So it about to be March and my locs will be 15 months old. WOW!!! It seems like yesterday that I did my hair. I can remember being jealous of everyone who had their locs longer then I had (well I still am a little jealous), and remember thinking a year is forever.
I’m still very much in love with my hair; I find that I’m not as into it like I was before. I long for the days that I can style it in something other than just letting it hang. I have tried the crinkle look (takes to long to achieve this look and it only last maybe a week if not a drop of water touches it), I don’t think the curly look is for me (based on the fact I have never tried it on my locs and it reminds me of when I was a little girl when I had a press and curl). I have thought about adding hair just for length but my girl friend was about to curse me out saying as much as I get on my soap box about staying true to the natural me, and thats the way God intended me to be and not needing anything fake to make me look beautiful. If I were to do that I would be a big fat hypocrite. So that made me say well yeah I do preach that all the time, but what about my right as a woman to change my mind like the wind. I think the fact that I feel stuck creatively my hair is not such a big deal to me any more. Any suggestions?
Another thing I would like to confess is that although I have said I will try and retighten my hair every 4 weeks.... Well I have a patch containing 36 locs in the crown on my head that has not been touched since Sept 08.
Oh GOD!!!!! Just typing that makes me cringe. One might ask why in the world do you have a patch that you have not done?
What had happen was…. I had not even retightened my hair until the end of Jan from the previous time in September. So when I got to that last little patch I was so tired of having to tighten an inch of new growth and since the patch was well hidden I didn’t feel the rush to do it.
In this picture its not real clear but I have my middle, ring, and pinky though the new growth which is 1 ¾ inches.
Now that it's been about month since I last tighten my hair I will hopefully be able to attack those 36 straggling locs.
I’m still very much in love with my hair; I find that I’m not as into it like I was before. I long for the days that I can style it in something other than just letting it hang. I have tried the crinkle look (takes to long to achieve this look and it only last maybe a week if not a drop of water touches it), I don’t think the curly look is for me (based on the fact I have never tried it on my locs and it reminds me of when I was a little girl when I had a press and curl). I have thought about adding hair just for length but my girl friend was about to curse me out saying as much as I get on my soap box about staying true to the natural me, and thats the way God intended me to be and not needing anything fake to make me look beautiful. If I were to do that I would be a big fat hypocrite. So that made me say well yeah I do preach that all the time, but what about my right as a woman to change my mind like the wind. I think the fact that I feel stuck creatively my hair is not such a big deal to me any more. Any suggestions?
Another thing I would like to confess is that although I have said I will try and retighten my hair every 4 weeks.... Well I have a patch containing 36 locs in the crown on my head that has not been touched since Sept 08.
Oh GOD!!!!! Just typing that makes me cringe. One might ask why in the world do you have a patch that you have not done?What had happen was…. I had not even retightened my hair until the end of Jan from the previous time in September. So when I got to that last little patch I was so tired of having to tighten an inch of new growth and since the patch was well hidden I didn’t feel the rush to do it.
In this picture its not real clear but I have my middle, ring, and pinky though the new growth which is 1 ¾ inches.
Now that it's been about month since I last tighten my hair I will hopefully be able to attack those 36 straggling locs.
10 comments:
Your locs look fantastic! I understand the lull in energy when it comes to hair but I want to thank you for your blog on your braidlocs as there are not many out there. I really appreciated being able to follow your progress as I'm almost 1 year behind you. Cheleski has taken down the older posts of her progress and I was counting on going through her blog as I go through my journey so thanks to you again.
Hey Saabira,
I love the way your locs look and I must say that I am jelous of you. My ends are still not loc'd and I am too impatient to wait on them. So, I added hair to mine. I want so badly to have loc'd ends so I can wear MY locs. I'm just not that patient. Your locs look good girl, they really look good.
Girl! You hair looks great! This DIY retightening can really take a lot out of you. It's just not as easy as one would think. You are doing an awesone job and it shows in your hair. Keep us posted, I love the pictures!
I feel you.....The length of new growth is different every month and retighten when I feel I really need it and it varies. Re: Styling, I would suggest just doing some experimenting when you have time. You have enough hair for some updo styles using bobby pins and not necessarily using a pony tail holder. Try curling your hair (whatever method you prefer) and then create an updo. I know how you feel about letting your locs hang, I really don't care for that as much as I do styling it but I let it hang sometimes because leaving it alone helps it loc faster. I never say never when it comes to my hair because I change my mind a lot when it comes to hair....so we do have that right. I don't think you need extensions, just rock your current length, it will be down your back before you know it! I encourage you as I encourage myself.
Your locs are lovely! I`am 15 months into my journey too. My locs are touching my shoulders now! From 1 1/2-2" when I started, that is a lot of growth. I wish I can let it grow without retightening it for a while, but my hair texture does not allow it. When it gets a bit of new growth, it begins to tangle with the other locs :( Like you, I`am wishing for the day that I can place my hair in a ponytail or style it! Right now it is what it is! Our time will come! Keep up the great work!
Girrrrlll, I have been waiting for an update for so long.
Your hair is lovely. you were my inspiration to starting my brailocs. Its been 5 months for me.
As far as styles: what about pipecleaners? Wet your hair and set them. Braidouts? Wet hair and put a few cornrows in or a few large braids and open in the morning?
If you go to youtube and look under fauryn78, she shows how she does her bun. She grabs some locs on both side and ties a knot in the back...and.... look it up and try it. My hair is still short, but it still comes out nice.
Have you gone on nappturality and look under the styles that they do? I get alot of ideas from there.
HTH!!
Smooches.
Goodness girly! I'm surprised that your locks haven't matted up at the roots after having gone 6 month w/out latching your new growth You're lucky. If I wait 8 weeks then I might as well free-form because coils enjoy taking over the new growth if I don't get to it on time.
I know what you mean when you mentioned that 4 weeks can be too long, so it's best to find a happy medium. To give you an example, 4 weeks are too soon for me and 6 weeks are too late for me so i've decided to latch every 4.5 to 5 weeks because I have enough new growth to make a complete rotation and I don't get burt out as much when latching. However, I am getting tired of the length of my latching sessions now that my locks are growing longer. It's so much work and I never did like it from the start, but I try to latch with patience and do my best.
Your locks look great and do what makes you comfortable. You roots look healthy and strong.
When you get bored, try other styling options or play with accessories.
I like the look girl. I've chosen to purposely wait 2 months between latchings cuz I like the no part showin look. But, lookin at yours I'm wonderin can I go longer, hummmm? I've always thought that SL or BL would break if they weren't latched frequently. You've proved my thoughts and I'm sure others wrong.
15 months already?! How time flies! They're looking great! I can understand the frustration with the length. Too short to let to really style them, but too long to just run your fingers through them and go. I like the crinkly look on mine and they stay a while, but if I keep them braided for too long to get that look it looks funny. I have to do mine just the right amount of time (4 hours) for it to be the way I like it. But I'm online now looking for semi short loc styles. If I come across any I'll let you know. Keep up the good work!
B :o)
wow, that's alot of new growth!!!! how fun!
Post a Comment