Locs,Locs, and more beautiful locs

The lovely J with her amazing locs. Go ahead and feast your eyes on a combination thick hair+Lush locs.

Anne's new set. Started by single twist and maintained by twisting/palmrolling. It look so full- I love it!

Seiwa's braidlocks. She's got a zillion of them. What's interesting about these locs is....they are palmrolled!! Yes, I said palmrolled. No tool is touching her head. I've always heard you shouldn't palmroll micro locs...

Well, she get's them done somewhere in brixton, in record time I might add. I confess that this discovery influenced me to kinda twist my own locs at the crown intead of using the tool.

Loc progress

These are pics of A's and my locs. Hers will be 5yrs in Feb. Mine will be 4 in Jan. SHE DOES NOT HAVE SISTERLOCKS. SHE HAS tWIST-LOCS . See how they grow.

Below : M on her way to her friend's wedding.

The earrings...

I was rushing out. 2 minutes to spare... I grabbed a pair of earrings, put them on and ran out the door. I dropped Daws at the tutors went shopping, came back to have a long discussion with the tutor. I went to various places driving here there and everywhere... Finally it was time to go home. Getting ready to go to bed, Mer wanted to tell me what God was teaching her. *Sigh* I was tired but I knew I had to listen. Suddenly she's staring hard at me. 'Mum' she says'why are you wearing different earrings?' 'Am I?' I said faintly, remembering all the funny looks I had had through the day. I thought I'd detected a slightly odd look even on the tutor's face. Oh well...it was time to go to bed.

Blame it on Nai! Heehee..

My friends, thanks to Nai, fellow SL blogger, Queen PJ, willing guinea pig, Tester of various hair products I found HEAD Organics shampoo. Can you tell I'm happy? Yes I truly love it. I found the last bottle at TKMaxx at £9.99. It's a huge bottle and certainly cheaper than the SL shampoos. Hydrating/fortifying,it's also sulfate-free,paraben-free,glycol-free, gluten-free. The main cleansing ingredient is Sodium Olefin sulfonate. Some controversy surrounds SOs(yes I had to go there!) bc it's supposed to be a variant of sls/sles. However according to the Good Guide website SOs is not on their list of toxic chemicals that cause suspected or recognized health effects. It has not been detected in human tissue or urine (which suggests that it does not pass through membranes)Sodium cocoamphoacetate is green(non-toxic) mild, safe& is has the ability to both cleanse and condition.

Right. I wrote this some days ago& just posting it.

Oh I forgot. Look I found TIGI Bed Head moisture maniac. Silicone-Free.

Loc Hair-band

You know all those braid hair-bands? Well I used locs cut off from my loc pieces to create this hair-band. Quite interesting bc folks try to figure what i have going on in my head. All you do is get an old hair band and wrap the locs round. I guess you could recreate something similar with your own locs own your head if you have plenty of locs.

So, what's new?

Well, I stopped retightening the top of my head for now. I tried some manner of twisting method on a few locs. Not palmrolling, more of a gentle twist to incoporate hairs at the root into a loc and just let it be. I know this is not the norm for Sls but I've got to come up with my own combo of what works for my hair. I made a lochead band(I'm wearing it in the b&w pic on the right) by wrapping locs round an old head band(I'll put a clearer pic up asap)

If you look closely you'll see I put some (brown)yarn in my hair. I'm experimenting to with yarn. Yarn is extremely light and easy to work with. It serves as a protective covering for a weak loc while covering a sparse looking spot.

I'm allowing my locs at the hairline/top/crown to grow out with little to no manipulation. I thought about doing this before, but didn't bc thin locs really need to be reTi regularly. However,my dr suggested it would be a good idea to lay off retightening at least for a while. To just let the hair be. And I decided to give it a go. After all dr C experimented until she came up with her method right? No harm in trying something different to see how that works for me-yes? You can see what it looks like at the moment(right b&w pic). I use a soft bristle brush to just brush all the loose hair and it knda works. I'm due for another henna colour. The last one worked a treat. Finally, I have combined locs that look stringy. I have a several 2 headers. I might or might not cut them off eventually. And that my friends, is the latest news.

Product find!

Naked Rescue sweet almond&sunflower intensive care shampoo-the line contains no sulphates,parabens or petrochemicals from Boots.

V05 Herbal escapes strengthening conditioner(anti-oxidant rich pomegranate&grapeseed extract). From the pound shop. No silicones to coat your locs. Lovely fragrance. Will be good for co-washing

Alberto Balsam(limited edition) Mandarin with papaya-pro vitamin B5. Silicone-free. Delicious fragrance. From Boots or the pound shop. The shampoo is equally lovely and I was so tempted, but it contains SLS and I always try to avoid that ingredient. I haven't used any of them yet. I came across them and they were so cheap I got them. It's just to let my UK readers know what's available. I will use them next wash.

I caved in!! I'm doing it Myself.

I'm long overdue for a reTi. Each week I'd say 'next week I'll contact George'. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I've had to give having a consultant retighten my locs a miss, so I started reti-ing myself-I don't want my locs to fall out!! Most of my evenings are taking up with something, (which is the main time I'm able to go get it done). Not only that, cash for retite took a dive - pushed out by more pressing things. I might give myself another treat before christmas, meanwhile it's back to DIY. (You can see my empty cups of tea and coffee to sustain me).

So here are the pictures of my contortions trying to do the back.

Let's just say I'm taking my time. I do a little when I'm relaxing. My husband suggests I shd just retighten my locs all the time in teeny sections. Well, I'm not so sure about that. I mean those arms will need a rest sometime, dont you think? Also I'm thinking of a change with my locs(don't worry I'm not cutting). Just combing more of them. I want an easier life. I love micros but hey, it's not by force, or by hook or by crook to have them. All I want is locs small enough to not stress my scalp and give me fullness, but easy to maintain myself. We'll see. It's just hair right? NOT!!

Have you tried these on your locs?

I found these in a local asian shop. Really cheap too. I know they're natural cleansers and conditioners very good for your hair. They are supposed to strengthen your roots too. I boiled some water and mixed in 1 tsp amla and 1 tsp shikakai and let sit for at least 15 mins. I didn't use the Aritha powder(aka soapnut) since shikakai is a scalp cleanser too. Aritha is a natural shampoo that's good for cleansing oily hair. Amla is said to promote growth, control hairloss,cure scalp infection, controls greying hair and get's rid of grime & pimples. These can be used in place of shampoo or in addition to it. These are usually used by making it into a paste, but i used it in a very liquid form. Infact next time I'll also strain the liquid.

ONIONS: A suprising remedy for hairloss.

After doing some research on this, I've realised there's some truth in the humble ONIONS' effectiveness as a home-made hair growth potion and a remedy for hair loss. The problem is, of course the smell. No one wants to go around smelling of onions. Nevertheless, after deliberating over this, I decided I'll never know until I try. There are several suggestions online how to juice an onion, what mixtures to make. Some add garlic, honey even egg yolk, rosemary etc. One recipe is to chop up an onion and add it to your shampoo. However, I just cut an onion in quarters and rubbed it into some areas on my scalp. Honest, I could barely smell the onion or maybe it just wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

Massage a generous amount of onion juice into your scalp weekly. Leave on for 2-4 hrs or overnight. You can grate, mash, juice the onion or add to your shampoo. It is the sulphur that encourages hair growth. The sulphur in onion& garlic is different from the sulphur that's mined and is much more effective. Onion's sulphur content is very high. It is known that brittle hair nails hairloss can be a sign of sulphur deficiency. Its anitfungal anti bacterial anti inflamatory circulatory properties makes it a highly valued food source for healing inside and out. You can substitute garlic as it has similar uses( IMO it'll be more smelly). This is my first try and I was very hesitant. Next time, I'll extract the juice and use it more abundantly lol. If you are concerned about an onion smell, make your last rinse diluted ACV.

OREGANO OIL: Again a scalp stimulator. It's strong and VERY POTENT! (The oregano smell leaves NO room for any onion smell.) It's also anti bacterial antifungal, anti viral. It's an antibiotic and will heal many scalp conditions like psoriasis (shrinking the lessions). I actually added a drop or 2 on my scalp to make sure I didn't smell of onions before I found out it was scalp friendly!!!. I instantly felt a hot sensation and rushed to break an aloe vera plant to rub onto my scalp. Then I sat down to research oregano oil and discovered it was quite a normal reaction. I didn't want to sleep with all this stuff in my hair, so after 2 hours I shampooed it out. My locs feel very clean and there's no odour at all. If you want to try this and/or the onion remedy for hair growth, you need to give it some weeks or months. Also make sure you're taking a good hair vitamin/mineral supplement, biotin, omega 3. Wash your hair regularly with a sulfate-free shampoo or soap. Do all you can to keep your scalp CLEAN.

2 second Messy hairdo

I had to dash out today -shopping. This was my 2 sec hairdo. Very messy. But I looked kinda cool.

My locs are getting really long. You don't see the back of your own head, so it seems to have grown overnight.

Maybe time for a little trim to even things out?

Jamaican black Castor oil(Yards Finest)

Me&my friend Seiwa's son who is a budding musician. He played in Glastonbury this year with Rolf harris and has done gigs all over UK. I've known Shaz since he was a baby, so when he's famous....

After hearing so many good reports about JBCO I though it'd be an absolute crime NOT to acquire some. So I found Yards finest traditional jamaican castor oil. ( Yes-If you're getting castor oil why not get the best?) Hand processed-virgin-unrefined(for hair and scalp use). It has a strong burnt/smokey scent. I quite like it. Not unpleasant to have in your hair like I thought it'd be. It's not as thick as regualr castor oil,but to me that's an advantage. I don't have to dilute with another oil. You can use it as it is. I tried it as a pre-shampoo & post scalp treatment. I was amazed how it simply 'sank' into my scalp. Normally when I use oil I can see the shine of it on my scalp. Well this just-disappeared. This will now be part of my regime. I'll do another review soon after I've used it for some time listing all it's benefits.

Has anyone tried dr woods pure black soap? I loved it! DH ordered it from iherb(for skin) and I tried it on my hair. It's like dr bronners liquid soaps. It left a slight residue(which disappeared after diluted acv rinse) like the dr bronners, but the scent was a winner and had me scrambling for ways to use it on my locs simply bc apart from the great smell, it's conditining&moisturising. It's great on my skin especially my face.

*ingredients*aqua,saponified coconut hemp olive oils with glycerin,black soap,vitE,sea salt,panthenol,rosemary, natural caramel.

No parabens phthalate lauryl/laureth sulfates,petroleum derivatives.

Little tricks

We had our 1 yr women of destiny anniversary celebration at church. What I'm wearing was our Cloth. All wore same type of cloth with slightly different designs. I put a blue flower on the side to emphasize the colour. I forgot my camera so just took these when I got home. Our speaker for the 3-day conference was Mrs fransisca Duncan-Williams. In Christ we have been crowned Queens, like Esther (in the bk of Esther) who rose from orphan to Queen, thus saving her entire nation. Although she was a Queen, she was humble and Godly. She listen to her uncle Mordecai and cried out to God for her brethren...

I'm waiting for my edges to grow. Meanwhile I 2st twisted the 4 at the front with some afro kinky bulk hair to give it some balance. I washed my locs and took them out today. It's just a temporary measure.

Is fake hair becoming too much for men??

I lifted this off a hilarious thread on FB so the original (male)poster shall remain anon.

"I normally keep my mouth shut on subjects like this BUT I gotta say this:
Ladies, sorry but some of the hair extensions,weave-ons,add-ons,clip-ons,paste-ons,plaster-ons,whatever-ons, are plain mind-boggling ridiculous and out of this world!!"

Although he was referring primarily to fake hair that looks..er...fake -THAT GOT ME THINKING.....
We all know what women go through for the sake of their hair. Many of us have been through the mill and had every kind of perm/relaxer/extensions/weaves/clip-ons etc etc. Did we do it for our sakes or for the men around us? Was it really b'cos our texture was unmanageable, or b'cos were ignorant of proper grooming methods. Or was it brainwashing pure and simple?
Many of us went natural bc the whole hair drama had become slavery & bondage and we started to question WHY? We escaped and even though mainstream society frowned on us, we began the difficult task of swimming upstream...often alone. We discovered that natural can be beautiful and that there are several ways to style your natural hair quickly easily and beautifully.
So men-if any men read this blog, how do you feel about the whole fake hair saga? Do you even care? As long as the woman looks good? Or are you concerned? Ladies, ask the guys in your life, husbands, sons cousins and put their comments here. I'd like your thoughts and input. Personally, I'm completely biased - in favour of natural hair. But I'm not interested in bashing non naturals or users of weaves ext etc. I know we women like to change up the style every now and again...so this isn't a bashing excercise.

SL salon formula shampoo

I meant to blog about this shampoo and completely forgot. Anway, here goes: it's the sisterlocks Salon shampoo concentrate(aloe formula). This shampoo is recommended for those who have straighter wavy ,curls,looser coils. I was very suprised to fall into this category. In my mind I'm still in the tighter kinky coil group. But it made sense bc my hair took forever to loc, unravelled constantly and indeed if I had a mind to I could probably undo all my locs with some detangling condish.

First of all the fact that it contain a less harsh cleaning agent than sls was a plus from me. I loved the results on my locs. They were clean but not stripped. It has a clean smell.

But look at some of the ingredients: Organic aloe vera juice,water,sodium olefin sulfonate,lemon peel oil,soluble collagenbutcher's broom,soap bark,sweet almond oil,evening primrose,lavender oil,liquorice,carrot seed oil,gotu kola,parsley seed oil,borage/sunflower oil,horse chestnut,pro vit b5.

Initially I thought it was rather pricey at about £11.00, but it's concentrated and you actually end up with 3x as much. (In my case 4x as much) You get a measuring bottle.

So my question is, why aren't SLs products such as this used more by sisterlockers in the UK? Is it bc it's difficult to access. In which case, problem solved, we got George Graham Sisterlocks product distributor in the UK.

The new formulated starter shampoo again contains no harsh ingredients, just good stuff. I'm quite particular about shampoos and don't necessarily think SLs products are the only thing one can use. However, I was truly impressed with both ingredients and performance of the Salon shampoo.

Back to Natural/locks in Ghana grows....

Song of songs 7:5...Your head crowns you like mount carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the King is held captive by it's tresses.
1 corinthians 11:15 - if a woman has long hair it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for her covering...
Just thought I'd share these 2 happy hair scriptures. So it's up to him to ensure we have our covering.....

And the Happy News - my sis-in-law, a former devotee to the creamy LYE has been converted. Not just to natural hair, but LOCKS!! To really make my day, she went to a local hairdresser who I taught to loc hair using a combination of tiny twists/latch-hook/nappylocs tool methods 4 yrs ago. She maintained my daughter's locs for free for a couple of years. She in turn has taught 4 other girls how to lock and reTi using a tool. She's the same lady who did our reTis when we were in Ghana in march. I've sent some other ladies to her to get their twists or locs. She can start and/or maintain any type of tool assisted micro locs! I've begged my sis-in-law to send pics asap. Apparently she's had so many compliments already. her sis and my sis are both contemplating jumping on the loc bandwagon. Now get this- the hairdresser charged her 15Ghana cedis which is like $13.00! I couldn't believe it. I mean the hairdresser and assistant worked in her hair from 9.a.m-1.30p.m which is 41/2 hrs. I'm instructing her to leave a LARGE tip next time she goes.

Wow, it feels so good to know my little contribution in teaching an individual is growing into a whole community Little by little. When you impart knowledge to someone, you empower them and they in turn empower others. Ladies, this is a huge world with a lot of potential natural heads waiting in the wings. I'm so excited by the turn of events y'all!

after reTi, washed&styled

Let the photos speak for themselves.

reTi and loc styling

My reTi was finished this week. We took a break last week as George had a full install to do. One thing, you can't hurry George. He's a perfectionist and he's got to do it right. There's was a little portion left to do so his wife Charlene finished it and then...washed my hair and gave me a temporary style

so when I take it out I should have another crinkly style.

This was a 2 min style I did before to get locs off my face...it was so hot.

Shows how long my locs are getting eh? I got 7 new locs starting. My hair is growing back bc of Jesus inside me lol lol. It's true. this manageress at the post office(I was enquiring about opening an A/C) wanted to know why I looked young. I told it was about Jesus. She sat me down and I spent the next 35 min telling her how much Jesus loved her and how she could receive him too. She said 'I believe'.

Henna Cream

I'd been threatening to dye my hair with henna again. My husband found Surya Brasil henna cream on iherb and got me a box. Back in 2008 I had a run-in with henne hair colour which left my hair brittle. I cant say for sure if henne caused me the problem bc I had used a protein condish before...anyway, I was a bit wary. As you probably know pure henna is the best/ safest. If you are using a premixed henna you must scrutinize the ingredients list carefully. After researching the ingredients I came to the conclusion that although it contains other stuff, the dye would be safe enough in my hair. I checked the reviews and most gave it 4 1/2 stars. The only downside is that it does not last. However it's safe to reapply. So I gave it a go last night. Seeing I only had 1 box,I only did only my roots and hairline.

I was pleasantly suprised to find my greys covered. How long it will last is yet to be seen. It was super easy to apply. I left it on for 2hrs even though it says 40 min. Being a gentle henna based colour, it can be reapplied frequently without fear of damage. As I said before, pure henna pure body quality henna is safest to use. I have both henna and indigo powder but I've put off using them because it's so messy to use,long preparation time and so so hard to wash out ..and I'm not sure how great coverage will be. I may yet use it, but for now this is easy.

These are some of the claims: Hypoallergenic,dermatologically tested, vegan,colours while conditioning and revitilizing your hair,based in principles of ayurveda,formulated with a botanical comlex of 15 herbs&fruits. Won't harm your hair or health.

It contains Henna,arnica,guarana,acai,jua,aloe vera,brazil nut , essential oils, preservatives etc

I must add that it seemed loc-friendly ie easy to apply, easy to wash out, no bits and gung getting into the locs.

Well, so far so good.