LOC JOURNAL
I started the journey AUGUST 1st 2001.
AND WHAT A RIDE IT HAS BEEN!!!
I had spent a good 3 months trying to find out all the ways to lock up, and how to maintain it... but let me tell you that all the advice I ever got was only from their own personal experience... there is no real advice. We all have different hair types, different needs, so this was really a case of exploring myself and learning that it is a huge growth process that no-one could prepare me for. I was ready to go for it!!!
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I CHOSE THE NATURAL BRAIDED WAY-
I removed all the braids (false extensions) I had, leaving me with shoulder length natural hair and did all my own hair in finger sized braids. That was that. I haven't removed them since.
READ HOW I STARTED MY LOCS FOR DETAILS...
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FIRST 4 MONTHS...
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I FELT REAL BAD...
after being used to have my hair exactly the way I wanted it, to letting it have a mind of its own, I actually felt that I had lost control over it... they were wild! I would wash them every other day at first and they would look like a matted textured afro puff! -nothing like the locs I saw in pictures! This was new... I even started doubting myself, that I didn't do the 'right' thing. I didn't feel that good about myself and was unsure about other people's reactions (WHY?!? Never again!). It was crazy, like my hair was the factor of my own personal beauty... now I know how wrong I was in having that mentality. I had looked to my outer self to make my inner self worth while loving.
Never again.
What I had to learn was that locing didn't happen over-night...
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6-8 MONTHS....
I went into a bad habit of just wanting to avoid my hair- I would wash it and then tie it without botherring to look at it or treat them...I was fed-up with the frizz!
For the first time, I decided to LOOK at my hair properly, I was amazed. From the root to the mid tip of each old braid, it had started to loc up, and my hair was actually hanging instead of going wherever it wanted it go. The ends still needed a working on but now I felt that everything was fitting into place -slowly, slowly!. I loved it. That whole evening, I was swaying my hair and with a big grin. I felt beautiful. I felt naturally beautiful. THIS WAS ME STARING BACK...And yeas, I didn't need those nasty hair
extensions!
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A YEAR EXACTLY.
MY HAIR HAS REALLY TAKEN SHAPE.
I never knew my hair grew so fast! I took the feathery hair tips left and wrapped them around the bottom, tied a black elastic band to the end of each of my new locks. There they are. My beatiful locks. Ofcourse, there's always more work to be done...I
am going to leave the ends of my locs to get secure before I remove the elastic bands...I'll be left with neat ends.
Hmmmmm, I give it 2 months more. YEAH, 2 MONTHS.
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AND I STILL HAVEN'T STEPPED INTO A HAIR SALON YET...
ITS ALL ABOUT TRIAL AND ERROR.
Thats the only advice I'd give anyone.
I'm happy wih what I have, I've been through days when I really didn't feel good about who I was in the mirror.
BUT IT HAS ALL BEEN WORTH IT.
Its been about me trusting my instincts and seeing MY results coming out of it...
I'm not saying going to a salon to get it done is a bad option, that just depends on yourself BUT I can say that it has been rewarding to go through fustration and amazement and know that this was all because of my work into it. This part of the locing
stage is when people decide to not go through with it and do the chop... HANG IN THERE! It'll pass!
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ALL THAT INFO, NONE WAS 100% "RIGHT" FOR ME...
Apparently, I'm at the teenage stage so my hair is not "acting" proper.
18 months - 2 year mark: My next milestone, apparently the mature stage begins and things calm down. We'll see!
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2003.......ITS ALL FALLING INTO PLACE.
JAN 22ND: My 18th month is coming up, the mature stage is about to begin (apparently!), got to admit that things have settled down a lot since Summer, where I still had "fuzz-ball" written all over my locs. Now, they hang better and I got the tips
sorted out. Still a bit fuzzy but they're getting there.
Spoke to one woman on my course,who used to have locs and has hair which is more 'mixed' than mine. 2 years-she said. Thats when my locs will stay the way they are from then on... Mmmmmm, ok. Can't say if thats true or not until that happens. My locs are still changing by the day!
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THE '1 YEAR AND A HALF' MARK
Would you believe it if I told you that it was only 3 weeks ago that I started using the same routine on my hair. All that time before I was changing this and mixing this with that to see what I'd get out of it. Now, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief that I feel I know what I have to do with my locs now, the routine of it all from washing to sorting out my roots.
Its become easier as my locs are now becoming more 'stable' about things. No more worrying about my ends unravelling, like before, and the fuzz has become very minimal. Once I've washed my locs and let them dry, they return back to the fuzz-almost-free
state that they were in.
I was thinking of what my hair looked like the night I braided it (wish I had those pics to show you!!!). My braids were SO thin! I tried making them finger-sized but the ends were like threads and now I'm seeing these THICK locs off my head. What happenned?!? Its true, locs do really get biggeras they loc and mature.
Maybe things are really settling down now!
I can't believe I've made it this far.
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MARCH '03 - 19 months now.
As my locs keep maturing, they hang better and they get heavier on the head. My joined locs have now become one loc properly now, so I did something that I promised I wouldn't do 'till later but ... I cut off the weaker loc from each joint. I couldn't help it! I made sure that I left some length on the weaker loc after it was cut so I could use my black rubber band to tie it onto the new single loc... still experimenting. Everytime I try something out, I'm always thinking of how the future locs will be ...stronger, thicker at the base and even. I plan to be loced for life.
APRIL ON ITS WAY...
I'm a bit worried about my locs where I joined them and cut the weaker loc off... They've started locing at the joint but I've started doing a new thing... SEWING.
I've taken a matt (not shiny) thread and needle and neatly sewn the joints properly. Its worked! It doesn't show and the loc has become stronger.
All the roots have been sorted out -there are no thinning roots now. All the joints are securely joined.
Now all thats left to do is let those locs grow!
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APRIL '03
1st day of the month... 20 MONTHS BEGINS.
Ok, so I feel I've done all the hard work now, I can't think of anything left to do -all my hair has loced, I've joined my locs together to make the roots stronger, made them into one single loc at each joint and there are no more thinning locs on my head...
Just washing and wrapping loose hairs... thats what I'm going to be doing.
Thinking of dying them into a deep brown so I'm doing my research on it!
Thats about it!
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APRIL 28th '03
Just finished shampooing and wrapping my locs up, leaving them to dry...
I'm really enjoying it! A few months ago, I'd be taking my hair care as a bit of hassle and trying to get it done ASAP.
But now, I'm loving the fact that I can wrap my loose hairs in minutes, washing it makes my locs look and hang better, and I feel good about taking control of my locs as they grow longer...
I guess its all just practise and I've realised that no matter how long you've had locs for... THE FRIZZIES NEVER GO. They may die down around the locs as they mature but there's always frizz at the roots so its natural and normal and taking care
of it should just be part of the fun...
I've also taken a huge step in my diet routines...
" WHATS IN A MOOD ? -ITS THE FOOD!" -thats my saying. After taking extra vitamins and eating good quality food, I feel 100% better...and I'm not just saying it! I used to feel tired, but things have changed.
Been trying MSM tablets too....no side effects so far (the acne and headaches) but I'm noticing better hair growth and less brittle nails. Works for me.
Diet and health has been the main focus this month.
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MAY '03 -21 months
The 2 year mark is just around the corner! All this makes me realise how patience and time go hand-in-hand. Thats one thing I improved myself on -slowly and steady doing things and seeing the results gradually. That goes for ALL areas in my life.
New challenges this month -I've decided that I want to free form now and stop wrapping those loose hairs for the next 6 months so I can get a steady thickness going on... after all the joining and cutting of weak locs, I need to get my locs to thicken up again. And just to leave it grow...
I've been washing my hair more often now and I've been reading all about the 'no poo' method (see LINKS page for the website on it). Thinking of giving that a go with my free forming as I wash my locs so often and its not really about cleaning them because of that... hemp seed oil is amazing stuff. My friend is off to Amsterdam tomorrow night for a day trip (lucky huh!) so he's bringing me back loads of hemp seed organic conditioners. Then I'll start using the 'no poo' method.
As you can see, I'm still experimenting! -can't help it!
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OK, so the freeforming is not going to plan... my hair is too "loose" about things and never knows where to go! So, I've given that up.
As for the 'no poo' and MSM ... its working!
I washed my hair yesterday night and the new growth felt SO MUCH DIFFERENT than it usually does. Its growing faster for starters and its so much shinier and healthier...
On the side effects: Haven't experienced any acne or headaches yet so I'm still going ahead with using MSM, but I would really recommend that if anyone wants to start using it, start with the capsules and get the hypo-allergic and organic natural version
of it from a good health shop. I'm guessing when I say this, but I think the chemicals in most of the tablets and powder is what causes the side effects...
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8th MAY
GOOD DIET?
GOOD SUPPLEMENTS?
GOOD SLEEPING PATTERN?
THE 'NO POO' METHOD?
THE MSM?
THE ESSENTIAL OILS ADDED TO MY SCALP?
-WHO KNOWS?!?
Whatever it is, I FEEL the difference in my new hair growth.
It has grown so much in just 2 weeks, so different that I can honestly spot the change in texture and softness.
I have also noticed a new attitude in me towards health -" FROM THE INSIDE AND SHOWING ON THE OUTSIDE" attitude.
All I need to get myself to do is the exercise -hate it!
And its not just on the hair that I'm seeing results - I FEEL IT. I can safely say that all the tired and stressy moods I might have had before has gone and things are looking up...
YOU CAN ONLY REALLY FEEL REAL RESULTS!
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JUNE 2003
MY AIM: To get all the shorter locs at the top and front of my head to touch my shoulders, between the 2 year and 3 year mark.
It seems that each loc grows differently and there is this total random affect on my locs where its not layered and the lengths are all different. I'm hoping to get all the shorter locs to atleast come down to my shoulders and balance the style out.
I was thinking of trimming some of the locs to get an even cut but... I'll just leave them until they REALLY get too long to handle and I'll start chopping then.
My locs are still doing their thing from day-to-day even though I said they were 'calm' now... I guess they're always just going to be that way so I'm used to it now.
As for the frizz, its all at the base.
Hoping to get 5 inches more of hair by Christmas.
I'm still no-poo'ing them every 2 days and my locs are now really really soft.
LOVIN' IT!
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I've started early morning yoga and meditation...
It's something I have wanted to start doing for a while... I'm still trying to work out a good routine for it.
When things start rolling, I'll let you know how its going!
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AUGUST 1st 2003
2 YEARS OF LOCING.
Somehow, I have the feeling that between the YEAR 2 mark and the YEAR 3 mark, my locs will start to reach the final stages of its maturity.
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NOVEMBER '03
Growth growth ...and more growth.
The hard part is done now
-I just want my locs to keep growing like this for the next year...
I've started rinsing/no pooing even more -up to twice a day!
My locs take less time to dry now -I think that as the locs get denser inside and more mature, the water tends to drip out quicker...a good sign that the maturing process is still going on.
I find water to make my locs much more manageable now -whereas it did the opposite in the beginning.
Less oil - I'm using aloe vera gel now for my scalp.
I just want it to keep on growing!
I feel as though my locs are a reflection of my inner journey -just like me, I feel its half way done...in the next 2 years, I want to really blossom into the new experience.
And in that time, I know my locs will reach the length and maturity I want.
Patience.
THE LOC JOURNAL CONTINUES HERE:
