Doing it Myself.........Again

I bought a Nappy Lock Tool some time ago, with the intention of doing my own retightenings.  Well, I have not been very good about doing it myself.

Well, I now have a newly revived enthusiasm for doing my own retightenings.  I hope I can stick to it this time.  Last night I did one half of the front of my head, and tonight I did the other half of the front.  It took about 1.5 hours to do each half, which included fixing slippage and loose tufts of hair.  As in the past, I have found that the front is easy to do because I can see what I am doing. The back of my head is the real challenge.  I really need to overcome the difficulty of feeling what I am doing rather than seeing.  This will take patience and practice I know.

The main difference between a professional re-ti and my DIY re-ti is that my head is not sore at the end.  I don't tighten my locks so much that there is tugging at my roots.  And because I don't tighten them too much, I don't have too much of the "scalpy" look.

I will tackle the back tomorrow.  And I will do a post on my progress.  Any tips would be more than welcome.

Strange hands in my hair

I have been contemplating how I feel about people touching my hair.  I have come to recognize that many people really feel violated when other people touch their hair without asking first.  In fact, I have been an offender in doing just that to other people.  However, I have no such hangups about people touching my hair if they ask, and if I know them.  It really is a violation if someone I don't know touches my hair, but even then I don't go ballistic on them.

Just recently, a good (male) acquaintance of mine, whom I had not seen in more than two years since I had my locks installed, saw me and immediately leaned in toward me, put both hands in my hair, and exclaimed how much he just loves my hair.  "Your hair looks fabulous darling!" I was a little taken aback, but he did it with no intention whatsoever of offending me.  And I did not take any offense.  It was completely in keeping with his loving, flamboyant personality.

I do have major remorse about touching someone's hair without asking first.  It was a couple of years ago, and this lady came into my office.  She had really gorgeous locks and I was totally impressed.  I reached out and touched them, while commenting on how lovely they were.  She froze, and she didn't acknowledge the compliment.  It was an awkward situation and I realized that I should not have touched her hair.  I have regretted it ever since, and I  apologize to her from cyberspace.  I guess because I don't have any real issues with other people touching my hair, it took me a long while to recognize that some people really hate it.

Oh well, you live and you learn.

Loving life with Locks

Well this weekend started with a bang.  Along with old school friends, we celebrated our 30th anniversary since graduating from high school.  Yes I said it. 30 Years!!!

We had a cocktail party on Friday night, where we hosted our old teachers.  The ones that we could find, and who were still alive and well. You know I had to try make the locks look smoking.  The weather was not cooperating however.  The hair looked ok, but not as nice as it can look.  We had quite a rain storm in the early evening and it was very, very humid.  Nevertheless, I did get lots of compliments.

Then the next day we went to the beach.  It was really nice to reconnect with old friends, whom I have known almost my entire life.

For the beach, I just used a simple head band to keep the hair out of my face.  No fuss.  No makeup.  Au Naturel.

This is the high school crew.  Not bad for having graduated 30 years ago!!

This is my family.  They tagged along and had a grand time.  We do love going to the beach.

Baby Lock Survival

Remember how I had a few baby locks installed at the front of my head a few months ago?  Well, there is one survivor.  Of the four or five new locks, this is the only one that "took".

Not bad huh?  It is the only one of the new locks that did not unravel completely.  And not only has it survived, but it is growing.










It has been raining almost continuously for the past 4 days.  The rainy season is upon us now.  I did a pipe cleaner set last night, and this is the result.  Because of the high humidity, the curls didn't last more than just a few hours.  But it still looks OK.

Caruso Steam Set

I just bought a Caruso Curler kit and tried it for the first time this morning.  I didn't know what to expect, and I didn't know how my hair would turn out. Well, I was pleasantly surprised.  I didn't get tight curls, but I did get some really nice waves and plenty of body.

From start to finish, it took me about 20 minutes to heat the curlers and set my hair.  And I left the curlers in for maybe another half hour. It is time consuming because you have to heat the curlers one at a time.  Anyway, I am pleased with how it turned out.  I think if used the smaller curlers, rather than the jumbo ones, then I would get tighter and more defined curls.

Stylish Blogger Award

I am so happy to be nominated for this award.  Thanks very much to the lovely Love, Life & Locks for nominating me.  She is such an inspiration.  You should check out her blog, if you haven't done so already.

The Stylish Blogger Award Rules

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

So,  7 things about myself.  Hopefully these are things that are new to you:

1.  I love to cook and entertain and I love to try new recipes.   

2.  I go to the gym........ahem....let me re-phrase that...........I try to go to the gym three days a week.  I hate exercise, but the health benefits are immeasurable.  Plus the exercise allows me to indulge my sweet tooth.  shhhhh! don't tell that to my trainer.

3.  I started a vegetable garden this year, and it has been a very rewarding experience.  I have tomatoes, cucumbers, callaloo (Spinach).  Gungo peas (pigeon peas) are coming up. Every time food prices go up, I get inspired to grow my own food.

4.  I am not averse to getting a tattoo.  If I decided to get one, I would do something small on my hip, at a place not visible when wearing regular clothes.

5.  I no longer sweat the small stuff.  After my father died at the age of 69, it really struck me that life is short, and precious, and I made a conscious decision to enjoy life to the fullest. I work hard, play hard and love with all my heart.  I love my family, and I tell them.  I love my friends and I tell them. I love my God and I worship him.

6.  I don't buy cheap shoes or clothes anymore.  It is better to have one good pair of leather shoes, that are kind to your feet and will last for years, than to have 4 pairs of cheap shoes that hurt your feet and give you corns and callouses.

7.  I love to travel.  It is good to get out of your own zone and see how other people live.  If nothing else, it makes you appreciate what you have even more.

Here are my nominees:

1.  BlaqKofi  She is such a queen.  Her hair blog has inspired me more than she will ever know.

2.  Locrocker  Her blog is bright and colorful and just plain entertaining.

3.  Love, Life & Locks  This is one really cool lady, who has gone through major hair loss, and she has handled it with such grace and style.

4.  Thandi is my South African online friend.  I love her stories on life and raising kids in a culture that is in many ways different from my own.

5.  And the lovely Dewdrop, who is an awe-inpriring do-it-yourselfer. 

6.  Euphoria.  Love her hair and her blog.

7.  Karen has an amazing blog.  Beautiful. Colourful.  Inspiring photos.

8.  Chescalocs has gorgeous locks, and a very interesting video blog.

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

It seems that once I passed the two-year anniversary of lock-dom, my hair has just been growing really, really fast.  There was a time during the first year when it seemed as if it wasn't really growing all that much.  But that has changed now.  The growth rate is very surprising to me.  My locks are now 2 years and 5 months old.

Here's a picture of me and my hubby at a friend's birthday party earlier this month.  This is a soft spike set, which didn't dry properly, and so the curls are very loose.