by all, but I never was able to bleach too late, so we went home shortly after ringing in the New Year.

My hair is due for re-tightening in another week or so. Right now, some of my locks around the hair line are unraveling even though it is not as bad as it was in the beginning when I first got my locks installed. That is encouraging. And my hair seems to be growing really fast.

Being the recovering product junkie that I am, it has been incredibly hard for me to stop using all the products that I love on my hair. However, this week I could not resist buying Taliah Waajid's Stimulating Herbal Cleanser. I am going to wash my hair now and try it out for the first time.