Life and Times of the Lone Loc'er

In a family full of naturals, you'd think that there would be a few loc'd ladies. Nope, there's only me. The one with the awkward family position. I'm was the first born of all my cousins. I was sort of the guinea pig child to most of my family. I'm the first to experience high school graduation, moving into college, changing majors, wanting and getting piercings, now locs. I feel like I'm driving my family crazy with all of the new things I want to do. Only yesterday I told my family that I'm in the process of loc'ing my hair, and the uproar has already begun! Here is a brief list of reasons/sayings I've heard so far about why I shouldn't loc my hair, especially not by myself.

•  Layci, you must want your hair to fall out!
•  I'm not even sure how this is relevant to loc'ing. In actuality, you keep A LOT of hair, even the ones that you should naturally shed. This statement is the complete opposite of loc'ing.

•  "Dreads" are dirty and gross.
• I get really upset about this one. The fact that locs are dirty is such a misconception. Locs are just hair! Pressed, permed, kinky, curly, any kind of hair can be dirty and gross! Most people I know with locs and read about on the forums wash their hair waaay more than loose people. 

• Locs are not professional.
• It is a shame that people feel this way. This is still a common view on natural hair. I believe that the world is changing. Locs are professional when you make them professional, like any other hair style. They laid this on me then followed up by saying that I'm a black woman, making it even harder for me to find a job. Great! I guess I'll be a housewife which is my dream. I want to work for myself anyway. What a rebel I am. I know for a fact, though, as a loc'd black woman, I will be able to begin an excellent career. I am educated, well-spoken, confident, and hard working. Locs cannot overshadow those things.

• This is just a phase. Wait 'til you get older!
• My birthday is literally twenty days away. I'll be twenty years old. I know that I am not extremely wise or mature, but I'm pretty sure twenty years old is old enough to make a decision regarding my hair. Here is my real problem with this statement. As I continue this loc journey, I will be natural! I cannot understand why my family has a problem with me continuing to be natural. If I were contemplating a perm, I would want my family to be concerned and begging me not to do it. I'm so confused.

• I can't do locs by myself.
• Alright. This is a tricky one. My family is completely aware that I am a college student. Who will be paying for those expensive loc maintenance sessions every month or however often? Not me and certainly not them! I understand that some people enjoy going to their loctitian for professional loc maintenance, but I don't feel like that is for me. I want to experience my hair at every point in this journey. I want my locs to be my own. No disrespect to those loc'ers who do not DIY. This is MY journey, and I want to keep it that way.

• My locs will never look good because they will not be done by a professional.
• *Shaking my head* No, my little darlings do NOT  look their best right now, but they are only nine days old. Locs go through phases and stages that anyone outside of the loc'ed community simply does not understand. All that my family sees are women with mature locs. "They're locs look nice because they go to professionals. Look at your hair," various family members said. They seem to think that people who get their locs professionally done completely bypass any weird, awkward, not so pretty stage of the loc journey. That is so wrong! 

I'm still trying to explain everything to my family, but they are not taking it too well. They think that I will be done with this before Thanksgiving anyway. Any advice on how you dealt with family, friends, randoms who were not so happy about your loc journey?

Happy Eight Days!

Yesterday, I promised pictures, so there they are! I know they are not the best pictures since they are self taken. I will have a friend take some for me soon. My babies are really loose at the root now. I'm not sure if it is new hair or my coils unraveling. Both maybe? Anyway, I'm not sure when I will retwist them. I have become super paranoid about weakening my roots. "Hand in hair disease" has hit me hard, and I often twist them without thinking about it. Maybe sometime next week I'll actually retwist them. Happy Eight Days to my babies!

Guess what...

My locs are a week old! I'm so proud of them! All of my friends are surprised I've kept them this long *side eye* but I can't wait to see them transform. So far, nothing is happening except frizz. I'm cool with that. I guess I owe the blog some pictures huh? It has officially been a week after all. Did I mention I went a whole seven days with these babies? I'm sorry lol I'm happy :D. Pictures tomorrow...

Locs = Aphrodisiac?

Are locs an aphrodisiac? They just might be! Let me tell you, I was in the Commons today, talking to the guy with the locs. Since I can't play in my own (yet), I asked to play in his. He has long, beautiful locs that reach his lower back. He LOVED having me play in his hair! He asked me to run my fingers through them and braid them. I did, of course, because I enjoyed it too. I miss having long hair. When he had to get back to work, I corn rolled them. He almost fell asleep. He told me that when my locs grow out, people playing in them will cause one of two things: sleep or arousal. "Wow," I thought. I mean, I did love guys playing in my loose hair. I didn't even think people could actually feel action in the length of their locs. Listening to him, I don't know how I'm gonna act when my locs get long. I'll be out of control! They'll be so beautiful and styled that I'll be playing with them and guys probably will too. I won't have any complaints at all lol. Watch out now!

Where is the (Loc) Love?

Since I had my BC of sorts, forums and websites have been my guiding light. Now that I have started my loc journey, I wish I could say the same. Where the heck are the loc'd forums and websites? Most of the sites I've seen seem very sketchy and have contradicting information. I love(d?) hitting the forums as a loose natural to find new information or even give some advice.

Actually, the lack of loc'd community and advice are what caused me to start this blog in the first place! I want my journey to help others.

Please leave some loc'd forums or websites in the comments. Thanks!

Grrr!

It's been five days since I started my loc journey (yay!), but my locs still look pretty much the same as they did the day I started. I know, I know. Hair doesn't loc instantly, but GEEZ I'd at least like to see some progress! I want those weird stages NOW. I'm so impatient lol. Some of the coils in the back are loosening up, and I am resisting the urge to retwist them. I heard that constant retwisting causes weak roots. I talked to a guy in the Commons who's had locs for five years. His locs are beautiful and down his back. He recommended I only get them retwisted once a month. ONCE A MONTH?! I'm not sure about that lol. We'll see. For now, I am constantly checking for little buds, but no sightings yet. :(

The Journey Has Begun!

Good morning! Well, it's actually 2:08pm, but I'm pretty much just beginning my day. Anyway, I felt like I should write a little something about how I'm starting my locs. I'm doing them completely by myself! As an unemployed college student, professional locs are out of the question. I feel like I will be closer to my locs by doing them myself, though. I love doing my own hair (most of the time). As you know, my hair is pretty much collarbone length when stretched. My hair is a 3c/4a mix, and the front and back of my hair is considerably looser than the rest. I did single strand twists or coils on my entire head. Only the very front of my hair needed two strand twists. I used EcoStyler Gel at first, but I switched to Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Gel. Officially, I began my loc journey on Thursday, October 20, 2011. Yay!

Let's Get Started!

Hey! My name is Layci, and I'm a junior at UMBC (Go Retrievers!!!). I've been natural my entire life, all nineteen years of it. It was armpit length at its longest, my senior year of high school.

After a huge cut due to color damage, I started actually taking care of my hair.

I've been obssed with it since June, my BC of sorts. It's now October, and my hair is collarbone length. I'm a 3c/4a mix. I absolutely looove my loose hair, but im ready for something new. Since I was in elementary school, a press-n-curl was all  I knew. Twists outs have recently become my staple style. Now, *drum roll please* I am loc'ing my hair! I started this blog because I cannot seem to find any bloggers who are starting with me and like me. Hopefully, I can find some fellow loc starters through my blog. Anyway, I hope you have fun embarking on this journey with me!