Final Thoughts on Latching....For Now

I have come to the final, final, final decision that I will continue to latch my locs using the Nappyloc tool. I know I've said this before but I just had an amazing breakthrough retightening (sp?) session. I did the best job ever and I'm so much faster!!!! Since the switch to interlocking while I have loved the fact that my locs don't unravel a big plus, especially since I rinse my locs frequently, I have found the process tedious in comparison to palm rolling and time consuming and just ugh! Of course when I've gone to a professional (twice) they were able to retighten my locs quickly, as it should be they are professionals after all! The last time I retightened was in May and I was way, way, way overdue (my hair is growing like weeds y'all!) and it came so effortlessly. I started in the evening one day and finished the following evening and I did a fine job if I do say so myself. I have also come to the realisation that due to my hair texture while extremely curly is fine and prone to breakage so the constant back and forth of palm rolling wasn't doing my hair any favors add to that the fact that I've chosen to wear small locs. My fears of my locs changing shape and not appearing cylindrical were for naught, I've just noticed that my locs feel stronger and I haven't experienced thinning or weak spots in my locs or had to combine. So I've come to peace with my chosen method of maintaining my locs and lovin' it....until I face my next reti LOL!


P.S. Much respect to the ladies who maintain their sisterlocks and micro braidlocs. I know a lot of you have around 400-600 locs on your head whew!

Minutes Saved, Effort Wasted

So during my whole move and when I was more or less settled in my new apartment and had to wash and do a retighting, I decided to twist instead of latch. The main and only reason was laziness and I thought it would be quicker, if I said otherwise in an earlier post I was lying (it happens). Anyways what a waste of time, within a week my roots were already coming undone and when I washed my hair yesterday any evidence of my roots being done had vanished. AAAAAHHHHHHH when will I ever learn. For those who twist their roots (and by twisting I mean palm or finger twisting) and it works for you, yeah! But for others who are either intimidated or feel it takes too much time, those hours you put into latching your roots are well worth it. I ordered some more henna so after I've dyed my hair again I will do a proper latching session. Also I finally have the photos of what my hair looks like in the light with henna. I'm really liking it! And from what I've read the more you henna the darker it gets! I also have some big news (at least for me Lol!) But that is for my next post. Stay tuned ladies....

p.s. the other photos is proof of my unravelled roots after a week! A week!!!!!!!

Re-tightning Success

So I was due for a retightning. Since buying my nappyloc tool I have only done one retightning session, it's been over a month and after my last wash and condition (last Wednesday) I could see that I had quite a bit of new growth and I was due. I gotta be honest, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it because of the time consuming factor, it took me hours!!!!!!! I did it all in one session and I kid you not I think it took me 10hrs. The benefits though, no unravelling and less product sigh, made me commit to another session, because I was tempted to just go back to my palmrolling with gel. Well this time there was such a difference it took me half the time, I had nothing to do that day and while watching movies I actually found it pretty soothing, like when I used to palm roll. Ladies who are just starting to latch here is what helped make the process soooooo much easier for me this time and maybe it might help you. After washing my hair and towel drying I sectioned my hair into four ponytails, then I would focus on one section at a time, I pulled a loc out latched it (SO MUCH EASIER WHEN WET!) then clip the freshly latched loc with a duckbill clip, this really helps in preventing accidentally latching two locs together. I know these instructions seem simple, but they cut my latching session time in half! So I hope these tips help.
P.S. I'm also curious to see if there is a noticable difference between where I've latched and where I palmrolled. I don't see any now and I've found mixed reviews online from peopele who switched techniques, I will keep you posted!

Lessons in Patience

So While I was doing my retightightning session on Monday, I got to the point where I started to get tired and instead of stopping and continueing at a later date, I continued on obsessed that I had to finish it all that night, had to get it done! Must all be perfect and done!. This frantic mantra led to fatigue and impatience and when I got to the delicate locs on my front edges I was yanking and guess what, I TORE A LOC!!!!! Well that sobered me up and had me asking why was I rushing so hard? what was I trying to prove by finishing it all that night?! What record was I trying to break?! You know there a lot of people who believe that when you loc your hair you are going beyond just a hairstyle that due to the process one has to go through to loc one's hair their is also a deep spiritual journey and learning that can occur. I have to agree. When I started this set of locs I was in a place in my life where I hid and put myself second. When my locs were budding and doing their own thing; at first I wanted to keep them under wraps to appear "decent" but I loved my buds, I loved the look of my hair sticking on it's end, I was proud of those buds and decided to hell with any notions of so called deceny this is my hair and it's free and I believe that unlocked something within me and I was able to let go of what people were thinking and just unapologetically be me (ironically I got so many compliments on my hair than I ever had before!) Now that my locs have entered adulthood they are still teaching me. I looked at that torn loc in my hand and knew it was time to step back, take a break. It's ok to take a break every now and then to recuperate, you know you're on track, that you are committed and that's the only person you have to prove it to. Have faith in yourself and recognize when you need to rest and re energize (yes I got all that from my torn loc!). When you start running on empty, you start making careless mistakes and stressing yourself out unnecessarily and not seeing the big picture. My locs weren't going anywhere, was I still so consumed with presentation? And really who is going to be looking at my hair that hard and say, " oooo she hasn't latched all her locks!" So ladies I'm learning my lesson and taking it to heart. While it is good to be focused on a task, goal, dream and work hard towards it, take the time to rest, recover, asses and enjoy the ride. There is a Happy Loc Ending to this story. Yesterday I took the broken loc and sewed it back together. I can see it out of the corner of my eye. What lessons are your locs teaching you?

(posted a pic of the torn loc and after I sewed it up)

NappyLoc Tool

I have recently decided to switch from twisting my locs, which were started by comb coils, to using the Nappyloc tool. The reason for the switch is because I'm pretty active and it just was annoying that after a fresh twist my hair would unravel and that was $75.00 down the drain. I also have small locs and I've heard the latching makes them stronger because I don't want my babies breaking or thinning out! So after much perusal on http://www.nappturality.com/ (a must for those who have gone natural) I decided to order the NappyLoc Tool. So far I have only done one retighting about a week ago. My verdict so far, I love it!!! I ordered the maintenance kit which is just the tool and instructions that you can download. I found it quite easy to use, I was conservative with my rotations because I don't like the a lot of scalp showing look and I figured I can always do more rotations if it wasn't tight enough. Since I've just began using the tool, only time will tell whether I stick with it or return to twisting. One thing to note, is that you don't really get just how small the tool actually is from the website (the website does post sizes, but I'm too lazy to measure my locs). I ordered the small and it works for the majority of my locs but there were some in the back that really had to be ....coaxed in the tool because they were a bit too large and probably would work best on the medium but oh well, it's working fine for now. So I'll post a picture of the tool next to a pen and roller pix, to give a better idea of the size. I have also posted a picture of one of my locs that fits perfectly in the small size that I ordered. Questions? Comments? Please feel Free and hope this helps. Ciao Bellas!