more crinkles.

I'm trying to find the fastest way for me to get decent crinkles. This time I braided my hair after making it damp with my spritz. Actually I did more spritzing as I went along cos some places had gone dry again. This way, the braids are dry by the next day. My locs are starting to retain more water, although my sisterlocks still dry 3-4x faster than my bradelocz did. Also I don't 'feel' the weight at all when they're wet, unlike my old locs which felt kinda heavy. I'm glad I transitioned to microlocs/sisterlocks.

police woman branded illegal childminder

another example of idiotic behaviour from the 'authorities'. Ofsted banned the 2 women(best friends) from looking after each others child. They were job sharing in order to allow one to look after their kids,whilst the other works. Ofsted branded them illegal childminders! These women could have just gone on benefits or sponged in some way on the state. Instead they put their heads together and came up with a solution that benefits everyone. They earn some money, pay taxes, their children are left for short periods with their best friend, in a very loving environment- Sharing their police jobs and sharing the care of their children. Instead of being commended, they recieve condemnation from the powers that be who have totally lost their way. On the other hand, a woman who called 999 for help after being beaten and threatened by thugs in her home was told she would have to handle it herself cos the police could not interfere!

Friends, we need to lift up the nation in prayer.

Girl dies after cervical cancer jab

When oh when are people going to stop swallowing everything the Govt, some 'official', some giant pharmaceutical compay(who needs you to use their drugs so they can continue to rake in billions of £££) tells them and start researching and deciding for themselves if these things are actually safe. Swine flu jab, a jab for this and a jab for that. A very small minority might suffer a small reaction blah blah blah = another child, a beautiful young girl, sacrificed on the altar of the 'greater good'. Nobody mentions that there's actually a simple way to drastically reduce the risk of cervical cancer. ie Not being promiscuous and staying in a committed relationship for life! There I said it. It's entirely up to the individual, but maybe if some realised it, they'll choose abstinence until the right person comes along. Nobody reveals that many of these jabs, including this cervical whatnot is next to useless in terms of protection and introduces viral and toxic agents into your body and immune system. Not to mention the false sense of security.
Update: It is now claimed that the teenager died from a tumour. Very convenient and strange. Still there is no getting away from the fact that she would still be here if she hadn't had the jab to aggravate things. I find it odd that we are being enlightened in this way, and yet in the case of swine flu victims who died, many had underlying health problems and it was deemed more convenient to hide those facts. Hmmmm. Anyhow, I'm rambling, so till next time....

loc splitting begins...

You can see my finger through the loc I'm splitting in the photo. I tightened the loc through the same hole until a Y was formed. (This is fairly easy to do.)I managed to separate 2 locs, leaving a 1 short and 1 long loc. The rest will be an ongoing process until at a reasonable length then I'll separate them. So far I've started the process of splitting 12 locs. I initially intended to split around 100, but I feel some are too thick and yet too thin to be divided. Besides she might end up with a lion's mane. So I am aiming to split 20-40 locs. Only the thickest locs will get split.

arashia loc updates

Arashia's locs at 2 years 7mths.

incredible growth! They say loc growth really takes off after 2 yrs. I think this is true.

Sheeny locs thanks to washing up liquid -no kidding!

This was before retightening. I've started retightening and splitting some locs because so many of them are thicker than she would like.

product review- organix coconut milk shampoo

Organix coconut milk shampoo. The fact that it contains coconut milk and coconut oil got my attention, since they're both good moisturisers. And it smells very coconutty and tropical, just the way a shampoo is supposed to smell. You can get it at supermarkets like Tescos or Boots.

Dr bronners Tea tree liquid soap: I like this for all over the body washes. You can wash your locs too, but I find it leaves a film on my locs unless I rinse with diluted ACV. It is also very good for cleaning your TEETH, I'm not kidding! I buy various dr bronners from my local chemist in st albans.

VO5 nourishing OASIS conditioner - with water lily and vit E: I don't use conditioner, but both my locked &loose haired daughters have raved about it. Seeing it was just 99p from the 99p store I thought I'd put it here for those who use condish.

No child or parent should have to go through this....

I saw in the news today how Madeleine McCann's parents were returning to Portugal after 2 yrs and it all came flooding back. I continue to pray for them, for comfort and strength,for the safe return of their daughter. May that little girl know the love, the peace and presence and covering of Jesus. If the American girl Jaycee turned up after 18 yrs, then there's some hope for Maddie. People, please remember and pray for children that have gone missing around the world that God will keep them and for parents who's children disappeared that God will strengthen them to carry on.

braidouts gives my locs more body

what d'you think?

Boy,12 undergoing sex change!

This is what confronted me whilst reading the Telegraph online: A school called an emergency assembly to inform them that the pupil was now a girl and ordered them to treat her/him as such and call him by his new name. Many were shocked and in tears. What is the world coming to? This child is now going to be pumped full of artificial female hormones and undergo a horrendous operation that involves chopping off bits and creating some sort of orifice... and that's not all - I just cant go into detail about this nasty operation. I s'ppose there's nothing new under the sun, but it's heartbreaking to see so much hopelessness and confusion even in children. People willing to do anything in the hopes that it will make their lives better (except call on their Creator, of course). I'll never forget a book I read years ago, about a man who underwent an op and became a' woman'. Years later, he became a christian, realised he was actually a man, and went back to wearing men's clothing.It never said if any attempt was made to reverse the OP, but I don't s'ppose there'd be much left y'know where to create anything.
On a happier note, I'm so glad my kids are not in the school system and God is still on the throne.

My bro had a wedding today

My bro and his wife had a wedding today in Ghana. I'd have loved to be there, but I had to content myself with chatting and congratulating them on the phone. I'll see the vid next jan/feb when I'm there. They have come through so much adversity it's unreal. My bro's life reads like a book with a very happy ending. His wife is one of the most loyal- woman of faith I know.Yes they were already married and have been traditionally married for over 20 yrs and have 3 children. This is more like a renewing of vows, done in church with the full works. (It's not uncommon in Ghana for folks to have a traditional ghanaian ceremony followed my a wedding sometimes years later. Both ceremonies cost plenty money. Infact, you have 2 traditional ceremonies. The 'knocking' which is really the engagement and the 'engagement' which is really the marriage. The marriage is refrred to as the 'engagement' b'cos of the white wedding to follow!) Anyhow they're wedded and I hope you're not too confused by my explanation. My niece married an African American and did the same except - they did the 'knocking' a year before, then did the 'engagement' on a thursday and wedding on sat - all in Ghana. After having a registry ceremony in America. Phew! I remember seeing myself aged 3 in my parents wedding photos wondering how it was possible. My youngest bro(the one who's just had a wedding) wasn't even born. Then I dscovered it was b'cos they were already married.

washing-up liquid and herbs/tea rinses

I read on a loc forum about using washing up liquid to get rid of dull looking locs. So I told Arashia to use it at her next wash as her locs looked a little dull. She did and was astounded at the colour of the water! Murky brown! She's used it 2x and her locs look quite refreshed. Well I washed my locs today. I rubbed in some Selsun shampoo and dr bronners tea tree soap on the nape that was itchy and let it sit. Then did a 1st wash with diluted washing up liquid concentrating mainly on the locs (not the scalp). Then, a 2nd wash with nutrient shampoo all over.I rinsed,rinsed rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. And then rinsed some more. B'cos I realise build-up is often due to not rinsing properly or long enough. (I've devised a method of rinsing if you dont have an adequate or strong enough shower head. Fill a bucket with warm water. Then dunk your head in(avoid your ears LOL), and swish your head from side to side and up and down. It's pretty good and worked well when I did my henna).
I'd made some black tea/green tea/nettle/horsetail/rosemary rinse by simmering the ingredients on the cooker. I let it cool and added a dash of vinegar. So that's what I used as a conditioning rinse.
NOTE: washing up liquid get's rid of severe build-up. You may have to use it a few times, but it works. It may be a good idea to follow with diluted conditioner. Some Veteran lockers suggest incoperating it in your hair regime eg use 1x2-3mths to prevent/remove product and imbedded/trapped dirt from your locs. It works because it's designed to cut through grease and the like.

Ghanaian worship song

Listen to the song (video Bar). MOKO BE(pronounced BER) by Nii Okai. Beautiful song, sang in the Ga language. ' I praise you Lord because there's no one like you, in all beauty, all knowledge,all love..There's no one like you. With all my heart I worship you, with my voice I will praise you, with my mind and with song -I will praise you day after day. Look out for different african gospel songs cos I'll change the song every few weeks.

Look at these teeny locs from african tribes

*These images aren't mine. They're from african tribes.org.* (see Afro Glitz online mag titled 'sisterlocks began in Africa').Visit them to see more and read about these obscure tribes that you don't often hear about.. I couldn't help but be struck with the similarities with sisterlocks! Wow! Is that where the idea came from? I must say I know next to nothing about these african tribes.(located somewhere between Ethiopia and Sudan)Although I'm a full African - West African,there are many tribes and cultures across the continent, and many are totally alien to me and I find the customs quite strange, but fascinating. I mean some paint their bodies and hair with a mixture of red ochre butter and herbs and I find it most intriguing.Where can I find that mixture I wonder...But just look at these intricate tiny locs. The woman with the baby looks like hers might be braids.

I dont wanna scare you, but it's a good try....

...at a style. Well it was rather hot. On top of that I had my own internal heat thing going on. You can see the sweat on my oily face. I grabbed my locs and put them up. I took a few open ended pins and stuck them in with a hair accessory near the top. I left the rest loose b'cos I didn't know what else to do. At least my locs were off my neck and that was my aim.

henna results

This is the result of my henna. I had some slipping and bunching so I'll wait a few months before I henna again. My hair texture is so soft that even after 20 mths I could unravel some. Henna conditions and softens your hair too. I tried to curl my with soft spikes, but the locs did not dry, hence the rather bedraggled looking style.

How to split locs

Folks, we were discussing Ara's hair and the discussion went to how thick some of her locs were in the back. Some are so thick especially towards the ends that it's pretty hard to retighten. I already split a few near the crown, so I asked her if she wants ALL the fat locs split and she said 'er- I don't mind- yes'. So we decided to embark on a loc splitting journey. I mean I will be splitting roughly 100 locs! With so many to split, Taking down and re-doing is just not an attractive option. So here's the method I intend to use:

Tighten the new growth in 1 direction only ie no cross stitching at all.

Create an upside down Y.

Cut away 1 of the branches leaving 1 long loc and 1 short new growth hair.

Make a new loc out of the shorter hair.

I might add that The only 2 methods I know of for splitting Locs are what I've just described above and unravelling the whole loc and starting new locs from the loose hair. IMO if your locs are only a few months old, you're better off undoing them and starting new ones. And If anyone knows a 3rd method for dividing, do tell.
(I remember when I had bradelocs I let new growth grow on fat locs and allow it to get quite get quite bushy and then just grab some and braided into a new loc.)
Loc splitting takes weeks and months, but
Like she says, she'll be glad to be my experiment. If this experiment succeeds, she'll end up with 415 locs or somewhere in that region.
...and if for some reason, she changes her mind we'll just re-combine them again or to be more precise, SHE can combine them herself!
So what d'you all think?

another henna session

I did a reTi a few days ago. I can't really remember how long it took as I had so many interruptions. If I condense it all , it probably took 4+ hrs. So I decided to do another henna. This time I crushed the henna in a mortar&pestle before I put in a glass bowl with boiling water, over a pan with boiling water. I mixed a little caca maroon (red)with caca brun(brown). I'm now sitting with plastic covering over my head, but it just occured to me that I ahould have applied the henna to my hairline 1st. Instead I started from the back when the mixture was quite hot. By the time I got to the front it had gone cold and henna colours better if it's warm/hot. Anyway, I'll update when I wash it out.