Long awaited photos

Hello everyone. Here are some photos of my daughter's progress. She is about 10 months into her locking experience. These photos are from last year and this year. From 2 months onward. From her crown to her nape, she is budding and some are almost fully locked. From the crown to her front and side hair line, you can still see the braid pattern. I'm noticing that as her hair locks, it looks shorter and thicker. The hair that is still braided is considerably longer and skinnier than the locked hair. I'm patiently waiting to see the progress in length. Her hair is growing like weeds because I can see it by how often she needs retightening. I haven't been able to tighten her hair in a while because I'm in nursing school. I have barely any time. Then the end of last year we found out we were expecting another addition to our family. So, I had a few months of morning sickness to deal with. I'm still happy with the decision to lock. I think they are quite becoming on her. I'm currently in the process of retightening her hair and will post more photos of the finished result. Please ask me any questions or comment to let a sister know how you're doing, what you like, suggestions or even just for simple support. That's all for now. Take care!

Happy Nappy New Year!

Happy Nappy new year to all my nappy sisters out there! Here's to another year of natural hair freedom. I still have not been able to commit to locking my own hair yet. Finances do not allow me to at this time. But, my eldest daughter does have micro sized braid locks started by me. She is about 6 months into her locking journey. Wow. One half of a year already! As far as I can tell, she seems to love it. I was kinda worried that she would like it and then kinda change her mind. She is only 9 and easily influenced by her peers and what she sees. She's the only black girl in her classroom, so she sees a lot of straight hair on a daily basis. So far, so good. Perhaps she was really listening when I sang the praises of locked hair. They really look natural on her.

Her hair isn't fully locked yet. Her hair is in it's teenage stage. I am surprised by the amount of shrinkage. The front half of her hair isn't locking as quickly as the back half. This section still looks like braids. It seems the area closest to the "kitchen" locked the fastest. Her hair has also thickened a little, but only the ones that have started locking. They are about the size of the parting square base. From what I understand, they will thin in circumference once they mature. I am so grateful and thankful for learning about locks. I like that she can shower and not worry about her hair getting wet, or worrying about high humidity, or dealing with damage from a relaxer.

I just can't wait until I can get mine done. I don't know when that will be exactly. Why do I have to wait? Because I won't be able to maintain my re-tights and her re-tights myself and I can't commit myself to having someone else do it because I don't have steady money. I'm still in nursing school and my husband is the only one bringing in an income. With 4 kids, our money is stretched as far as it can go right now! Plus we just moved from an apartment to a house, so our rent has increased. I figure that with a nurse's salary, I can afford to get my hair done whenever I want (which is more inspiration for me to study hard!). Well, speaking of which, I have to go study. I just wanted to update really quickly. I will try to post more photos of my daughter's hair for anyone who wants to see. I will answer any questions you may have. As long as they're not offensive. Take care and God bless!

My...how time flies...

I know I haven't written since August. For those who care, I apologize. I started nursing school in August and have been even busier than I thought. I love the fact that it's fast pace, but by the same token, it takes all of my free time studying and whatnot. Anyhow...I still haven't committed myself to the locking process. I am still natural though. Ain't never gon' be no change in that! I have been taking pictures of my daughter's braidlock voyage all the while. Her hair has changed each month. This month, which is her 3rd month on lock-down, she is experiencing shrinkage and buds. Some of her hair looks somewhat locked. The hair in the back is starting to lock, but the hair in the front still very much looks like braids. I am going to try to post some photos so you can see what I mean. I am still loving the freedom from not having to force her hair into submission just so that it can look pretty. I love that she can just wake up, wet her hair and go. I don't love the re-tightening sessions. It's not difficult but it is time consuming. She has micro sized locks and it takes me days to do her hair. I don't have time to dedicate to her hair so I get in when I fit in. For those of you who are looking to this blog as an inspiration for your own lock journey, I will put together a list of shampoos and other products we use and processes we employ. I welcome any questions and positive comments. Until next time, I wish you well.

What is that saying about the best laid plans??

*sigh* Remember when I aid I was going to install my own locks? Well, I truly intended to install my own interlocks. I actually did start. I did from my nape to the top of my ears. They weren't coming along as nicely as I would've liked. I knew it would take a long time, but there were more factors against me than just time alone. An example: when I finished finger latching I used my latch hook to complete the rotations to my scalp. Well, I married/joined a couple locks together on more than one occasion. A couple times I forgot to include strands of hair into a lock so I would have a row done only later to discover that there is a lock with loose hair right next to it. Needless to say, I took my hair done again. I repeat, sigh.

I contacted a loctician recommended to me by a good friend. I spoke to her on the phone and she suggested single strand twists instead of interlocks. She said they form into dreads faster because it coils in the same direction as the hair grows. Makes sense. My reason for wanting interlocks was because I can achieve skinny locks. She said it can be done with comb coils, but I have never seen anyone with single strand twists done on hair with similar length as mine. I've only seen them on people with very short hair. Also, I would have to get my hair retwisted bi-weekly. I don't think I can afford that. I do admit that I like the fact that they would look smooth and uniform, I could possibly retwist them myself as opposed to having them done for me. I just don't know. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted but I guess I don't. I'm overwhelmed with options. Any suggestions out there? Help a sister out, please!?

Taken Down

I finally finished taking down my braidlocks. It took me most of the weekend but at least it's done. I forgot to post a pic of my loose hair before I had installed my braidlocks, so here you go. I know I have a lot of hair and it's got some length to it. Having said that, I know I have my work cut out for me when I install my interlocks, but I am excited. I want to get started right away but domestic duties come first. Oh well, c'est la vie. This is just a quick post. I'll be back, God-willing.

Braidlocks Take Down

I am taking down my braidlocks. I know some of you complimented my hair but hear me out... I liked having them in my hair. I liked the freedom. I liked the low maintanance. I love being all-natural. What I didn't like was the size of the parts she gave me. The grid was too large and not even. I was splitting them to make them smaller but she gave me diamond shaped parts and splitting them into 3s was impossible to do if I wanted them to be even. I was going to just let them be when I thought of something; the purpose of getting my hair locked was because of freedom and pride. How proud could I be of my hair if didn't like it? What kind of freedom is there in having to "settle" for someone else's idea of how my hair should be? (I told my stylist how I wanted it done, showed her photos, etc. so there would be no question as to what I wanted. She mentioned something about not making them too small because of potential breakage. I told her I understood her concern, but to please do as I asked and what I paid her to do. She didn't.)

Although it would've been great if my hair had been done correctly, having this experience taught me something about myself that I had forgotten; a)I am worthy of goodness and b)that even though I may not see the destination from where I presently stand, if I keep following the road one step at a time, I'll get there. Starting these locks is like starting a new chapter in my life and the old me would've settled for whatever. I have to live with my hair. I have to like my hair. Just tolerating it isn't good enough.

After giving it some thought, I started taking them down. I still want locks! Although it will take me forever and a day, I think I will have to do them myself for them to be done good enough for me. (No, I am not a perfectionist. If you don't believe me, I could take some photos of my house!) Finances don't really allow for me to get them done by a loctician. I am about to return back to school in a few weeks and have some school related expenses. It'll be nice to have people admire my hair and ask who does it and I can say, "me". I won't be braiding them this time. I will be interlocking them. They're tighter and I think they'll lock faster than braids. I even started some practice ones in the nape area. I figured no one would really see those, so it wouldn't matter too much if I messed those up. Well, I did an ok job. (yay me!)

Thank you NubianLockedPrincess and Kalia Dewdrop for all the DIY info and videos. I am so grateful for your selflessness and willingness to share what you learn(ed). Well, that's about it for now. I have to finish taking out these braids!

My new Braidlocks!

Hello again. After hours of researching (in nappturality and other people's blogs) I finally got my braidlocks installed. While I am happy that I got them done and the freedom they offer me, I am not pleased, however, that she didn't do what I asked. Before I start griping about my experience, I want to say some positive things first. I like being able to spend only 5 minutes styling my hair. I am proud to embrace my nappiness and wear it like a badge of honor. I no longer feel like I'm trying to be something or someone God didn't intend me to be. I feel like my hair, like me, is beautiful in it's natural state. My perception of permies' hair has changed. I used to think of their hair (my former hair) as neat and acceptable and beautiful. Now I see it as broken. You see, in order to get nappy hair straight, you have to break it's natural structure. Weaken it. Our hair is never stronger than in it's natural state. I have been transformed. I have transcended from my former ideal of beautiful hair. Having said that, I will now tell you why I'm not happy with my hair.

First of all, I can braid hair myself. See the photos of my daughter's braidlocks and that will remove any lingering doubt. In fact, I did her hair exactly how I wanted my to be done. I didn't do my own braids because I knew I wouldn't have time to do my own and it would be difficult Before picking out what I thought was the right braider, I called around, asked questions, explained what I wanted and showed her photos when I went for consult. Based upon what she told me, I thought she understood where I was going. Well, she made the part base or grid too big. I told her that I wanted micro sized braids with small bases. I explained to her that the braids will eventually swell and will correspond with the grid's base size. Anyway, about 70% of my head is done incorrectly. I paid her $90 and I still have to go behind what she did and break them down from 1 to 3 or sometimes 4 braids. I'm not a happy girl. The whole point of having someone else do it was so I would get what I wanted and save myself some time. I got neither. The only reason I'm posting my photos is because I may want to look back on this moment one day, but I was so upset with my hair that I didn't even want to take the photos in the first place. I was going for the micro lock look. I can't even find someone willing to help me with my re-braid and my budget won't allow for another salon visit. I'm disappointed. I'll update later. Anyhow, check out the pics.