Ends Closing

From 12/19/09...This was very exciting to me.

Collage

I made this collage and never posted it:

Growth

I am bad about beginning a post and never finishing. This post is from 1/I3/2010.

I look at my daughter's hair and I'm saying, "Your hair has grown so much. Mine isn't growing." Of course this isn't true because I always have new growth and the days of slippage are over. For some reason, her hair hasn't swollen yet and her growth is very noticeable.

Then there is my hair. It has thickened up more than I thought it would. I still (and always will) have scalp showing. Yeah, I was pouting that  my hair was longer when I initially had the locks installed. I tell myself, "This is crazy!" I examine a lock that was combined on my second re-tightening. It's still two-headed, so I measure it. Exactly three inches. So I'm wondering why isn't my growth as noticeable as my daughter's?

Of  course I know we are different, have different hair textures, etc., but that didn't stop me from moping.

My hair seems farther along the locking process than hers which is surprising because I had slippage and unraveling an she didn't. Also, my hair is fine and soft. She didn't have the  curly-qs which she absolutely adored, but I hated. I do wash my hair more than I wash hers.


A collage of her. She has major shrinkage.

It took looking at pictures to realize how sillyI was being. First of all, those little curly-qs sometimes account for 1-1.5 inches of hair. Second, my hair is healthy. Third, my hair has made wonderful changes and has noticeable growth.

Newest "Lockette"

s of August 7, 2009, a new locked head was added to the family. Meet Deja. This child had 10-11 inches of hair. It is normally very dense/thick, but she had scalp ringworm a few months ago, and some of her hair fell out. Although she had that issue, there still aren't visible parts in the back. She has mainly small and medium locks, with some large or extra large due to the areas with thinned hair. Once her hair really starts to grow back, in the far future, I know that I will have to split some locks. It was very hard to make her parts because she has what I call a geographical head. It's very lumpy and uneven. Reminds me of a moon. These pictures are from about two weeks afterwards.

My first "lockette"

She was locked a week before me. She has already hit seven months.

Im dozing off at the computer, so that's my cue to go to sleep. I will post more tomorrow.

Sisterlocks, finally

As you all can see, I decided not to color my hair. My installation took a total of 33 hours: 14 hours on Jan 29, 14 hours on Jan 30, and 5 hours on Jan 31. They are pretty thin and not quite as "spacy" as the picture seems to show. I do not know what took so long, but I am pleased with the results although there are about three in the back that seem to have uneven parting. I will get them redone on my next visit.

I am not really looking forward to any future visits. As she got 10 minutes into installing my hair, I was reminded how tenderheaded I was, which is one of the reasons I stopped getting my hair done. Some spots on my head are incredibly tender. I warned the consultant ahead of time. I just had to endure it.

Last of all, I finished one of my daughters' hair that same weekend. She has the same issues with being tenderheaded. She did really well though and did not complain at all. I interlocked her hair using a yarn needle. Her hair took over 30 hours as well. If I had to guess, I would say at least 36 hours. I didn't really keep an accurate track of time because I did it over the course of two weekends. I know my bad shoulder was aching during the whole process. I will post pictures of hers very soon. She is very pleased with the results. I wish I could have done my own, but it just wasn't happening. Now I have to figure out when I want to tackle my other daughter's 11-inches-plus head. To make matters worse, she has a big head and very thick hair!

I have anxiety......

but it's for a good reason. I can't wait for my installation dates (Jan. 29&30). My girls (ages 10 and 12) are excited about it too. They want theirs done also.

I'm thinking of interlocking their hair on my own using either the nappylocs tool, some bobby pins, or some other homemade tool. I'd do my own, but I feel like sitting back and letting someone else do it.

Currently, I have about 8 inches of hair, although I have been natural since 2001. I always got aggravated with my hair and ended up cutting it. I didn't like for it to get past that stage where I could wear my cute, high afro puff.

My consultant said that she would most likely use a 4pattern on me with medium in the back and small everywhere else. My hair is thin. I am a little worried about parts because of that, but I know eventually, they will disappear.

Some people think I'm crazy for spending $800+ on a hairdo, but I have not gotten my hair professionally done in over 10 years, so I am just spending a couple of years worth at one time.

Pictured above is me with the last double strand twists that I will do in my hair, unless for some reason I decide to try it with my sisterlocks. I may post pictures of myself from over the years, when I get a chance to dig them up.