DRAMA: I nearly came a cropper

cropper - 1. to take a tumble



2. Disastrous failure



Ok. So I had hopped into a nice warm bath, when I realised I needed to wash my hair. Usually, I plan carefully before washing my hair, which means, I have everything assembled in one place (I don't keep all my shampoos soaps acv etc in the bathroom, in case someone decides to use my last bit of black soap or shampoo when I need it.) My scalp was really itchy so I thought I'd just do one wash, for now. Since I didn't want to come out of the bath I just reached for Mary's AUSSIE MIRACLE MOIST shampoo. Normally, I'll read the list of ingredients before the stuff hits my head, but seeing I didn't have my glasses in the bath I couldn't read them. I hesitated at this point cos I got the 'IS THIS WISE?' warning inside. But faulty reasoning prevailed over gut instinct and I thought just one wash will be ok. Thankfully I diluted the shampoo like 1:6. As soon as I poured it over my head, I knew it was a mistake. My hair felt super smooth and silky. Feeling a little panicky I began to rinse it out immediately, when something went wrong with the shower and the water slowed down to a trickle. At this point it became a matter for prayer as I called on God to forgive me for ignoring his gentle warning and help me rinse this stuff off my head! Time seemed to stop .... and several seconds ticked by before the flow resumed and I rinsed my locs as best I could. I rinsed several more times with diluted ACV. Later I inspected my locs. Some had slipped, a few had some bunching. I was just grateful it wasn't worse. Hopefully anyone reading this who wants to try some moisturising shampoo will wait until their locs are fully mature. (I mean, I'm a couple of months shy of 2yrs and I didn't think one diluted wash would hurt.) A lot depends on your hair texture - mine's coily, but really soft and fine, still not fully locked in several places.



But, in every cloud there's a silver lining right? Good. Cos my friend came over to drop some stuff whilst I was still reeling from my experience, my hair still damp. She gave me a hug, my hair brushed her face. Straightaway, she wanted to know what shampoo I'd used b'cos my hair was soft and smelled great. So I told her, and she's off to Wilkos to get the 2 for 5 quid bargain. And today, I did notice my locs were really bouncy, fluffy and soft. You mature heads - 5yrs+ might give this a go, just don't blame me if it goes wrong. I def recommend it for anyone who wants to take their locs down or wants to glide a comb through their loose hair

But as for me, I will not be going near it again.
DISCLAIMER: I think Aussie Miracle Moist does exactly what it says it'll do for hair that's DRY/DAMAGED, so this is not to give it a bad name. Infact, it's very GOOD, just so long as you're not trying to lock your hair.
And to think I was advising N'JOI to wait until her locs were settled before trying anything...Oh well, I've forgiven myself and my locs are still here.



That reminds me. I had one of those loc dreams the other night. My sis offered to do my hair and she put this white cream in it and covered it. Someone came to the door and she went to answer it. When she got back, she uncovered my hair and Suddenly I realised the cream had undone ALL my locs and left my hair semi-straight. I started to cry and asked her to get something and shave it cos I was going to have to start over. Thank God it was just a dream LOL.

my sls at 22+ mths and Arashia's twist locs at 2yrs 9mths

I was really chuffed when someone stopped me at costco to ask 'are those dreads?' I was like 'yeah'. He goes'man, babe, they're lovely..and so tiny'(me -babe, nearly 5o yrs hahaha) so I go'they're sisterlocks' and he's like 'what?' I repeat 'sisterlocks'. So I explain the process and tell him they are micro dreads done using a tool in a pattern. His eyes are popping and he says 'whatever it is, They are really beautiful'. And I came home grinning from ear to ear.

So I thought I'll take some photos as I hadn't been feeling my locs lately, but this guy made my day and made me know my locs are alright, even with my greys peeking through.

And Arashia's locs have grown so much. As you know they were started with twists and we are slowly splitting some. They are 2 yrs 9mths old.

Update on waitrose organic clarifying shampoo

I used this yesterday and here is the verdict:
It's mildly clarifying ie does not strip your hair, but cleans it with very little suds.
(which is not suprising considering it contains neither sls nor it's close relatives,but if you want suds, then this is not for you.
The reason the majority of shampoos use sls is because it's a cheap foamer and a very strong detergent used to degrease car engines. It does not have a nice track record, but I won't go into that today).
The smell is ok - just a bit of peppermint.
The downside is - I had to use a lot of it. I did dilute it as always, but the amount I used before I felt I was getting somewhere means it's not as economical as I thought.
However, this is a loc friendly shampoo, so if you ran out of sisterlocks starter shampoo, dreadhead HQ, or whatever shampoo you use, this will be a good substitute.

It took about 10 days to complete my retightening

10 days people! I didn't mean to be quite so laid back, but I skipped days everytime I didn't feel the move y'know. And I stopped if I felt even a little tired. So I eventually finished off the last section and was wondering what to do with my arms whilst I'm watching 'Perry Mason' Anyway I've had NO arm ache, NO backache, NO joining locs, well, not bad at all, except I was getting concerned that by the time I'm through it'll be time to start retightening all over again.

I'm NOT a product junkie, I just love to try new things

You know me. If it's low priced , is SLS -free, contains good stuff like aloe vera,peppermint &rosemary oils - all organic, I have to try it. It smells mildly pepperminty, and has a conditioner to go with it, but I gave that a miss...at least for now.

Introducing...Waitrose organic clarifying shampoo, so if you're in the UK you can get it easily. I'm going to wash my locs using this and report back with results.

Update on Organix coconut milk shampoo-

I used it for a few weeks and I've decided there's nothing to write home about,apart from the lovely smell. I think I prefer their TeaTree&Mint shampoo. Don't get me wrong, it's OK. but it's not for me. However, I don't mind using it cos it smells so nice and for me smell is a HUGE factor when choosing a shampoo.

I might add I'm not just buying shampoos and shelving them. I've got 5 children (2 of them girls,always after shampoo) so plenty people to use any shampoos I stop using.

Yes, I had to defend myself so y'all don't get the wrong idea Lol lol lol.

Retightening... and I've stopped tryng to hurry it.

I've completed the front half of my head. You will notice I never get right down to the scalp - I leave a little wriggle room. (My hairline has improved so much. Friends, never give up on lost hair, it can grow back. )It probably took 6 hrs of doing 3 section in 2hr periods whilst watching a film or browsing the net. I part my hair in 3-4 sections. Then sub -divide the front half into 3 sections. Starting from the sides, I retighten row by row. It just seem easier to take a very laid back approach. I'll probably start on the back this week end and follow the same plan. That way my arms don't get tired and I don't make mistakes like joining locs etc. I found 2 very thick locs that I will split. I really don't know why I've sometimes felt I must race against time. In spite of my giving out the advice to 'take your time and don't rush it' I've notice during this reti that my scalp feels so tender. I've had to be ever so gentle not to cause pain.

Another point - because the nape of my neck comes loose so often, I've take to frequently retightening that area. So between my last reti and now I've tightened the nape 2x. I think I will do the same with my hairline to keep it strong and away from fraying shredding or breaking. If you have very slender locs, it's wise to get your retights regularly and closer apart than sommeone with thicker locs. If you leave it too long you can thin out the root and cause the loc to break IMO. Fortunately, apart from 1 loc I haven't lost any, but I'm quite vigilant and will combine a loc if I feel it's dangerously thin. But keeping on top of reti- s can solve that problem.

beans stew and home-made pizza

I made my homemade pizza for dinner tonight. Whilst I was about it, I decided to quickly cook some red-red. Beans stew made with palm nut oil. Cos I bought some plantain and they'll be nice and ripe tommorrow, and I'll be out most of the day so I can look forward to eating it when I get home.




WHOLEMEAL PIZZA




I make the pizza dough, using 1/2 -3/4 wholemeal flour and 1/4 white flour, in my bread machine so it's really quick. Whilst it's tumbling about in the machine, I cut up some chicken breast- very fine. Then toss it in some season-all/garlic/black pepper and quick fry it and set it aside. I roll out the dough(cos it only takes 45min the the bread maker), and pre-bake it for 7 mins or so. I cut up some chillies, onions and mushrooms. I Mix some tomato puree or boil down some canned tomatoes, add in some olive oil,garlic,oregano and seasonings to taste. I spread it on the pre-baked dough and add all the toppings, including some mozzerella cheese. I bake for roughly 10mins and we have lovely pizza.






RED-RED
did I do this recipe before?
Anyway I cheated a little cos of time.( I used canned beans instead of boiling the dried beans)

2 cans black eye beans
1 can adzuki beans(you can use all black-eye beans if you prefer)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1scotch bonnet(pepper)
1 medium onion finely chopped.
1 large clove garlic
1 heaped tbs of powdered smoked shrimps(you can substitute shrimp flavour stock cube)
1 stock cube(magi) or vegetable/chicken/beef( if you substituted shrimp stock cube then reduce or leave out this)
4tbs palm nut oil (zomi)
1 can tuna chunks(optional)
1 tbs season-all

what I did....
I heated the palm oil ZOMI and added the onion/pepper/garlic. I let it fry for a few minutes- until onions were translucentish(is that a word?)

Then I poured in the chopped tomatoes(actually I left out about 1/8 of the can cos I don't like it too tomato-ey)

allowed to cook stirring ocassionally, another 10min -added the shrimp powder,stock cube

let it all cook a bit more.....
Then I opened and drained the beans and added that. I let the whole lot cook for 10 min and adjusted seasoning etc. It was lovely at this stage, but I decided to add some drained canned tuna near the end since I live with folk who want their meat or fish.

NOTE:
make sure you use Zomi, which is specially spiced palm oil from Ghana. Ordinary palm oil will taste awful IMO. If you can't get zomi, then use vegetable oil.
This is the first RED. The second RED is the fried ripe plantain that accompanies the stew. You can also serve the stew with a sprinkling of Gari(a granulated flour made from fermenting and frying grated cassava)

....and the next day - the other Red, fried plantain. I peeled the skin and sliced it. Instead of frying, I rubbed some veg oil on them and roasted in the oven. That way you get the fried taste/look with very little oil.

texture shots

that youtube mom

Do you remember the you tube vid that was doing the rounds with the mother'combing' yanking the daughter's hair while yelling abuse at her? I read on a site that it prompted a blogger to call child protection services and subsequently the woman has had ALL 3 daughters taken away. People, has it really come to this? Do you know what happens to the majority of these kids who go into care? The horror and abuse that takes place under the cover of 'care' not to mention the extreme trauma of removing children from their home and their mother. Not to trivialize what that mom was doing, but seriously, can we compare the damage caused by ripping them away from their home and delivering them into the hands of strangers with that? 1 daughter is laughing in the vid - twisted entertainment - I know but it pales in comparison with young children experiencing the terror of strange men/women - 'officials' barging into your home, taking you away from the mother you love, to some unknown place, because someone in blogoshphere deemed it so. There are other ways of helping than this. Even making contact and offering some help with some heartfelt advice is better than this. Besides, if we are going to make this an issue, you might as well go ahead and take away several of the black kids from black moms(including Africa) cos most of us have experienced something similar to it. It almost makes a mockery of the so called system which is supposed to step in when there IS SERIOUS abuse taking place where a child's life is in danger. Are we to look to the 'Nanny' state for everything including ratting on folks cos we don't like how they raise their kids or more to the point, how they comb their daughter's nappy hair and their offensive language?? I mean the woman needed telling off, even a cuff round the head to straighten her out, but did she deserve this? More importantly did her kids deserve this?

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.