Once Upon a Time in the Land of Locks...

She's Baaaack!

2011-12-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been a LONG time. I really have no excuse except that life gets crazy sometimes and you just lose track of time. Either way, I'm back and boy do I have pictures! So here's what I'm going to do...

PICTURES GALORE!!!

This was the length when I first got to Japan.

My alter ego. (Mutsuko Fujii)

I curled my hair quite a bit while I was over there. It was (and is) a good look.

Kimono photo shoot in Japan. And yes, that bun is real. ;-)

(That bun was done by one of my Japanese girlfriends. I was pleasantly surprised with her expertise.)

Back in the States!

New York during the summer. (This is one of my old stand-by hair styles).

While in Chicago a couple months ago.

Me and this fish have the same forehead, lol.

Rocking a cute up-do.

This is a very recent picture of me. I love how it shows off my natural highlights.

So that's where we are today. Can't say that every day is perfect, but I can say that I am pretty happy with my hair most of the time. Unfortunately, I have had to cut (sometimes rip) a few tips off because of dryness and some strands being too thin midway through the lock. Sometimes locks were being held together by 3 or 4 strands of hair. It's a terrible feeling to have to do that, but it had to be done. I would say that I've done that about 6 or 7 times over the past couple of months since I've been back from Japan. The only reason I can think of for why that happened was because maybe I didn't take care of my hair like I should have during certain stages in my life and so it's easy to see that years later. For the most part, though, my hair is forgiving and there are more and more things that I can do with it now that I've gotten some length. It's been 3 years now (come January 17th it will be 4 years) and I'm not going to lie . . . occasionally I think about taking these locks down. But everyone advises against it and to be honest, I don't think I'd be ready to deal with "free range" hair again. So I'm going to ride this lock thing on out - as long as I possibly can. And when/if the time ever comes to chop'em off, I plan on growing out a fro and then lopping off the locks at the tip. I'm not about all that bald stuff. I have patience, lol.

So I've experimented with a bunch of different looks, but I mainly find myself wearing my hair in a ponytail most days. I try to keep my hair covered throughout the day and that helps to seal in moisture as well as protect it from lent (which my hair is a lent magnet). I don't retwist as often as I used to and have found styles that help me to go without twisting for a while. For example, I like to wash my hair, condition, moisturize, put plaits all over my head and then blow them dry. After this, I wrap a satin scarf around my head and go to bed. The next day when I take out the plaits, my hair is soft and wavy. It looks pretty-much like the style that I had in the last picture. Simple and a little - I dunno - "free spirit" looking, lol. But hey! I love it. And it works for me. That's one of the things that I find about locks. You really have to find what works for you and once you do, you will truly be as beautiful as you feel.

Either way, I am loving my locks and loving my life. I hope you are doing the same!

Naturally Me

Where she been?

2010-09-05T05:11:00.001-07:00

In order to find a chopstick for my hair . . . I moved to Japan. If you're interested in learning about my experiences, please feel free to follow me over at . . .

www.blackgirlnjapan.blogspot.com

I will return to posting on this blog in April/June of 2011. Although, occasionally I'll try to post some pictures of myself ~~my hair~~ here, whenever I get a chance. Hope you enjoy!

Muah!
XOXO

Quick and To The Point

2010-03-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

I just tore a lock off. Yes, you heard me right. I actually tore a lock from my own head . . . on purpose. Seems a lock was hanging by a thread. I've come across it several times, but always imagined that I would repair it by twisting it with another lock. Long story short . . . that didn't happen and now there is a lock sitting in the trash can.

*Sigh* First time for everything, I guess.

For Real Hair Store Lady? For Real?

2010-02-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

I have been on the hunt for about 3 months now. What am I looking for, you ask? A freaking hair-pin. That's right! A hair pin. You know, the long (often decorative) stick that holds up your hair.

Yeah, that. Now not only did I find out they no longer exist in any shape or form, but apparently (according to a "hair store" owner) they are no longer even cool or relevant. Personally, I don't agree. I was wearing one while she snarkily laughed that nobody wears them anymore.

Actually it wasn't a hair pin that I was wearing. It was a pen pen, of the black ink variety LOL. Since then, I have found other stick like objects to pin my hair up with.

If you look closely, in this picture you'll see that I am holding my hair up with a makeup brush, lol.

Can anyone say desperate?

I think I'm just going to buy some chopsticks when I get a chance. And if you're curious about how and why I need a hair pin to create this updo, here's what I do (and then why I do it) . . .

- I gather a bunch of hair from the back of my head and hold it up (according to where I want it to be.)

- Next, I take a ponytail holder and stretch it across that portion of hair that I am still holding up.

- Finally, I take a stick and push it all the way through the hair so that it is looped on both sides by the ponytail holder.

Voila! Your hair is being held up by stick and string. I find this style easy and convenient to do because my hair is too thick for the plastic hair claws that I used to use. Also, I use way too many bobby pins trying to keep this full head of hair on top of my head. This is just quick, easy and low maintenance.

So there it is!

My Hair Looks Long, Son!

2010-01-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

So I decided to straighten my hair today and it came out looking a whole lot longer than I knew possible. Wow! To tell you the truth, I didn't even know you could straighten locs in the first place. But a little olive oil, a blow dryer and Voila!

I really wish there was some rhyme or reason to the way Blogger allows you to upload pictures, but whatever! Here's the back of the head.

I'm not going to lie to you. I'm obsessed with length. I can't wait for my hair to be gracing my backside. But that is not to say that I'm not enjoying the journey. At any given point, I can say that the length I had always worked for me. (That's a disclaimer for anyone who thinks that locs wouldn't work with their face.)

I really just post pictures because I know that personally, I love looking at other people's pictures so I'm assuming there's someone out there that's just like me oggling my loc photos. So "hi" to the lurkers, lol. Hope you enjoyed!

2 Years . . . Isn't This the Part Where My Hair is Supposed to Start Growing Super Fast?

2010-01-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

First of all . . . sorry, sorry sorry for not posting for the past couple months. But I just had to post today. Wanna know why? (I hope the title didn't give it away, lol) It's my 2 year loc anniversary. Yaaaayyyy!!! Last year, my boyfriend took me out to dinner to celebrate. But this year, I was coincidentally invited to dinner at a friend's home so that'll be my treat for hitting the 2 year mark. Don't want to write too much. Just want to show you some pictures so here we go . . .

2 years ago on this day . . .

Me today . . . (well actually a couple days ago)

Me right before doing a retwist 2 years ago . . .

Me doing a retwist earlier this year . . .

Me in March 2008

Me in March 2009

Up-do early April 2008

Up-do April 2009

Serious face (lol) and up-do circa April 2008

Serious face and up-do circa May 2009

Note how the up-do technique has changed. Now I put my hair into a ponytail at the back of my head, and then incorporate it into ponytails going up. When I'm out of hair, I tuck where I can and voila! Maybe I'll do a video tutorial at some point, but it's pretty easy.

Photo shoot wearing a bun ponytail circa May 2008 (I still looove this picture)

The bun in 2009 (Still going skrong)

8/13/09

My hair in November 2008

My hair in Dec 2009

Yeah the picture's a little dark, but note the amount of growth.

Bathroom glamour shot 2008

Bathroom glamour shot 2009

Sexay!

Random pic 2008

Random pic 2009

I'm starting to notice how I make the same faces in my pictures, lol.

Circa Oct 2008

Picture taken just now . . .

(Again, a little length evident. Hmm, what's that on the computer screen?)

Braided style circa November 2008

Braided style 2009

(I'll see if I can find a close-up pic later. But this was another braiding masterpiece from my sister)

Typical style Jan 2009

Typical style Jan 2010

All right! Hope you enjoyed my little anniversary post. The comparison pics show how much progress I've made in a 2 year period. (Can you believe it? 2 years!!!) I've enjoyed every second of this journey and I'm happy to continue on this adventure. I posted some more random pics from the year. Enjoy them and stay encouraged!

7/16/10

12/22/09

7/16/09

Jan 2010

7/14/09

4/23/10

"Dread" Locks

2009-11-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

At church the other day, a lady came up to me and asked my name. Being that my name can be associated with the way I wear my hair (part of my name has "dred" in it), a nearby brother says, "Use name-word association." The woman, a senior citizen, was a little confused so I filled her in.

"My name is Blank, Blank-dred and I wear Dreadlocks," I said emphasizing the dread part. Now the nearby brother jumps in and says that unless I'm a rastafarean, I don't wear dreadlocks. He says that he received a whole education on locks by one of his coworkers and only people who live the rastafarean lifestyle can call them "dreadlocks" so I shouldn't call them that because obviously I'm not living that lifestyle.

I was a little confused by this and wondered why he brought up "name association" if he wasn't associating my name with my hairstyle? What else was he suggesting she associate my name with? My name isn't Sunday or Mary . . . there's no songs that I know of with my name in it . . . outside of dred and dreadlocks, I got nothing. So yeah, when I want people to remember my name, I go straight for the hair-name association which is the most obvious.

Besides that point, I never really had a problem calling them "dreads" or "locks." Mainly because I've been called "Dreadlocks" way before I got this hairstyle in the first place. (Maybe if that wasn't the case, I would have more of a problem with the term.) And the way I see it, while Rastafareans may (or may not) have designated the name dreadlocks, the rest of the world adopted that terminology in connection with the hairstyle so if your hair is locked up and you call them "dreadlocks" I don't think that makes you a rastafarean just like if you wear a mohawk, that doesn't make you a Mohawk Indian and if you wear a bowl cut it doesn't mean you put a bowl on your head and cut around it, LOL.

Now I'm not completely in the dark about the connection between spirituality, Rastafari and "dreadlocks." I've lurked on 1 or 2 message boards where the topics were the history of the term dreadlock and can anyone wear dreadlocks (and lemme tell you, there were a lot of people who strongly believed that you shouldn't even lock your hair up unless you are a rasta or on a spiritual journey-regardless of what you call them). Also, I've been on the message boards where people talk about how they do not like the term dreadlocks.

At the end of the day, I refer to them as locks (in order to be politically correct and not offend) but around friends and family I might just call them "dreads" "locks," whatever it doesn't matter to me. A lot of people might say it does matter.

What do you think? Are you offended when people refer to locks as "dreadlocks"? Do only rastafareans wear "dreadlocks"?

Pick On Someone Your Own Size Allison Samuels!

2009-10-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I see some sheen and curls going on in this picture!

So courtesy of Aunt Jemima's Revenge, I was reading this Newsweek article about hair by Allison Samuels and it . . . pissed . . . me . . . off! I was so disgusted with this woman's tone that I decided to write about it. My main problem is #1 she's talking about someone's baby #2 she's judgemental, trifling and handled this subject matter with little care or thought and #3 this is an article in Newsweek. NEWSWEEK for goodness sake! Not some niche newspaper, a mainstream nationally distributed newspaper. I will post a few excerpts. (Okay, I'll post a whole lot of excerpts, lol)

Up until recently, Angelina Jolie seemed to be doing a pretty decent job with Zahara Jolie Pitt—providing essential and expensive medical care, purchasing land in Zahara’s native Ethiopia with the plan to build a health center, providing a life of adventure and opportunity. Wonderful things indeed, but lately it seems Angelina has taken a page out of Tom Cruise’s book—and it all comes down to Zahara’s hair.

Okay, expensive and essential medical care . . . check! Encouraging interest and pride in little girl's culture by purchasing land in Ethiopia and building a health care center . . . check! Offering child a life of adventure and opportunity that the average human could only dream of . . . check! Giving child insecurities about hair? . . . not so much. Well let's leave that to Ms. Allison, won't we? Heeeere we go!

Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a “hot mess.’’

Okay, wow! Um, she's a child. A baby. And looking at the pictures, her hair doesn't look all that bad to me. Actually, it looks quite sheeny to me. But even if it didn't, LAY OFF THE KID and cover a real story! Let's continue, shall we?

Hair is often the first thing others notice, be it the texture, length, fullness, or shine. In the African-American community it can also tell a story. It can indicate your background, lineage, and social standing. From slavery until today, skin color and hair texture played a large part in how the overall society viewed blacks and ultimately the way African-Americans saw themselves.

Yes, she has a point. SOME (ignorant, shallow, old-fashioned, feeble minded, racist) people still judge each other based on skin color and hair texture. But "It can indicate background, lineage and social standing." For real Allison? I really wished that she put "Some people think it indicates"

There are many legacies of black hair in America, but the most enduring is this: even those who eschew pursuing European-looking hair still take a tremendous amount of pride in looking well groomed and put together, and still need to devote time and energy to achieve this effect.

Um, I think that's everybody Allison. I think every culture takes pride in looking well-groomed and put together. Oh, but glad that you mentioned that even us natural heads take tremendous pride in looking groomed too. I'm sure nobody would have guessed that.

It’s no wonder that African-American women are the largest consumers of hair products, spending close to a billion dollars each year to control their hair. These same women passed down these perceived notions about hair to their daughters. They usually begin hot combing and braiding the child’s hair to take the kink out at an early age.

Allow me to translate. Black women have so many hangups about our hair that we spend more money than we should trying to "control" it and we pass this baggage and hangups onto our children at an early age, who then pass it onto their children. So yes, obviously we have some hangups and issues about how we are perceived.

But even the mothers who spare the hot comb still have to put time and effort into keeping hair healthy: Any self-respecting black mother knows that she must comb, oil, and brush her daughter’s hair every night. This prevents the hair from matting up, drying out, and breaking off. It also prevents any older relatives from asking them why you’re neglecting your child and letting her run around looking like a wild woman. Having well-managed hair is not just about style, it’s about pride, dignity, and self-respect. Keeping your daughter’s hair neat is an unspoken rule of parental duties that everyone in the community recognizes and respects.

Yes, and that's what it's all about. How we are perceived by people in the community. Being perceived a certain way seems to be very important to Ms. Allison. I don't think Allison understands that Brad and Angie are huge celebrities. They don't care about trends, they set them. Also, they don't see "folks in the community" on a regular basis. Nobody's going to come up to her and tell her to "do that child's hair." Outside of the privacy of her own home, she is surrounded by wealthy people and professional butt-kissers. If not the butt kissers, she's probably surrounded by people who don't have time to sit around judging a 4 year old girl's hair. A little girl whose hair is fine. Just fine! Look at the texture in that picture. Her hair looks more hydrated than mine! LOL

Hair that is nice, neat, and cared for also gives African-American girls the confidence that they can fit into the world at large without being seen as completely different. One truism of childhood is that nothing is more important than being like everyone else. Well, as like everyone else as you can be with Hollywood parents. But not all people will recognize Zahara as the child of movie royalty. To many, she’ll be just a black little girl—and a black girl with bad hair at that.

Again, who are these judgmental people she's talking about and when is little Zahara going to be walking around surrounded by people who see her as just some random "little black girl"? Probably as an adult (or near adult), and by that point I'm sure her hair will be different. And "bad hair"??? Did she just use the term "bad hair"???!!! (Jesus take the wheel!) ~Falls out on floor~

In recent pictures it's clear Angelina Jolie hasn’t taken the time to learn or understand the long and painful history of African-American women and hair. If she had I can’t imagine she would continue to allow Zahara to look like she has in the past few months.

Maybe she did. Maybe she looked at the childish, shallow, prejudiced, judgmental way that Black women have dealt with "our hair" for so many years and decided that she wasn't going to be bothered with that foolishness. Personally, I don't blame her for not attaching as much meaning to Black women's hair as we have. Maybe Zahara is going to grow up with the mindset that we all should have. It's . . . just . . . hair.

This is not to say that critics want Angelina to perm or hot comb Zahara's hair. Not that 4-year-old African-American girls don't get their hair hot combed. I certainly did every Saturday for Sunday morning church.

Aaaw, how charming?! (That's sarcasm, yall :-) Applying that kind of heat to a Black person's hair on a regular basis (much less a child's hair) is bad. Bad, bad, BAD!!! Just because it was done to you as a child, doesn't mean it was right. Forget tradition. It's damaging and wrong! And by the tone of this paragraph, it sounds like you do want somebody to hot comb that child's hair. LOL Don't lie! You just finished bringing it up like it was a fond memory. Let's all face it, that is one little Black girl who is not going to be sitting in nobody's kitchen, getting her hair hot combed before church. Are you kidding?!

Instead, the majority of those writing in to the blogs say they just want Angelina to brush and oil the little girl's hair so it will be healthy and in shape.

Looking at the picture, it looks oiled and healthy. Yeah, yall want somebody to hotcomb that head! lol

Allison Samuels

(I do like her hair, though LOL)

But it seems the constant travel the family’s been doing over the past year has put issues like grooming on the back burner. For the record, Jolie’s daughter Shiloh isn’t exactly looking like much time is being given to her hair either. But she isn’t a little black girl being judged by mainstream standards.

No, she's not - because you barely touched the topic of Shiloh's hair. But Zahara's a little Black girl that's going to be judged by Black women like you all day long. I've said it before (probably not on this blog) and I'll say it again, yes, racism is alive and well but I have never, NEVER had a white person make me feel about my hair the way a Black person has. White people couldn't care less (and that's just my truth). When I would wear my hair out in its natural glory, it was the Black people that always had something to say. Sorry, not trying to glorify White people or anything . . . but I hate it when people say they are negatively criticizing you in order to protect you from negative critics. Call it what it is lady! You are the "mainstream" media that will be casting out judgements about this girl's hair. I don't see any White women or men writers at Newsweek taking on this topic. (Sidebar: I am not taking away from the fact that there are some racist White people who don't feel comfortable seeing "ethnic hairstyles" in the workplace and will even deny us jobs based on that fact, but I don't see little Miss Zahara Jolie having to worry about that.)

There are those who say there is nothing wrong with Zahara’s hair at all, that her hair is in its natural state and that’s just fine.

That would be me! Like I said before, her hair looks healthy to me. Also, I am an advocate for little Black girls. I think they are adorable at that innocent age without a care in the world, no hangups and nothing but opportunity, high self-esteem and flowers and rainbows, and candy and princesses and their hair grows like weeds because we don't do half as much damage to it as will be done in the future. That is what I see when I look at my nieces. That is what I see when I look at little Zahara. Why would anyone want to take that away from them? Which reminds me, I gotta take my little nieces out soon and tell them how beautiful and intelligent and wonderful they are. :-)

I say natural hair---afro, dreads, etc. is fine, if it’s maintained regularly or when the child is old enough to make that decision for herself.

Again, it looks like it's being maintained. Just not styled (I really can't emphasize that enough). Which, personally, I have no problem with. Actually, low maintenance is the best thing you can do for a Black person's hair (I wouldn't be shocked if Angie did some research and found out the same thing and that's why she's letting little mama run free in all of her adorable glory) Also, I'm sure that once little Zahara starts to care, her mommy will provide whatever resources are necessary to get her on the Rihanna bandwagon or whatever.

Until then, the child’s parents are responsible for their general care and upkeep. Zahara is not even old enough to know that her hair looks dry and damaged as it stands straight up on her head. But there will come a day when this beautiful little African girl will understand what it means to be an African-American woman in this society and realize unlike her younger sister, hers is not a wash-and-go world.

Yes, one day there will be some judgemental-behind, Black woman (like you) to point out her "perceived" flaws and try to hand her the baggage that she missed out on as a babe. Until then, I'm sure she's doing okay. Now get thee to the ghetto and help someone who really needs it and stop being a snob, picking on little Black girls with millionaire parents (who could afford to probably just buy their own hair care line anyway).

And boo! Boooooo on you and your article!

Here's what I think

2009-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry my posting has been quite sporadic. But I'm back to talk about Locs and the folks who wear them. I was looking at some pictures online in an effort to inspire myself (concerning hair color). A friend was saying that I am at a good length to begin dying my hair but I'm not sure I agree with him. I'm trying to go for this look . . .

But, uh . . . my hair in the front is not quite long enough. And plus I'm pretty content with my natural color, for now. My opinion changes from day to day so who knows? Tomorrow might be different.

Anyway, I saw some pictures of women with really tight locks. And it looks good on them, but that's just not my thing you know? Kind of like this . . .

I stay away from the scalpy look bec

ause . . . well, personally I think my head is too big for that. I need bigger hair to compete with my dome. But this is cute if you're conservative and like to look neat. It looks more like braids to me. I used to be a BIG fan of this look. Actually, that was what I was going for when I first started locs, but gradually I realized that it doesn't work for me at all. My hair is too thick for it and it doesn't fit my face or my personality for that matter. I guess I'm a little too wild for that.

This gorgeous human being to the left is artist Valerie June. Her hair is absolutely amazing and beautiful but I don't know if I could do the freeform thing. But look at her, though. (Sigh) It looks so darn good! I think my problem with freeform is this: that's too much loss of control for me. Lol. I'd only do it if I can get my hair to sign a contract that says it will do it's best to form exactly like Valerie June's. And my hair can't do that, so I can't freeform. But Geeze Louis! Look at her go. (Sigh!) . . . and yeah, I said it! Geeze Louis! lol

Ahh, yes. This is what I'm talking about. A happy medium. Lauryn Hill's hair is like my dream. I know you're not supposed to envy someone else's locs because they are all different, but I luh her hair (or loved, rather because she hasn't looked like this for quite some time) This woman's hair. Lawd a mercy!

But I was thinking. The beauty of Lauryn's hair is how black it is. I guess that's why I'm always hesitating to dye my hair a lighter color. Despite the fact that my hair's not dyed black and it's kind of dull. I could stand to moisturize a bit more to tell you the truth. I heard that prolonged rinsing is good for keeping the hair shiny . . . no, excuse me, sheeny. Either way, I'm good with how I look now. Every time I wash my hair, or wake up and stick it in a ponytail or wear it out even, I'm glad that I made this wonderful decision.

Toodle-oo!

I'm Still Alive

2009-06-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

You can call off the search. I'm still alive and kicking. Just been on a series of trips, trying to enjoy life. But I'm back to give some updates.

Let's see . . . I've been doing a terrible, terrible job of retwisting and moisturizing. I've been doing my deep conditioning about once a month, rather than once a week like I used to. My routine in case you forgot was wash and rinse hair with shea moisturizing shampoo. Then massage head with shea moisturizing conditioner mixed with heated olive oil & honey. Put baggy over my head, blow dry, and then wash it out. Retwist with olive oil and then blow that not completely dry, but just enough to absorb the oil. It usually leaves my hair so sheeny and healthy. I did a bootleg version last night, which consisted of washing and rinsing my hair and then separating it into parts with oil on it (while still wet-I couldn't find my blow dryer). I did about 9 big plaits all over the head and put a scarf on. It's not the best thing in the world, but it's better than nothing.

What can I say? I got locks in the first place because they are supposed to be low maintenance and these are low maintenance times right now. I guess in the winter, there were more opportunities to stay inside with a glass of wine or hot cup of cocoa and retwist, but now that summer's here . . . I have ants in my pants, people to see, things to do. Everybody's graduating, getting married and popping out bebes. Ah, to be young.

CLOWNING

So one of my sorority sisters was telling me that she knew someone that works in the same field that I do. She said that I should connect with him and try to do a project together or something because she thinks we have a lot in common. "Like what?" I asked her. She said, "Well, he's into everything natural. He's a vegetarian and doesn't eat any meat. He's into taking care of the earth, you know? That kind of thing." I said, "Well I'm not a vegetarian or anything" and started to laugh. She looks confused and says, "Well what I mean is that you guys would get along because you're hair is natural, like you have that thing going on." I said, "Well is his hair locked up or something." "No," she says, "it's a regular low-cut." ooookay I thought to myself.

So I told my boyfriend about it a couple days ago. And this fool says, (if I can try to remember it all) "I guess that makes you a . . .

-Tree hugging

-Poetry reading

-Color purple quoting

-Trail mix eating

-Henna tatooing

-Weed smoking

-Incense Lighting

-Peace sign throwing

-Grass Roots Project Volunteering

-White People hating

-Vegetarian/Vegan diet eating

-Long colorful skirt wearing

-Bike riding

-Guitar playing

-India Arie, I am not my hair singing

-Flip flop wearing

-Yoga stretching

-African Dance teaching

-Cloth bag wearing

-Reggae listening

. . . and so on and so forth. I tell ya, he's a barrel of laughs. (I'm not going to lie, though, he had me CRACKING UP and soon I joined in with the stereotypes) And this lasted all day. Anytime we thought of something new, we added it to the list.

So feel free to add anything we may have missed!

Happy Blogging/Blog Reading!

Updates and Randomness

2009-03-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

So being the procrastinator that I am, I have not dyed my locks. And once I do, I was actually thinking about making them black. But then again, maybe I'll just wait until they grow long in order to do that.

Anywho, I have some randomness that I wanted to share today. A couple weeks ago, I took my mother to the movies and while we were in the bathroom, I asked her what kind of person she'd think I was based on my appearance. She said, "A person who likes to take long walks, eat nuts and ride your bike through the forest." LOL I have been laughing about this everyday since. That woman cracks me up. On another note, something I said must have stuck with her, because she's planning on locking her hair up in the near future. I am very shocked at this decision but hope that she knows what she's getting into.

So yesterday, I asked a coworker and very good friend a similar question. I'm moving into a new apartment and have been fervently decorating, painting and planning for my home-warming party. I asked him if he didn't know me and had to guess how my apartment would be decorated based on my appearance what does he think it would look like. He says, "An IKEA'd up dorm room, with strobe lights, doorway beads and colorful bean bag chairs." I thought that was hilarious considering the direction my living room is taking. I guess my church members will be in for a surprise. I'll post a picture next post.

Don't Just Lay There . . . DO SOMETHING!

2009-03-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I feel limp and boring.

I live by the rule that if your hair looks great (or if you can accessorize your bland outfit) it gives a boost to the rest of your appearance. Maybe because it's wintertime and I don't know how to accessorize under sweats, big stuffy coats and snow boots, I feel and look like this lately . . .

And I'd much rather feel and look like this . . .

Sigh . . . can't wait for summer!

My first ponytail

2009-03-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Aaaawwww Shucks!

Is that a ponytail yall?

I can't tell, I need a second opinion.

Yep, by dictionary definition, that is indeed a ponytail. Granted this picture was taken after a wash and retwist some shrinkage has since occurred and my hair is not able to fit into such a neat ponytail anymore, but this is a momentous occasion folks. One which I'm glad to be able to share with you all.

So um, what's new besides the ponytail?

Chris and Ri-Ri

The economy

Oh! What's new with me, you mean? Nothing really. Same ol' stuff.

I am thinking about dyeing my hair within the next couple days. I have no idea what color or whether to do just the tips or the whole thing. I was thinking about dying it black to bring out my features, but then I thought maybe the traditional light brown tips. I dunno. Any suggestions? I'm open to anything. I know that most people start to dye when they get around to the length I'm at now. Most times I like to go against whatever people are doing (so in my case I wouldn't dye it at all) but I need to do something different with my hair these days. So we'll see. That about it!

Happy Snow Day everybody!!!

Lookit What I Did!

2009-02-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I'm so corny, but I was excited to be able to successfully wrap my hair in a different way than usual and wanted to post these pics. That's about it.

Oh and um, I washed my hair not too long ago . . . same routine as usual. Check it out!

My hair is sooo heavy now when I wash it. I didn't anticipate the amount of shampoo and conditioner I would have to start using.

It's gettin there yall!

My hair is not African, it's American...like me and other randomness people should know

2009-02-01T04:57:00.000-08:00

So my mom came by to visit me and we went to church together this past Thursday. Upon her arrival, she asked if I had a hotcomb (which, oddly enough, I did) and proceeded to flame torch her tresses bone straight. My mom wears her hair natural as well, but likes to straighten it, gel it up and pop on a thick, lush ponytail. Of course, being a happy nappy I said, "noooo, don't do that." I figured if she wanted hair that looked straight she might as well just use the oldest trick in the book and gel it all back into a ponytail. Her hair is naturally soft and curly so it doesn't take a hot comb to smooth it all back into a fine textured ponytail, just some water a hair brush and some grease (like back in the day, remember?). But she was desiring a fluffy little bang up front to match the fluffy ponytail in the back (moms was a big fan of the eighties y'all). So I let bygones be bygones and when she left I sent her packing with my little gold hotcomb and a little bit of the burnt hair that she left in it. Sigh! Can't fight'em all.

Anywhoo...at work the other day, my clueless but very friendly coworker proceeded to sing "Three Little Birds" and tell me that I reminded her of Bob Marley. Although, me and Bob both share the hairstyle commonly known as dread locks and yes, we both have a love for Jah...um, I wasn't flattered. She could tell by the *crickets* that her little comparison didn't go over, so she decided to do one better. "Okay, how about this...my African Queen, Princess from the Motherland, Nubian Goddess..."

Calmly and slowly, I said, "You're killing me. Please stop." And thankfully, she did. I gave her the brick face the first time, because oddly enough, I didn't know why she connected me with Bob Marley. My brain was kind of slow (it was 5am in the morning) but when she went into the African Princess stuff it occurred to me. She must have thought that my wearing locks was an attempt to live like/look like a rastafarean or to look African. I guess I didn't get it because I've never acquainted dreadlocks/natural hair with a culture, just an ethnicity. In other words, I didn't think it was an African thing or an island thing, I just thought it was a Black thang! -Says, "heeeyyy" and raises the roof-

So once I came to that conclusion, my mind went twenty different directions. Like if she thinks wearing natural hair is an African thing, then what the (insert expletive here) does she think she's doing by wearing a perm? The "American thang?" -Says "heeeyy" weakly and half heartedly raises the roof- Um, I hope not because there are plenty of island and African perm-wearers that would take offense to that.

She wasn't the first person to say something like that to me. When I went to some model scout, casting call thing a couple months ago, the lady told me that she liked my Afro-centric pictures. I remember being confused and thinking to myself, what's so afro-centric about my pictures? But now I know. The lady was sadly mistaken as to what afro-centricism truly is. So for the record, here's a PSA...not that any permies are looking at this blog anyway, but you never know. And maybe one day you might need to use this PSA for someone else (whether you are locked up or not). lol

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

MY HAIR DOES NOT BELONG TO ANY SPECIFIC CULTURE. IT IS NOT AFRICAN HAIR. IT IS NOT JAMAICAN HAIR. IT IS NOT RASTAFAREAN HAIR OR NIGERIAN HAIR. IT IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, THE NATION OF ISLAM OR THE REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRAT PARTY. IT IS JUST HAIR.

My hair is not on its own spiritual journey. I am not actively making a statement. While I respect and admire other cultures, I do not identify myself with any culture outside of my own (insert your culture here, mine is American). My ETHNICITY, is (Black African origin) and that is why my hair is naturally curly and kinky. Not because I am making a statement and underwent some chemical transformation to help me identify with a tribe in (insert country here).

This is NOT what I'm trying to do...

...not that there is anything wrong with either one of those things.

This is what I'm trying to do...

My hair did not originally start out like this...

It started out like this...

And I decided to keep it that texture. Not because I am lazy or militant or rastafarean or angry or happy or strange or African or Jamaican or (insert adjective here) but because I LIKE IT THIS WAY.

That's it yall!

Peace, Blessings and Jah!

"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally discredited and abandoned...WAR! So that is prophecy, and everyone knows that is truth. And it came out of the mouth of Rastafari."

"I don't stand for the black man's side; I don’t stand for the white man's side. I stand for God's side.

-Bob Marley

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Meeeee!!!!

2009-01-17T01:51:00.000-08:00

Guess what today is? Drum-roll please...Ah, forget it, you already know. I have officially been locked for one year. And I have absolutely nothing planned. Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to get the boyfriend to take me out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant. But here's how I'm going to do it on this blog. I'm going to make an attempt to post as many pictures of my journey as possible- kind of an attempt at showing the growth thus far. (That will be tough considering that some a** monkey from my job deleted all of the pictures off of my first digital camera-grrr!!! But nevermind that-I will do my best). I will also list all of the ups and downs I experienced in my first year of locking. First things first...

Jan. 17th 2008

One year ago today. I was very unsure about my brave new hair do. But I sucked it up and decided to live dangerously. I washed my hair and my mother palm rolled it using ORS hair locking gel. I would never suggest anyone start their locks with palm rolls if their hair has a little length to it. They do not stay for anything. I would probably suggest braid locks or two (or three) strand twists (but that's just my humble opinion).

A closer view of my head on day one.

3 Weeks into my journey

Uh, yeah, did I forget to mention that in the beginning stages locks don't stay for anything. I think this is my first wash. Or maybe just one of the many washes that completely obliterated my beginner twists. Whatever it was, it was very frustrating to say the least.

circa March 2008

This is around the time I became a diy'er (do-it-yourself-er). I was mixing up all kinds of concoctions that are still sitting in my cabinets now. Bottom line...the main thing that consistently gets used on my hair nowadays besides my favorite shampoos are apple cider vinegar, honey, and olive oil, olive oil, olive oil. I still use the occasional spray bottle concoction, but not often.

Early April 2008

Wore my hair up A LOT around this time. I was a huge fan of the up do. Still am, to tell you the truth.

April 2008

Around this time I was learning to accept my locks.

And my hair was definitely budding during this time.

May 2008

Love these model pics. They helped to boost my confidence, showed the diversity of locks and my newly gained length and introduced me to my new favorite do. THE BUN.

But a funny thing happened while my

hair was in a bun. It was secretly growing.

circa November

Some days it would lay down wrong and some days it would lay down right.

(But whatever it did, it was dy-no-miiite! - just had to throw that in, lol)

Around this time, I was noticing some knotting. And it was driving me CRAZY!!! I even considered cutting the tips off of my locks. Think of that! (But I didn't and I'm glad I made that decision.) Chunky tips and yes, even knots are normal for some people during the locking process. (My advice is to continue palm rolling, twisting, latching and focus on maintaining the tips of your lock just as much as the base. - which is something that I wasn't doing at the time.)

circa October

I was getting bored and decided to try some new things. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hair took well to rollers. So...

Also, I got a little spoiled by my sister (aka "the braiding machine") and got to wear the best hair do ever. I suggest anyone who is wearing locks to go to a hairdresser or do an extravagant style like this occasionally. I think we all need reminders as to how versatile locks are. And in the beginner stages, anything different you can do with your hair to occasionally break out of the cycle is good for your spirit.

November 2008

Typical look for me from day to day recently.

December 2008

So here I am ( in one of my staple hair accessories; the net hat or bonnet, whatever you wanna call it). I'm one year in and ready for more years to come!

January 2009

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LOCS! I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

Guess who's getting a bath today?

2009-01-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'll give you a hint.

It's the four legged (angry looking guy) in this picture. He is not happy!

But anywhoo...I have been muy busy lately, since my last work project is now complete. Living in the freelance world, I am now at that spot that nobody likes. Looking for the next gig. I am catching up with things that have gone awry in my life. Like my credit score for one. (Some hooligans decided to steal my social and now I have to pick up the pieces). Also catching up on laundry, cleaning and looking for a new place. Lots to do. (Sigh!) Haven't been focusing on the hair really, but it's still growing. I will be washing and re-twisting this evening. That's it for now. Here's a pic to keep up with the theme of this blog. (Maybe I should make this a general blog, moreso than a hair blog). Hmm . . . maybe.

People Who Better Not Say NUTHIN' Bout My Hair

2008-12-22T10:12:00.001-08:00

Okay, I'll just get to the point. You know what really "burns my cookies"? When a guy gives an opinion about a woman's (particularly a Black woman's) hair. And I don't mean saying, "oh, I like your hair" or anything like that. Example time! Back in the day, I used to have this roomate that wanted every *BW to go natural. And while this was a noble plight, his thinking was very, very jaded. He would ask any and every BW with long hair if they were wearing a weave and if they weren't, he would congratulate them. If they were wearing a weave, he would put them down. If they were wearing a perm he'd explain that while BW aren't able to grow their hair very long, that doesn't mean that they should conform by trying to straighten out what little length they do have.

Okay, wait...what?!

Now on the other hand, around that time, I was dating a new guy. About a month before we made our relationship official, I permed my hair. He told me that if I went back to natural, he would leave me. Said jokingly, but still a very fu... , I mean jacked up statement to make on his part. He said that natural hair didn't look right. If I was having a bad hair day and wanted to sport a cute head scarf, he was very much against it. He said it looked too ethnic or whatever, I forget...it was a long time ago. He thought my weaves and extensions were nice looking, but teased me about them occasionally. (He didn't know that I was wearing these as protective styles, because I was gradually going back to natural, and leaving his dumbass-oops, I cursed).

So with these stories, I make the point that the people who were the most judgemental. That had the most to say about how I (or other BW) should wear my/our hair are always the same ones who don't know anything about how to deal with "our hair". (Oh yeah, and the first dude-my roomate...was Hispanic) I can understand an opinion. Liking or disliking a hair style. But judging a person based on their hair is especially bothersome to me, and even moreso when it is done by a guy. Black men especially, because they can feel particularly self righteous as if they are the ultimate authority on Black women in general.

Hair is sensitive to us. Why? Because it is a struggle that only a BW would know. Hell, we have the most fragile kind of hair known to man. So, I try to keep the judgement down to a minimum. LOL, except for when it comes to this chick hehe, joking. Having experienced our kind of hair, I have a certain amount of respect for the challenges we face, having to overcome the traditional standard of beauty every day. Hours of research, care and maintenance. Finding a hair routine that is simple and effective. Finding a hairdresser that is good at her job. These are pains we take in order to look good, feel good, and (yes, I'll admit it) to please our boyfriends/husbands/partners.

I guess it just peeves me because I'm a strong believer that Black women have it hard enough as it is. We're hard on ourselves, and when society isn't completely ignoring/dismissing us, they are hard on us too. On top of that, we have our "brothers" (some who mean well) throwing out insensitive comments that end up hurting women and adding to the complexes most of us already have. Imagine if I wasn't a confident, self-aware person. My ex-boyfriend would have really made me believe that my hair in its natural state was ugly. Or my roomate, telling someone that is wearing a weave that THEY are a fake person. Two men, very different opinions, both wrong on so many levels. This is the kind of judgement that a lot of BW have internalized and walk around carrying.

One more point and then I'm done:
A big one that I hear is the argument about BW wearing rollers while in the grocery store, as if that woman is a bad person or someone with low self esteem. How about that woman is busy? Granted, I don't do this, probably because I rarely wear rollers. And yes, I'll admit that I try to look a certain way when I go out whether it be to the grocery store or to the gym. But I don't pass down judgement on someone who is wearing roller sets or a scarf. I just assume that they have somewhere to go later on and want to look sharp. One day, a looong time ago, I was in an emergency situation prior to a big event and had to run to the cornerstore ( yes...curlers, scarf and all). You should have seen the nasty looks I got from the men folk. It was unbelievable. The women, didn't seem to mind so much. They all gave knowing glances with the "I feel you girl" grin. I was in "getter done mode" so I didn't pay too much attention to the self righteous attitudes of my "brothers" the same brothers, mind you that would be trying to holla at a sistah at the event a few hours later. It was interesting how quick the judgement was passed in the stop n' shop, but everybody was winking and grinning at the banquet hall.

Sooo in conclusion, brothers...if any of you read this. Probably not. Probably just talking to myself anyway. Every time you go to an event and see a fine looking woman, with nice hair, makeup and dress; remember that she may have been the very same chick in the store with the rollers and 'house shoes.' LOL And in seriousness, every time you are about to say or even think something about a woman that may be wearing their hair in a way that is not to your liking remember the hangups that she probably has had to deal with throughout life. The work it takes to have to deal with her hair everyday, in whatever state it is in. And remember that whatever you might decide to let come out of your mouth, may do more hurt than good. And nobody needs that. Any ladies care to weigh in?

*BW stands for Black Woman (or women depending on the context). I write that word way too many times in this article for me to be spelling it out.

Oil ain't so bad afterall...an ode to EVOO

2008-12-16T12:33:00.001-08:00

I had a pretty good experience not too long ago that I would like to share with y'all. It kind of counter balances my previous post about how certain types of hair (extra thick, course hair like mine) needs a cream or lotion to keep it hydrated and moisturized. On the other hand, oil serves it's purpose as well. Warning: detailed hair washing regimen ahead... Couple days ago, I washed my hair with the desert essence shea butter hydrating shampoo & conditioner mentioned a few posts ago...

I did a deep condition using the desert essence conditioner mixed with about a half cup of olive oil, wrapped my head in a bag and used a blow dryer to heat up the concoction. (Remember kids, the objective is not to dry your hair or blast it with heat, it's just a way of getting all that moistur-ey goodness to seep into your hair and scalp so use medium heat or a low pressure.) Kind of like a steam job.

So, I washed that stuff out, towel dried the hair enough for it to be damp and drippy (rather than soaking wet) and decided not to retwist using my usual mango lime locking gel.

Which smells really really goood, but I've been on a 'no residue' kick lately, and I'll get into that later. Instead, I decided to retwist with some good ole' fashioned EVOO.

The whole time I was doing this, I was thinking to myself that my hair is not going to hold as well with oil. But I finished retwisting (which has become increasingly easier, since I am already locked up-aaand, I got a little help from the boyfriend ;-) I blew the hair dry with my blowdryer, (set on medium heat) and not only did they manage to hold, but they hung straight and did not leave any residue at all, except a beautiful shine.

Oil was very important back in my permie days because it gave me length, as well as shine and added a little weight to my hair without product buildup. I must have forgotten that, because I was really shocked when I finished blow drying my hair after retwisting with oil and ended up with hair that laid down a bit more and had a smoother texture, rather than a fluffy texture (which dries out quicker). There was no residue at all and I actually felt the hair on the back of my neck, slightly touching my shoulders a little bit. I wonder if my hair would have turned out a little more cylindrical if I'd have done this from the start. But I don't want to think about that...lalalala! (Places fingers in ears and shakes head)

I feel like my scalp is an indicator that tells me how I'm holding up in the moisture department, and it was feeling itchy lately (meaning it was dry). But not lately. When I feel my scalp and the hairs close to it, everything is pretty soft. So all is good in the neighborhood. I would not advise this to anyone who is in the process of locking, because I don't know if it will work as well...but then again give it a try anyway, who knows? Either way, it's a great way to keep the moisture in your scalp and hair sealed up.

Now the only problem is...what do I do with all those extra containers of mango lime locking gel?

My Hair is a Sponge

2008-12-10T09:51:00.000-08:00

So another day in the land of locks and I'm easing on down the yellow-brick road, like the Wiz. No complaints. In 38 days it will be my one year loc-aversary and I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with myself...but that's all the way in Emerald City for now, so I have some time to sit in the poppy fields and figure that one out.

Why the Wizard of Oz references? (Screaming) Because I look like a mother freaking scarecrow! (Awkward pause) That's why!!! (Throws empty beer bottle against wall) Damnit!

I'm sooo joking, lol. Just in a rambling mood today. But onto business. I haven't been moisturizing my hair like I should, henceforth, the scarecrow reference and the handy and very dandy, wool-knit hair net I am wearing today. (I know, I know...'foo on you, NaturallyMe...you should be moisturizing your head!') I'll be honest. My days have been a toss up between being really really busy with work and running errands or really really lazy at home. So last night, right before bed, I made a weak attempt to fix the problem. I smoothed some oil into my hair real quick (knowing good and well that won't do a thing for my hair, except give it sheen) and tied a scarf on.

Which leads me to my next little blurb. My hair is a sponge and unless I moisturize with a thick hair cream or cowash (which for me means, wash with conditioner), oil does absolutely nothing for me, except give me a temporary shine. I think I've been fooling myself for some time, thinking that all I need is more oil and more oil. When truth is, if I don't wash or moisturize with a cream first, it doesn't matter. Before I locked up, my hair would get so dry sometimes it would sound like a crackling fireplace. HEY! You know what? Maybe the scarecrow reference WAS right on. (Straw is a kind of sponge.)

Oil alone works for some people. The "oil and go" crowd, so to speak. But not for me. The longer I wear locks, the more I realize that the hair on my head has the same personality as I do. It's different (not like anybody else), it means well, but it will not conform at all. Sometimes, I wish it would but I'm sure there are people out there that wish that I would conform too. When I wore it in a perm, it broke the permed hair in a subtle way, continually pushing through. There was no mistaking my hair texture. The more I tried to cover it up, the thicker and stronger it became until I had no choice but to let it be.

Since I'm talking about what kind of hair I have, I might as well mention that I looked up Andre Walker's hair types to see what category I fall under a couple weeks ago. I didn't post about it because when I saw that there were only 4 choices that I would be picking from (Straight, wavy, curly and kinky) it was a no brainer. I have thick, nappy hair. Um, no kidding...thanks Andre. But I added the site here and there are a bunch of links to different products (good for kinky hair) at the bottom of the page. I'm not much of a product junky, but I like the names...curly custard and whipped pudding. Makes me hungry, mmm. lol

To tell you the truth, I like the LOIS system, because it shows you how to look at your hair and find out it's exact pattern. I haven't done this yet, but I plan on doing it sometime soon. So check it out if you haven't already tried it.

And for good measure, I will give you the recipe to my little hair concoction that's in the spray bottle these days.

What you'll need:

1 8 oz. spray pump bottle (of course)

1 cup pantene relaxed and natural conditioner (looove how this smells)

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tbs glycerin oil

Mix ingredients, pour (or funnel) into the container. Spray and go. Coat with oil afterwards for shine or to lock in the moisture (if your hair is anything like mine).

That about it! Now, ease on down ease on down the roooad!

Uh...yeah

2008-12-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

Nothing significant. Just an update. Took all the crap out of my hair and uh, back to the same ole same. I'm going to be honest. I've been kind of bored with the locs lately. Still too short to do some of the things I would like to do and the things that I can do require a whole lot of time and a whole lot of bobby pins. I want to try something different, but I don't think my motor skills are right for braiding hair at the back of my head like some people seem to be able to do. Anywhoo...that's my depressing little update.

I think it has more to do with my working all of the time than with my hair really. I just need a break, but with the current economy a sistah has to scrimp up as many duckets as possible and stop worrying about being creative and different with the tresses. And if that means throwing my hair into an updo everyday or wearing it all lose and wild with no rhyme or reason, then so be it.

(pictures coming)

Lisa Nutter's Locks

2008-11-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am a starer...a person who stares a lot. If you are an interesting looking person or a person wearing locks, I will stare you the hell down. I will watch you like a hawk while you walk into a room and I will stare at your face and/or the back of your head until you leave the room. Yes it's uncomfortable to the person being stared at but it's something that I cannot control, so I've learned to be discreet with my eye stalking behavior. One person that I was REALLY looking forward to staring at (from a hidden location) the other day was Lisa Nutter, wife of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. She has beautiful, long, thick locks that compliment her dark exotic features. Mrs. Nutter attended the award show on Monday, along with Ms. Sonia Sanchez and CCH Pounder (other natural hair/lock wearers I was planning on staring down.) Of course, Mrs. Nutter decided to leave the show early. Maybe someone warned her about me. :-(

I did get a chance to glance at the back of her head once or twice, though. Le Sigh!

Anywhoo...here's some pictures of the woman.

Oh and for some really close pictures of her locks click this link. I included this post because I think that it is so cool to see women from different backgrounds and lifestyles rocking such an ethnic and strong look. For the split second that I was staring down the back of her head, I noticed some things...

1. That Mrs. Nutter has chunky tips and her locks aren't completely cylindrical...just like a certain someone I know who was stressing out about it a couple posts ago.

2. She dyed some of her hair (I believe it was her tips) a honey brown color.

3. Even though this was a formal event, she wore her hair down and it looked really nice.

So that's it.

And as a bonus...Sonia Sanchez and CCH Pounder

Isn't that picture behind Sonia Sanchez awesome?!

These women ROCK!!!

Check out my new do!

2008-11-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

I have been working as an Assistant Producer on an award show in Philadelphia for the past couple months. It has been an exhausting project (as reflected by my few and far between postings) but it all came to an end yesterday. Being that this was a big event, equipped with celebrities and dressed up rich people, I wanted my hair to be perfect. I asked my sister to do something with my locs. She was the one who did my hair for the model shoot a while ago. The thing with my sister is that she always uses weaves (which isn't a big deal) but she always makes the hair a little extra flamboyant (which means a whole lot of weave and a whole bunch of craziness sitting on my head.) I usually end up taking what she does and turning it into a bun (like in the model pics) in order to tone it down. In my head, I consider myself edgy and risky, but realistically, I'm a conservative prude that doesn't like to push the envelope. So for the big event, my sister did this...

A long a**, unbeweavable ponytail.

And I turned it into this...

...a conservative (slightly big a**) bun.

(Try to ignore my bare feet-I can't help it, I'm from the country)

here's the back of the head, in case you cared

As you can see, she tightened the locs and then braided them which kind of creates intricate designs on my head. It's really interesting to look at. I've received a lot of comments about it since I started wearing it like this.

I wore it in a bun for an event the night before the award show. I was very impressed with how I looked after applying some much needed makeup and decided that I'd get brave and wear it down the next day.

So here's how your girl looked the day of the award.

So I guess this is my way of saying, Thank you twin sister for a job well done. I was skerred at first, but overall she gave me a great hairdo. And I got A LOT of compliments as a testament to that. I would have never thought to do this to my hair, but damnit...she had a vision, she followed through and I'm glad she did. Somebody's gotta break me out of my box.

So thanks Sis, for making me look like this...

And they say locks are not diversable...(yes, that's a homemade word!)

Loaded Hair Questions - Your hair is nice!!! Is it real?

2008-11-12T17:28:00.001-08:00

Lawd, I'm so tired...lol.

I have been working some really long hours lately, so a sistah has been tired. And boy did I look it yesterday. Let me just say that I did not retwist my hair in three washes and it looked like I was sporting a mini afro with some dred locks sticking out. And then I had the nerve to try to squeeze that abomination into a ponytail and pop on a nappy bun. LOL, it was a HOT MESS. But sometimes you have to look like crap. It's a part of life. I wish I had a picture to show yall, but I took the hair down before I remembered I wanted to capture this bad hair day on film.

Anywhoo... I washed, retwisted last night and tah dah.

Here I am today.

I did a cute little behive type, updo thing today (trying to make up for yesterday) and it was REALLY cute. But again, I forgot to capture the moment on film. So I will have to do it again one day and post up a pic.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Have you ever told someone that their hair was really nice and then followed up with, "is it real?" I'll let you think about that.

I haven't done that before, but that's because I think it's really rude. I haven't been asked too many of these types of nosey questions lately because I am wearing locs now and my hair is short, but I used to get these kinds of questions all the time when I wore braids or a perm. I noticed that Black women and men for that matter could not possibly give me a compliment about my hairstyle without verifying whether my hair was "real" or synthetic, sew in or glued, box perm or professional or whatever. Maybe it's just me, but I would get these kinds of questions from Black people in front of anyone at any time. I call them loaded hair questions because you never know how to answer them. Of course, I was always honest, but how do you tell someone that they are being inappropriate?

This reminds me of another story. I had an acquaintance in college that was famous for asking me loaded hair questions every time she saw me. And if I didn't answer her quick enough or if I gave her the "stop blowing up my spot" look, she would literally put her fingers into my hair to feel for a weave. All of my friends thought I was crazy. "Oh, she's so nice." "She wouldn't do anything like that." And then, while at some event in the student center at my school, I see her talking to a close friend of mine. My friend throws a glance in my direction that lets me know that homegirl just said something messed up. When she walks away, my friend (her name is Tiffany) says that their conversation went like this.

Tiffany: Hey (blank)!

Innapropriate Girl: Hey Tiff! I love your hair!

Tiffany: Thanks!

Innapropriate Girl: (all smiles) Is that a box perm?

Tiffany: Um, yeah.

Innapropriate Girl: Oh (pause) I can tell. I remember when I used to get box perms.

(I guess that's when my girl threw me the sideways glance that said, "you were right. she is an asshole").

I got my hair permed twice, once while a junior in high school and another time as a junior in college and both times while transitioning back I wore my hair in braided extensions. I wore braids every day for a whole year one of these times and I'll never forget a guy coming up to me...someone I never really spoke to beyond casual greeting. He says "how long is your real hair?" I looked at him for a minute, because I didn't know how to answer his thinly disguised loaded hair question.

So I tell these stories because I think everyone's experienced something like this before. And I just want to know how other people respond to that kind of stuff. I see so many black women, regular people, actresses, singers, professionals, students, all types wearing their hair in a vast array of styles so I think to myself...they must be getting these kinds of questions too, or asking them.

And don't think that you are escaping it by wearing locks, because there are plenty of lock extensions out there and I have already been asked if I was wearing some.

Okay question...how do you answer a loaded hair question?

I Brainwash Myself

2008-11-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, you heard me right. I have been in my little low moods as of late, and even considered . . . (I'm so ashamed to say it) taking down my locks and starting over. There! I said it. But this happens from time to time and cooler heads prevailed as usual. So I decided to continue trudging forward and resort to utilizing my brainwashing regimen. Youtube. I watch these videos over and over again. Listening to the music and seeing beautiful locks and listening to the journeys of women like myself. I figured that I would share these videos with you all, so that if you are having an off day (like moi) it gives you the boost you may need to keep going...

I feel better already!!! :-)

Chunky Knotty Lock Tips

2008-10-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all...

I figured my hair is long enough and I needed to do something different. So I popped a few curlers on the head and here we are...

The curl didn't stay too well at all...(as you can see) since I had to take the curlers out really early in the morning. But I rocked it anyway.

The next day I curled it again and it was waaay tighter...and looked a little funny, so I pinned it up and was very flattered with the outcome.

So I washed my hair two days ago. And after washing with the shampoo and oiling it up, I am always very pleased with how soft and conditioned my hair feels, but several days later, it's back to dry and stiff (no matter how much I oil). And I oil a lot kids. So this time after washing and retwisting and drying, I oiled it down one last time and wrapped it in my favorite satin scarf. When I woke up the next morning and removed the scarf my hair felt really nice and conditioned. So I've decided that I am going to keep a scarf on my head for the rest of my life...joking. :-) But I will try to cover my head a little more than usual, to lock in the moisture. I don't do that enough.

Anywho...I have been getting these locs that bunch up at the ends. It's horrible. My loc will be a nice size all the way around, but the tip will be fat and round. Almost like the tip has rolled up and locked into itself. It's frustrating. I have found myself combing out the loc and retwisting, which leaves the tip looking completely different. I'm trying to figure out whether I should leave it like this or continue to take a comb and get to combing the knots off until I have a head full of half way done locs. I've even considered cutting the tip off altogether. My family says it's not noticeable, and they're right, but it still bothers me. Maybe I should just let it grow and hope it straightens out.

Has anyone experienced this? If so, what did you do?

It's not easy being naturally me...

2008-10-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning, took off the headwrap and rustled my locks around in my fingers the way I always do. After brushing the teeth and washing the face, I checked myself out for a little bit and really liked what I saw. Not that I don't usually, but most mornings I have what I like to call "bad morning face." Not this morning, however. The face was not swollen; the eyes were not puffy and the hair looked ESPECIALLY on point. Every lock was going in the right direction. It even looked a lil bit longer. I checked out the back of my head with a mirror. The kitchen was on point too. Well alll riiiighht! I thought to myself in the most Jay-Jay Walker, dy-no-mite, casanova of the ghetto voice. I decided to wear my hair down at work, which I never do. Most times, I pin it up in an up-do or stick on a ponytail because I have nosey coworkers that I like to keep guessing.

So anywho, I put on the designer shades, a black neck scarf and my favorite pair of skinny jeans and mozied off to the job. And let me tell you, my coworker gave me the most back handed compliment. "Your hair is..." (long pause) "...growing!"
My hair was not nice. My hair was not cute. It was just
growing. Like a tumor. Then she says, "Don't worry girl, my hair was in that stage too." For those who don't get what that stage means...she's referring to the infamous, "ugly stage" of dreadlocs. (My coworker has long, beautiful locks. Just to give you some back story.)

Now, I did not stop her gibberish (as my best friend would call it, lol). I let her continue to hear her own voice and when she finished eating her foot, I went to the bathroom to double check. Maybe at some point, my hair decided to do something strange that I was not aware of. Maybe it was sticking up on the top of my head, like in my beginner days. Maybe I was mistaken this morning, because the last time I checked, I could have sworn I looked fabulous. But in a moment of doubt...I had to check myself, cause Lawd knows I've had some days where I thought I had it going on and I didn't.

So when I glanced in the mirror, this gorgeous looking diva was staring back at me.

Phew! I thought to myself. She was just hatin' on a sistah! I thought it was me for a second.

Dy-no-miiiiite!!!

Yeah, she was trippin!

I don't have the face for that!

2008-10-07T10:50:00.001-07:00

One of the statements that I hear the most from Black women when they see my hair is, "Your hair is sooo nice" followed by, "I wish I could do that!" And my reply is always, "you can." To which they say, "I can't pull that off" or "I don't have the face for that." Now there is a pattern with this comment because these women are almost always one of these things...

#1- very attractive

#2- very intelligent

#3- very permed up

These are strong, confident Black women that hold management positions at their jobs. Women that make important decisions for their companies every day. These women make fashionable wardrobe choices with a self awareness that allows them to mix and match colors and styles to accentuate the right curves and hide the wrong ones. These women are (as the over-used Tyra Banks expression goes) fierce! And they're telling lil' ole eccentric, neurotic, nerdy, goofy, peon me that they're not bold enough to wear their own hair the way it grows out of their scalp.

Now I talked to the beau about it this morning and we got into a heavy discussion. We talked about dealing with peer pressure as children and the negative images of natural hair and how this causes us to hold negative images of ourselves as adults and so on and so forth.

But I guess the conundrum for me is why women in their thirties and forties who "got it going on" think that they would suddenly look like a gorilla if they decided to wear their hair natural. Now I have seen some rough looking ladies in my day, and let me tell you...a perm, a weave, or a dye job is not going to change how many teeth you have. A bump n' curl is not going to eliminate a weak eye or a slumping forehead. In other words, you don't have to have a certain face to wear a perm so why do people think that you have to have a certain face to wear natural hair?

It makes me think that they are seeing natural hair as a bold fashion move, like a gorgeous runway model striding down the catwalk in a trendy yet slightly bizarre outfit. It's a little extreme, but only someone like her could pull that off. First off, it's not extreme. And second, I'm far from a runway model (and I'm rockin this look, damnit! ;-)

Now I take it as a compliment when people say that I have "the face" to pull off natural hair, but it also saddens me a little bit. It helps me to understand that the person who made the comment doesn't think that they have the right face for their own God given hair.

And when I think about it, I've NEVER in my life seen a woman that wore her hair natural who "didn't have the face" for it. It always seems to suit that person. I've seen some women who are not suited well by relaxers, however. Women with awkward bangs or brittle, slicked down ponytails that don't compliment their beautiful features. And sometimes, I think to myself, "That woman would look really nice with a twist out or braided french roll." The idea would be preposterous to these women, I'm sure.

"I don't have the face for that," they'd probably say.

An update...several months later

2008-09-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday officially marked my eight month anniversary and guess what else? I went out and bought a new Mac computer so hopefully I can upgrade the pictures and actually add videos in order to give myself (and anyone who reads this) a better way to see the progress I've made. About the hair...it has grown some (not much) but enough to see a difference. Here's some pictures...

I've been covering my head at night with my homemade satin hair cover. It matches the homemade pillow.

This really helps the hair to stay smooth and soft at the roots. As far as the lock itself, it's hard to keep it looking silky and smooth unless you have a really fine texture of hair to begin with. But then again, maybe I'm wrong because I saw a White dude the other day with locs and his hair looked thicker and shaggier than mine. I had to do a double take.

As my hair locks it looks dry, even though it's not. In reality, it's fluffy and kind of wooly I guess. But imagine trying to make a sheep look like it has shiny wool...not going to happen. So I don't expect to make my dreads look silky smooth. Right now I am at that point where the hair thickens a little and is fat at the ends, but I heard that this is a phase and with maturity my hair will become more cylindrical. I think it's getting there. I have been washing my hair with some shampoo that I bought from Whole Foods last week. It's called Hydrating Shea Butter Shampoo and Conditioner and it's made by a company called Desert Essence. I love how it makes my hair feel (and I'd better at $10 a bottle!) This stuff hydrates and anything that hydrates is good for me, because my hair absorbs water like a sponge. As we all know it's really important for Black people (especially ones with really thick and kinky hair like mine) to keep their hair moisturized and hydrated. FYI: Dry hair is not conducive to growth, and it also increases breakage and split ends. This stuff gave my hair and scalp the same feeling that I get when I pretreat it with the natural oils that I mix up. The ingredients say that it contains no alcohol and that everything is natural. It also contains Ginkgo and Rosemary (in the shampoo) and Meadowfoam and Wheat Protein (in the conditioner). Don't really know what the latter two are, but I'll look them up.

I have also been massaging my head with this oil that I got from Whole Foods. It's called Almond Glow. It's supposed to be used like a skin lotion, but I like all of the natural oils in the ingredients and it's lavender scented which is one of my favorite scents. It contains peanut oil, olive oil, lanolin oil and vitamin E. And it's light, which means no residue...which I will get into later. It's also paraben free and even though I don't know what that means it sounds like a good thing too, lol. So there tis! My new easy to take care of hair regimen. I rub the oil through my locs and go.

Now that my hair has locked up I don't have to re-twist half as much as I used to. And it also has some weight to it which is great because it lays down now. I was wearing it in an up-do a lot so that I could pleasantly surprise myself when I let my hair down and it had a little more length to it. Of course I'd have to pull it down with my fingers, because when I took it out of the up-do, it would just stay up in the air gathered on top of my head. But one day I let my hair loose and it actually dropped down when I released the clasp. You should have saw my face, lol. :-0 Yeah, it's a weird concept, but everyday is a nice little surprise. For the most part, though, I've been wearing it down a lot more now. I am loving this phase of my hair and every phase thus far. My only regret is not doing it sooner.

That's it for now folks!

Happy 4 Month Anniversary

2008-05-18T03:22:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody...I just realized that it's my four month anniversary. Not that it means anything, but I figured I'd do a quick blurb on my hair today. I've taken out the extensions and did a no-poo shampoo yesterday. I used herbal cleanse...I forget the brand name, but I'll post it up here as soon as I remember or see it. I didn't feel like going through the whole hair washing regimen and I figured that this would be a good time to try the no-poo.

My Take On No-Poo

A No-Poo or "dry shampoo" if you want to get technical, is kind of like using an anti-bacterial hand sanitizer on your hair. You squeeze the contents onto your scalp, wait one minute, and then rub it in with a towel. It is a clear gel that smells like alchohol mixed with a sorry excuse for a fragrance (well, mine does.) The boyfriend likes the smell...but what the -bleep- does he know? There's really nothing more to it than this, though. If you want to clean each twist/loc/braid individually, you put the gel onto the towel and rub it down the the hair you are cleansing, from root to tips.

I did this yesterday in sections as well as retwisted each loc with mango lime locking gel. The hair is looking tight (despite the fuzzies...we'll talk about that later), but I think I will have to end up doing a rinse because the problem with this kind of leave-in shampoo is the residue it leaves behind. Just like with anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, you are not rinsing this stuff out and although it dries quickly, it leaves the dead remains of whatever bacteria it has killed...that's right...on your scalp. Soooo, it's more convenient. It definitely gets the hair clean. But if you are meticulous (see: anal) like me, you are probably going to want to rinse and possibly even retwist. If not, you're still good to go. That's it for today.

I'll post up pictures of my frizzy, yet newly retwisted locs when I get a chance.

A Girl Can Dream, Right?!

2008-05-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

So I did a photo shoot for a friend. Yes, me. He says that I have the perfect look for what he was going for (And let me tell you, that compliment did wonders for a sistah's ego :-)

For the photo shoot...my sister added some extensions to my hair. She was not able to touch it up on the day of the photo shoot, but I tucked that bad boy into a bun and we did the model thing in the streets of Philadelphia wherever the photographer felt motivated to snap a picture. It was oh so natural! And the pictures turned out pretty great, I must say...

I'm quite proud of myself actually. The problem was taking that crap out of my hair. Actually, the crap is still in my hair. I kind of like it. And I wish my hair would grow already so that I can put it into a cute bun like the picture. Or so that I can wear it down.

So I've been walking around, perpitrating with a big-A bun on my head telling the people at church, "Yes! It's all mine." (Cause you know Black women will ask you in a heartbeat). I guess I forgot how childish and impatient I can be. But when it came time to take my hair down, I was immediately reminded.

I will take it out soon and come clean, I promise.

Daydreaming

But that will be me one day!

Latch hooking, beeswax and a little profanity

2008-04-28T03:11:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so I tried latch hooking.

First of all, let me explain and describe what a latch hook is in the first place. A latch hook is a hand-held tool consisting of a thin shaft with a hook on one end and a pivoting latch, used for drawing loops of yarn through canvas or similar material to make rugs and the like.
What makes this device perfect for tightening locks, is the pivoting latch. You put the hook through your twist or braid lock at the root. Next, you hook the end of your twist (or wrap it around...whatever, as long as it catches). Pull it back through the twist. If you continue this...it tightens eventually. I guess it just depends on how loose your twist was in the first place. It sounds complicated, but I looked at the process once on youtube and two months later, picked up a latch hook and did it. Considering that my memory is like an etch-a-sketch...I would not have remembered and been able to execute this procedure 2 months later -mind you- if it was difficult.

My opinion on latch hooking. Great process, great way to tighten your locks for an extended period of time. Great! Great! Great! Will I use this method? No. Why not? It works too well. Such a permanent method wouldn't allow me the option of "taking down" my locs in the future if I decided that I wanted to take that course of action. I'd have to shave my head. Now I know that most people get locs with the intention of never taking them out but I try not to do anything that I can't undo. And to me, shaving my head should be an option, not a requirement (unless I have some kind of horrible disease or an outbreak of lice or something.)

Here's a picture of the latch hooked locs.
Granted, I did pull them up, they are still pretty tight on their own. I took this picture about 3 weeks after latch hooking some of my locs. The fact that you still see my scalp goes to show you that they have some serious staying power.

Now the issue of beeswax. I'll get straight to the point, I've been tempted to use the stuff. I know, I know...I shouldn't. It builds up, it's heavy, it leaves residue...but darnit! I'm getting desperate. Gel is fine, but once...just ONCE, I'd like to know what it feels like to redo my twists and have them actually look fresh the next day. Sigh! Call me crazy, but can I see my scalp every once in a while?! Huh? Pretty please?! @!$#%*? (She takes a deep breath and looks off into the sky wistfully).

Okay, I'm done.

What's new?

2008-04-05T03:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I know it's been a while, but I have been busy with some things. For example...

I just finished reading this ...

Hair Story, a book by Ayana Bird and Lori Tharps. You should read it too! This is a book about Black people and their hair. From our beginnings in Africa (as far as hair maintenance rituals) to the hair cair industry today.

Anywho...I have been twisting and washing, retwisting and washing some more.

<------Trying to do a model pose...lol.

These are pictures of me on several occasions of doing my new favorite thing to do (NOT!) retwisting my hmmm...locks(?) I guess they are still twists. They are in between so I guess I will call them tweenies :-).

This is my "You show is ugly" Color Purple picture

Okay, enough foolishness...I have officially found my new favorite way to condition my hair before washing. It's a mixture of two different homemade conditioners that I found on Motowngirl.com. Here's what I do...

I mix 1/3 cup honey, 3 tablespoons olive oil, four drops of rosemary oil, and two eggs. Mix the ingredients and pour all over my head. Next I cover my head with a plastic bag covered by a warm towel and blow dry or don't blow dry (doesn't matter, as long as it's sitting there seeping into your scalp and pouring down the back of your neck, yuck!). After about twenty minutes, I wash the concoction out of my hair and I shampoo. Sometimes, after shampooing, I'll use a clarifying rinse like apple cider vinegar and water.

This is my favorite conditioner because it leaves my hair feeling really soft and moisturized. Also, the ingredients blend well and stimulate the scalp...it's just all around nice. Warning: make sure to check through your hair a little, sometimes you may have to pick a piece of egg yolk out here and there. But it's worth it, trust me.

You know what? I really want to try the warm water, honey, lemon clarifying rinse but I'm skerred that I will just end up pouring sticky honey water into my hair. Does that sound crazy? (Don't answer that).

So that's been it, thus far. I don't see any changes in length, but everybody else says they do. And that's all that matters, right? (Don't answer that). I can fit my hair into a ponytail now. But I've never been into the teeny weeny pony tail, so I just sweep it up like this...

I think the braids in the back are cute and in a way, I get to showcase all of the hard work I put into retwisting my hair every week/week and a half.

So that's what's new. Oh, oh, oh...wait! I forgot to mention that I experimented with latch hooking. I will write about that tomorrow. I am actually thinking about trying some wax too. Don't know yet. I will write about that later too.

Until then...here's some randomness...

My dog just graduated from puppy school.

Hanging in there

2008-03-22T03:34:00.001-07:00

Hello all! I know I haven't posted in a while...I've been caught up in some mess. "But I'm heah"

Anywho...I must admit to you, I have not been keeping up with my lil' regimens like I should. Thank God for my homemade satin pillow, though. 'Cause due to my schedule lately, a sistah's been hitting the sheets without a head wrap. I created a little oil spray for myself in order to moisturize my hair in the mornings. It's a mixture of jojoba oil and olive oil with water. Have I used it? Sometimes. It's hard to evenly distribute it throughout my hair, though, because the 8 oz. bottle I use is more like a squirt bottle than a spray bottle.

Yeah, yeah, I know...excuses are the tools of the incompetent.

My hair has been kind of dry lately, so yesterday, on a whim I poured some castor oil into the palm of my hands and ran it through my hair (which is something I generally do with olive oil, but I wasn't really paying attention.) It was thicker than I expected and I had to dilute it with some water, which I quickly splashed through my little twists. After this, I sprayed my homemade cleansing concoction through my hair and voila! My hair was the happiest person in the world. (And yes, my hair is a person, because she has her own personality). I let my newly springy, moisturized twists air dry and carried on with my day. Today, my hair is so soft and fragrant. I woke up this morning and it had practically styled itself. Good stuff!

This coming week, I plan on washing my hair. I would say on average, I've been washing it once a week, if that. Maybe more like once every week and a half. I always do the deep conditioning before or after the wash. The twists still unravel big time when I step under the shower (which is unimaginably annoying) but I grit my teeth and grab my locking gel. It's a price I'll pay for this journey.

Random Observation
A couple weeks ago at work, I asked a coworker how many locks he had. Of course he had no clue, so I got to work counting them for him. 106. Now I already knew that I had 140. After going on a website that said every lock should be thicker than a pencil, I felt kind of bad. But that's the thing about the internet, kids. You have to remember not to believe everything you hear. About a hundred pictures later (while looking on a bulletin entitled, "what's your loc count?"on nappturality.com) I saw that there were women with lock counts of 120, 160 and sometimes even 200. Actually, most of the women had higher lock counts than me. After that, I got back to my senses and remembered all of the work I've put in thus far to even consider throwing it all away because of something silly.

So there it is folks! I'll post up some pictures after I retwist my newly washed hair.

Peace unto you all! :-)

Updates

2008-03-02T03:15:00.001-08:00

Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...Update...

Right after writing my last blog, I did some more research and found that tea tree oil is a natural astringent. It cleans the hair, which is great, but it can also dry it out if used too much. So, I will not be using my little conditioning spray everyday (because in fact, it is more of a cleansing spray)...but maybe once a week.

Also, using a no-poo shampoo means using a dry shampoo, rather than a wet, lathering one. I was mistaken earlier and thought that it was using a conditioner as your shampoo (which is something that I generally do). Bear with me, I'm still new to this stuff.
Sidenote: I learned from a hair stylist that using shampoo on (he said "naturally curly" but I'm sure he meant Black) hair is not necessary. There are enough cleansing properties in a store-bought conditioner to suffice (especially if you don't want to dry out your hair.) Just check the label, there is plenty of alcohol in conditioners.

Also, I'd like to apologize about my little freakout concerning sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate. Let me explain...these chemicals are used as the irritant factor in laboratory experiments. But what I didn't know was that they are used on shaved albino rats. <---lol, that just sounds weird (and wrong), doesn't it. Now being that these chemicals are the naturally extracted alcohol from coconuts, if you rub alcohol on anything over and over again (especially a shaved area), it's going to irritate. It has been argued that these chemicals are dangerous, which could very possibly be the case, but the counter argument is that the amount used is not dangerous. Also, the chemicals that it is used with create a kind of balance that has allowed people to use soaps, lotions, shampoos with these ingredients for years with no detriment to their health. Wanna hear the whole story...here's a good reference for ya! http://www.treasuredlocks.com/noname7.html I cannot tell you which side I agree with more, they both have valid points, but I came to my own conclusion after I wrote my "freak out" article a couple weeks ago anyway.

Conclusion: It hasn't killed me yet...

Alright, what else?

My boyfriend saw the longing in my eyes the last time I visited the Whole Foods Store so he picked up the rest of the natural ingredients, I'd been eyeing (but knew my butt couldn't afford). Yay! Thanks stud-muffin...I owe you! Those ingredients were Vitamin E oil, more Jojoba oil and some sweet almond oil. If you checked out http://www.motowngirl.com/ you know what I'm trying to do. If you haven't...click the link and find out, you weirdo! (Go to homemade hair recipes)

Okay, as for my daily hair regimen. I've been busy, so it's quick. I wake up, rub some olive oil and jojoba oil through my twists. Shake and go. Sometimes I pin up the twists, others I just let them hang. I find that they don't stick up as much. I think it's because of the added moisture from these oils I have been using. I definitely feel like my hair is more healthy, less dry. My boyfriend says that he sees some growth already. I don't know about all that, but it makes me feel good to hear.

Last but not least. I bought some satin material a couple months ago. I finally got around to sewing myself a pillow case. What can I say...I had a lot of time on my hands that week. But you have to admit, not too bad for an amateur.

That's it for now. Tomorrow, I warsh (like my grandmom would say) my hair.

A New Day

2008-02-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

You see that look on my face? That's me after just washing my hair. It looked and felt like I washed every single twist off of my head. In the picture, I look like I'm wearing a little afro with some twists shooting out here and there. Needless to say, I had a lot of work to do that night.

As for the process, here goes. I have been going to my usual websites. Nappturality.com and just recently Motowngirl.com. Grrreeat website!!! It gives you recipes for homemade concoctions that are great for natural hair. The only problem with this website is that you cannot copy and paste the information, nor can you print the page. I painstakingly typed each hair recipe onto Word and printed it from there so that I could have access to the information at home. The ingredients in these hair recipes are a little strange to me, though. For example the use of honey. Who would think to put honey in their hair...on purpose? Anyways, I'll give you an example of what I did when I washed my hair just recently.

I shampood my hair with a conditioner. Before I did this, I used a recipe off of the Motowngirl website for conditioning. It's called the honey/olive oil conditioner. Basically, you mix 3 teaspoons of honey and one fourth cup of olive oil together and massage it all over your hair. You then cover your head with something (I used a plastic bag) and leave it in for a half hour. Next, you wash it out and voila! Now, I'm not going to lie to you. The concoction was sticky. I did not like putting it into my hair, either. The oil did it's thing...you know, smoothed out the honey a little bit. But there's so much it could do. I felt VERY uncomfortable, gooping that stuff onto my head. And spent a good period of time wondering if everything was going to stick to my hair from that point on. (It didn't)

After the "not quite a shampoo-shampoo," I used something called an apple cider vinegar rinse. This is like a clarifier. It's a mixture of one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and two cups distilled water. You pour it over your head after you shampoo and it completes the hair cleansing process. Now I wasn't all that much impressed with the final result. That's not to say that the recipes that I tried didn't do their jobs, just that I didn't get the earth shattering results that I anticipated. My hair felt a little funny. Like clean, but not very soft. In fact, it wasn't even oily from the olive oil. Nothing, nada!

I got to work retwisting, using the ORS hair locking gel (with some olive oil in it). Clipped on the hair clippy things and blew dry my hair. Unfortunately, I was too tired to take pictures right after (and I had to go to work at 4 in the morning). But here's one I took a day later. Kind of hard to make out my hair, but here goes...

So that was my hair washing adventure. I will be washing my hair more often now that the grace period is up and I'm hoping to be able to see the benefits of these homemade conditioners and clarifiers.

Okay, now for one of the more interesting concoctions that I made this morning. I used the recipe for MotownGirl's Homemade Spritz with my own little additions. I had to buy some essential oils (which are not easy to come by and not very cheap either.) I purchased them from a Whole Foods Store.

The things that you see in this picture are castor oil, vegetable glycerin, jojoba oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil, tea tree oil and peppermint oil. And boy those essential oils are strong! For the Homemade Spritz, I used water, my pantene conditioner, olive oil and some tea tree oil (which I added for kicks-and the 4 little droplets that I used gave the whole concoction a different scent). I put everything into an 8 oz. spray bottle, shook it up and sprayed my hair.

It was then and there, in my bathroom, that I heard my hair let out a deep sigh! My hair literally said, "aaaah."

It felt softer and my twists were springier. My hair smells terrific. The funny thing is that it's not oily at all, just soft. I absolutely love this stuff. I will be using it everyday. Two thumbs up.

I also mixed water and 4 drops peppermint oil to make MotownGirl's Scalp Energizer. I poured this into an 8 oz. spray bottle. A few sprays of that to the head and it stimulates the scalp (which stimulates hair growth). I didn't really feel the tingly sensation that I expected, but I love the smell of peppermint. My boyfriend was calling me Peppermint Patty today. I think he liked the way it smelled too. So two thumbs up for that recipe.

That's me looking like I'm going to blow my brains out with the homemade hair spray.

Well that's the journey this week. I can't wait to mix up more recipes with the rest of my ingredients. If you want to try this stuff too, here's the place to go...

http://www.motowngirl.com/

...happy experimenting!

Week 4 - First lesson of self acceptance

2008-02-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

I've gotten used to my lil twists thus far. Can't really call them dreads, because they still have the ability to unravel if/when I wash my hair. Yes, I said "when."

I'm sorry reader, I washed my hair two weeks ago and did not inform you, nor did I take pictures. I've been a little busy.

I plan on washing my hair again this upcoming week, however, and I will show you the whole process. I promise. As for my twists, I have been wearing them in a little updo. I think it's sooo cute. I get a lot of compliments on it too. What do you think?

The pictures are a little dark, but I hope you can get the gist.

I'm very thankful that I stayed strong and kept my hair natural for two years before I started these locs. Sometimes I think to myself that I will miss my hair being this length once it starts to grow out.

The funny thing is that my hair has a mind of its own. Such a cliche, I know...but it does. Some days I wake up and it is going in the right direction and other days, it's going every which way.

When I first got my hair palm rolled, I must admit that I was so self conscious. I wore a scarf every day. One day I was about to go out on a little date or something...I don't know. Whatever the occasion, I was dressed nicely and feeling confident. I looked in the mirror, without my usual scarf and/or hat and said to myself "I look good!" and with this confidence (and I mean real confidence, not just saying "I look good") came the compliments and acknowledgement from my friends and family. The funny thing is that, I didn't need those compliments. It just took for me to accept my look first. As soon as I became comfortable and assured, I became more beautiful to myself...and in result to being beautiful to myself, I became beautiful to those around me. It just took me longer than I expected to see my own beauty. I thought that I already had it in me. "Oh, I've worn my hair natural for years," I would say to people. "I've accepted my hair."

How arrogant of me. Let me be the first to admit what a hypocrite I was. I still have some issues, as do most (hell, all) Black people do with our hair in its natural state. I'm just blessed to be able to experience the process that it takes to expose my issues and eliminate them. It's kind of like acknowledging your illegitimate child. Article on that topic to follow ;- )

Anyway, I look at my nieces...who look just like me, mind you, and see how beautiful they are wearing their hair naturally. (And don't they know it too)

I would make excuses for them like, "oh, they're babies...they always look cute." As if that will fade once they reach my age, and they'll have to make up for it through perms, weaves, etc. But when I really think about it, I couldn't imagine telling them (at any age) to be something other than themselves. I couldn't imagine putting chemicals in their hair and watching it fall out like mine did so many years ago. I can still remember the look on my mother's face.

The things we do to our beautiful, Black children (sorry mom). It makes my stomach turn now to think about how insecure I felt about my own hair at such a young age. Or seeing classmates with hair breaking off, looking like chemotherapy patients at ages as young as five and six years old. We have a lot of growing to do as a people.

Back to the point...I want my nieces to be proud of everything they do and everything they are. And if I want that to be the case, I have to set a good example. And yes, that's pee pee in that potty! (Look at her, she's so proud!)

On that note, I'm going to wrap this one up by saying be proud of yourself in your undiluted glory...because if you're not, then you're rejecting the God who made you such a great person to begin with. Glad I could share my journey with you all. The next time you see me, I will have washed my hair again.

Locks-Day 1

2008-01-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

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!!

(Sigh!)

2008-01-16T15:17:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I'm a little dismayed today...my entry will be short. As I posted previously, I decided to do some more internet research. Not only did I find some great tips and advice about natural black kinky hair such as mine, but I also found that I have been living under a frickin' rock. There are a million and one websites, tips, videos, women in America (of all places) that proudly wear their hair natural like lil' ole' me. Go figure!

You would think that I'd be happy but right now I am on sensory overload. Example: While looking for natural hair tips I learned that you shouldn't use shampoos with sodium lauryl and/or laureth sulfate (sls or sles) and then I learned that finding a shampoo without sls or sles is nearly impossible...unless, of course, you buy it online. Eh...not a big fan of purchasing online. Okay, what else...always moisturize. Sounds easy. Use tea tree oil and jojoba oil, but you have to use it in its natural state, not the watered down version that they sell in stores. But wait! The easy solution...buy online. Hmm...see a pattern? Now I know that there are places that probaly sell these things in an actual store, but this will require more research and after my CIA investigation two days ago I'm tiiiired(said in an extremely irritating whiney voice).

Black women should stay away from...
propylene glycol, PEG, mineral oil and petrolatum, isopropyl alcohol, chlorine, DEA/TEA/MEA (please don't ask me to pronounce what these words stand for), fragrance (which means anything that makes your hair smell sweet and pretty), and Imidazolidnyl urea and dmdm hydantoin. A bunch of these chemicals are ingredients in most EVERY beauty product there is, including makeup and toothpaste. All of these ingredients are astringents that strip Black hair of its...I don't know...goodness. Some of these ingredients are actually dangerous and bad for your health. I know the last one is a kind of formaldehyde releasing agent.

So I'm surfing these websites and seeing happy, smiling, afro wearing young, Black women such as myself thanking the heavens for being given such great information and here I am thinking to myself, "Damn! Now I have to look for all of these ingredients every time I buy some hair grease!" I have enough things to worry about. And what irked me even more was that the Organic Root Stimulator company that I just bought my shampoo from, the "Black owned" manufacturer had a shampoo that contained both SLS and SLES. Grrrrr!!! Do you know what that stuff is?! Huh? Do you? It's the stuff they use in testing labs as the standard ingredient to irritate skin. The more research I do, the more I realize that I can't use ANYTHING being sold in regular stores or beauty supply stores (even Black owned). There's not enough information out about Black hair and skin so we've been applying one standard for all to the detriment of our hair and skin.

The lighter side

There were some things I could do. Like washing my hair with baking soda and warm water (which is a gentle astringent that does not strip the hair). Baking soda=grocery store=right down the street=as good as done! Olive oil, same equation. Apple cider vinegar rinse...I can handle that. So at this point, it's safe to say that I am going to be doing things the right way. When you know better, you do better...right Oprah! I just have to find my Sally's Beauty Supply receipt.

So that's where I'm at right now. So much for a short entry. I'm going to go cleanse myself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

Peace!!

The Search for Black Owned

2008-01-15T08:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I decided to take a road trip, which turned into an all out CIA investigation. I was looking for something as simple as hair locking gel. Okay, I know I know I know what you are thinking. You can buy hair locking gel anywhere. But being the radical that I am...I wanted to buy from a Black owned business located in New York or North Jersey. A bit of a trip from Philadelphia...but why not? I like road trips, and both of my sweeties (boyfriend and dog) are willing road companions.

I had my sights set on going to the Carol's Daughter store, being that I frequent the website constantly and not only are they black owned but they also manufacture their goods as well. While talking about it at work that same day, a coworker suggested that I try some of the black owned businesses that are closer to the Philadelphia area. I couldn't give him an argument to the contrary, except to say that I was not familiar with any. Since he couldn't give me a name or exact directions, he suggested I find a local Sally's Beauty Supply and buy the locking gel from a black owned manufacturer instead. That wasn't as appealing to me. No fun, no adventure, no...mystery. I'd never been to a black owned hair supply business, and I wanted to see what it would be like so I grabbed my laptop and googled away. I imagined stores filled with products I'd never seen before. Being serviced by employees that could actually answer my questions, who maybe even had hair like mine and used these products on themselves. Imagine that!

Disclaimer
I am not usually as racially conscious about my buying habits, but this is different for me. The best thing I can compare it to is being an Italian person that is forced to buy authentic Italian food from the Olive Garden and the Olive Garden only. Imagine how frustrating it would be to describe what penne pasta is to the person that is making your food.

The plans to make a road trip to North Jersey were postponed due to my puppy's constipation. Being in a car with him when he is in this condition could make you wish you were never born. My boyfriend and I agreed that we could stand a half hour trip at the most.

There were several websites devoted to finding black owned businesses but the search for a beauty supply store usually ended with zero results in our area. When there were results, we would call the phone number to get a disconnected line or an Asian person who could barely understand our inquiries. It was frustrating to the point of comedy. "You've got to be kidding me!" I laughed out loud. We searched and searched for some places in our area and concluded that the only other option would be to get gassed to death on our road trip to Carol's Daughter in North Jersey/NY or to suck it up and go to a local Sally's Beauty Supply. I googled some black manufacturers of hair products and found a company named Organic Root Stimulator. Fair enough! Sally's it is...or it was...'twas.

I felt very defeated in my CIA investigation, but the result of that search lead me to the conclusion that there aren't enough black owned beauty supply places. Maybe I'll save up some money and look into it. Who knows?

Alright so about the products I bought. I was doing some research and found that you can lock up your hair with gel or wax. The difference can be compared to using a water-based lotion to moisturize your skin or using vaseline to moisturize your skin. One will not last as long at all, being that it is water-based and water evaporates, and the other is thick/gooey, rubs off on everything and is harder to clean off. I decided that I would rather do the gel...what's a little maintenance once a week? There was one bottle of Organic Root Stimulator locking gel left (which to me is a sign that God saved it for me). I snatched that up as well as a bottle of shampoo (the wrong kind) and some scalp moisturizer, specialized for people with locks or braids. I have to take the shampoo back, because the Organice Root Stimulator company says that I should buy their uplift shampoo, rather than the aloe kind that I bought. Needless to say, I will be browsing the web to do more research.

Next task will be finding a day and a person to help me with the actual locking process. Maybe I'll have a locking party. I don't know. I was tempted to go to a salon, but dear reader, I have another confession. I'm cheap. My hair is as thick as it comes and with the kind of texture that I have, the locking process can start after two days of no combing. I have literally woken up looking like Bob Marley some mornings. In my case, it would be silly for me to pay someone $100.00 to do something that I've done by accident on several occasions.

And that about concludes my entry for today. Hopefully the next entry will showcase my new "locked look." See ya soon!

http://www.organicrootstimulator.com/

http://www.bobsaone.org/

Flashback

2008-01-07T13:41:00.001-08:00

Reflections of a hair diva...

Okay, this is the big week. (For those of you just joining...I am making the transition to locks). As usually is the case at the end of the year, I feel it necessary to reflect on the different directions I have taken when it comes to my hair.

My Different Looks...

Straight

Every once in a while, I like to go for the sleek, straight look. I think it fits me...what do you think?

Curly

Curly is fun...cute...springy. Right?

Natural...(braids, twists, afro)

These are my all time favorite standbys...braids, twists and the occasional afro. These styles are quick and easy.

...And why dreads?

At this point in my life I have noticed a pattern. I always resort back to braids or twists. So I figured that I'd just lock it up (my hair, that is) and be done with it. Braids, twists and locks are in the same family, right? No more worrying about who will braid my hair next or how I will twist the hair at the nape of my neck. Also, I have a secret.

Lean in closer, will ya...

Shhh...okay, here's the secret...don't tell anyone, but I absolutely HATE going into Korean hair supply stores. They are usually located throughout the inner cities and frequented by a sea of humanity of Black women who rely on them to supply us with our beauty regimen. It's sad. Sometimes I can feel the resentment from one culture to the other. The language gap. The distrust. It drives me absolutely bonkers. I don't plan on going back to that any time soon, so here I am. Time to hold onto the money that I so willingly throw away on hair that I could just grow myself.

I hope to impact other Black women. Maybe one day we will take back the hair care industry. That would be nice. (Sigh!) One day...

Out with the old...

2007-12-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

Greetings All,

I have read numerous inspired essays and testimonials about Black women wearing their hair natural and I have decided to write my own little blurb about the like. I have been wearing my hair natural for about two years now and have decided that I will go the dreadlock route very soon, possibly starting the new year with this new look.

While searching for websites that show the locking process, and pictures of locks close up, I realized that there are not that many websites to choose from. You'll find an explanation of how to form locks, but no picture of the process. Often times these websites will show pictures of Bob Marley looking characters with three big dread chunks shooting out of his or her head or white people with dreadlocks (with the exception of websites such as naturalhairphotos.com and naani.com). No offense to White people or Bob Marley fans, but I'm an American Black woman and I need to know about "our" hair locking process without being fired from my job for looking like a rastafarean. So for those of you who'd like to see my process, I hope to provide that with this blog.

As far as the history of my hair goes, I have done a whole lot of perming and a whole lot of weaving only to end back up at natural hair over and over again. I just can't escape it, and you know what? For once, I have stopped trying. I don't like watching my hair break off and fall into my sink. I don't like hearing it fry between the clamps of a hot curling iron. I don't like feeling a thick and heavy patch of rough hair thin down into a weak, brittle, straw-like mess that leaves me running to the hair salon (or my sister's house) for an emergency relaxing, only to turn my whole head into that very same weak, brittle, straw-like mess. I'm done with that.

I guess the only dilemma is this...I am a new hairstyle addict. While I do wear my hair natural, I absolutely love the idea of taking on different looks. I will wear my hair in a short curly afro, just as quick as I'll wear a long straight weave. I don't wear these different hairstyles because I am ashamed of my hair, I wear them because I like to be different. Switch it up. Keep them guessing. In college, this lead to a number of debates between the natural-heads and the perm/weave heads. Being that I fall or have fallen into every category, I NEVER took sides. I, personally, don't have anything against perms or weaves (or the people who wear them), I just know that I am compelled to wear locks at this point in my life, due to MY experiences and lifestyle.

So when I lock up my tresses, what is the hair diva to do? This definitely means that I will not be able to get all of the different hairstyles that I am accustomed to getting. Fortunately for me, locks are very diverse. They can be curled, died, worn up or down. It's just getting there that I hope I can survive. My hair will start out very short for a couple months (grimace) and while I can pull off the short hair look, there's not much you can do with a short doo. And that will probably drive me bonkers. But as the title of this post suggests, out with the old and in with the new. It's time to see things in a different light, so here goes nothing...