Afro hair grows.

I was messing around after church and started taking some pics of my hair. I don't often take shots of the top of my head, but I made a simple style with my tomoka's twist, so here it is...

The back . Massive growth. Afro hair DOES grow. You just gotta leave it alone

Side view. Not bad eh? I mean for someone who hardly ever styles....

Longer hair does give more options- at least for me it does

I just had to show my Ghana dress LOL. A young lady made it for me in Ghana

Close up of the style. Very simple. Only takes a few minutes.

New find! STRICTLY ROOTS products.

Look what I found during my trip to Ghana. Strictly Roots. A Product line developed in Canada, produced in Ghana. They have shampoos conditioner etc, but I bought the scalp Stimulator and Moisturiser from Ama SL practitioner. Her locs are gorgeous and if this is what's making it look that way....I didn't hesitate.

Scalp Stimulator ingredients: Grade A shea butter, Allanblackia Foribunda,coconut oil,vegetable glycerine,kombo butter,vit E,Peppermint EO, Patchouli EO.

Moisturiser ingredients: Grade A shea butter,Allanblackia Floribunda,coconut oil, veg glycerine,kombo butter,vit E,orange, mandarine and/or tangerine EO.

I love the moisturiser. It's very light and smells wonderful. I dissolved a little and put it in my spritz. I also rub a little in my hand and apply to damp hair.

Did I tell you I found some VIRGIN coconut oil? I brought back as much as I could carry LOL. Some store bought, some from Kaneshie market. At the moment it not only goes in my spritz, It's my oil of choice for cooking cos it's one of if not the healthiest oil to cook with. I fried some yam in it and...yummy! It was coconut flavored yam and it disappeared in seconds.

Ghana pics-jewelry stall

The pearly bead and multicoloured necklaces were made by my niece for Ara and Mer

The bead/jewelry stall below is on Osu high street or Oxford st as they call it.

Ghana pictures

Ara and I at a popular restaurant in Ghana called PAPAYE

The open air Bar behind our house that tormented us all night long with loud music.

View overlooking the house opposite from the side verander on the 2nd floor of our house.

Front of our House. This house is at least 35 yrs old. It contains many happy memories.

The MOVING markets of Ghana...

...is the name Ara gave to the roadside hawkers. They're on every major road where there's a build-up of traffic - in between cars on the dual carriageway. Sometimes over 30 people on one section of the road, weaving in and out of traffic, including children and disabled persons crawling on the road begging or selling. I saw a little girl selling water, step into the road inches away from a huge truck looking for a little coin she'd dropped. I shouted at her to step back, but my voice didn't come out( I was that stunned) until the 3rd try. Fortunately she went back on the pavement. There have always been hawkers in Ghana, carrying their ware on their heads. You don't go to them,they come to you. It provided income for people allowing them to run their little businesses with no overheads and little start up. It used to be mainly women and children. And they'd have a route in certain areas plying their trade in schools, markets, homes, offices roadsides etc. Now it's a hazard! The danger is to both pedestrians and drivers. You can hardly change lanes whilst driving without some seller in the way. What's worse, it could be a child. They sell everything from water/food to furnishings/electricals. The Govt has tried repeatedly to get them off the streets. But what will they do instead? Some of these kids have to fend for themselves. Some of the women are raising kids single handed. Others are trying to put themselves through school. Many are simply trying to put some food on the table, risking their lives for a few pence.

Locals tightening my sisterlocks

Here, the local hairdressers are tightening my locs with a nappylocs tool and yarn needle. It took them a couple of hours and they charged me the equivalent of $9.00 or £6.00. These are the same ladies who I taught how-to to install and maintain my daughter's locs 4 years ago. They did her locs for free back then cos she was a student. She just dashed them something. Dash means a gift. My plan had been to get Ama to do my hair. But it was not to be due to circumstances beyond my control. One day Ara went off to get her locs retightened by her old friends. It was looking so sharp I decided to use them too as they're like 2 min from where we lived.

And the finished look. My sisterlocks above, Arashia's TLs below. Her locs had an incredible amount of repair work and growth as long as your arm! Ok I'm exaggerating, but the growth was mad. she hadn't tightened properly for 6 mths.

More loc pictures coming soon. Also posts on my Ghana trip. I miss the place and my family terribly.

Travelling tomorrow....

Will try to make a post from Ghana. Till then, see you.

...and what is the world coming to?

LONDON COOING OVER BREASTMILK ICECREAM - this was a headline on Yahoo news.
the icecream costs £14.00, from breastmilk donated by 15 women. Apparently it sold out within the week it was launched. Where are we headed I wonder? When you think about it, we do drink the milk of other creatures, but human milk for full grown adults? isn't that exclusively reserved for infants? Hope they don't start kebabing human flesh next Lol. Also some women might see it as a money making thing and start ignoring their infant in order to sell every last ounce of the golden liquid. What do you think? Is this taking things too far? Would you eat it this ice cream?

preparing to travel to Ghana

We are going to Ghana in a few days for 3 weeks. Before I go any further, I want to give glory to God. He gave me me and my 5 kids the tickets. Last May/June we talked about going to see my ageing parents. Especially bc my mum has been ill and I really wanted her to see my kids again. I got in real earnest about this and we held hands and asked our father in heaven. Towards the end of this year, things looked pretty grim with DH getting ill and no income. He needed round the clock care. I couldn't even see how I could go even if the money was there. God re-assured me that we were on track for Ghana and not to look at my circumstances. We got through christmas by faith. I would gather the kids together every now and again to thank him for his goodness and for our trip(even though there was nothing to show that we were going!) infact DH tried to reason with me to give up this wild idea of taking them all with me cos it's 1000s of £££...but I had heard from God and that was good enough for me. NOTE: The financial situation was, even if I was going on my own - which I do every year - it was going to be a stretch. Taking 5 was def beyond natural ability for the present. We were into January and time was running out. I had to plan the trip around their GCSE exams and there was only a certain window in which we could go. We began to plan for the trip anyway, buying what was needed to go. SUDDENLY, our tickets came! It happened so very naturally that you can miss the fact that it was actually supernatural. They came via DH's uncle. He paid for the lot - just for me. We began to thank the Lord for spending money. A large sum of money was given me from a totally unexpected source and God says there's still some more to come before we leave.
I'm sharing all this to say:
Mark 11:22-24 '...when you pray believe that you recieve it and you shall have it..'
Let's stretch our faith to believe in a God who is full of loving kindness and tender mercies. This was not a life and death matter. He did it just so I can be happy. He knew how much it meant to me. If he took care of this, will he not also take care of all other situations that I have laid at his feet?

Half a century Young!

Today is my birthday. I'm only 50 yrs old today. It's a milestone I intend to mark in some special way. For today I really didn't do much. I got a call from my dear sis-in-law from Ghana and various texts and card from friends. My daughter(no. 2) sneaked into my room with a card and present. Later we went shopping together. I'd been eyeing this handbag, so I got it. Found a dress from the market and bought that too heehee. Sulupops bought some clothes. We went and had a subway sandwich(with my daughter saying 'I can't believe you're having a subway for your birthday') Well how for do? I was hungry. So that's it. Nothing special. But me and God had a nice conversation this morning. And...the best is yet to come.

BLISS! Odour free locs....and braiding/banding again.

braiding and banding before shampooing to keep my locs from slipping.

I did another intensive wash today. This time I put 1 tsp baking soda in my aubrey organics Green tea clarifying shampoo. I diluted with water and dunked my locs in it, squeezing the mixture through my locs in a bowl. The water was pretty murky. Then I did a second wash with BIG from LUSH. Which brings me to this shampoo BIG. It's a clarifying shampoo and these are some of the ingredients: coarse sea salt, sodium laureth sulphate,orgarnic lemon infusion,sea water,seaweed infusion, organic lime juice,extra virgin coconut oil,neroli oil,mandarin oil,vanilla absolute,orange flower absolute. You can see why I overlooked the sls in it cos the rest of the ingredients and the SMELL are simply divine. My solution to negate sls effects is to dilute dilute dilute! The thing with this shampoo is, you need very little. It lathers very well and leaves your locs SUPERCLEAN! I'm not kidding. The smell lingers for ages. If you need a clarifying, try BIG from lush. Oh, I poured some diluted listerine on my scalp and waited 5 min before 1st wash.

Believe it or not, I've gone back to braiding and banding. I don't know if my texture has changed yet again and my hair is slipping, or my hair is growing super fast. I've had so much growth and loose hairs to tighten so there you have it.

Beautiful Young African Naturals-with locs!

Check them out!! They're cousins. Daughter's of Amba and Ama consultant and trainee. I thought this pic says it all for natural hair and locs. Miss Koo (far right) has Sls too, put into a real girlie style with barretts. It just shows locs are ok for young uns. You can leave it be or you can style it. Little girl styles? No problem.

3yrs old and I completely forgot!

My 3 yr locversary was on the 25th jan and I didn't even realise it until a few days ago. I need to do another clarifying wash. The smells 80% gone, but there's a slight lingering odour so I will press on . Here's to a glass of wine, some girlie stuff and relaxation to celebrate a belated loc b'day.

How to get rid of that stale smell in locs-Listerine

I noticed my locs had this stale/smoky smell. It would disappear when I washed it only to reappear a few days later. Lately I've been sweating so much that I abandoned my satin bonnet for a strong hairnet so my locs can breathe. I believe it's the excessive sweating coupled with colouring that created the smell. You've all heard about mouldy locs. Well I didn't want that so I knew I had to act fast. I added baking soda to my shampoo washed and rinsed with diluted acv, but the smell returned. So, I decided more drastic action needed . LISTERINE. I soaked my locs in Listerine mouthwash! For 1 hr. I diluted it 2 parts to 1part water. Then I rinsed it out and washed with diluted washing up liqiud. I did this in a bowl and you should have seen the colour of the water. BROWN! (Ladies, try washing your locs in a bowl or sink. squeeze the soapy water through them. You'll see how murky the water is) Then rinsed rinsed rinsed. My locs now smell of listerine original. But the smell is gone. I will wait a few days, assess and maybe repeat 1 or 2 x more. The side effect is, my locs were really soft. Listerine gets rid of dandruff, clarifies, conditions...it does contain alcohol, but also some essential oils such as thyme, eucalyptus,and mint. Methyl salicylic and menthol. Well, there you have it. It kills germs, bacteria, fungus and is antiseptic. This is why it works. The washing up liquid does a pretty good job of drawing impurities and oils out of the locs. So far, it's a winning combination if you want to get rid of gunk on your scalp and in your locs. I think it's worth having this treatment every 12 weeks. If you have a problem with your locs, you might have to repeat this every week until the smell goes. You will also have to find a way to put moisture back into your locs.

Gerryloc piece intergrated into sisterlocks

Side view. The greyish locs are Gerry locs.

Fills in the top. More coverage, more fullness

Back view. Remember, the greyish locs are Gerry locs

Close-up

Euphoria, this is what the gerryloc piece intergrated with my locs look like. If you look closely, you see the difference in loc sizes and colour. The grey ones are all gerrylocs. It works quite well.

it was a blast!

Let de photos do de talking LOL

The wedding blessing

A few photos from the wedding yesterday 14th january 2011. It turned out well despite a few glitches in the morning. We were 30 min late but once the bridal party arrived things moved on.
Being a winter wedding, all the photos were taken inside. We milled around chatting and taking photos iside the church whilst the Hall (attached to church ) was being decorated. After about 45min-1hr they called the guests in and then the bridal party.

Knowledge is power! Learn to DIY!

With the resources now available on the internet, no one need be in the dark about retightening their locs. I felt compelled to write this bc I heard the distress in the post of a lady, feeling trapped cos she may be running short of cash and doesn't know how to do her hair. I've run across this situation many many times before. It's a common scenario. You start your SLS journey. You've got it well thought out and you can manage X amount of $$ to maintain them. Then the unexpected happens. Consultant moves, stops providing the service, urgent matters swallow the $$/££. This is one of the major reasons I encourage DIY, or at least know HOW-TO. Some people have cut their locs cos they got short of money and could no longer go to a trained person. It's a crying shame for anyone to have to do that after making such an investment in your hair. Retightening locs with a tool is neither rocket science nor is it brain surgery. (I'm not knocking anyone who makes their living this way, I myself earn some occasional side money reTing other peoples locs) but.... There is no mystery surrounding it. To be honest, there are only so many types of rotations you can do, and any one of them will eventually aid your hair in locking. The main thing is, be prepared to do your research and spend some time practicing. And, don't be afraid. Most mistakes can be rectified. Even far gone locs can often be salvaged. If you aren't a perfectionist, if you don't have to have every strand of hair in place, then DIY is a cheap and reasonable option. The reason my blog is called DIY sisterlocks is, I took over retightening after 1 yr when my consultant became unavailable for months(she was travelling). She actually encouraged me to do it! I didn't take a class. I went online and searched for blogs and tutorials. I got my tools and practiced. I did and still do a few at a time. I use the nappylocs tool, yarn needle and flatloc tool. They all come in handy for different parts of my head. Back when I was looking for help to reTI, different blogs offered different bits of advice. Now I believe the best place to look is Kalia Dewdrop's blog. She has excellent vid and tutorials and/or links to good visuals and step-by-step instructions using different tools, all of which are easily available. She has instructions on how to repair locs, how to sew in stray hairs, how to groom, how to combine etc all in one place. If you learn how, you will never be held hostage by your hair. It's about freedom. Even if you don't intend to DIY, it's worth knowing what's going on in your hair and if push comes to shove, you can jolly well have a go!
I made mistakes in the beginning. Joining locs, leaving holes and such-like, but I learned to undo or repair and now mistakes are rare. All this isn't to say I'll never treat myself and have someone else do my hair, bc like I say ...never say never...

THIS HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2011, and we have a lot to be thankful for. Some people didn't make it. Some have endured unimaginable hardship and terror. Some have lost entire families, like little boy Ruben who survived the plane crash. We have put our hand to the plough and we will not look back. This year will be one of growth, prosperity, breakthroughs and vibrant health. A year when walking with our Creator is the norm. When we have become accustomed to hearing the voice of the holy spirit. When we do the works that Jesus did, healing,soothing, bringing hope and love, giving people breaks and being kind and gentle to one another. Jesus gave us a mandate. He said go into all the world and preach the gospel...and these signs shall follow those who believe....in my name they will cast out devils and cure diseases....are we ready for the ride?
I for one have determined to walk with my saviour, to fulfill the call on my life, to walk in ever increasing amounts of the annointing that comes from the Holy Spirit. One day, when I cross over, I want to know that I did what I was meant to do. Friends, if you aren't doing what you're called to do, you're wasting time. Every moment is precious. Find out who you are, why you're here and where you're going because trust me, everyone is headed somewhere. This earth is where you get to choose where you'll spend eternity. God begs us to choose life. Choose Jesus, who gave himself for our sins. It's that easy. Just say YES to Jesus. No one has to pay for their sin, it's been PAID FOR!! Recieve LIFE. It's FREE. Why wait? Forget religion. I'm talking about a relationship with the one who made you. Don't let deception keep you from the truth any longer. I truly pray that if you don't know him yet, you will call on him. He will answer you. Jesus is just waiting for your call.

Shea cocoa-nutty butter!

I'm mixing away again, now that I have a moment. I have some very patient people waiting for me to make this body butter. Well, at long last I've made it. It was great fun too. It's got shea butter,cocoa butter,coconut oil almond oil amongst other good stuff.

And you can see the finished product at the top, smooth silky and moisturising.

Tomorrow I will be having a go decorating part of my daughter's wedding cake.