Soooo…..

It’s been… about three weeks now I think, and for the most part things have been going well, so there isn’t much to report.  I’ve been washing weekly mostly because my scalp starts itching and I can’t go any longer than that.  I also work out daily and sweat alot, so a week is about all I can stand before I feel like I need to cleanse my scalp.  I have experienced some dryness which I’m  attributing to a few things; the change in weather and also what I’ve been using to twist my hair.  I’ve been using the Nubian Kinks Locing Pomade which gives fabulous hold, but it unfortunately a bit drying for my hair.  I also think I need a better, sulfate free shampoo.  Currently using Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, and it’s just ok.  So I’m on the hunt for something new/better and a little more natural.

I just washed my hair Friday and to add some moisture to my hair instead of using the Nubian Kinks Locing Pomade, I used my old standby, Hollywood Beauty Olive Oil Creme, (and I can’t believe it’s been a year to the day that I made that post!) and put my twists/locs into individual bantu knots.  I’ve used it in the past for bantu knots and it offered great hold and moisture. Since I’m not really a fan of wearing this style to work, I’ll leave them in tomorrow since I’m off from work and take them out Tuesday morning.  My uncle’s wedding is Saturday, I’m hoping the bantu knot out will last until then.

Pics…

Last weeks bantu knot out… ( I look so tired in this picture!  Dunno what that’s all about.  But my hair looks good tho!)

This weeks bantu knots.

They actually are less painful than they look.  The smaller ones are easier to sleep on and I didn’t make them tight at all because I knew I’d be leaving them in for a few days.

A bantu knot out  is how I’ve been wearing my hair for the past few weeks.  **shrug** And that’s that.

Okay! I’m reloaded!

I am at work right now with an extra large Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee on my desk, hoping that it will have magical powers revive me.  I’m running on about 4 hours of sleep.

I was here at work yesterday minding my own business looking for youtube videos that had styling options for short locs (although technically I’m so not close to being locked yet, but I can still style up these two strand twists).  I came across this video from tbey82. (You’ll have to watch on youtube). 

I LOVED her parts.  They were exactly the size that I had wanted when I rolled into Nubian Kinks on Saturday.  There was actually a young girl working there with roughly the same size parts and when I asked Luna to make my parts like hers, she didn’t want to.  “You don’t want big locs, you want smaller ones” she kept saying.  I kept telling her “Not too small Luna” and honestly she didn’t make them small…  I just wanted them bigger.

One thing I noticed about tbey82′s parts is that she had three rows in the back of her head before the rows that begin over her ears.  (You can see this at about 2:12 into the video).  Luna gave me four rows back there.  **sigh**  That wasn’t what I wanted.  Also Luna’s parts in my hair were rectangles.  I wanted square parts.  I know that in the end it doesn’t REALLY matter, and I had resigned myself to be okay with Luna’s parts, but when I saw tbey82′s video yesterday something hit me.  So, I went home last night, and spend six and a half hours talking down Luna’s twists and creating my own. I didn’t get to sleep until almost 3am and needed to be up for work by 7.  Honestly I did 100% of my twists over completely.  And I LOVE it.  Except for one or two twists in the middle of my head that are bigger than I’d like them to be, (I’ll fix those tonight) I’m totally happy with my hair and can finally begin this process.  FINALLY.

Yes yes yes.  I went to a salon and paid money for something, then four days later took it down and did my own thing anyway.  But I’m KNOW I’m not the only one who has done that.  Don’t act like you haven’t done it!  And I have no regrets.  Well, ok, I have one… I should have done this sooner.   I think when Irene wouldn’t let me be great and I tried to start my locs myself, I was expecting these huge full delicious thick twists, and when I twisted up a few rows in the back and saw these scalpy pathetic looking twists I figured I wasn’t doing something right and needed to go to a  salon.  But honestly when I left Nubian Kinks, I still had scalpy pathetic looking twists.  That’s just the way my hair is apparently.  Once I realized that no matter what I did or WHO started my locs, scalpy twists were more than likely going to be the end result, it hit me that I didn’t do anything wrong the first time, and that I COULD start my locs on my own. Plus as the months go by, the twists will puff up as they loc and the scalpiness will disappear.

So lessons learned, all a part of the process.  My legs and feet are tired from standing in the bathroom for hours trying to angle my mirrors correctly to see the back of my head.  My arms are tired from all that twisting.  My body is tired from lack of proper sleep.  But it’s all good.  I’m happy.  Pics to come.

Locked and Loaded!

After a brief moment of panic on Saturday morning when I ran into crazy traffic at the Brooklyn Bridge exit on the FDR Drive and thinking I’d miss my appointment AGAIN, I am officially locked and loaded.

I went to Nubian Kinks in Brooklyn and met with Luna who started my locs for me. She washed my hair, gave me a steam treatment, then started twisting.  I am 80% happy with my parts.  I would have done some things differently and maybe made them a little bigger, but overall I’m ok with them because I know that they will shift and change over time.  I can always combine if I want to, and honestly I *may* readjust some of these parts over the weekend.  We’ll see.  My only complaint was that Luna was quite heavy handed with the oils she put in my hair and when I left the salon my twists were literally DRIPPING with oil.  I mean DRIPPING like I had a jherri curl.  I grabbed some napkins in Starbucks while waiting for my friend to meet me after my hair appointment and used them to squeeze out some of the oils in my hair.  The napkins were soaked with the excess oil.  I didn’t even want to think about leaving all of that in my hair for a week or more, so I came home, bought a wig cap from the nearby beauty supply store and washed my hair…  again.  Then because I wasn’t feeling the flat lifeless look of my starter locs, I did bantu knots for each twists and rocked a bantu knot out for work today, aka The Big Reveal.  I’ll probably wear my hair like this until the coils fall, which will hopefully take me into next weekend.  Overall, I’m happy with my experience at Nubian Kinks and would return there again for another appointment – although next time I’d definitely ask Luna to lighten up on the oil.  For the most part tho I intend to maintain at home.

Here are some pics.  I took these with my phone so they aren’t the best quality.  I PROMISE I’ll have better pics later this week.

This is right after my hair appointment waiting for my friend in Target.  The twists look good but they were greasy to the touch from all of the oil. (You see what aisle I’m in, right?  I’m already looking at hair stuff for my new starter locs!)

This is is a pic from this morning, my bantu knot out.  Scalpy but that’s to be expected.  I’m typing this up at about 11pm, and they’ve already loosed up a little.

I just sleep with a satin bonnet so I don’t flaten it out… and that’s about it.  The waiting game begins.  Not sure if I’m gonna wash weekly or very two weeks.  Guess that’ll depend on how much time I have this coming weekend and how my scalp feels.

Irene wouldn’t let me be great.

So I’m sitting here with colored hair and a brand new set of yarn twists.  No locs.  Irene just wouldn’t let me be great.  Lemme tell you what happened.

So on Saturday evening Nedjetti texted and canceled on me which was understandable given the impending bad weather.  She said she was available on Sept 4 and 5 and to let her know which one would work for me.  I texted her back within FIVE MINUTES to let her know that the 5th would be ok (and asked was it okay that it was Labor Day).  About an hour later I realized that she hadn’t responded so I texted again.  Still no response.  Later that evening I was on Twitter and I see her there tweeting away, but still hadn’t responded to my text.  Long story short, she didn’t text me back until Monday afternoon and then had the NERVE to add to the text “please respond to this text”.  Really?  I just…  I don’t know.  So basically  it took her so long to respond to two texts that I sent while I’m seeing her on Twitter that same night and the next day, THEN when it was convenient for HER, she responded to my text and basically kinda demanded that I respond to HER text.  I just wasn’t amused.  At all.  Honestly by the time she texted me back on Monday afternoon I’d already written her off, completed 99% of my new yarn twists, and made an appointment at another salon in October.  Folks who want to act like they don’t really need the money don’t get my business.  I should have listened to my instincts initially when it took her so long to return my phone call for the initial appointment.  Plus you wouldn’t believe how much she was charging (and how much stupid me was willing to pay!) for starter locs.

So what’s going on now you ask?  Well I attempted to color my hair on Sunday because I was gonna just go ahead and start my own locs.  The color came out… interesting.  I kinda like it, but it definitely needs some time to tone down and fade out a bit. No one will really get a chance to see it anyway because it’s enclosed in a brand new set of yarn twists.  I attempted to start my own locs but..  it just…  wasn’t working.  My parts looked kinda crazy, I wasn’t sure if I should twist my hair wet or dry or use a product like a gel or not or how big the parts should be.  I did a few rows at the bottom and I’m not sure if it was because my hair at the nape is sooo soft but the twists just looked to straggly and the parts looked all funny and bla bla bla I gave up.  I thought I could do it but I can’t.    I need help.  I need someone to start me off on the right path.  So I made an appointment with Nubian Kinks in Brooklyn in October.  I’ve heard mixed reviews about the services there, but that’s par for the course for any Black salon.  So I’m already going in knowing that it could potentially be a LONG day, but I’ll sacrifice one day just to get my foundation going and then maintain from there.  So basically I’m right back at square one.  The Universe told me it was time… but Irene wouldn’t let me be great.  I’m SUPER bummed, I would have LOVED to have my locs started on Michael Jackson’s birthday, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The reason I made an appointment for October instead of next week is because I JUST scrambled to put in a new set of yarn twists after taking out my old set when I thought I was gonna start my own locs.  I did these bad boys in RECORD time, so I’m not TRYING to take out another set AGAIN; I just put them in.  Plus I want to give my hair a break after the color.  My plan is to wash the twists every week and moisturize well until my NEXT attempt to start these locs.  **sigh**  I’m kinda over it now.  Super disappointed.  When it happens it happens.  Maybe it was better to just have picked a random day and gotten them done like I did before, that way I wouldn’t be as disappointed as I am now that I picked a special day and wasn’t able to make it happen. Booooo!

Here are some pics of my color and my new set of yarn twists.  Took about seven and a half hours.

Hurricane Irene. Just ruining plans left and right. :/

This weekend in NYC is a bust.  Hurricane Irene is on its way up the east coast.  Because of Irene, the Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson 3rd Annual Birthday Celebration that was supposed to take place tomorrow was rescheduled, then canceled/postponed. Because of Irene, bus and subway service in the five boroughs will stop at noon tomorrow.  Because of Irene, NYC is on alert as the hurricane is expected to arrive Sunday afternoon and last into the evening.  And because of Irene my appointment with Nedjetti is up in the air.  I took the day off and everything to start my locs because it had to be this specific day and now I’m not sure it’s gonna happen.  At least not by Nedjetti.  I guess if I won’t be able to meet up with Nedjetti on Monday I have a few options.

1. If I know early enough that she won’t be able to meet with me, I can just start them myself which was the original plan.  But now that I was all geeked up about a professional starting my locs for me, I’m second guessing my skills to do it myself.  The reality is that if I don’t do it myself on Monday, I’ll have wasted a vacation day and won’t have my locs started on a day that means alot to me.  The upside to starting my locs myself is that they’d be started on the day I want, I won’t feel like I’ve wasted a vacation day,  AND I’ll save quite a bit of money by not going to Nedjetti. (Not sure about that $35 deposit if I decide not to reschedule, but hell it’s only $35.  I’ve wasted more money that that buying pairs of shoes I ended up never wearing.)

2. I could reschedule with her next week if possible, but who knows when I’d be able to.  She’s only in the city on Sundays and Mondays and works from her home salon the rest of the week.  Next week I’ll only be in the city on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and am leaving for DC on Thursday morning.  The only “real” time for me to get my hair done would be Tuesday evening after 6:30pm if she’s available.  Which would mean me taking the train to her salon I guess if that’s even an option.  And then getting home somehow.

3. Or I could just pop some yarn twists back into my hair on Monday as soon as I know whether or not she’ll be able to meet with me and then reschedule my appointment for sometime when I get back from DC.

So yeah.  This kinda sucks. I’m leaning towards option 3 because I am allergic to having loose natural hair (of course I don’t mean literally but you know what I mean).  But putting in a new set of yarn braids will definitely take some time and I’ve got my first class of the semester on Monday evening, so I can’t just stay home and finish them in time for work the next day .  If anything I’ll just have to work fast, do enough twists around the perimeter of my head to make a ponytail and go ahead on about my business until I can get home and finish up OR finish up on Tuesday after I get home from work.  Plus there are the pros and cons I listed in #1.  Maybe I can do it myself.  How cool would that be to say I started and nurtured my own locs?  I’d be saving money that’s for sure.  And I’d be able to say a year from now that I started my locs myself on Michael Jackson’s birthday.  Decisions decisions.  And I’ll be stuck in the house all weekend with nothing but time to think about what I’m gonna do.  Thanks Irene.

I know what I said, but…

Ok so yesterday I was at work minding my own business, perfectly happy with my decision to start my locs myself with three strand twists (although since my last post I’d decided to go back to two strand twists instead, AND was a little worried about the parting, but decided I was gonna do it anyway), and was just trying to figure out when a good time would be to color my hair before I started my locs, when my cell phone rang.  It was Nedjetti from Nedjetti’s House of Peace, a loctician and natural hair stylist in the NYC area that I’d called maybe two weeks prior, asking about an appointment to start my locs.  When I called and didn’t hear from her in a few days, I didn’t stress it, I just figured she didn’t want the business and I was just gonna continue with my plan.

When I answered the phone she immediately apologized for calling be back at such a late date.  Now usually the Bourgie in me does NOT approve of poor customer service, but she was apologetic and said I was the first person on her call-back list which was nice (even if it may not have been true!).  She asked what I was looking to do, and asked if we were Facebook friends so she could see what my hair looked like in its natural state.  Since my hair’s been in twists for months, the only picture I had of my natural hair was some shots of me in London in 2009.  She quoted a price to me based on my picture, and explained her non refundable deposit policy, which I’d already read about on her website.  We had a very nice conversation and seemed to be on the same wavelength as far as products, and her preferred starter method, as well as some other things, so even though it took her a while to return my call, the conversation we had totally made up for it.  She seemed professional and knowledgeable about natural hair.  I’d also read some reviews of her services on some websites and everyone that went to her had positive things to say, especially about the atmosphere that she provides while you’re at her salon.  I am also friends with her on Facebook and she has many pictures of styles she’s done on natural hair including locs.  They looked fabulous!  I had no problems paying the deposit and made my appointment with her for August 29th at 11:00am.  (I forgot to ask about the color, I’ve just texted her, and am waiting for a call or text back).

So yeah, I know what I SAID about starting my locs myself and whatnot, but with all of this extra time to decide on something and change my mind, then decide on something else and change my mind AGAIN before the 29th, this was bound to happen.  But it’s okay.  I want to make sure I do this right because I know I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again to anyone who asks, I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER take down another set of locs.  So since this is gonna be a permanent thing, I want to be pleased with my foundation.  It’s gonna cost me a pretty penny (you don’t even WANNA know how much, and that’s not even including color, which we haven’t spoken about yet), but I’m okay with spending the money, especially since she seemed very nice over the phone and reviews I’ve read online have all been positive.  And truth be told, I actually don’t mind that you have to put up a deposit before your appointment.  It tells me she expects a certain level of respect from her clients and in turn will offer them the same.  At least I hope so.

It’s getting closer!  I’m so excited, and now even more so because I’m hopefully going to have a pleasant experience with this stylist.  Ten days to go!

ETA:  I heard back from Nedjetti, she’s going to color my hair as long as she thinks its healthy.  I think it is, but then again I haven’t really seen it since December, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see and put that extra money aside just in case she says my hair is okay to color.  More pretty pennies I’m going to spend on my hair but it’ll be worth it.  Wooo hooo!

Adjustments To The Plan

So over the weekend I had a chance to really think some things over. I did some test coils over the weekend just to see how they’d stand up to the humidity, getting wet in the shower and my workouts. If I were grading them, the comb coils would probably receive a C+ for the semester. In theory they are a good way to start locs, that’s how my first set was started, but back then I wasn’t working out regularly like I am now, and I can’t lie, I was less concerned with my appearance back then.  Plus I don’t even think I knew there were other methods to start locs.

Things are different now, so I decided to rethink my starter method. I’ll still have to endure end of summer humidity for a few weeks in addition to my daily workouts as I try to continue to lose weight, so comb/finger coils would not be the best way to go.  So I considered two strand twists. Less unraveling than comb coils initially, but I’ve never been a huge fan of what I like to call the “Miss Celie Look.” At least that’s who I thought I looked like  after trying out two strand twists on myself a few months ago.  They just looked scalpy and scraggly and SO not me.  Now please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t like the look ON ME, I’m not speaking for anyone else. My hair was shorter when I first attempted the style though, and I definitely have more length now.  I do think that two strand twists can look good on other women, just not on me.

Then I remembered there is a variation of the two strand twist: the three strand method.  Three strand twists  are thicker than two strand twists, unravel less and can hide some of that initial scalpiness that comes with all that parting. The technique is a little difficult to master but I did a test twist after checking out this tutorial that does an excellent job at explaining the technique.

I’m pretty good with braiding and twisting, its just a knack I guess, so if I can master this technique and the partings, this is the method I’ll probably be using to start my new set of locs.

Experiments with color. Yes. Again.

If you can’t tell I REALLY want to color my hair.  I had some experiments back in late October AND late November that didn’t go well, and I’ve left my hair alone since then, but I want to color my hair before I start locking just so I can have a “line” if you will that will show me how much my hair has grown since I put the color in.  This way I’d have an indicator anytime I’d think my hair wasn’t growing, especially since I probably won’t color it again until 6 months or more into the process.

In my previous post about experimenting with color, I discussed using the L’Oreal Excellence for Dark Hair in Sizzling Copper and how it didn’t take because I hadn’t used bleach on my hair beforehand.  I don’t know why I thought it would work this time around because my hair hasn’t changed at all since then, but I bought a tube AGAIN and did a test on a small section of my hair this evening.  And once again, the color didn’t take.  No surprise there.

I also bought a box color, Creme of Nature Intense Red and did a test on a different section of my hair.  Box colors usually come with 20 developer, but when I mixed up the sample, I used the 30 developer I had from back in October. The Creme of Nature color didn’t take either.

My hair is practically jet black, so apparently I’m living in a fantasy world if I think that I can lighten up my hair by several shades without using something to remove some of this jet black-ness.

I see such wonderful potential with the Sizzling Copper that I’m not willing to give up on it yet, but I’m afraid, I sooo don’t want my hair to fall out!  As of right now I’m 50% for and 50% against.  We’ll see how I feel when it comes closer to the 29th.  I love that the Sizzling Copper is red-ish but not the traditional red that I see on alot of Black women.  That burgundy red that I’ve never been all that fond of.  You know what I mean.  Anyway, the idea is to have the top half of my hair Sizzling Copper, and use a semi perm jet black for the back of my hair  (No need to use developer and all that if I don’t have to).  My hair is healthy and strong, so I don’t anticipate any problems.  In the meantime I won’t do anything without thoroughly researching it first.

As I was scouring YouTube for vids of folks coloring their hair red, I came across this cutie.  Yes, she’s  not “of color” but as a freelance video editor, I see the detail she put into editing her videos and absolutely love her personality…. AND her color.  She makes me wish I was 20 years old again without a care in the world and no corporate job so I’d be able to color my hair this gorgeous red.

In the meantime, back into yarn twists my hair goes until the Countdown To Lockdown clock ticks down to zero.  No matter if I color my hair or not, I’m still ready to loc and begin my new journey.  22 days to go!

The fun has returned to my natural hair!

The awesome thing about deciding on a date for my loc journey is that I have a whole month (30 days as of today) to decide on some things.

What method will I use to start my locs?  How thick do I want my locs to be?  What products will I use to shampoo, condition and twist my locs?  Palm rolling or interlocking?  Will I color my hair beforehand?  I do have some answers to these questions, although things may change between now and August 29th.

As of right now I’m going with the comb/finger coil method to start my locs.  In the past I did say that I wanted to begin my locs with two strand twists, and that MAY be a possibility, but aesthetically I have never liked the TST look on me outside of the house.  Meaning that I’d do TST’s to prep for a style but was never comfortable leaving my house like that.  For me, TST’s look better when the hair has a bit of length to it.  Just my own personal opinion.  My hair is certainly longer than it was the last time I attempted to do TST’s which is why I say that it MAY be a possibility, but I doubt it.  Plus comb/finger coils are easier for me to do, and quicker.  The comb coil method is also how my first set was started by my loctician which ended up being a great starter method for my hair type.

I did want to use the Fauryn78 method of coils to loc my hair, which is how she loced her hair two different times, but I tried a test coil this morning and wasn’t too happy with how it turned out. I’m only testing this on one little section of hair, literally just took out a yarn twists, wet it, put a little loc pomade on it and tried to coil it up.  It looked…  like a teeny tiny coil, which isn’t really the look I’m going for.

I may try to practice it again and see if I can get it right, but if not I’ll save the style for when my locs are a little more mature.

I want my locs to be thicker than my last set.  I’ve always loved thick luscious locs and figured now is a great opportunity to get them, so I’ll be parting pretty big, using this method. (Start at 1:15).

I’m pretty good at parting my hair since I’ve done pretty much every set of kinky, puffy or yarn twists I’ve had in my hair for the past year and a half.  The bathroom is already rigged up with my mirrors and lighting and everything I will need.  Who knew that what I was doing all that time was just practicing for the big test, starting my own locs.

The reason I chose her method of starting locs is because she has locs that are the thickness that I’d eventually like my locs to be.  We also have similar hair types.  This is a video of her locs about a year later.  (You can FF to 2:39 and mute it cause her music is LOUD!)

Now.  Products.  There was a brief moment when I *thought* I was locking my hair back in March of 2010 when I had my loctician add kinky human hair to my own hair.  For 8 months I went on with that charade and during that time I developed an absolute LOVE for the Nubian Kinks Locing Pomade.  So much so that I bought three jars of the stuff because they tended to run out very quickly on their website.  When they DID have the pomade in stock it took them forever to send it out.  So, since I’m in NYC and they’re in Brooklyn,  I called to have the receptionist put three jars aside for me, and I went to pick them up one evening after work.

It was a short lived loc journey (fortunately) and once I realized it, I took down those “locs”, slapped some kinky twists in my hair, and the Nubian Kinks Loc Pomade took a place in the refrigerator to preserve since I wasn’t using them.  I bought three jars, and only ended up using maybe 3/4 of the first one before the hiatus.  The other two are patiently waiting for me in my fridge, preserved specifically for this new journey.

I haven’t used any of the super expensive Whole Foods type shampoos and conditioners I was using as a loose natural.  I am pretty sure I still have some of them on my Product Junkie shelf in my linen closet, but I’d have to check.  I’ve just been using cheapy Herbal Essences Hello Hydration to wash my kinky twists and yarn twists for the past few months.  I am very very lazy with my hair when it’s all kinky twisted up and thank goodness I have very strong hair that can survive just about anything.  I’ve washed maybe every three weeks or so?  Told you.  Lazy.  When I take the yarn twists out though, I’ll be sure to wash and deep condition my hair with something lush and fabulous and prep my hair very well for what’s to come.

Palm Rolling or Interlocking?  Palm rolling seems to be the way to go for now, and I may try interlocking when my locs are a bit more mature, and because I workout pretty consistently and interlocking, if I can get the hang of it, would be a great way to go since the locs wouldn’t unravel at the root.  I am not sure how I’ll handle my daily workouts with my locs until then, but I’ll make it work.

I’d love to color my hair before I start this set of locs, but I’m not sure if I”ll have time.  Ideally the smart thing to do would be to color my hair the weekend before I start my locs, then leave my hair out of kinky twists that week to give it a rest before I start my locs, but since I’m like 100% allergic to having my loose hair out for longer than a few hours between sets of kinky twists, I’m not sure how I’m going to do that.  I *could* color the same day I loc, but I want to make sure I’ve got all of those chemicals out of my hair since I won’t be able to wash my hair for a few weeks until my locs set. We’ll see what happens. I’ll probably just use one of the Textures and Tones or Dark and Lovely box colors, just to lighten up my hair a little.  No crazy experiments with professional hair color and developer and all of that nonsense.

So that’s where things stand right now.  Of course everything is subject to change.  Can you tell I’m excited?  I’ve been scouring youtube and rereading Lonnice Brittenum Bonner’s book which really helped me a great deal on my first loc journey, before the days of youtube and blogs.  I said earlier that the awesome thing about having a date for my loc journey is that I have a whole month to decide on some things.  The not so awesome thing about having a date for my loc journey is that I wanna loc NOW!  I’m itching to get started!  But I’ll wait because I really am NOT ready now.  This time, these 30 days, will be spent getting my mind and my environment ready for what’s to come.  This is a lifelong decision.  Seriously I am like 100000000% sure that I’ll NEVER take down another set of locs! EVER.  AGAIN.  EVER.  So I want to make sure I get this right, so I never have to do it again.

On a whim yesterday morning, I took down one of my yarn twists, just to see what I’d have to work with when the time came to loc.  Here’s a pic of a mini finger coil.  My hair is 6.5 inches stretched, probably the longest it’s been since I took down my first set of locs at the end of 2009 and got my hair trimmed to get rid of the damaged ends.  It really is a testament to  how leaving your hair alone will really facilitate growth.

Countdown to Lockdown!

I know I haven’t updated my blog since December when I decided that locing wasn’t going to happen for me in 2010.  During that time for the most part I’ve left my hair very much ALONE, almost to the point of extreme laziness.  My hair hasn’t been “out” since that time.  Nothing but kinky twists, a short lived set of puffy twists and most recently yarn twists.  Basically I’ve just been washing, conditioning, air drying the twists and using the Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier to moisturize.  I’ve cheated a few times; and instead of taking down an entire set of kinky twists and washing/conditioning/detangling my full head of hair, I’d wash the kinky twists really well, then unravel each one individually, release the loose hair, detangle, moisturize, and retwist with new synthetic hair.  This method didn’t take as long as before because I didn’t have to repart my hair.

I’d recently decided that this year I was going to loc again and had decided on a fall date to begin my second journey.  I’m currently working out 5-6 days a week in an attempt to lose weight (I’ve lost 40 pounds since December!) and didn’t want to have to deal with starter locs, working out, and the New York City summer heat and humidity.  I’d decided that October 1st would be a good day to begin my journey.  The date itself didn’t have any particular meaning to me, I just chose it because it was a fall day.

Tuesday evening I was on my way home on the express bus (New Yorkers who live in the outer boroughs know what the “express bus” is), and I suddenly had the most wonderful idea.  I decided on the day that I will begin my second set of locs.

August 29.

August 29, 2011 will be Michael Jackson’s 52nd birthday.

Anyone who knows me, I mean really REALLY knows me well, knows how I feel about Michael. When he passed away,  I was just devastated. It really affected me in a way I never thought it would and it took me almost a year to get myself back to a positive place.  His death and all of the controversy and drama and sadness surrounding it was the catalyst that sparked more than 6 months of mild depression, for which I eventually had to seek treatment.

It wasn’t so much Michael’s death, although that was a big part of it, but during that 6 months, my mind was so focused on all of the negative things that were going on in my life, and all of the things that I wanted but didn’t have, I let those constant negative thoughts consume me.  I was crying constantly.  I remember a specific time I was with my mom.  She was driving and for some unknown reason I suddenly bust into tears.  I remember her face, she was so afraid for her little girl.  “What’s wrong?  What’s wrong?” she kept asking me.  I didn’t have an answer, because I didn’t know.  I withdrew from friends and family.  I slept often.  I missed out on things that seemed to be happening right in front of my face.  I also ate.  And ate and ate and ate.  I’d lost about 60 pounds in late 2007 and early 2008, but by 2009 I was struggling to keep it off.  After June of 2009, all bets were off, and the weight returned with a vengeance, as I used food to comfort me.  When I wasn’t sad, I was angry.  I remember being angry about something that wasn’t all that serious in retrospect, but at the time I was so enraged, I picked out a book from my bookshelf and threw it around the room over and over again until sheets of paper were flying all over the place.  I was phoning it in at work, which eventually caused me to lose out on a promotion that I thought I had in the bag.  After I found out I didn’t get the new position at work, I went home that night and literally sobbed in my bedroom until I almost made myself sick. It was official.  I was depressed.  I fell into a deep hole, and ended up seeking professional help to climb my way out.

In the process of healing, because of Michael I met some wonderful new friends from different parts of the world, friends that helped me get through the rough patches.  I also found out just how awesome my “old” friends were, the ones who checked on me and stood by me when I needed someone to talk to about what was going on, and provided laughs and great memories when I wanted to forget everything for a little while and just have some fun.  Along the way I developed a deep love and respect for Michael; his music, his life and his legacy. I also found a love for myself as well.  I’ve managed to get my eating under control and have lost 40 pounds since December and plan to continue that journey as well.  I feel better about what is going on in my life now and am feeling hopeful instead of hopeless about the future.  That’s not to say that things are all peaches and cream in my world, I still have moments where I feel sad about things, but those feelings of constant and seemingly never-ending gloom and doom are a thing of the past.

My new loc journey is a way to remind myself that things always get better, even though it may not seem that way at the time.  My new loc journey is also a way away to keep Michael  in my mind and on my heart.  His birthday will be my locs’ birthday too.

I dedicate my new loc journey to Michael Jackson, an EPIC Entertainer, Artist, Son, Brother, Father and Friend.

As it stands right now, I’m on a countdown to lockdown and could not be happier!  I’m so happy to finally be in a place where I’m ok with whatever may come, especially during the first year.  No more shortcuts and quick fixes.  I’ve always known a loc journey is a process, one that cannot and should not be rushed, so I  should have known better than to try to speed up the process with loc extensions and the like.

Right now my hair has been in various sets of kinky twists since December and in yarn twists specifically since June 4th, and will more than likely remain so until I start prepping to loc on August 29th.  I’ll probably start the night before since I also begin my fall semester class on the 29th and need to be finished with my hair by the afternoon so I can get to class on time.  I took the day  off work, that’s how serious I am about August 29th as the start of my new loc journey.  Me having my first class of the semester that evening pretty much seals that I must start my own locs if I want to have them done on that day.  No salons for me and those unpredictable waiting times.  I am a little nervous about it, but I think it’ll be okay.  I know exactly the thickness I want my locs to be, and will definitely take time parting so that I can get it right.  This is going to be for life!

I am also excited about documenting this loc journey in a way I didn’t do with my first set.  Lots of pics and I think video as well will be forthcoming.  I want to look back on those pictures and vids a year or two into my loc journey and see how far I’ve come.

I remember after taking down the loc extensions back in December, I knew I was going to loc again, but didn’t know when it would be.  I remember at that time tweeting to a fellow natural haired beauty that I’d let the universe tell me when it was time.  And it did.