My God! I didn't realize that I hadn't posted to this blog for almost 2 years. In 2 weeks I will be locked for 5 years. YES, I still have them. Many who started this journey before and even after have chosen to cut their locks. And that's ok. This is just my opinion but, there seems to have been a trend. When people, particularly famous singers and actors grew locks so did regular folks. When these famous folks cut theirs so did regular folks. Again that's ok. Wherever you are on your journey be blessed. I'm still enjoying lockdom. I'm not much into blogging about them as I was when they were babes or teens. I still have no desire to be permed. IF i did cut them I would probably wear 2 strand twist. I love the feel of naturally coily hair.I've had the colored 2 times in 5 years. I'm still pretty much a minimalist don't do too much other than washing, conditioning occasionally and I still clarify with baking soda and a few drops of lavender oil in a pitch of warm water after washing. Refreshing. I haven't been doing much since I began my lock journey. I moved to Maryland about 5 months after I locked my hair and I hope that this will be the year that I move back home to Texas or somewhere in the South. As you all know this economy ain't no joke and finding a teaching job isn't as easy as it used to be. I have picked up a new hobby/love about a year ago. I started learning the bass guitar and I love picking it up and learning something new every time I do. If any of you fellow lockers out there play bass, hook a sista up with a few fret board tips.
Hopefully, I'll post pictures for my 5 year anniversary. But there are so many beautifully locked heads of hair to look at and I encourage you to enjoy them all.

(slide your mouse over picture for caption)This is the date (3/13/06) that my locks were made. I will continue to rejoice and be glad with them. My locks have gotten longer since last year. This is the first time that I've considered them to be long.I have really downsized my maintenance routine. I seldom use shampoo these days but, I still use it sparingly and of course diluted. Since reading on Nappturality about the baking soda wash/rinse, I tried this and I'm hooked. This is what I do. I put a shake or so of baking soda in a pitcher. I fill this about 1/2 way with warm water and add 5 or so drops of my favorite essential oil;which is currently peppermint or spearmint. If I feel like it, I fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water.Whether I wash with shampoo first or not I pour this all over my locks and voila. I get clean and soft locks. I'm still brushing my locks on a continous basis and still using the sharpie or permanent marker to camouflage the clean lint. And... (drum roll please) I've become a DIYer for retightening my locks. I was gonna take the class Nov' 08 but they cancelled and never rescheduled a new class. I had already gotten a Bratz doll head from a thrift store and ordered the NappyLocks kit. I'd been practicing before they cancelled and when they did I realized that I was a the mercy of others to teach me things. So, in anticipation of the class coming in January I had already told my Certified Sisterlocks Consultant that I'd be going out on my own. My last professsional retightening was 1/7/09. I have made a few mistakes with my locks. I've combined some by mistake but it's all good. Also, as I was checking out my own head, I realized that several of my Sisterlocks had matured too small for my tastes so I've been combining some on purpose. I really like the Nappylocks tool and I've tried the hair pin tape on the end self created tool. But, I like the Nappylock tool better. One of my coworkers bought me one of the small plastic crochet/knitting needles but I havent used it yet. Sometimes that Nappylock tool can get away from you.I waited 2 months before I retightened my entire head. It took me about a week. I am not on part patrol meaning that I don't part my head in perfect rows to retighten. I just make sure that locks are clipped out of the way. I'm seriously thinking of having my locks combined to make them all larger. Who knew that the very thing that I loved about Sisterlocks when I got them 3 years ago (small and skinny locks) would be the thing I want to change about them. So, those of you who have just gotten or will soon get your Sisterlocks be aware that they can and do mature sometimes very, very skinny like angel hair pasta small. Why? That's just how they be. I haven't fully made up my mind to do this but I have been thinking about it alot. I'm trying to decide if I will two strand twist them or combine them with the Nappylocks tool or sew them. Check out my pics. I have already sewn a few together. I think I would like for my locks to be about the size of a pencil all over. One thing I've discovered is that I absolutely hate the freshly manicured, scalp showing look so that's why I've chosen to latch every 2 months. Guess what? I'm even thinking that if I decided to make my locks bigger that I might become a freeformer or a semi-freeformer and only latch 1-2 times per year. Sisterlocks have afforded me a lot of freedom but I think I'm ready for the kind of freedom of not so manicured so often locks.Do I still love having locks? Yep I'm just contemplating a different kind. I guess some of you may say that I don't have Sisterlocks anymore because I use the Nappylock tool. Well, that's your PREROGATIVE! One thing that I know without a doubt is that no matter what method you use TIME and only TIME will give you locks aka dreadlocks. Nothing will make them locks faster or grow longer but TIME.Till next time stay nappy and happy. Ciao.

Hello Fellow Lockers. Yea, it's been a minute since I posted but like Ledisi says "It's Alright." Since the end of April I've been faithfully walking about a minimum of about 4 miles daily and I've slimmed down. My desire has been to lose weight to get healthy, get off of high blood pressure medicine and to avoid getting on cholestorol medication. I'm feeling good "and it's alright!" A new school year has started and I'm back in the classroom "but it's alright." 5 months ago I started massaging my temple area with Amla oil faithfully at nite before bed. I haven't grown an afro but my temple area has really filled in. Check out my previous post about this and dare to compare. The hair is flourishing and growin like weeds. My locks have hit my back y'all. It's so freaky. Sometimes I'm sitting or walking and I'll feel somethin creeping on my shoulders or bak. I jerk like a crack fiend and attenpt to knock it off only to realize I look like a fool and it's my hair that's touchin me. I'm constantly pushing then out of my face and I find myself doin the white girl. Yea, that's right. I'm now a full fledged member of the jerk your head to move your hair club. Do you see the picture where I'm hold the lock out in the front? Children, that section of hair would NEVA grown when I was permed. In fact in was so short that when I got a fresh perm I was ashamed because it was so short and sparse in that area it made me look like I was balding. I use to comb longer hairs over it to hide. But, praiz God those days are gone! Let me share a few things that I've been doing and I believe it's havin a positive impact on my hair. For the past couple of months I've been doing conditioner washes and my locks love it. I don't know about you but my hair bends to the dry side after washing. I've tried several shampoos suggested by those with locks such as the Fantasia Tea Tree, The Sisterlocks line of course, Suave and as I've previously posted I've used and I like the Organix brand. Recently, I was on www.nappturality.com and on Youtube and several sisters had raved about doing a deep conditioning. So this is what I've been doing. I pour 3-4 squeezes of Organix coconut conditioner into a wide mouth bottle. To this I add a little honey, Olive oil (which I added about 25-30 drops of sweet orange essential oil) and castor oil. I let this sit under the hot water so that the ingredients warm and melt together. I shake vigorously and apply to my hair. I apply a plastic shower cap and I also put a plastic grocery bag on top of this. I let this stay on my hair overnite while I sleep. I get up and wash it out and rinse for my usual 10 minutes. While my hair is wet, after taking off my microfiber towel, I apply generous amounts of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil infused with sweet orange eo to different sections of my hair. Then I plait it and let it air dry for crinkly volume. Children if I tell you this has made a difference in my locks being way less dry and lite and feathery you betta believe me. Today for my 2.5 year anniversary I decided to use the same conditioner, about 3 squirts in a separate bottle and I diluted with distilled water. I washed, rinsed for 10 minutes and repeated with the oil. I must keep repeating, MY LOCKS ARE NOT DRY! And another plus that's been happening and I don't know if it's because of the conditioner concoction or if it's because I religiously rinse for ten minutes or because of another new thing I been doing for 3 months (BRUSHING MY LOCKS). Whichever it is I want you to look at the pictures of my bakof deneck loks and notice that my build up is vanishing. This alone has me jumpin for joy. Like many of you who've struggled with buildup, I've tried the ACV rinses and clarifying shampoos to no avail. I'll try to post side by side pics for comparison, but check out my previous post about my buildup problems. I'm not a frequent washer. I wash every 2 weeks. Now let me tell you all about brushing locks. Children, brushing your locks is DA TRUTH! I brush with a medium boar bristle brush that I got from Sally's for $2.99. I do this once a month or every 3 weeks. I section my hair and brush in between each and every row. Then I collect my locks in hands and brush the ends. Afterwards my locks are soooooo soft and lite as a feather. I move my head ever so slightly and the locks move as if the wind has come into my house. Try this children! According to some of the lockers on Nappturality it helps to remove lint and buildup and promotes distribution of our hairs oil. I just know that my locks have improved since I've been doing this and you might think I'm lying but when I brush my locks, they say oooooh, I like that. (lol) One last new thing I've been doin that I wanna tell ya about. Sumtimes I don't feel like braidin/plaitin or rollin my hair so when I get tired of freestylin, I tie the ends of my locks in a knot. I've always done this when my hair is dry but it can be done while wet. I've done this all over or just on a few locks. If you tie it just right at the end of the lock you can just pull on it and it releases. It causes no stress on the hair. This produces a bend/curl at the end of your locks. Whoda thunk that we as black people can do soooo many creative things with our hair without using chemicals, heat, curling irons or rollers to get our hair to curl. Not let me tell about the not so good things that have been happening with my hair. I lost 2 mature baka de neck locks. At first my jaw dropped and I had the why ? in my mind. But, I mourned them and put them in my purse for future use of course. In the front my consultant has had to combine a real skinnyloc with another and I now have a two headed lock. I've wondered if it's due to me doing the conditioner washes so I've taken the precaution to be sure to dilute the conditioner. My consultant Claire told me that this happens with the ones at the front. She's got a 2 headed lock also. I knew the were really loose and I tried to do a self retighten/repair but it didn't work. I really don't know how. Hopefully, when the retightning class is offered I'll take it so that I can learn to do immediate corrections when needed. You all know that sometimes when you wash there are certain locks that could use a retightning before you get to your consultant and your appointment could be 3-4 weeks away. Oh well. I told myself that it's just hair and if it grew once it can do it again. Well, the next time I post I hope that Barack Obama will have made history by becoming the first man of color in the White House. Ciao!

Happy Birthday to me;Happy Birthday to me;Happy Birthday! Yep it's my birthday. It's been a minute since I posted. The last time I did I had been in sorrow's kitchen and licked all the pots clean. Well, I'm writin to tell that the weepin I had been doin about colorin my locks only endured for a season just like the joys of sin. Whew! It took about a good 2-3 weeks before things were back to normal. Now I'm not saying that the dye didn't change my hair texture cuz it did fa'show. It's just that the look I had as a result faded. I do think that getting my locks dyed so soon after a retightning had an effect. For those of you who have sisterlocks, do you all hate that part that's straight down the middle of the top of your head when you're hair is retightened? I know I do, but as you know it fades after a day or so. Me and my locks are cool these days. Their full, lovely and lushus if I do say so myself. And, man how they've grown. They've currently hit my shoulda. I'm at the stage where I ALWAYS wear a rubber band on my right arm; I'm always flickin it out of my face and eyes. Annnnnnnnnnd, I can put my locks in a pony tail!!!!!!! One day I was lookin in the mirror and I said to myself, "girl your hair really has that locked look." Just recently, I was checkin myself out (Sisterlocks will make you do this) and I thought to myself your hair looks like those sistas in the Sisterlocks' magazine. I have a praise report. MY ENDS HAVE ALL SEALED! I think Sisterlocks are really beautiful when this happens. So those of you who have those puffy, unsealed ends, just hold on and DON"T cut them. I promise they will do what they do in due time. My locks have really slimmed alot too. Even after maturing, locks still go thru more changes. I'm not wanting to combine them like I had considered after coloring. Also, that conditioner that I use to be afraid of well I likes it now. Just recently, I used Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla leave in conditioner and you know what? I likes. Conditioner makes MATURE Sisterlocks feel so light and fluffy. You can barely move your head and your locks are poetry in motion. I'm still battlin lint. Yes,I cover while dressing, lounging and sleeping. Yes a use a clarifying shampoo but I think because I live alone and I don't have the benefit of someone to always spot check my backa de neck locks, this will always be a battle I guess. I used to brushe the backa de necks locks daily to remove the lint since I couldn't see what was back there. I think I'll start doin this agin. In the meantime when I want to wear them up, I still use the Dark and Lovely Almond Rain Oil Mist to darken the lint. Trust me sisters this werks. I recently bought the Wrap A Lock tool. I tried them but I haven't gotten the hang of using them. Now, just this past Saturday, I bought about three packs of the 79 cents cold wave rods along with the Crinkles and Curls setting lotion. You talk about some beautiful hair, you betta ask somebody. My hair had lift and bounce so you betta know I'll be using this combination again. After writin this novel I don't feel like adding pictures but I will. Since I hit the 2 year mark I decided to slow my posting roll. I'm enjoyin chillin and reading the emails and blogs of the newbies. And newbies be encouraged; in due season your locks will metamorphis just like the buttafly. Just continue to heed the advice of your consultant and those who've gone ahead of you on this journey.

Foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foooolish girl. This song phrase epitomizes what I think of my recent decision to color my hair. LORD, HELP ME! Y'all I got my hair colored last Thursday. If you've read my blog you know I been waiting to do this for my 2 year anniversary. Now let me start out saying that I loooooove the color and I give props to Camille "The Loc Doc" Robbins for hooking me up. I've added a link to her site so that you can check out more of her work. My feelings are not towards her. It was my decision and my hair is my hair. Maybe I should blame my mama & daddy for passing on the type of hair I have. I thought I'd done all the right things waiting for my hair to settle and fully lock. Letting a professional do the job as well. BUT, I'm currently disappointed in the texture change of my hair. I had warned ladies not to color their hair until their locks were completely settled. Knowing what I now know, I'd suggest that you leave the dye alone. I know, I know. Colored hair and locks are beautiful. But is it worth the sacrifice? I'm hoping and praying that this is just a phase and that my hair will get back to its normal thick texture. I chose the color when I went for a consult with Camille on the first of March. When I went in on the 20th, she explained the procedure. Yes, she had already told me that it would change the texture but I wasn't prepared for this much change. She put on the base color, which we decided to name Merlot. And, because this was so dark I decided that I wanted her to do a few hilites. She showed me the results after each step, no problem. And she thoroughly washed and conditioned my hair afterwards. Now before getting my hair dyed, I had only tried conditioner a couple of times and I must tell ya that I'm not a fan of it because frankly it scares me. It makes my locks feel light and fluffly, which I like, but thinner which I don't like. Now I also need to say that I'd had a retightning on the 1st of March and I hadn't washed afterwards because I knew I'd get it done after the coloring. I'm a little scalpy after a retightning but this goes away after 3-5 days. Pictures were taken right after the coloring as well. So, I'm happy and excited while driving home and then I look in my visor mirror and notice all this scalp. Lord, did my countenance drop and it hasn't lifted since. I've worn my hair out but only while it's pulled back because I'll be honest. In my opinion it looks as if I have major thinning aka Alopecia. Prior to coloring, my hair was thick, full and luscious. Not any more! I just can't put my finger on it. Was it the color, the conditioner or a combination of both? Camille has also told me that since I've colored I have to condition regularly now. I soooo don't look forward to this! I've been on Spring break so none of my coworkers have seen my new look. But, this is my plan. I've braided the front of my hair to the back and I plan to wear wraps hoping that as my new growth comes in it will fill in the scalpiness. I'm sooooo depressed about this. I keep asking myself If I should've gotten a semi-permanent color. Now as I've shared before, I do have thinning at the temples. I've been reading on Nappturality that some Sistas have had good succees with Bountiful Tresses for hair growth and using it in the temple area. I'm going to order this, use it for 2-3 months and see what happens. But, even with the thinning temples my hair was thick enough to cover it so that it wasn't so noticeable. Now with the new color unh unh. It really looks as if I'm balding in the top. I also notice that the locks in the back and on the sides are not as they were. I can extend my locks out and below them I'm scalpy. If you come across this post and have a suggestion or encouragement I'd surely appreciate it. Check out my pictures and tell me what you think. If I'm still like this in a month, I believe I'm going to have my locks combined to make them thicker.

http://www.noiredesignconcepts.com/robbins.html

Do you know what 2DAY is? It's my 2 year Sisterlock's anniversary! Two years ago today I sat for about 10 hours including lunch and breaks and I got my locks did. Lord I can hardly believe I've had them this long. Time it seems has flown by. To all you newbies out there be patient and wait I say on the Lord and before you know it one year will become 2,then 3 etc. etc. I've shared many thoughts along the journey so I'll try to add something new or should I say different. Many people say if I would've known I'd love my locks this much I would have done it 10 years ago. I can't say I wouldv'e because getting locks and more importantly keeping them requires a certain type of mindset. Yes, 10 years ago I would've been younger but I can't say that I was mentally ready to have locks. I can certainly tell ya they were the furtherest thing from my mind. Back then I was singing "SAY IT LOUD! I'M PERMED AND I'M PROUD!" I think I was mentally almost similar to Don Imus with the Nappy Headed Hoe mindset. Thank God for maturity. I can also say that although I want women, particularly black women/females, to have healthy hair I don't encourage any to lock unless they inquire because as I've told many get your mind ready first before you complete the act. Why? Because depending on where you live geograpically, people will stare, laugh and might even point atcho head. You gotta be mentally grown to shake the haters. Other advice I have is that if you have new locks "Let Go and Let God" do HIS thing to your hair. When you look at blogs your hair probably won't look xactly like Ms. Things, especially right away, because beautiful locks take time. Those buds and bumps in your locks are like a butterfly's cocoon. They must make the complete metamorphis process in order to be healthy and gorgeous. I do encourage you to periodically look at blogs and magazines when you need a bit of encouragement. I know this really helped me when I would and sometimes still do have the hair blahs. Although my hair has grown it's still not long enuf to do some things I'd like so I whip out a back issue of the Sisterlock's magazine or go blog cruising to remind my self to let patience have it's perfect work. You know what? I recently bought the big book titled Dreads. I loooooove looking at this book. I've wondered what my hair would be like if i would've started with a different method, specifically freestyle. I love this look so much that I'm even considered doing it in the future. If ya don't have this book get it at your local Barnes & Noble. I'm still lovin the freedom locks have brought to my lifestyle. I wouldn't take nothin for it. I think my hair is pretty and healthy. I'm trying to put the right things inside of my body so that it will reflect on the outside of my body. Hey, I'm one of those females who has hereditary thin temples. Wearing Microbraids didn't help this either. But, although I don't have a full hairline all the way across it's much better now that I've gone natural. In one of the pictures I'm wearin the top portion of my hair in a basket weave. Y'all I used to look at those lockers with longer hair, and I still do and drool over this hair do. I was kinda skeptical or shamed to wear this because of the hair line issue. One day I took my time and just braided or weaved a group of hair on top of another until it was all done. I was peachy proud of myself and my hair. And guess what I didn't need to put a rubberband at the end to hold it. I've worn it out and about hairline issue or not. The down side of this experience is that I haven't been able to do it this well since. Boo hoo. Well, I can't think of any more new or different things to share. If you have a question you'd like me to answer, write it in the comments section and I'll answer it to the best of my abilities. Also, check back in about a week or so and you'll see a big change in my locks.

Today marks the 23rd month of my Sisterlocks. Since I last wrote I've been retightened. My consultant, Claire, and I talked about me taking the retightning class. I planned to take it on Feb 2nd and she left a few on each side above my ear for me to practice on in class. Weeelllll, I didn't take the class. Work is keepin me real busy and I didn't want to launch my own retightnings during a busy work season. Lord knows what my head would look like if I didn't get around to hookin myself up. I figger that I'm gonna be real slow in the beginning and who knows how long it would take me to do my full head. And, I would've been in the class with total strangers too. So, Claire is plannin to get R-Certified this summer. I think I'm gonna wait for her so I'll be in an environment I'm used to with at least someone I know. I know I should be gettin out my box, but I will slowly but showly. Learnin how to self retightin is one of my goals this year. If this class is offered by someone else before she gets certified, I'll take the plunge. Claire says I'm ready. As you can see in my new photos I've tried the pipe cleaners to get curls. I've been wantin to do this with the Soft Spikes but couldn't the hang of it and the curls didn't come out like I planned. I've tried the pipe cleaners twice. The first time was ok but still not what I was expectin. The second time I cut them in half and this worked fine. The only thing I don't like is that the wire in them suckas can hurt and be uncomfortable. I'm really gettin into this stylin thing. It's been a minute since I've worn my hair freestyle. Since my hair is gettin a bit longer, I've noticed that there are things that I can't do with it anymore. For example, when it was shorter and it flopped in my face, I could throw my head back and it would just go back on top of my head and stay there. Not no mo'! I'm also doin the white girl thing more often too. I find that I'm havin to jerk my head to left or right to get it outta my face. I've also created some of my own hair ties (which I do plan to sell at a price that anyone can afford) to help keep it out of my face and eyes. The more mature lockers said there'd be daze like this. Have any of you guys watched the lady on Youtube who demos how to style your Sisterlocks? Her name is Phyllis and she calls herself the video loctitian. Her demos are real informative. She's also a Warm Spirit distributor. Chek her out at this link.
I've tried their Anihita Hair Butter and it's real good. It's comes in a jar and looks like your typical hair grease but it's quite the opposite. It melt's very easily into the hair and skin. Sometimes after I shower, I use it as a body moisturizer and it is lovely. I'm still using the Coconut shampoo and conditioner by Organix. It's all natural, works good and smells great. About once a month I still use the low budget Suave clarifying shampoos to remove the gunk. When I wet my hair thoroughly for about 5 minutes and put the shampoo on real good and then apply a plastic bag and leave it on for a good 30 minutes I really get to see all the dirt and grime that's been on my hair and scalp. The only thing I don't like is that clarifying shampoos make my hair real dry. So, while it's still wet, I apply the Anihita or some other oil liberally and especially to my ends. I gonna sign off for now but check back for pictures and prices of my hair ties real soon.