Locks-Day 1

This is the first day of wearing my locks. My mother put them in for me yesterday after we washed and sectioned out my hair. We uitilized the palm rolling method. Here is what it looks like.

Now I know you are wondering what products I used. (Or maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway.) This is in no way a promotion because like I said in the previous blog, I have been overloaded and overwhelmed with information about the chemicals/poisons that are put into our shampoos and beauty products. I used the ORS aloe shampoo and the twist and loc gel. The funny thing is that after learning all of these horrible things about why Black people shouldn't go anywhere near shampoo, I used it anyway. I guess I just needed to wash my hair and I figured, I've been using this crap all my life, I'm sure there are some Black people with dreadlocks that use regular shampoo too and their hair still grows...so that's my justification for now.

I didn't have any conditioner, and my mother didn't have any at her house either (which is a real shock considering that she is the "conditioner queen.") I was in a very motivated, "getterdone" mood so I decided to mix up a concoction of hair mayonnaise and extra virgin olive oil. Did the conditioner, towel dried the hair and sat down for about six hours of palm rolling and twisting. For a first timer, my mother did an excellent job.

This is an example of what the palm roll method looks like...

I know there are a lot of people out there that might think that something so sensitive should be left to a professional, but my mother has been braiding my hair since I started growing it (at the tender age of 3-I was a late bloomer). She is an expert at making parts with a comb and once I taught her the palm roll method, it was on and popping. This is a picture of my dog watching me demonstrate the palm roll method. Maybe he's learning something too.

As you can see, I gather the hair and kind of like roll it into a twirl. Remember back in kindergarten when you rolled the play dough between the palms of your hands into a sort of long twist? Same deal. Then I used a clip to hold it at the root. After this you blow dry it and take out the clips. Here's my end result...

How do I feel, you ask? A little uncomfortable. :-( I'm not used to my hair being in such little twists and I think I look funny. My sweet boyfriend is very reassuring to me and tells me that I am beautiful and all that stuff, but I'm not feeling it today. When I play with my hair a little tonight and tomorrow, I'm sure I can get a feel for this look and learn to work it.

Hey...I'm giving you the real deal right now. Take it or...no, just take it. Patience is the word for 2008. Peace!!