JANUARY

I'm thinking about doing a clear Jazzin over the weekend, just for some serious shine to see how well it works with locks. I know it did wonders with my relaxer. Plus, I can tell I'm going to have some bored time this weekend because it's so cold I don't feel really like doing much of anything. Don't wanna do the braid thing though. takes too much friggin time, then when I'm tired of it, I don't want to wash it out too soon because I think of all that work going down the drain. Maybe I'll start looking in Michaels or what ever craft store we have around here for some ideas.

Anyway, I got bored, and rather daring....used some 'coffee bean' jazzin in my hair last weekend. Got too chicken to use it as a permanent color complete with plastic cap and heat...used as a temp rinse instead. Of course, my hair came out very, VERY dark....It's ok, because the jazzin seems to have made it shiny, (at least as shiny as locks can actually get). Also re-twisted then braided it up....Hopefully it will last through next week...The other good thing was since I was off so long, I could actually allow it to dry naturally rather than use a hair dryer, so it feels real good now...not dried out like the hair dryer has a tendency to leave it.

so you can actually see the colour? i was spose to wash and colour (black) on tues but was too lazy. will do it between tonite and sunday.

MARCH

so do you really think your locks are too think and stringy? I think you cant help but 1st, see some scalp, especially if you're meticulous about grooming them. Are all of yours the same length, because that may be why too...maybe you don't have a lot of overlap going on just yet.

the ones in the back look thin and stringy to me. they are not all one length. longer in the back and shorter on the sides and shorter still in the front

MAY

i realized yesterday why my locs are thin and stringly looking!!!!

when i retwist not only is it very tight i also clip it.

i am going thru yet another love / hate thing with them right now cause i feel like starting over again. i would have around 2 - 3 inches of hair to work with.

thing is i always wanted big thick pouffy lion mane locs. but you never can tell what you will end up with right? also next time around i would not use any permanent colour.

I still like your locks. I think they all grow so that they get thick for a while, then get long....get thick....then long. I think as they mature, wouldn't they get thicker?

What if you tried simply letting them kinda go, but make sure they stay separated at the root? Is the permanent color drying your hair out, or are you simply not liking the color as the hair grows out? I keep thinking color, then get chicken, since my hair is naturally so dark, I'm kind of afraid of the growing out process.

I was looking at some of the sisters there and realizing that they obviously do not retwist each time they shampoo. I'm going to try to let that go at times, because I'm still not sure that I like seeing scalp or
not, even around the hair line.

I've always liked the rather thick locks too, but you would have to have fewer locs in order to achieve that. Like, right now, I think I have about 150 of em. If I were to try and double the size of each, I'd only have
about 75. I wonder how that would look. Did you talk to anyone at the conference about achieving thicker ones without starting over? Maybe put the question to the message board and see what kind of responses you get.

i think i will type a question on the board and maybe a photo.

i have no problem with the colour as i have been using temps lately.

i did try washing without retwisting b4 but could only last 2 days as i had a real mess under there and my 2 - 3 inch afro felt tuff and dry no matter what i put on. what i did try once is retwisting without clipping. i did like that effect but my hair came unravelled quickly.

my locs are definately in a growing stage right now. seems like they are a little longer each day!!

my retwist is a week old and i like this stage when they are slightly fuzzy at the root but you can still see a little scalp

as we both know, we just have to keep experimenting during different phases until we stumble across something that works for us.

I've tried washing without retwisting at all, but usually I've done a serious conditioning, then get under a dryer AFTER tying my hair down with a net. If I don't do that, then like you, I hav a mini-afro goin on down there. I may try this this evening and if i don't like it, I can always retwist later.

How was your weekend? Weather was beautiful, eh? Did you try shampooing your hair and not retwisting it? That's what I did Friday night. The verdict is still out, though, as it's a bit organicl looking got me feeling a bit on the wild side. There is absolutely no way you can see my scalp from any angle, but it looks like the locks have shrunk up a bit.

What I DO know is that I cannot do this twice in a row, as it's a bit tangle-ly down near the root, and I'm afraid that two such shampooings in a row will result in a birds nest on my head. I'm still thinking about color...not permanent, mind you, but I was really liking some of the reds I was seeing at the hair conference. Wasn't the sister that was running the whole thing, her hair was a nice red. .her locs were beautiful. Also, Z, her locks were a nice red, thickness and length, and she didn't look like she babied hers like we seem to, by retwisting each shampoo?

hey, i washed and coloured yesterday. i was home alone and got bored. i used a temp colour called orange bright. close up you see the orange tint and from a distance it looks brown. ima take photos this morning as i'm running out in a bit. my sister has been chosen to receive a woman of the year award or something like that.

i think if i didn't retwist i'd wash alot more often cause sometimes the thought of retwisting...............although i remember back in the day it would take me 3 plus hours!! now 1/2 to 45 mins.

oh i mean't to say i retwisted without clipping. i like this look.

JULY

Not this last time, but the time before that when I shampooed I didn't retwist, and actually liked it. I just dont think I can get away with that
too many times in a row or I will have a mess.

I was thinking about what the one woman said about how you start the locks, and that you can do them with larger sections to get the mean lion type of locs. Then I was watching Soul Food last night with the ugleee Vanessa Williams and the nice locs. Her's are narrow in diameter. I think mine are close to the diameter of hers. I now wish mine were a bit thicker, but then, I wonder once it's longer, if that would just be too MUCH hair.

Remeber Zee at the hair show and the fact that she' s started several times? Well, her's werent much bigger than mine. She said she liked hers short because they got too heavy as they got longer. Maybe I don't really want the lion locs, because it would be like carting a couple of bricks on my head.

I dunno, Andrea....will we EVER be satisfied with them?

I was looking in this month's Essence, and this sister is sporting this real cute hat and has locks underneath, but they were real shiny and all
and the more I looked at them the more I thought they were fake, since I believe they used her in some of the other shots and she didnt have locks. (I'ma bring some magazines to Captains Cove next week)

I enjoy seeing the live ones so I can really scrutinize a full head of nicely maintained locks. Like that woman with the head full of real thin
ones that wanted them to shine at the conference.

I thought there were a lot of nice ones at the show, but not too much creativity when it came to styling them. I still cant seem to do much than a friggin pony tail - high or low! And that pony tail holder I paid 13 bucks for? I've worn it maybe 3 times!

Since I'm always walking outside now, I'm going to try to remember to hit mine with some fresh lemon juice to see if it has any affect on lightening the color some. It is so dark that it almost looks black but I know it's actually brown. I've always hated how dark my hair gets, but it does seem to go with my skin color.