Braid Out at 18 Months

Last night I decided to do something different with my hair. I wanted to try another braid out, since my hair has grown, since the last time I tried this style.  I dampened my hair with my water-glycerin-lavender oil mixture and plaited it in sections.  It dried overnight.  Well, it did not air dry as thoroughly as I had hoped, because it rained all night long.  Anyway here are some fuzzy pictures to show for my efforts.
By the way, it is my 18 month anniversary with locks. The time has really flown by fast.

Time for some DIY

My last re-tightening was almost eight weeks ago!! My dear consultant has been sick and has not been able to make it to my last two appointments. Needless to say, my hair is looking a little wild. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands......with my Nappy Lock tool.

Now, I am pretty good with this little tool when it comes to doing the front sections of my hair.  However, when it comes to doing the back it becomes very difficult for me, simply because I cannot see what I am doing, and have to rely on touch only.  I have accidentally joined a few locks in the back, and it is hard to undo them.
Here are five locks which have been  re-tightened.

See these two locks at the front of my head? Look at the one on the left.  It is hanging on by just a few hairs.  The hair at this part of my head is quite thin.












I decided to join the two of these locks together, thereby strengthening the weak one.  How's that for taking things into my own hands?  It is actually quite an empowering feeling.

Essential Oils

I really enjoy reading other people's hair blogs. I have learned so much, while being thoroughly entertained.  Well, I have recently been reading about glycerin and essential oils. And, can I tell you, I am intrigued.  So I went to the Health Food Store and bought some pure vegetable glycerin and some lavender oil.

Glycerin is a humectant, which means that it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. And the lavender essential oil just smells heavenly. I got my old, faithful plastic spray bottle, which I think holds about 10 ounces.  I added about two teaspoons of the glycerin, and about 10 drops of the lavender oil. I then filled the bottle with water.  I didn't fill it all the way.  I left enough space to be able to really give the mixture a good shake.  Then I gave my hair a good spritz.  It smells AMAZING! The smell just really lifted my spirits. And my hair feels nice and soft.  I hope that this glycerin mixture lives up to all the hype over the long haul.

This is what my hair looked like minutes after spritzing.

Unraveled locks

I washed my hair on Friday, and some of my locks have unraveled.  This unraveling business is really getting on my last good nerve.  I have this problem at the front of my hair and at the back.  When I try to fix the ones at the back myself, I end up joining locks together because I can't see what I am doing.  I have to wait for another 10 days for my scheduled appointment with my consultant.  This is really frustrating.

Tired of the Gray

Well, I have finally taken the plunge to cover up the gray hairs.  They are now just a little bit too much and I am not quite ready to embrace so much of it.  So I bought a little bottle of black semi-permanent colouring and I did it myself last night.  It didn't turn out too badly, but next time I will have to leave it in a little bit longer, to really cover up those stubborn babies along my hairline.

I resisted for a long time, because I feared that the colouring product would damage my hair.  I have not noticed anything bad going on with my hair this morning.  In fact it feels quite moist and healthy. We'll see what happens over time.

A Pony Tail

At long last I got my hair in a ponytail!!  My hair is pulled back so tightly, I am pretty sure this must be what a face lift feels like.

Locks on the go

I just finished a wonderful visit to Cape Town in South Africa.  This was a business trip, but I had to squeeze in some fun.  I have an adventurous palate and had a great time trying out some weird and wonderful dishes.  There are a gazilion types of  restaurants to choose from in Cape Town and I did try quite a few different types.

This is a dish with Kudu and Springbok (two types of Antelope) and Ostrich.  The white thing is called Pap. Some people call it polenta and in Jamaica we call it "Turn Corn Meal".  This was a truly delicious meal.









The next unusual thing that I tried was crocodile.  I was definitely not sure that I would like this, so I decided to try just a small amount, so I ordered a crocodile kebab.  It was really very, very tasty.

I was really surprised that being in Africa, I didn't see more natural hairstyles.  Most of the black women had relaxed hair, wigs and weaves.  Imagine my absolute delight one evening when I went out to dinner with a colleague and his wife. When I met the wife for the first time and I saw her head of gorgeous traditional locks, I almost fell out of my seat with excitement. I was dying to ask her about her hair, but I didn't want to be impolite.  At the appropriate time in the evening I complimented her hair, and it turns out that she was just as excited to see my hair.  She didn't know what it was - twists? Glued on hair?  When I told her it was sisterlocks, and it was my own hair, she was even more curious.  So I explained to her how it was done and I gave her a demo on one of my loose locks, using my fingers.  She asked me to send her pictures of my hair.  She is a dermatologist, and is quite distressed at the huge amount of hair damage and hair loss that she sees in her patients who relax their hair.

My locks did very, very well on the trip.  Here are a couple of pictures. Along my journey, I stopped off in London to visit with relatives, and again, my hair created quite a stir among my aunts and cousins. They all want to have my hairstyle.  They all hesitated though, when I told them that it is permanent. Nope, can't undo them!!

Here I am at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.

Here I am with my new friend in her stall at the Pan African Market.  If you are ever in Cape Town and you want some authentic African art, crafts, masks, etc. then this is the place to check out. I got some really nice batiks, tablecloths and necklaces from her.  And I haggled with her and got what I thought were some great bargains.

I couldn't resist posing beside this big fellow.

Just a sampling of the hundreds of masks from which to choose.

I am freezing here during an early morning walk with giraffes on a safari.