A True Part of Me!

It’s been months since my last post and it feels so good to be back. But first things first…I’M SORRY TO HAVE BEEN GONE SO LONG!! 🙂 I won’t swear to you that there was a huge important reason for my absence. I wasn’t off saving the world or anything of the sorts. Nope, I was just living life, letting my locs grow, and exercising the creative part of my brain.

As for my locs, its funny because from the moment I loc’ed everything about my journey was pure loc obsession. From looking at them in the mirror everyday for hours on end, re-twisting faithfully, trying to find the secrets to making them grow faster, to searching the internet for pictures of other people’s locs and wishing my locs would like the same.

Over time my out look on my locs has changed. My locs have slowly become a part of me because I’m not evaluating their progress daily, I’m not comparing them anyone else. And I think that’s because they are no longer a “thing” to obsess over…my locs are finally a true part of me. I am my locs and my locs are now me. Simply said, we are one and I like how it feels.

  

Loc Mohawk

More Locs to Love

 

 

I feel like my hair has grown leaps and bounds since my last post.

 

 

 

Freshly Twisted and Styled

I recently visited “All Dolled Up” in Oviedo, FL for a re-twist…and I can’t say how happy I am with the results. My hair was blessed with the love and care of natural hair artist Shea. She did a wonderful job and my locs thank her for it!

Well Well Well…Can You Say “HANG TIME”

Sorry for the long gap between posts, but I mean come on people this is hair we are talking about and it requires time to grow! Haha

I am happy to report my locs are doing well and growing nicely.

I recently attempted to dye my locs a medium brown color. While it doesn’t show up well in photographs, it does shimmer with a nice brownish glow in the sun.

I’ve given up on finding someone to do my hair in the Orlando area to retwist my locs. Everyone here is WAY to expensive and their work is fair from impressive

I retwist my own locs every three to four weeks, and I use Curls Passion Fruit Curl Control Paste. It gives me a better hold than the Jamaican Mango and Lime Wax Creme.

And now for what you all have been waiting for….drum roll please!!!!!

Ta-Da! Hang Time!!!

VAILSBURG CITY’S: FIRST LADY NATURAL DESIGNS

Ms. Sheena working her magic with a client

Without a doubt I must pay homage to the MOST important person of my loc journey. I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without the help and guidance of Ms. Sheena! Sheena is the absolute truth when it comes to locs and natural hair care. She owns and runs, FIRST LADY NATURAL DESIGNS, at 539 South Orange Ave in Newark New Jersey (Phone: 973-351-1045).

I had the pleasure of meeting Sheena after a coworker suggested I go to her to get my locs started.  At first I was apprehensive about trying a new salon because there is always the chance that your hair will not come out looking the way you had wished for. But from the moment I stepped foot in Sheena’s shop I felt comfortable and in good capable hands. Sheena welcomed me to her styling chair with a smile, and she shared with me the knowledge I needed to know about the future of my loc journey. By the time Sheena completed my starter locs I knew the different stages my locs would travel through, and the dos and don’ts for caring for my hair until my next appointment.

What I love most about Sheena is her true passion for locs and exceptional hair care in general. She truly cares about her clients. It doesn’t even matter if you move out-of-state like I did, she is always available to give you pointers on what you can do to prefect your palm rolling technique and tips on how to care for your hair until you’re able to see her again. Near or far, you will be a client of Sheena’s forever and you can bet your last dollar, when I am able to make that trip up north I am breaking my neck to go sit in her chair!

So if you’re in the area, or have no issues with traveling, I would strongly recommend you hit her up and visit the shop for your next re-twisting or to start your loc journey. I promise you will NOT be disappointed and your locs will be forever fabulous!

Gracing The Nape!

I retwisted my hair last night and WOW! My locs are now gracing the nape of my neck!! Sadly I am not getting any faster at my retwisting skills, but I’m happy to report that it is getting easier to retwist my own locs.

Shea Moisture….I LOVE IT!!

By now you’ve probably heard all about Shea Moisture, or seen the brand of natural hair products prominently displayed at your nearby Target or Walgreens. Or maybe you’re one of the natural bellas who has seen the blog posts and felt curiosity but haven’t yet actually tried Shea Moisture.

With the maturing of my locs I realized I needed to change a few of my hair car products, namely shampoo and reintroducing my hair to conditioner. So I recently tried the natural hair care’s lineup and in summary, here’s my verdict. Is Shea Moisture for you? Odds point to yes. With four different main hair care product types there’s probably something in there to meet your specific natural hair needs, and the products are of amazing quality for stuff that’s being sold in mainstream drugstores! I’ll break it down by label.

Coral/Pink/Salmon colored label – Organic Coconut and Hibiscus, meant for enhancing curls for thick, curly hair. Loving the styling products best of all!

Yellow label – made with organic raw sea butter for deep treating dry, damaged hair.

Black label – made with organic African Black soap for balancing and cleansing dry, itchy scalps. Loved both the shampoo and conditioner so, so much!

Olive/brown label – made with organic yucca and baobab for thickening fine and thin hair.

So in general, two thumbs up for Shea Moisture’s hair products! I love that this brand and the ingredients that are so good for natural hair.

Locs @ 10 Months (Pics of Ms. Charolette’s Work)

My trip to Ms. Charolette worked out well. Of course I am still in that baby loc stage, but they are growing in well and I am happy with the progress my hair has made. So far I have about 4 inches of loc’ed hair (close to 5 inches in certain sections of my head).

Then and Now!

2-3 Month Mark

 

7 Month Mark (Front Shot)

7 Month Mark (Side Shot)