More Photos and the sisterlocks huddle

Ama had just finished retightening my locs, sun 1st march. (I've decided, I need to lose some weight and get toned and be just like her. Both she and twin sis Amba,look so good.)

we thought about having a sls Ghana meetup. But in the end, we settled for a 'huddle' - just a handful of us, including the youngest and 1st child sls wearer in Ghana. I think Kuks has become a bit of a celebrity.

Me, Abi and Ama.

Ama's locs were described to me by Seiwa as long liquid licquorice before I saw them. She was right, except they are now a gingery colour. Quite frankly she turned heads wherever she went.

In case you're wondering, she 2st twisted and bantu knotted them. She took down the bantu knots, but left the twists in, in these pics. It's a lovely look. After a few days, she'll take the twists out for a crinkly look. I can only imagine how gorgeous they'll be.

This is the front view of the house my brother and wife built.

The pool in the back courtyard of the above house.

.....and the back of the house. OH, TODAY MARKS THE 52ND YEAR OF GHANA'S INDEPENDENCE. THE GHANA FLAG IS RED,GOLD,GREEN, WITH A BLACK STAR IN THE MIDDLE.

I'm back from Ghana, with some photos

Kukua's the 1st child in Ghana with sls...only aged 2, is she the youngest ever to wear sisterlocks?

Ama (her mum) installed her locs over a 1 month period. Kukua loves her locs and mum's more than happy she doesn't have to use the comb anymore.

This is Till's place in Gomoa Fetteh in Ghana(about 30 miles out of Accra)

Ama Abi and I at the funeral of a famous doctor in Ghana. I know we are smiling, but that's cos funerals are also a bit of a social event where you meet a lot of familiar faces. There were 400 or more people at this particular funeral.

products, but 1st...SNOWED IN!!!

These are the products I've tried/used/or am currently using. Paul mitchell awapuhi moisture mist. I use this(usually diluted) every now and again when I need some extra moisture. Coco-knotty dreadlock conditioning spray, from knotty boy,is my absolute favourite. It smells heavenly, and is a moisturiser with hemp seed oil, silk amino acids and vitamins. I use it diluted 50/50 and it still works it's magic. Herbal Mist spray is a mixture of 20 herbs and oils, from Healing Herbs. I tried a little of this in a homemade spritz, but due to the high oil content have decided to wait until my locs are more mature. However it contains the stuff I would love in a spritz. So if your locs are desert dry,you can try one of these. If your locs are babies, then very diluted awapuhi moisture mist is the one to use bc of it's high water content. Dr Bronners MAGIC Lavender Coconut organic skin lotion is a new find. I've experimented with making my own lotions, but was looking for something light, I have my own shea butter mixes. I was amazed to find a hand +body lotion made of organic/essential oils -I mean, this contains:coconut oil, jojoba oil,avocado oil,canabis seed oil,vit E, lavender oil... what more could a girl ask for? I had to get it. Infact, if I had traditional locs maintained by twisting I'd probably try using this. But that's just me, I like all things natural especially if they're organic.It's got a lovely light feel and a fresh lavenderish scent.

HEAVY SNOW IN FEBRUARY

What is the world coming to?

I had decided to blog about a few products, but I must show some pics of our big SNOW, which started last night and continued all day. It's apparently the worst in 18yrs. Schools are closed, buses and tubes have been grounded, everyone's being advised to stay put. So both DDs are stuck at their friends' houses for day 2. I was about to venture out to get 2nd DD but she called back and said 'mum, the snow is coming down so heavy, don't drive'

Happy Locday!

(day 1)

(4mths)Today, my locs are 1yr old. The year has flown by so quickly. I remember seeing people sign off their posts with 'sls 1yr' 'sls 3 yrs'or 'sls 6yrs' when I was 'sls 0 yrs',and wondering when I'd be able to say 'sls 1yr'. Now I can. The ride has been pretty smooth. From here on, it can only get better. No more unraveling, we're sleeping through the night, no more crying for attention every 2 mins, we're eating solids, walking a little, generally being more reasonable. Aaah the joys of loc-parenting. Well, there were a few hairy moments when I felt sorry I had taken down my bls for sls, but I got over those humps pretty quickly. I am grateful to Dr Joanne for creating this particular loc-ing system bc it has helped me to get the look I really wanted with minimum hassles. Folks it was worth the money. 1yr on and I can say sincerely - I have no regrets. Here are some comparison pics, day 1, 4mths, 1 yr.

DIY Mission acomplished!

Finished retightening last night! Here I am with my retightened sls, looking a little tired, but VERY HAPPY!!!! I actually enjoyed doing it. To think I'd been dreading doing this all along. The sense of acomplishment is..... marvelous. That metal yarn needle is THE TOOL! So easy to use. I did it in 4 days. I think I spent a total of 6-7hrs, which for a 1st timer isn't bad at all. Folks, I took NO CLASS. I learned to do this from various blogs, tutorials and youtube videos, and encouraged by other DIY-ers. Nubianlockedprincess, Cheleski, dewdrop, saabira to mention a few. The rotations were very similar to what I already learned from the bradelocs e-bk and Nappturality. I had to acquire a little more skill bc these locs are MICRO! Keeping locs out of the way of the one being tightened is CRUCIAL to success.I wanted to stick to the 3pt rotation used by my loctitian and I did... except it was in reverse. If you're determined to DIY your options are to take the Official sls class, which will cost a few $$ or research interlocking methods and take it from there. If you don't have the time to research and practice, you have $$ to spare and a class near you and you're a sls purist then just take the class to be safe. You will still have to practice practice practice. I'm glad I do not have to fork out more££ to learn something so simple. Having said all that,I'm not actually new to DIY-ing locs, I used to maintain My Bradelocz some of the time, (with a nappylocs tool)but doing Microlocs Myself was another matter. Now that I've cracked this one, I shall visit my loctitian only when needed so she can look over what I'm doing and correct any mistakes. My RT shoulder is a little sore from holding my arms up, otherwise ALL is WELL. I am well pleased to finally join the ranks of DIY. It's all looking GOOD, even if I say so myself. Not to mention £50 saved towards my Ghana trip. Now, this is what I call Freedom. Hehehehe.

1st Full DIY Retightening

I'm in the process of retightening my locs, using a metal yarn needle. (I used pliers to widen it a little in the middle). I tried to get a micro sized LOC-KEY very similar to nappylocs tool, available here(UK),but in the end I decided a good ole yarn needle would do the job and indeed it's working alright. The handle is a little longer than I would like, other than that it's doing OK.

Now this (DIY)ReTi business. Whoever said it's not rocket science is right, but the potential to join locs and do the wrong rotations is HUGE. I've joined 6 locs and then spent a great deal of time un-joining 5. I gave up on the last one and just joined them. The thing is to make sure the loc to be tightened is ISOLATED- clip everything else out of your finger's way. I did most of the front using a mirror, but the back I'm doing mostly by feel, and that's when thing can go wrong. The advice is, do a little bit at a time. When you accidentally join locs, take a deep breath, rest for a few mins, pray, and then try to push the loc back through the gap you pulled it through. So far I've completed 3/4 of my head in 3 days doing a few sections at a time. I'm using a 3pt rotation which is supposed to be 12,9,6,9. Instead I was doing it backwards,but I've now settled on the 9,6,9,12 bc I find it the easiest on my arms and fingers. I hope to complete it today or tomorrow and will update when I'm done.

A friends' sisterlocks

I found this on my website and decided to put it here. It's a pic of my friend Audrey's sls maintained by Ama, sls trainee in Ghana. It's even more beautiful in person. She is one of the ever growing band of sisterlockers back home in GHANA.

This pic is a few months old so I suspect her locs are even longer.

More pictures

A few more pics of my sls at 11 mths. I've realised my sls are generally thicker than a lot I've seen. This is due to the fact that I got standard sls with mostly medium, some large (I think) and smalls around my edges and the top of my head. I don't think I have any micros and this accounts for me having less than 400 locs. Now that I'm gearing up to ReTi myself, I've realised 380 is a LOT of Locs!

This is a braidout.

This is NATRADERM

shampoo.

Happy New year/My locs at 11mths

As promised, I have a few updates. Nothing much to speak of, but they are better than nothing. My locs are 11mths. That top I'm wearing looks sooo old. Well it's quite old, I just didn't think it would show on camera haha! All the white stuff you see in my hair is grey hair. Maybe that's why I think I have no lint problems. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference would I ? I found a shampoo called NATRADERM in a health food shop, and gave it a try. I KNOW,IKNOW, I said in previous post that I'd given up shampoo. What I meant was I've given up using the standard store bought/salon/ specialist shampoos that contain sulphates and other chemicals. My scalp is thanking me for it. It feels moisturised and my locs feel soft. It's got saponified coconut+olive oil as the base, and other oils, apricot, almond ,aloe, vit A+E,oleic acid . It contains NONE of the nasties. Baking soda will be a stanby to clarify. If I need soap then black soap will be IT. Many of my locs have sealed, but several have loose ends. None of the locs on the top of my head are locked, but they don't come apart even after vigorous washing. Even the nape and edges are now holding together. I admit I put a teensy weensy bit of superglue on 3 rebels and they're obedient now. I no longer braid and band, which is a great relief.I will try and take some better photos, but at least y'all get an idea of how my locs are progressing.

These are Updates of Arashia's locs at 23mths.

Her hair grows fast and need retightened every 4wks.

I've given up shampoo.

Folks, I've decided to give up shampoo. I really don't think they work well for me. Yes they clean and all that, but my hair becomes excessively dry so quickly. Anyway I was doing some research and rediscovered that shampoo contains many undesirables. Infact I already knew this and blogged about it on my website http://locsdiary.piczo.com/afrohair!?cr=2&linkvar=000044. Most shampoos contain sodium lauryl laureth sulphate or their close cousins. They are very drying to the hair and can even damage hair follicles. Castille soaps are an alternative, but they must be well diluted and they can leave a thin residue.When I got sls I had to use non moisturising/clarifying shampoos and they can do a number on your hair. I occasionally use black soap which is fairly good. But I'll be avoiding soap and shampoo for a season. So I will use baking soda and water or soap wort(herb) if I can lay my hands on it, followed by diluted acv. Soap wort is a natural herb which lathers and cleans. I want to see how my hair behaves without shampoo or soap. I'll return to black soap bc it works so well. I know I should update with some pics of my hair, so I'll make that a priority for my next post. Meanwhile, I'll keep you posted on my non shampoo/soap routine.

Faux sisterlocks and the 'sharks'

I've written a post or 2 about not being a fan of certain practices of sls. However, this one is about the sharks out there peddling faux sls as the genuine article. After reading one too many stories of people having to undo months of hard work in order to pay more to have it done right, I thought I'd blog about it. So if you're a shark(you know who you are) stop sowing that bad seed bc it will come back to haunt you. It is a well known fact that sls is a trademarked company and you can only offer sls if you've taken the approved training and undertake to follow their procedure. However, anyone can do microlocs and call it what they want and it's perfectly legal and above board. So why can't people deal honestly with the client and say 'I do microlocs,similar to sls to give you the same look but they are not sls'. Instead, they are willing to decieve clients, take their hard earned cash and cut corners by installing something else- phony, false,fake sisterlocks (in some cases they are not even microlocs). I know some people use the sls name like it's the generic name for microlocs. I had a client once ask me to install sls along her hairline. I explained to her that I didn't do sls.What she actually meant was she wanted tiny locs. I respect anyone who is upfront and tells you the truth. I'd trust such a person with my hair if I like the work they do. So the message is, make sure you do your research, b4 you hand your money over. I'm well aware that some good sls consultants/trainees are not listed on the official website and some loctitians who do beautiful microlocs are not even sls consultants. Just make sure you know what you're getting into.

Brushing sisterlocks

I brushed my sls the other day. I used a VERY soft brush. Actually I was focusing on my scalp and hairline, rather than my locs and I was very gentle. I decided to give my scalp a little stimulation. I massage sometimes too. I used to brush my braidlocks, and it was really good. I'm not saying you should brush your sls, I don't want anyone to damage their locs. I'm just sharing what I did with mine. I know a number of folks with traditional locs brush theirs, but does anyone with microlocs ever use a brush on their scalp, hairline or locs? If you do please share.

Ghana Elections.

Taken from the Economist -

'LAST year oil was found off the coast of Ghana. There was rejoicing, of course. But the mood was tempered by the knowledge of how oil has polluted the nearby Niger Delta and corrupted Nigeria. More than anything, Ghanaians were seized by a determination to avoid the “resource curse” of Nigeria.
Now, with a general election on December 7th, it is the curse of the ballot box that Ghanaians want to avoid. After electoral disasters in Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe in the past 18 months, everyone is hoping, and many are praying, that Ghana will avoid the bloodshed, chicanery and political warring of its African peers......

Ever since Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to win independence (from Britain) in 1957, Ghanaians have been conscious of being in the vanguard of African history. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development says it is still the case. “There is a popular desire to maintain a record of not behaving like others on the continent in these elections. It is a point of pride.”

That Ghanaians are peace loving people is without a doubt. This attitude has saved us time and again from needless violence and bloodshed witnessed in other african nations. I pray peace continues even when the stakes are high, with the discovery of oil in the region. Human nature is the same everywhere and when enough pressure is applied, it can crack. As we come to another landmark in this nation's history, may Ghana truly stand out as a beacon of hope and light. The 1st African Nation to gain independence from colonial rule, the 1st african nation to throw wide it's doors to African Americans and descendants of Africans everywhere, Ghana is setting a good example. I hope the country continues to enjoy peace and stability. Most of my family live in Ghana, and in the future, I intend to live, at least, part of the year there.

6th ReTi

I had my ReTi yesterday 9th dec 2008. I pinched the term ReTi from QueenLi ( I believe she coined the word and hope she doesn't mind me using it.) I am no longer braiding and banding. I told my consultant I was planning to take over ReTi and come to her every so often. She was very encouraging. She said my hair had settled in and thickened up nicely. She's aware I maintain my daughter's locs by interlocking - that I get the occasional loc client who wants ReTi via a tool. She's a generous lady and doesn't act like she's the only one with the secret. She's going to be way for a while so she said why don't I DIY the next one and she can check it over when she's back as I already know my rotations and how-to. Alternatively she suggested getting it done whilst in Ghana. What a breath of fresh air, after all the alarming consultant stories I heard where you daren't ask about DIY except to take the class and if you do.. DIY without the class....you've left the fold. When I asked her about no longer having sls if I used a nappylocs tool or something else, she said you have the partings, the pattern, your hair won't grow into something else. Well it's nice to know she has confidence in me to do it right. Yep. I'm planning another trip to Ghana to see the fam - end of Jan/feb. I booked this with my heavenly father months ago and asked him to throw in some spending money and pressies for everyone. He is so good to me so I know everything will be there just at the right time when I need it. Thank you Lord.

The show after the show

We ie some of us homeschooling mums decided to take our kids iceskating at somerset House at the Strand London. It was truly spectacular. This huge ice-rink is in the centre of a grand mansion- Somerset House. With the christmas lights and all, it was a lovely experience. My friends then invited us to this restaurant called SARASTRO or The show after the show. It's in Covent Garden, central London, located in this ancient Victorian gradeII listed building, behind the theatre royal. You walk in and you think you walked into a theatre. It has a Mediterranean 'feel' to it. The food is turkish/Mediterranean influenced. The food was lovely. I had lamb that just danced on your tongue. You can see I truly enjoyed the experience - that is - until I went to use the 'loo', where I did a double take. The wall were covered with these very lewd pictures/paintings. Quite frankly, it nothing short of porn renamed ART. The food turned to dust in my stomach - well, nearly. I had to pretend I had not seen what I had just seen in order to enjoy this very special restaurant. Needless to say we had to tell our kids to wait till we got to convent garden itself to 'spend a penny', which was the next on the agenda. Convent Garden is a myriad of shops and stalls selling unusual products,with buskers, mini- open air shows etc generally quite upmarket. I don't have any pictures to show you sorry, I was camera-less. I'll try and get some off my friends.

Why do all these african women have receding hairlines?

We were watching a Nigerian film. Then hubby asked the question: 'why do all these Nigerian women (ie african women) have receding hairlines? They are going bald and you can see it under those wigs and weaves...' This from a white man. My daughter and I exchanged looks and I sighed. I didn't want to go into the same old same old topic, hence the sigh. So I just said 'yeah, they just did too much to their hair and the hair got tired... and gave up.' But, I realised, african women have the worst, most wretched, thinnest, tiredest hairlines of all the races. This prompted me to do a bit of research on current African hairstyles. I thought I'd start with Ghana- seeing it's my homeland. Friends, I was in for a nasty jarr. I could find hardly any natural hairstyles - unless you want to count extension braids/twist done over permed hair! The rare 'natural' style I came across was fake hair/weave done over some fried/relaxed hair. Tell me, african sista, what's the rationale in this? You've got your own beautiful afro hair. Yet you blast it with chemicals only to buy fake afro, to put over your own? The self loathing often spoken of by AA women may be far worse in the AW(african woman), than I thought. All those beautiful styles from generations past are slowly fading into oblivion. The practice of braiding, handed down from generation to generation, is barely hanging on. Many children are permed or have a low cut. Back in the day, mothers did their daughter's hair, girl siblings did each others' or if you had no aunt or relative capable, you got the lady down the road to come and braid it for you. Youngsters learned to do each others hair in boarding school. Now virtually all girls wear close cropped hair until they complete secondary education and then they make a beeline for the chemical fire cream and a weave. No wonder a friend made this observation: that african girls no longer know how to do hair. They have to go to 'braiding' school to learn. Even then they can't braid african textured hair, unless it's straightened first. We seem to have totally lost our way. I will endeavour to post some of the hairstyling pics I found -later. For now if you're an african woman, and you're natural,you're a rare sight.

You no longer have sisterlocks!

This is what a few sister's have been told b'cos they used a tool other than the sls tool to retighten their locs. Personally I dont really care what my locs are called. Apparently if you dont take the official retightening class, and learn to DIY, you suddenly get BOOTLEG sls.But surely anyone who's paid the money and sat for hours for the install has sls. How does another tool change the style? I mean if you do a 3pt 4pt R4 or whatever the pattern is you'll still be going in the same directions, even using an unofficial tool??? I wonder what my locs are then. Most of them are still sls, but I've used nappylocs tool and yarn needle and latch -hook to tighten a few around the edges. So I have SLS-nappylocs-latchook-fingertwisting locs. Like they say a loc is a loc is a loc. So what makes SISTERLOCKS? The size? the pattern? Or the tools? What about the products? What are your thoughts? Any Sls purist out there? Tell me what you think and why there seems to be such a fuss over this. At this rate, many people will simply piggyback off sls and so called 'step sls' will be appearing everywhere,b'cos many people use other tools, even those who've taken the class. It's all about ease and convenience. Besides, it's a good idea to learn to retighten, official class or not. If you don't live in the USA, or suddenly find you have no access to a consultant/trainee, you don't really care what your locs are called, as long as you know how to maintain them. And I know for a fact that it's not easy to take the class here(UK).My consultant has a fairly relaxed attitude about this, and I get the impression the UK consultants generally are,but I may be wrong. I've heard of situations where consultants refuse to monitor your hair any longer simply b'cos you broke the rule and DIYed without permission. There are blogs and youtubes teaching you how to tighten sisterlocks and locks in general, (even how to start locs with a tool) using step by step instructions. So if you get caught out, don't cut your locs, just look for an alternative and join the ever growing band of DIYers. At this point in time, I'm a semi-DIYer. I say semi, b'cos I have never retightened my whole head. But I repair or tighten any that need help. I like the thought of DIY, but don't fancy the many hours and aching arms that accompany it. However, I may try going to an official every other reTi, maybe that will suit me just fine.

Lookeee what I made

I decided to make my self a shea butter mix cos I sent my shea-cream mix to Anne after her SOS for shea butter. She is my guinea pig for lotion and potion experiments. So I went into my 'archives' to see what I had. I found some left over mango butter,murumuru butter,cupuacu butter,sapote oil, almond oil shea-cocoa,shea-coconut. I got about a tbs of each and added white and yellow shea butter. I melted the solid butters and added 3 big dollops of Roiboos shea butter cream(courtesy of y'know who you are) and whisked the mixture together.The result is this absolutely delightful luxurious cream. It's my best cream mix! I know it looks grainy, (just a thin film on it)but I promise you it's Smooth and silky.

As Imentioned b4, I'm taking part in an Art Journal project. I keep forgetting to take pics, but this what I made for the sentimental journal. The left one is christmassy to remind me of my childhood. This how I imagined England at christmas.

Micro-sculpture? Headwrapping.

I Haven't blogged in a while, due to this thing called-LIFE. I have been doing all sorts. I took my children to see a micro-sculpture exhibition. These micro sculptures are make by a black man called Willard Wigan and they are not visible to the naked eye. They are smaller than the head of a pin or a full stop and I'm not exaggerating. Infact, they fit in the middle of the eye of a fine needle! You need to look through a powerful microscope to see them and yet the detail is incredible. It seems impossible that they could be made by human hands. Mary took one look and said 'this proves there's a God,and that's probably how he sees us ; yet he sees every detail'. This collection was bought for £11million! I have a friend whose son makes incredibly detailed miniature sculptures from plastercine so I sent them the details, and they went to see the exhibition. They took some of the boy's work with them and are scheduled to meet this micro-sculptor sometime in 2009. Isn't that exciting! My Natural hair business is incredibly slow. There are not many natural haired sistas here and the few seem to travel to London to do their hair. We did do someones twists over the weekend. And I'm almost done retightening Arashia's hair after months.Each loc needed 3 or more rotations, not to mention all manner of repair work. It's taking about 4 days of doing a bit here and a bit there. She is now working in a clothes shop and only does hair part-time. She wants to apply to become the visual merchandiser, bc that's the job she's having to do, as they are short staffed.
HEAD WRAPPING: Cheleski - this is for you. My friend Eni who gave me the 'gele' head wrap,said once I folded it in the recommended manner, I could tie it anyway I wanted.
So this is what I did.
1. Take the fabric(in this case a very stiff fabric), bringing the 2 opposite corners together, fold to make a triangle.
2.Fold the long edge over,roughly 2-3in up.
3.Put the wrapper over your head with the triangle pointing upwards (from your nape towards your crown/forehead)
I can only do this by bending forward when the fabric is big and stiff like the gold one in the previous photos.
4.Tie, then tie a 2nd time making sure the pointy bit is underneath the tie.(make sure it's tight and secure)
This is where it get's exciting. If you have any sticking up bits, you can push and pull in different directions to get a shape you like.
Note: you can do this in the opposite direction ie tie towards the nape of your neck so the knot ends at the back of your head. Infact I carefully removed that headwrap and put it on backwards and I really thought it looked better.
I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't, sorry, the description may not be that great. I'll do a step by step with photos as soon as I get a minute.

It was on 25th october 2008, when I had - another God encounter

So, I got a call from my friend Steve. Some of you may recall I blogged about how I was healed from a circulatory problem through this man. Actually I wrote it on my website in 2006. Anyway, he and wife are good friends and God uses Steve in this way often to bring restoration to the body of christ. So this morning,(25/10/08) he was telling me that he sensed there was a problem on my head. I said no, cos he was asking if it was some headache , migraine or similar. I kept saying no. He was quite insistent. Then he said it's the top of your head - across the top of your head. Then it suddenly hit me. The hairloss and sensitive scalp issues I've been believing God for to be resolved! That was what was going on on the top of my head. Well he prayed with me, and broke the whole awful thing off me. And I'm healed - totally. I was overjoyed. I've been standing in faith for quite some time. The week b4, I told God that I know he's heard and answered and I believe he's doing something about it. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it's not his will for me to lose my hair - But that it would be nice if someone confirmed it. Nevertheless, I believe his word, .....Psalm103 - bless the lord oh my soul and forget not all his benefits...who forgives all your iniquities and HEALS all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and destruction.... And in Isaiah,'he sent his word and HEALED me' It seems to me that God is restoring everything about me, one step at a time.And then he sent Steve to confirm that indeed he's heard and I've got what I was asking for. Thank you Lord, you are so gracious and kind.
I saved this post when I wrote it, and forgot all about it. Looking through my 'edit posts' I found it and decided to post it to give God all the glory. My hair's doing well and I'm really grateful to Him who is able to make all good things abound to me.