SL Gathering

(l-r: Tanya, Me, & TNappyKinky)

It was so nice to meet my fellow bloggers. Tanya invited me to her Consultant's (Paulette) Gathering. I had to be there. I've been inquiring for a while about a SL gatherings in Michigan. I look at the pictures of the out of state SL Gathering and wish I was there. I finally got a chance to meet with some beautiful loc'd sistahs. It was such a delight. We really had a good time. Everyone was so friendly. TNappyKinky had me laughing a lot. She has such a great personality. I felt as if I already knew Tanya, she is such a sweetheart. Thanks again for the invite.


(l-r: Kecia, Bev & Deborah) (l-r: Bev & Rita)

(Debbie {permie, my friend & coworker}, Rose {Tanya's mom, Deborah, Atoya, Tanya)

(Sohphia)


(TNappyKinky, Paulette & Sohphia) (Monica {JoAnn's niece} & Paulette's husband)


I had the pleasure of meeting JoAnn's sister, Celeste (left). On the right is Celeste's daughter Monica. They were so knowledgeable. Celeste has been SL'd for 12 years and Monica 14years. Over the years they both have cut their locs. They both had beautiful locs.




There was the lovely Tanya talking to us all about styling. She did a great job giving us tips and products that have worked for her. She asked for a couple of volunteers to show off the great Brunsli's ties. It just reminded me that it is time for another order.

CloseUp

Do you see those speckles in my hair. What is that? I know it isn't dandruff because it isn't really on my scalp. It may be from dry scalp, but I really didn't see much on my scalp. This is right after a wash. I hope this isn't a start to build-up. Any insight?


You can't really see it if you were looking at me. But of course I tend to examine my locs. They're only on the locs that are near the hairline. What is up with the locs around the hairline? First the "thin-middle-bunch'd" locs and here shows the speckles. I love my locs, just curious if you all experience the same. I asked my loctician about the speckles a while ago and I don't remember what she called it, but it was normal according to her. Any insight?

I went out to a comedy show last night. I used the Caruso Steam Rollers for this.

~~Click on photo to enlarge~~

Color'd Locs

**This Post is for Maryee. I never forgot that you asked me to post on Color.**


I have always loved color. I was a color wearer before going natural so I had to keep the color once I loc'd. I dyed my hair a week or two before getting Sisterlocked. I started off with Cherrywood (left). This is the color I was wearing before locs. The last color I got was Roasted Chestnut (right). Which toned my hair down a lot, but my ends have always remained lighter. I like the mixture of colors that are going on. The Cherrywood was more of a reddish and now it is more brown than the reddish-brown.



I waited about a year before coloring again. I retighten my locs first and about a week later, I go for my color. I noticed after coloring with the locs, it took more washing to get a clear rinse. I had a licensed cosmotologist color my hair. This is my former beautician who handled my color, relaxers, short hair cuts, weaves, and even a few press and curls at my attempts at going natural. But there are definitely disparities in her and natural hair care providers. That's a friend and I love her, but once going natural, you just find better products and ways to avoid damaging your hair.

After getting the color, I wash my hair for the next 3-4 days in a row to make sure that I am getting any excess dye that may still be there. The reason behind doing this is because after that first loc'd color session, there was still a lot of dye in my hair. I still do it out of habit now, Just to be safe.

After that first year, I now get my hair dyed every six months. I wash and condition my hair with the Sisterlock Reconstructor afterwards. I haven't had a problem with hardness of my hair. I haven't gotten into the essential oils, but want to try them out. I do have a mixture of oils that I purchased from the Beauty Supply Store. I have Hair Milk from New Bein that I use about once a month or two. I don't use a lot of products (in fear of build-up). But I do use them sometimes.

I have an inch of new growth. I will be due for my color in December or January. I think I will choose a lighter brown next time, maybe with a golden tint. We'll see.....

Thin then Bunched Out

I have about 5 or 6 locs that are thin and right under the thin area there is a big "bunch". They are all in the front, not far from my hairline. It wasn't really a concern to me until a couple of months back, I noticed that there was one that was hanging on by about 3 to 4 strands of hair. What did I do, you ask? Well I disconnected it. Yes, I tore it off. I know....It would have eventually broke off anyway.


There is a shadow on this one, But you see the big difference in size.


Do you think I will loose the bottom halves?


Not this one too!


This is the same one from above. The short broken one is the one I tore off.


I think this is a different one.


I may just let them be, but I will see what I can do to fix my "thin-bunched" locs first.

I don't understand why I have these few locs. Besides those few, I have a healthy head of Sisterlocks. If you have any insight on this, please comment. Any suggestions?? I even thought about having my consultant take them down (if possible) and redo the "thin-bunched" locs. I love my locs, but I am just worried about the special few.

Flashback

When It All Began.....





Then & Now



After 11 Hours~~~~~~~~~~Approaching 29 Months

 

Retightening the Middle

I know it has been a while. I finally replaced my digital camera from the break in. I went with Sony this time. I love this Cyber-shot camera. Hopefully it will motivate me to take more pictures. It was way overdue to update my pictures. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow, so I thought I would roll my hair last night. I will try to create an updo for tomorrow.

Do you find the middle of the head the hardest to retighten? I tend to go through the front and back fairly easily after I get on a roll. But to tackle the middle of my head becomes a real job. I started to grow a mini middle afro under my locs because I was dreading to tackle the middle. I gave in on Wednesday and just went to my loctician to complete my head.

I like this look, but I like it more after a few days when the curls have loosened.

Update

It has been about 2months since I've posted. So much has happened. My house was broken into and my digital camera was among the things that was stolen. I would take pictures on my camera phone, but I don't like the quality/clarity of the pictures.
I'm still here, just trying to sort out some things. I just moved on Saturday and still trying to get settled in. I hope you all haven't forgot about me, but I've been visiting you guys, just not as often because my computer was another thing that they decided to steal. Enough about that, I get mad just thinking about how I was violated. I am just waiting for my claim to go through with the insurance company, so I can replace my things. So I just wanted you all to know I'm still here. Take Care.

I Know, I've Been Slacking.....

I have been really slacking with my picture taking. I received a comment from Tanya asking what was wrong with my blog. I tried to get on and couldn't. After I attempted a test post, it worked fine. So I'm not sure if it goes out if you have posted in a while or what. I took a few pictures while I'm here at work to give an update. I will try to get better with my flicks. Thanks Tanya for inquiring because I probably wouldn't have known it wasn't working if it wasn't for your e-mail.