Dry locks no more!

I figured it out! I was starting to get frustrated about the dryness thing. I tried product after product with the same end result. DRY LOCKS! Well, not anymore. After the trip to the hair show in Atlanta I figured it all out. I was using too much product on my hair. Everyday, I was spritzing, spraying, or (maybe it should be and) rubbing something through my hair. My hair was KRUNCHY, (yes, I spelled it with a K to emphasize the crunchiness). Anyway, I purchased products by Jane Carter and decided that I would give them a try for a month or two. I used the sulfate free shampoo and conditioner followed by the hair serum mixed with the nutri shine. Since that day, I have spritzed my hair with water only and used the serum-shine mixture about every 4 days or so. Wow, what a difference! I no longer hear my hair krunch. It feels soft and moisturized. It's so bad that I'm having a hard time keeping my hands out of my hair.

Not much with hair growth. Seems like my hair is in some kind of holding pattern.

Again...pics soon!

Dry locks!

It has been a long time since I have blogged. How does everyone find the time to update? Life just seems so busy and chaotic sometimes. I've been exercising a lot lately. Now, I have DRY locks. I'm not really sure what to do about it. Will a hot oil treatment solve my problem? All advice welcome!

Pics to come soon!!!

My Reality Check into My Past

Just thinkin'...before wearing my hair natural, I was aproduct junkie. I bought just about every type of shampoo, conditioner and styling product on the market. For a while, it was about buying a shampoo and conditioner that would leave a nice scent in my hair. After that, I bought products that would help me to achieve and maintain a certain styles. If I saw a style on someone that I liked, whatever she used I was going to go out and buy it. Because of the relaxer, I could pretty much achieve any style that I saw and it would look identical. My hair was nice, soft and well styled. I didn't have a lot problems with breakage until I decided that I was going to maintain my edges and relax them myself. That's was when the drama began.

Anyway, to 2008. Today when I was shampooing my hair, I used a shampoo from my past that I found upstairs. It was Nature's Gate Herbal Shampoo. When I firsted started wearing my hair chemical free, I was focused on using products that had the least amount of detergent. Since then, I'm not quite sure what happened. The Herbal Shampoo has SLS way down on the list of ingredients which is why I started using it from the beginning. I got out of the whole thing about my hair looking like someone else's since I was very aware that my natural hair is my DNA not meant to look like anyone elses. Maybe similar but not like when I was relaxed because relaxers take the uniqueness of hair away. Since blogging, I have become a junkie again reading what everyone else is using and trying it all out. Softness, dryness, growth whatever, I was looking for a product would make it happen. I would run my hands through my hair and think....My hair is dry, let me see what others are using. Or, I would feel someone else's locks and buy whatever she was using. I remember thinking back to a few years ago that softness is relative. First, my hair was not going to be soft like it was when I was relaxed. That was the first hurdle I had to get over when I first cut my hair. Not that my hair was hard but it was just a different soft. Secondly, DNA is not going to allow my hair to feel like anyone. So now, is my hair hard or is it dry? My hair isn't hard unless I don't keep it moisturized. That's the important thing. Sure, I condition now, but at one point I got lazy and forgot to keep my hair moisturized. So, I've gone back to the Bodifying Mist. It's a hairsaver for my hair. My hair is conditioned and moisturized with this product between shampoos. It's great!

Just a little something that was on my mind.

Comparison Pics

I can't seem to find the time to keep up with things. It doesn't help that I forget to take pics when my styles come out the way I want. But lately, I've been doing more freestyin' than anything. I've been extra busy with work, school and family. In between all of that I'm trying to be a healthier me and exercise. It is GREAT that after I workout, I don't have to worry about doing my hair. I rinse or spray with a mixture and that's it. I shampoo my hair weekly. That's it! How simple is that? My friends are scheduling workouts around hair appointments. It is oh so nice not to have to think about that anymore. I just workout and go. I am loving it!!!

The top pics show the difference in my over 6 months. During this time, I did get a small trim to even it up some since it was so uneven after having removed the 1st set.

The bottom two pics show the difference over 3 months.

Long Overdue

Like in the previous post, still back and forth about my hair. I had it groomed a couple of weeks ago but for some reason, I never thought to take pics. I have been freestylin' since May up until about 2 weeks ago. It has been too hot to do anything to my hair. I did a set with the lockloop and lottabody. My curls lasted for a full week with me exercising 4 days a week. I didn't take pics then either.

I think the grooming Michelle did made a big difference. In all of the times I have set my hair, my curls never lasted more than a day. That's one of the reasons I decided to freestyle because the styles weren't lasting.

If there is anyone in the Charlotte area looking for someone to start or maintain your traditional locs or sisterlocks, be sure to give Michelle a call. She is wonderful!

My hair is finally feeling along the hairline. My edges thinned out during my relaxer days when I thought I was being messy and trying to make sure my edges stayed straight.

It's kind of difficult to see in the pic but my edges really are growing in. I even have enough hair now that two locks were started. But of course, there's the bead! The bottom pic is me trying out the headband again. I love my hair off my face but the pressure of the band gives me a headache.

Change Over Time

A year just passed of having my 2nd set of sisterlocks. No bells or whistles, just another day. My hair is swelling but it's kind of difficult for me to determine what my hair is going to look like. The ends on some locks are waaaayyyyy bigger than the sisterlock itself. On others, the ends are the same size as the rest of the sisterlock. I'm going to have a few of them groomed with my next appointment.

This experience is totally different than the first set of sisterlocks. In 2005 when I had my first set installed, I didn't pay attention to much of anything going on with my hair. Sure I noticed the knots, stray hairs and holes in my locks but I didn't take any hair pictures at all. I have pics that I took with my children but that's it. I asked my then consultant about my hair issues. I couldn't get a straight answer. Her only answer was...."that's why I keep mine styled." Not really what I was looking for. I wasn't hip to blogging at that time. All of my questions could have been answered. Plus, I was pregnant with my son and had a 1 year old daughter. There wasn't much time. As I look back at pics during the 1st set, I actually like my hair. The hormonal change during my pregnancy made it go really fast(which is not something I'm used to). One of the reasons I took the first set out was because of not feeling really comfortable with my first consultant. Not getting straight answers really took its toll. The parts were off and I didn't like the size were. But, it was the best thing in the end. Had I stayed with her, I wonder how thin my hair would be right now. I can remember coming home after a retightening and my scalp feeling like it was on fire! I sprayed my hair with a cooling spray AND put my head under some cold running water. It was awful. Had I not started over, I probably would still be doing the same thing.

This time, I'm in and out of love with my hair. For the most part, any styling that I've done since the 3rd month has been to stretch out my hair. I wasn't feeling the fuzzies either. Today, I realized that any styling that I do is not going to stretch my hair significantly. With the exception of about 10 locks(along the hairline) my hair has locked on the ends. I'm going to do something that I don't normally do. I am going to freestyle it for the rest of the week. When I misted my hair today I kind of liked the way it looked so I am going to give it a try.

Here are a couple of pics of me freestylin' it

With and without a little bang but with a bead in front for both.

Sisterlocks Gathering in Charlotte

It has taken a long time to get these up. Better late than never!! We had a great time!