1 week loc update!

Hey guys loving my hair atm, Ive even been rocking it out and about. The feeling of being completely natural is liberating and I've gotten so many compliments! 

Things ive noticed at 1 week:

-Hair is beginning to lose elasticity

-SHRINKAGE

- Feels harder 

I might do a light re-twist on the front next week!

The loc journey finally begins! (23.06.12)

Hey guys after long adieu, I finally started my locs! As stated I started them via the two strand twist method ( with the help of my sis shaki) and I used the queen helene sparingly just to help the twists stay down. I didn't really need to use gel to start them of because I realised with my hair texture it just doesn't need it! I will probably  use the queen helene  gel for actual retwists. I'm excited guys. The past couple of days ive been wearing my locs outside and it has just been liberating , because I said id probably cover it up with hats for the first couple of months, but I really havent felt the need to cover them up I've only worn a hat twice and Ive been going out everyday. They are super fuzzy already and its only been 6 days since I started them, I think its because my hair texture is resistant to staying retwisted. I wear of satin bonnet to bed every night. But I dont mind, I dont want them to be forced into something they dont want to do. But I really like the fuzzy look anyway. So hopefully I wont experience the "awkward phase" in this journey because it seems alot of people complain about frizzy and fuzzyness but I dont mind it!

I plan to wash my hair in 6 weeks but I dont know how I'm going to hold up guys, Its really hot here atm and ive been working out, so I dont know if I will be able to wait 6 weeks. I will definitely try and make it to the 4 weeks mark though. I am just fearful of having smelly hair. I got a friend to smell them yesterday and she says my hair  smells fine so hopefully i'll be able to make it to ATLEAST 4 weeks. I am so tempted to wash them now but I know my hair and I know they'll unravel and I am just really attached to my hair,and I am fearful of what I've done becoming undone! I know it's only been 6 days guys but I am LOVING my hair, I cant wait for them to start showing signs of locing!

I am really surprised at everyone reactions though guys! Everyone seems to really like them, like I thought my family and friends would be against it but they really like it! xD i've  also gotten so many compliments from my friends and people from college. which really makes me happy because even though when I started them I was emotionally, mentally and physically ready for anything  negative. Having the people you love like them just makes it so much easier!

I feel like i'm rambling now guys but yeah just wanted to update on here! I love how everything Is going atm, because even though im bringing 12 months of research into the game, I dont really REALLY know what i'm doing xD I guess thats why its called a journey!

Ive been called to locs.

I am at that mindframe that I've NEVER been before. I feel like nothing can get in the way of me doing this. Even though I am facing obstacles it just makes me want to do them even more. I think it's because It's going to change my life, it's not just a  hairstyle.  Its me for the first time embracing my unrefined natural self. My hair is still in braid extensions and the closer it gets to the date for me to start my locs, the more these braids have really been irritating me and I just cant get them out of my face enough. I wear a bonnet everyday. I just really cannot wait to take them out and give my hair a good wash and most importantly start this journey. I am ready for change and to finally become a reflection of the person Ive always wanted to be.

Diarrhea of the mind.

I was hoping that Id possibly start my loc journey this week and I still want to but my damn gel hasnt arrived, I'm so upset. The shampoo and the clips came last week but the main thing I need which is the gel  AND ITS NOT HERE  argggh. I just want to get them started already, I watched a youtube video of a girl starting hers wthout gel, but I know my hair type, I'll need some gel to start me off with my tst, especially if i wont be washing it for the first 6 weeks.

Just received an email and it wont be here until the 20th ;/
 guess I wont be starting until july by the looks of it. Great.

Well I guess everything happens for a reason!

I also promised I'd put my natural hair journey pictures up on here! I will be doing that soon.

Waiting on products to arrive/ random extras

Hey guys I may have mentioned this is another blog post, but I am waiting on my products/ equipment to arrive before I start my locs, estimated delivery is the 16th june so i'll definately have started them by the 20th june!

The prong clips came today! I was so anxious to try them out so I did and they work great. I've really been thinking about products  want to use on my locs and how I can avoid buildup. Because I know certain gels, pomades and greases cause buildup. So yesterday I saw a youtuber retwisting her locs with oil and water and prong clips. So I tried it out today ( I took down a couple of my braid exstensions at the front) and I left the clips in for about 15 minutes and to my amazement they held my hair down. Idk how long they'll stay retwisted but i'll update you guys on how long they stay in. I am so proud of myself though, me trying it out really boosted my confidence that i'll be able to cultivate my own locs, and I think for my first time they arent prefect but they look pretty good to me!

I did notice that they didnt have that fresh skinny look that alot of people have when they retwist but I think its because i only twisted at the root and not the whole twist. I dont know what it'll look like when I do my whole head but I quite liked the fuller look of it. Hopefully its okay to only retwisting the root.

I kinda feel that palm rolling maybe easier to do once your hair starts to mature ( maybe 6-10 months in) I did try to palm roll one but it unravelled the twist so I wont be doing that for now. I guess i'll have to embrace the frizz xD


Products i'm waiting on

Queen Heleene styling gel (mainly this, I want to compare its hold to the oil and water I tried, if it feels too much for my scalp, I will just stick to oil and water)

Jamaican mango and lime tingle shampoo ( I wont be using this until 6 weeks into have my locs, I really dont want my locs to unravel so I think 4-6 weeks sounds pretty safe, so until the beggining of august! eep I go ages without washing my hair when I have braids in, My scalp doesnt start to itch until about the ending of the 3 months I think i've just trained my scalp, so hopefully my natural hair will cope just fine.

In between I'll probably clean my scalp with tea-tree oil and a toothbrush.




I will be washing my  loose hair with my current joico shampoo and conditioner but then I will start using the Jamaican mango & lime. Main reason being The joico products I have are for damaged hair and I no longer feel my hair is damaged. The mango and lime shampoo will be trial and error, if it works I'll continue but if  doesnt i'll move onto something else, I want to try Dr.bronners at some point just because it's a clarifying shampoo. But like I said I'm a newbie so everything I will be trying on hair s trial and error.

Products and equipment I'll be using to start/maintain my locs

Starting locs/ Retwisting with :   Queen Heleene styling gel  


Ive heard good reviews on this gel, and I've decided i'm going to try it out, I mean it it doesnt work or flakes i'll probably try something else. One good thing about this product is that it's alcohol free, I suffer from dry scalp so I dont need to be using any products that contain alcohol. So yeah any loc newbies or even veterans out there thats one peice of advice if you have a dry  flaky scalp and find your scalp feeling dryer than usual check for alcohol in your products!!


Equipment : Prong clips ( I bought a pack of 100 just incase of any problems),  Rat tail comb , Blow dryer ( I dont have a hair dryer and I probably wont buy one until I move to uni halls in september, will have to make do and mend for now)


Shampoo: Jamaican Mango & Lime Tingle 


Conditioner: I wont be using conditioner for the first one year ( my hair is already quite soft)


Moisturisers: Either  Jojoba  or Coconut , ( I will be applying castor oil just to my edges) I am going to invest in some good hair oil moisturisers such as olive and argan I really want to try those. I also made a concotion spritz made up of Coconut, jojoba, castor and lavender oils and distilled water I try to spritz my hair with it once a day and its really help with moisture so I will probably continue spritzing my locs with these once I start. 






The reason I choose to use oils is because they are light can be absorbed by both scalp and hair easily. I am really trying to run away from buildup, I know how gross it is as you all know I  wear braid exstentions for long periods of time ( up to around 3 months) and I used to use heavy pomades and greases in my hair and I used to get gunky buildup near the roots, but now that ive been using oils I barely get any buildup in my braid exstensions, so for me pomades and greases are a no, no! 

How I will be starting my locs (update) VERDICT: Self-maintainence

Hey guys i'm sorry I havent been blogging for a while.. I've been MIA because as you know i've been working on my final major project! I also started a youtube channel ( I will post a link in a new post). But guys after 6 LONG weeks of being phsyically, emotional and mentally drained I will be handing in my project on monday and then I am officially freee xD yaaaay! Sorry I'm rambling..

So yes I've decided that I will be starting my locs myself, purely because I feel that I will be able to get my desired look this way, I thought about it and because i'm very particular about my hair I dont want a situation where I pay a loctician to start them for me and then the parts are too small or too big and I end up wanting to comb out my twists. I just cant afford for that to happen.  It was also because I I wasnt feeling the vibes coming from the 2 places I wanted to start them at and they were too pricey. So yeah I ordered the products I will be using to start them and hopefully a few days after they get here I will put them in. I feel that I have done as much research that I possibly can in the past 1 year and I feel confident in starting them myself and keeping them in once i've done them. I will hopefully have started them by the 16th june give or take a few days because I am waiting on the products I need to start them! I plan to start them with the Two strand twist method
 I want the partings medium sized. I cant really explain what I want my medium to look like but honestly I'm going to go with a medium I feel suits me so they might not even end up being medium i dont know.
I plan to do the grid method as I feel this will be more easier for me to do myself.
So that's how I plan to start them.
I will definitely start posting natural hair pics after monday, because i'll have alot more free time on my hands.