She's Baaaack!

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

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Meeeee!!!!

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!