1st recipe -waakye and stew

Justlocs,Thandi,Meimeika, this is for you,recipe no 1, Enjoy.....


For the waakye(rice and black-eyed beans)

Take a small bag of black eye peas (beans)-about 300 gm, and add enough water to cover three inches above them. Add a large pinch of baking soda. In Ghana there are special leaves/sticks added to give a distinctive colour and flavour, but here in the west, we don't always have access to it, so baking soda does the trick. Boil until the beans are soft to the touch (not mushy, but soft). The water becomes a burgundy colour. Add about a teaspoon of salt then add enough rice about 400gm so it's 1 1/4 in under the water. Mix. Reduce heat to medium/low and cover for about 30 min, or until rice is finished cooking. You can cheat and use canned black-eye peas, as I have done before, but results are not the same. My personal trick is to add 2tbs of dark soy sauce and 1bs sesame oil for flavour and intensify the colour whilst rice/bean mixture is cooking but it's entirely optional.

For the Stew: You will need:1 tbs tomato paste(optional), 1 large onion sliced. 2 cans 435gm tomatoes, blended or chopped, 1 large stock (boulion)beef/chicken /vegetable cube, 1/2 finger ginger peeled and diced, 2 cloves garlic peeled and sliced, 1/4 tsp. Red chilli pepper, black pepper,salt/season all to taste., 1/4 cup vegetable oil. 1/2tsp Curry powder (optional). 1lb cubed meat (You can use chicken or fish).

If you are using meat....

(you can see the stew simmering away)

In a pan add the meat, garlic, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon of salt or season all, and enough water to cover all the meat. Stir all ingredients together and allow to boil until meat is tender to the bite. When meat is to your liking, fry it in heated vegetable oil , until crisp on the outside, but soft inside. This step is optional as not everyone likes their meat fried. DO NOT POUR THE WATER FROM THE BOILED MEAT AWAY. This will be used as a seasoning for your stew later.

For egg eating vegetarians.......

Boil some eggs and set aside.

In a different pan, add 2 generous tbs oil, and allow it to heat up on medium heat. Add onions and allow to fry for about 10 minutes. This will remove the water from the onions. Add the tomatoes and allow it to fry as well. Stir often, as you don't want the bottom to burn. Add the tomato paste. Mix into the onion/tomato mixture add some garlic, a little fresh chopped ginger and add about 1/2 cup of water(use water from the boiled meat if using meat.) add about 1/2 of the stock cube, 1/4 teaspoon of curry, and a little bit of the chilli pepper. Mix until it's dissolved. taste and add more pepper/seasoning if needed. Allow this to simmer until thickened, and there is a film of oil on top. Turn off the heat, peel and add boiled eggs.

Meat eaters........

Add the meat and most of the meat stock (from boiling)to the stew and stir so that meat is buried in stew. MAKE SURE YOU STIR FREQUENTLY. Allow to simmer until thickened and there's a film of oil . Keep stirring and add more water from the boiled meat if needed. Add seasoning to taste. It will be done, when it's thick with a browny-red colour.
This is usually accompanied on the side by SHITO sauce, which is a hot pepper sauce made from chillies and smoked dried shrimps and fish. You may be able to purchase it in a Ghanaian shop, but I do without it sometimes and it's just as tasty.

Don't put stuff on your locs!!!

So I thought I was being smart and decided to put a lil' gel ...u know the type white folks put in their hair to harden and mould it?..yeah that type, on the ends of 5 locs to hold them together. Instead of holding together, they all totally unravelled. But u can see from the previous post that my consultant fixed them. I was quite embarrased to tell her how those locs came apart, seeing that I know better. Anyway, I thought I'd tell you sisterlocking/microlocking folks this:
Just don't put stuff on your locs!!! You could cause them to unravel. (A little mist of a few drops of eo and the tiniest amount of oil is probably fine.) This will also apply to anyone who has micro-locs, but not necessarily traditional locs. In my experience, it's much easier to unintentionally, undo tiny baby/teenage locs than bigger ones. So be warned.

art journals/5th retightening

A group of us have started another round of art journals. In the 1st we picked a colour or season for a theme. This time we picked an emotion/feeling. Mine's FAITH. Actually, mine's neither emotion nor feeling, faith is a spiritual choice. Still....Each woman gets a book/sketch bk. You decorate the cover and do a few pgs of your journal. It can be drawing /painting/stitching/glueing/embroidery,whatever you want to do. You then pass it on to the next woman who will do some art- in your theme- in your bk. You do the same with the bk that another woman will send to you and so on. This is 1 of 2 I did in Seiwa's journal.(click on it to see it close-up).They're wax paintings. I'll put up a better pics tomorrow.

AND.....

I got my hair did! It only took 2 1/2hrs so it was well worth it. My loctitian's now working from home again so no more nightmare parking. She gave me a voucher to park.Also she says I can use sls moisturising spray, nappylocs dew spray or similar. I might just make me own. Check out my locs.

Loc jewelry

My 1st attempt at making earrings. I decided to learn to make jewelry. Actually, I want to make loc jewelry - with matching earrings. I watched a couple of youtube vids and decided to get some tools and dive in. So I've made 3 loc-rings, Arashia's wearing one. These 2 , I made to fit Anne's locs. My friend's setting up a workshop with a pro so I can learn properly. Hopefully I'll be able to make some for sisterlock wearers to be tried on my locs when they are more settled. I was inspired by these ladies on 'luvinlocs' knappysoul and 'pinky2D4'(youtube)making beautiful loc-jewelry

groundnut soup(Ghana style)

I cooked some groundnut(peanut) soup with chicken today. The trouble with this soup is you have to siphon a lot of oil off. The soup brings out all the oil in the peanuts and when You add the chicken..... well, you can always use skinless chicken. It's best eaten with Fufu. But you can have it with gari, rice, yam, kenkey, (a kinda sour corn mash),banku( super-thick corn porridge), sweet potatoes, even bread if you want. My friend Eni who is Nigerian and I have decided to exchange foods every wed (when we meet at the sports centre). She's bringing me moimoi which is a bean dish from Nigeria and I'm taking her some of my 'Nkate-nkwai'(twi), Nketie Wonu'(Ga) aka groundnut soup. That way we can sample dishes from each other's country.
Going through my hair I've discovered a few locs on the edges that completely unraveled-after 8mths!! I thought I was supposed to have 'African' hair as I'm all african. Actually I have a great- great grandfather on my mother side who was dutch (he was the governor hmmm.....)and some suspected arab ancestry on my father side, so I have them to blame for this state of affairs. Fortunately I have 99.9% african blood,so most of my hair is locked in spite of its loose coily texture in places. I managed to track my loctitian today and she has graciously inserted me in her hectic schedule for friday. Phew!Sorry about that big forehead and looking bug eyed in the above pics, I was trying to show the growth at my hairline. My hairline is gradually improving, for this I give God all the glory.

credit crunch?

It's time for my babies to be tightenend again and all I managed to do is tighten 1 1/2 locs out of 380. It's ridiculous. I can't seem to find the time, or get settled - there's always something....*sigh* I am at this very moment searching for Angela's card so I can call and make a booking. Somehow when I take 4-5hrs out of my day to go and get my hair done, everyone understands. We even have take-aways. But I'm attempting to DIY, dinner must be cooked per normal, everything must continue as is.. no interruption. But I won't grumble. I'm just going to have to ask hubby for the 50 quid to go and do the deed. Thankfully, God has blessed us in the middle of the credit crunch so I can actually afford it. But I'd rather save it and send it back home to my mother. I send money home regularly as do all my siblings to take care of my aging parents(all you africans will probably relate) but my mum's had some challenges and I want to up the total to get the extras she needs. We've had to hire extra help to help care for her and I want her to have whatever her lil' heart desires. My dad too, bless him. God's faithful and he will provide.

I've been tagged!

I've never been tagged b4 so I hope I'm doing it the right way.

1. Link to the person that tagged you
http://divalareine.blogspot.com/

2.Post the rules on your blog

3. Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

So here goes:
1. I love the sound of rain when I'm going to sleep ,or background sounds of voices or music.

2. I enjoy Ghanaian food(red red,beans in palm nut sauce and ripe plantain is my fav/or apim-green plantain and Nkontomire..YUMMY) and like to wear my traditional attire (cloth or kente with headgear) to church or important functions.

3. I learned to swim in my mid-40s.

4. I'm an artist and love to do wax paintings. Back in the eighties, Anne and I travelled from Ghana to Sierra Leone to have an Art exhibition. At that time it was rare for anyone our age to go outside the country for an exhibition. It was very successful and we were featured in neswpapers and TV.

5. My daughter is also my best friend. We both like Ghanaian praise and worship in 'twi' or 'Ga' and often sing and dance along with the music.

6. I usually ask God for my parking space b4 I go out (except for that 4th retightening trip!) and I usually get it.
Last, but not least....I know,Iknow it said 6 not 7 things, nevertheless
I hate arrogance and the use of foul language!

Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
http://luvlockd.blogspot.com/
http://www.thandislocsnlife.blogspot.com/

http://rchgrl1.blogspot.com/

http://happilynappilynish.blogspot.com/

http://mylocsjourney.blogspot.com/

http://www.yooforea.blogspot.com/

Guys, if you've recently been tagged you can ignore this. I picked you bc you're all at a similar stage of locking as me and I read your blogs hehehe.

Anyone whose reading this, if you haven't been tagged consider yourself 'it'.

Rebellious teens?

No, I prefer to call them locs with character. This is how my locs look and I've decided I like it. It dawned on me that the fuzzy,frizzy stage is to be enjoyed. My locs are simply deciding what they're going to be when they grow up. I like wild and I like the volume. They will not always be like this. One day I will wake up to find them fully developed, all 'behaving', but for now..... I'll Enjoy big hair.

PhotoArtistry

I didn't quite know what to do with my hair so I wrapped it at the front. It made my locs look big and bushy. So that's how I wore it to Anne's 'do'. A wrap is a good standby when your locs won't behave.

My friend Anne(she has traditional locs) is the owner of photoartistry. This was the opening of their new premises. It was wonderful, especially since I had the priveledge of seeing the place when it was a huge, empty shell. Anne and her team worked very hard to transform this place and it includes offices, workshops, conference hall and gallery. If U want to know more about PhotoArtistry, just google it. They do some fabulous work on canvas acrylic and more. Anne is not only a business woman, she is an artist and a painter and has had quite a few exhibitions. She is one of the people who has encouraged me to revive my art skills and also make my dream of making hair/skin potions into reality. The 3 in above pic is Anne, Seiwa and me. We 3 have been friends for years, both in Ghana and UK. Seiwa,(in the middle) a former sisterlock wearer,is an artist too and very creative. She's the one who got me onto the Art journals(on my website http://www.locsdiary.piczo.com/) and now she's hooked me on another. Regarding her hair, I wait with bated breath to see what she's gonna do. I'ts def going to be locked again, but I don't know what method she's going to go with.

moor mill

Paul's (hubby) brother and wife and baby were visiting from the US so the whole fam went to lunch at Moor Mill which is an old country pub/restaurant/motel. It was a mill, back in the day, and U can still see the wheels turning. We had typical UK weather, snippets of sunshine and bursts of wind and rain.

Arashia's twist-locs

Arashia's locs were started with 2 st twists. Tightened mainly with the nappyloc tool or bodkin. I'm not a fan of the latch-hook. I might try a crotchet-hook sometime. These pics were taken a week after being tightened by moi. She has 350 or more locs. Many of them would be the size of extra large sls. Some a lot thicker. Her hair is very dense and thick and U can hardly see the scalp even after retightening. She also put a bit of colour in some locs. We are trying to keep to a 4wk touch up schedule, but often find ourselves going 0ver 6wks. This last retight took about 3 days of doing a bit here and a bit there.It took longer bc there was so much growth, I had some repairs to do and I split 4 locs. There are 2 more to split near the crown. I'm leaving all the thick ones in the back intact as they're not really noticeable.

homeschool end of era party

I'm a full time mum and home-educator. 4 of our 5 children are/were home-educated. This are pics from our 'end of Era' party. These are all home-educated kids.(my 3 boys are in the pics with friends). Some like daughter Mary(maroon/rust dress) and friend have moved on to college etc. The current leavers were brought in a horse-drawn carriage. This event took place in spring meadow farm, hertfordshire (UK) - acres and acres of beautiful scenery, valleys and 100s of pine trees, owned by dear friends who kindly opened their premises to us. It started with swimming, waterplay and barbeque. Then the children/young adults got dressed for the awards ceremony in the barn with some arriving in style! Later in the evening, entertained us with their musical skills playing violin, piano,guitar,drums singing. I thought I'd share something of another part of my life so y'all know I do something besides blogging about hair.

4th retightening

Here are some pics at 7mths, after my 4th retightening. As you know I've been contemplating DIYing, but I ended going to Angela to get it done. (Parking was a nightmare,probably due to time of day - 4pm. I ended up parking about 1mile away and was 1/2hr late for my appt-not a good thing.) I don't quite feel ready to tackle 100s of locs on my own head and I'm not sure about my arms. I'm also re-tightening Arashia 's 350 or so locs which means I would be doing both hers and mine at the same time. Hmmm.... I don't think so. I found a new tool called a bodkin. I think it's a yarn needle. It's really good and so cheap,90p. I've split and repaired a few of Arashia's locs. I'm also picking up speed with this retightening thing.Maybe when I'm faster I'll DIY and celebrate..... finally, bc I won't have no more parking problems, walking for about a mile, sweating like James Brown on stage.

Divine appointment

Arashia asked me to go to her church with her late on sat night. (This church happens to be a church started by my friend Rosemary and her husband Andrew. Arashia sings in the choir there, but I attend a church in Hatfield. ) I agreed cuz(I had this feeling I should go there). As soon as we got there, the pastor said, 'I knew you'd come today, your friends are here.' And there was Steve and wife Alison. Apparently God had told them the night b4 that they were to come to this same church. I met Alison months ago at Hemel sports centre where our home-educated children do various activities. We're both commited christians so we often stopped for a chat together. Her hubby, Steve is the guy who ministered to me at the sports centre (whilst my kids were swimming! and I didn't know him from Adam until his wife came and introduced us!!!) I wrote it on my website http://www.locsdiary.piczo.com/ on loc-hair ties pg 4th oct 2006. I was excited bc I know he moves in the power of the holy spirit. And I was not disappointed. I saw him pray and prophesy over people,including Arashia. Then he called me. I was shaking like a leaf bc I knew God had something to say to me. Oh my! He did too. Without going into details here, God said he'd heard my prayers, he'd seen my tears, the breakthrough is on the way. Infact I was given a time-frame (which is very unusual)..2 months.This confirmed what God had already told me and it's actually the 3rd confirmation I've had concerning the situation I've been seeking him about. We ended up going to lunch with Steve,wife, friend and kids. Back on That day, when I had that encounter at the sports centre, I was feeling particularly bad. I had had a very bad night with a circulatory problem and I really didn't feel like taking the kids out, but I made myself go. Steve told me he didn't know why he came (bc he never comes there) until he saw me and knew he was to pray for me. He'd never met me, knew nothing about me, yet by a word of knowledge, he told me 'God wants to heal you of a circulatory problem.' God uses him like that, in all sorts of places, shops, airports, aeroplanes etc he is often directed to total strangers.
Friends, we're living in exciting times. God's confirming his word with healings, signs, miracles, wonders,supernatural provision - in all sorts of ways. He's answering prayer and changing situations. The impossible, has b'come possible. Guys, I thought this was a hair blog. But God's got other ideas. I will have to come back with Arashia testimonies, Anne's testimonies, Helen's testimonies.... but I have to ask their permission and when the time is right and God permits, I'll write my full story here.

Be grateful

Just want to tell all U people in blogosphere, be grateful for what you've got. If U live in a sunny climate, enjoy it. Don't complain. U could be here in England, St Albans watching the summer drown in sheets of rain and cloudy skies. But I refuse to be downcast by mere weather. I've got a lovely hubby and 5 wonderful children. Each of those children love the lord. Instead of messing up and having teenage blues my kids are going to church, serving God, getting involved in evangelizing and getting awards at college. I'm so blessed, bc some kids are giving their parent's hell this very minute. My God gave Jesus, his best for me. He's also healed me, healed my kids, lifted me up, given me a business - no 2 or is it 3? Given me some lovely friends,including you in blogland. Did I say I'm blessed? In the midst of the credit crunch, God's increasing me and my family! We're moving up, not down. He's answered every prayer, strengthened me time and time again. He's simply amazing. I've come over so many impossible situations that some people say my life is like a movie with - a happy ending. The glory goes to God.
2 wks ago we were at a homeschool end of term party. Someone called me to say my son was hurt. I rushed out to see J lying on the ground screaming with his leg at a strange angle. Everyone crowded around saying the leg was broken and call 999. I sat on the grass next to him. I knew this wasn't the time to panic. It was time to get God's help. I laid my hand on him and started to pray. 1st thing God told me was, it wasn't broken. So we carried him to the house and put some ice on his knee where he wrenched it. He stopped crying and wanted to hobble about ,but I made him sit. a few days later he was running about as if nothing had happened, and I forgot all about it... that is until one lady (non christian) asked me this. What was it that kept U so calm in the midst of that bad situation. And how can he be Ok so soon?

braiding and banding/DIY and NL tool

When I hit 3mths, I decided to just band my hair and wash. I got a great deal of slippage. Again at 6mths I gave it another shot. Still some slippage. I really don't like having to braid and band. It makes the shampoo-ing process seem tedious. I'm a wash and go kind of person. I don't even remember to style. This is why I like locs so much. But for now I will have to continue braiding and banding to avoid problems. I'm also trying to decide about DIY.
advantages: save money
take full controll of my hair
not dependent on any one.
not having to set aside 4-5hrs every 6wks to get my hair did.

disadvantages: have to spend several hrs(not in 1 chunk) doing my hair, when my time is already limited.
don't quite know how I'll manage due to painful upper arms and neck.(temporary in Jesus' name)
My hubby says I should just go and get it did cuz it's easier. But I like doing my own hair.

If I diy I'll be using the NL tool or my own tool. The NL tool I have is the medium size but I can 'pinch' it in to make it smaller. I don't want to spend $30(inc postage to UK) on a small one. Which brings me to a message I got from the owner of nappylocs. Apparently, she already has a design like the one I've got(amongst others) and had applied for a patent. Somebody suggested that she could just say that in order to discourage me from taking my tool any further. But I believe the lady. She is a christian, like me and I truly trust that she was being honest with me. So what does that mean? I wasn't really willing to find out bc I had more trouble than it was worth making that tool and it still needed improvements made to it. So I've shelved the idea. Infact, I'd rather sell the NL tool with the owner's permission, along with my other products, on my forthcoming website than make one. But we'll see.

Doing clients' hair

Yesterday I drove my daughter to hemel-hempsted to do a client's hair. The day b4 I took her to Hatfield to do this young ladies' hair. She wanted temporary dreads. I had to go back to pic her up bc it was too late to get a bus. So anyway - hemel- to do 2st twists with afro kinky hair. Bear in mind I had taken her to Watford and back in the morning,( other direction from hemel) bc she had a meeting, I was tired and feeling like an unpaid driver. So I left her there and went to Garston to see my bro who just arrived from the US and was leaving today.(he's airline crew). He was drinking at a pub -Harvesters, so I joined him and killed 2 hrs talking with some guys we just met telling them hairy stories about Ghana. So she calls me to say am I coming to get her? And I rush back to this back of beyond place in hemel,cos I'm not familiar with this part of hemel, (how I retraced my steps in the dark I don't know). I get there ,only to discover she's only completed half the ladies' hair. So I settle down to help her and it turned out to be a very profitable and enjoyable time. The lady is a christian - with 2 lovely little girls, and we enjoyed a great time of fellowship and encouraging each other. We've made a friend and it was indeed a pleasure to do her hair.
It's my daughter Mary's birthday today, She's away at camp on the Isle of Wight. Happy 17th b'day Mer.

How does God feel?

About the millions of women who alter their hair with dangerous chemicals? I'm sure he is not against us having some fun changing hairstyles,even temporarily changing hair texture,or colour. But using a substance that's a known toxin, has the ability to rapidly penetrate the skin, cause blindness, burns, and who knows what else? I mean who would willingly put this on their skin, unless somehow deluded into believing anything is better than kinky hair? And I'm not pointing any fingers, I thought that way too. For years I ignored that inner feeling that this practice just couldn't be right, and continued to slap the stuff on. When I could take it no longer I'd BC only to start back again down that painful road. I'm convinced I hold the world record on BC-ing bc I've lost count just how many tmes I did it in my attempt to be free. I bring this subject up (yet again) bc I was reminded of this phenomenon at church on sunday. I saw 2 Ladies who, inspired by my locs, made a half- hearted attempt to go natural , now back on the lye or no-lye treadmill. In weeks They have already gone from relaxer to weave to braids to relaxer to BC to texturizer to....U get the picture. That vicious cycle, all the while losing your hair. I know in 2004, I cried out to God for help. I had stayed away from the creamy crack a whole year only to backslide in june 2004, bc I didn't know what else to do. I believe it was God who led me to locs as a real alternative to loose natural hair and I changed my lifelong prejudice against them. In my culture, locs were not for sane people. You had them if you were dedicated to a shrine or insane. But I begun to see it differently and I'm eternally grateful to God for saving me and my hair. He must be really pleased with the 'back to natural' trend today. You see God cares even about your hair. Why, he knows the exact numbers of hairs on your head, And to us women, he says this. ' I gave you your hair for your covering and your glory'

I did a sneaky thing-I did a loc extension!?! (6mth pics)

6mths
5mths - 6mths




loc- ext
..............with afrokinky hair

(all the 'fluff' u see in my hair are just my numerous grey hairs)

I decided to add extensions to 2 locs that were about 1in long. I only extended by about 2in to blend in with the rest of my locs. Apparently, you can take them down but I don't intend to. This is a no- no for sls (so don't try this at home lol!). I'm one of those that isn't afraid to experiment using moi as the model. I used afro kinky human hair, but I read about how this hair is obtained and it's quite off-putting. I don't mind people selling their hair to get money. After all, they have a right to do so if the price is right + they could be helping someone who's lost all or some of their hair. But the thought of hair coming from giant rubbish dumps, old brushes,yaks or even {shudder} corpses is a bit much! They only consolation is the hairs go through washing, colouring and chemical processing to get the right texture so all or any undesirables are surely dead by the time the reach the consumer. The alternative of course is synthetic hair, which may not last and could be itchy. I'm not a fan of weaves, although I wore my fair share back in the day. I realise this industry isn't going to disappear. There's a huge demand for it worldwide, whether it's for those wanting to change their looks every other week or those wishing to cover damage. When's the last time you saw a bald or part bald woman walking down the road? It is true that if black women didn't rely so heavily on chemicals and weaves many would avoid hairloss. But once it's occured it must grow back or be concealed right?

6 months old

My locs are 6 mths old and I'm wondering if I can now stop all this braiding and banding. Maybe I can try just banding. I'm also considering going back to my nioxin shampoo which I was using b4 I started using dreadheadhq soap. I'll try to post some pics asap. Funny how I took tons of pics with my 1st set of locs, now I'm not snapping away every few seconds.

For the Fine hair/thinner haired sistas

Does your hair have less volume than you would like? If you have locs and you want more volume, try braiding damp hair, let it dry and remove the braids for a 'braid-out'. If you are pressed for time, spritz your hair lightly with water or whatever you normally use, hold your locs up in 2 ponytails, one at the very top of your head, one at the back. Let it it dry and take it out. This is what I did when my locs looked thin. Your locs will have volume! You can probably do this with just one ponytail (on top of your head) but if your locs are shorter it's better to do 2. Locs have given my hair more body. Even my bradelocz,(when I had them) looked pretty good. But with sls I'm on my way to greater volume/thickness and hopefully, length.

sisterlock extensions and snobbery?

Did you know that sisterlocks could have extensions added? Not officially of course, but it can be done. I was amazed that the sista's hair looked totally natural. I believe she's coming out with a how-to video. Perhaps those who have a horror of starting with short hair will be persuaded to abandon chemicals and start this way. Except I don't think they can be called sisterlocks. They will have to be called microloc extensions or something. Which brings me to a debate on NP about starting locs with permed hair and sisterlocks disrespect or snobbery, depending on which side of the fence you're on. Some veterans were totally against starting locs with perm bc, the whole point in going natural is to get rid of the lye. Others felt it was a way to transition gently to all natural hair bc not everyone feels ready to do the big chop. So the topic of sisterlock disrespect came up and the negative vibes sometimes sensed on the forum. Many people feel there is snobbery and a cult-like feel behind sisterlocks. Even some sls wearers. Personally, I have never encountered this, and chose sls bc I felt it would be a better locking system for me. Maybe it's bc I know I'll always do my thing if I believe it to be right, no matter what anyone says. Obviously many think it ridiculous that we(sls wearers) pay 100s of $$$ to get locs when we can get the same for little or nothing. I can understand the thinking. However, inspite of the fact that there was excellent info in the bradelocz e-bk, plus any additional info I got free on NP, I didn't quite achieve what I wanted. Microlocs required a bit more skill than I had and I certainly couldn't do it on my own head. With the particular look I wanted, I would have to pay someone to start me off right. Installing sisterlocks is a very tedious process. It has precise partings and patterns. I can't imagine standing over a head, for anything from 12 to 30hrs doing these intricate, tiny locs for any less than the going price. I'm very grateful that I learned about latching in the bradelocz bk. I've also learned so much on NP that I've become a loctitian. With the knowledge I now have, I won't have to take a sls class for $500 (£250), thanks to bradelocz. So I feel I have the best of both worlds. I do some DIY maintenance between visits to my consultant and I really don't feel I'm dependent on her. I only wish we would all respect each others choices.

3rd Re-tightening and dreadhead hq

I was retightened yesterday 1/7/08 by Angela, after 8wks. It took about 3hrs. It seems to be average. I asked about sls shampoo and was amazed to hear that she hadn't recieved her starter kits (shampoo etc) for her clients after months. Someone needs to get their act together. Fortunately, I don't rely on the sls shampoo. I use dreadhead hq shampoo. It's very effective. I also made a water based spritz (I hope to sell this alongside my coconut spritz), in which I mixed a little paul mitchell awapuhi moisture mist. Finally, my dry, thirsty locs have been quenched. My locs feel soft and moisturised.