Loc Surgery: Combining Locs by Sewing

Hello all! I know it's been forever and a day since I talked about my locs. Let me update you. I am now over ten months into my journey, and I am fully loc'ed. My longest layer of locs reaches my collarbone when stretched while the shortest touches my shoulder. My bangs are uncooperative and reach the bottom of my nose.

On to the point of the post. For the past ten months, I've been living in fear for my skinny locs. My babies range in size dramatically due to the way I started them. It's fine with me, but I don't want to have to worry about losing some of the smaller ones as my hair grows longer. That being said, I decided a few months ago to combine two of my smaller locs in the back of my head. The part closest to the root is already loc'd, but the at bottom was the dreaded two headed dragon. I personally do not want any, so I've been retwising them together and keeping a rubberband on them at all times. About a week ago I gave up hope. A revelation hit me today in class that I could sew the bottom into one loc! It was a brilliant idea! I ran back to my apartment where the roommate who sews and fixes all of the clothes in the apartment was waiting. I immediately asked her to sew my locs together, and she said yes! The process was very intense, so I called it loc surgery. She said it was very interesting and to name the loc after her. Now I have one named loc! Check out the pics of her awesome job!

Before

After

Brown Locs Rock!

It's been forever since I've blogged, so I'll start with an update. I've been working like crazy and started an Experimental Psychology class last week. The children and class keep me pretty busy. I got my Kindle and I love love love it! It's super small and lightweight so I can carry it anywhere with me. Losing it in my purse is the only negative! I read it almost constantly, and I haven't had to charge it since the day I got it about a week after this post. Basically, the Kindle is awesome, even if you love physical books. I got the original one, by the way.

I'll talk about my locs after the jump...

Impromptu Loc Updo!

Today was a great loc day for me! I accidently styled a very creative updo all by myself in about five minutes! Everytime I get on the forums at CurlyNikki I read about some loc'er who does pin ups all the time. I never understood how they did them so quickly and they turned out so beautifully. Well, today I found out. I was rushing to work and didn't want to wear my curls out. Instead, I decided to quickly pin my hair up. I twisted the left side of my hair in pinned it, but that was taking too long. Flipping the locs back and twisting them around was all I had time for. I pinned the unruly ends, grabbed some big dangly earrings, and ran to the car. When I got to work, I received tons of compliments! I couldn't believe the style was all that cute, especially since I hadn't even seen the back! I saw how cute it actually was later on when my friend snapped a picture for me. I couldn't believe I did that so fast and by myself! I will definitely pin my hair up more often. My curls from yesterday gave the style more volume I think. Anyway, I love it.

Advice: Try something new and different! Don't be afraid to try different things with your locs! I never did any pin up styles as a loose natural, and I didn't even think my locs were long enough to do anything with. I proved myself wrong. I can come up with creative, quick styles that will probably prove useful when school starts back up.

What was your cutest impromptu style?

My First Loc'd Flexi Rod Set

Hello! I had my first successful flexi rod set the other day, and I figured I should share the great news! I wanted to see if my hair would curl with locs. Of course, I knew that locs could curl, but my locs are special (lol). I used Elasta QP Design Foam, flexi rods, and a spray bottle with water and a few drops of peppermint oil. Since I just got my locs retwisted a few days ago, I sprayed the water into my hands and rubbed it onto my locs. Then I did the same thing with the foam and rolled them up! I slept with them in so I didn't have to sit under the dryer, plus my locs were only damp anyway. I don't wear my hair curly often, so I wasn't sure that I liked it. I got compliments though so it must have looked decent. I even have pictures! (I've been doing so much better with that lately!)

Bye bye Yarn Braids, Hello (Almost) 7 month old Locs!

It's been a while since I spoke with you all. Have you missed me?! Well I've been studying and writing papers because it's finals week! It's officially the last week of the semester, and I'm super ready to go home. Anyway, aside from studying and papers, I haven't blogged because I haven't had much to say about my hair. Having yarn braids is pretty uneventful aftera while. I did some cool styles and what not but I had nothing to say about my hair. I wasn't planning on taking the yarn braids out until Thursday when I go home because I have an appointment with my loctitian on Friday. I took them out last night though for many reasons: I missed my hair, they were all kinds of crazy colors, and I missed almost my whole sixth month of loc'ing. You might be wondering why my hair was all kinds of crazy colors (lol). Find out why after the jump!

Loc Style: Flat Twists with Loc Headband

Dyeing my hair left my hair in a huuuge poof. I had about an inch of unloc'ed hair that just curled into individual poofs. Today, I wore my wrap around. People kept asking if it was all my hair; that really confused me. Anyway, I needed to figure out how I would wear my locs for tomorrow. I decided to flat twist the front and make them into a headband. The back is out and full. This turned out to be a great style for when I wash my hair and decided not to retwist. Pictures after the jump. Enjoy!

A New Take on Loc Jewelry: A Crown!

Well maybe it's not technically a crown, but it looks regal and beautiful. I was on the Thick Loc'd Crew page on Facebook when I came across a picture of someone's hairstyle for Resurrection Sunday. It was magnificent. She had a loc bun with side bangs and a beautiful gold crown made from wire. I don't want to steal her picture, but I wish y'all coulda seen it! I will definitely be trying it tonight!

In other news, I need some styles that accomodate my fluffy, I-just-washed-them-and-didn't-retwist-them locs. I'll be working on that as well.

Until next time!

Edit: She let me steal her picture! Here it is!!!

Beautiful, right?

Loc Style: Wrap Around

I know that I'm not the queen of styles or anything like that, but I'm trying to beef up my style repertoire. A couple of days ago, I randomly came across this style that I thought was pretty cute. I simply started with my bangs and rolled/flat-twisted my locs in a complete circle around my head. Check out the little flower on the side! I got it from Claire's a while ago and decided to actually wear it for once. I really like this style! It's great for my layered locs. Some of my locs are that awkward length between long and short while others are shoulder length. This style incorporated all of those lengths nicely. I think this is a great style for anyone with short to medium length locs. I saw this video on Youtube, and will be trying it out tomorrow probably. If I do, I'll post pictures. Until next time!

A Piece of Advice: Take Pictures!!!

There are plenty of pieces of advice out there for new loc'ers: cover your hair at night, ACV rinses are great for cleansing, don't overtwist, etc. I believe that one piece of advice rarely shared is how great pictures are for documenting progress. I started taking pictures right after starting my locs, and I haven't stopped. I even have a Facebook photo album so friends can see my journey progress. Why is taking pictures so important?

The Search for Loc Jewelry Ends...Kinda

In this post, I told you all how I'm looking for some unique loc jewelry. Patience isn't my strong suit (which is a shame since I'm loc'ing) so decided to make some jewelry of my own.

Five Months and a Retwist

Hey hey! It's March 22, 2012, and I'm officially five months and two days into my lovely loc journey! On March 20th, my locaversary, I got my hair professionally retwisted. It was awesome. It felt great having someone else scrubbing my scalp, and I mean scrubbing. My locs stayed amazingly in tact. They rarely unraveled in the past, but this time was amazing. I didn't look like I had a very separated fro!

My First Loc Style (with Yarn Braids)!

I have some exciting news!!! I styled my hair for the first time! Weeeell, I didn't tell y'all this, but I put some yarn braids over my four month old locs. My scalp was itching so much, and I had the extreme urge to wash my hair all the time. I won't be getting my locs retwisted for about two more weeks now, so something had to be done. I decided that yarn braids were a great option. I've learned how to take really good care of them because I had them twice, each time for about month. Anyway, yesterday was unusually warm, so I decided to get cute on 'em! I got compliments all day! The style was very easy. I have a crooked basket weave going on in the back. Then, I simply rolled the remaining locs into a sort of pompadour. I felt like a queen all day! This was my first time doing something fancy since I've had locs (and yarn braids). I really enjoyed it. Now I have to find more fun styles to do!

Scarf Styles!

Last week I posted about wearing scarves for the entire week to keep myself from fondling my locs so much. I did it! I wore a scarf from Monday through Friday. People's reactions were so funny! Everyone loved my scarves, but they kept asking what was under them. I guess they thought my locs looked crazy, but the opposite was true. I got my locs retwisted on the previous Thursday. Covering up for a week was my idea of keeping them fresh. It worked too! I might make this a monthly thing. We'll see. Anyway...pics!

Sorry for the wait!

Helloooo! Yesterday, February 20, 2012, was my 4 months locaversary!!! Yaaay! I'm so excited! Even though it was my babies' bday, I wore my hair all wrapped up today.  I'll explain why later. My hair has changed soooo much!

My First Trip to the Loctitian: Part 2

Wellll, I got back from the loctitian, Jocelyn, about an hour ago, and I look a like a completely different person. I'm feeling a lot of different things right now. Let me tell you how it went down:

My First Trip to the Loctitian: Part 1

Hey lovelies! As I've told you all before, my birthday recently passed aaand my family isn't super supportive of my new decision of loc'ing my hair. I made the decision to start and maintain my locs myself because I feel that doing so would bring me closer to my hair and help me work on patience. My mother and other loose people, however, disagree completely. They think that my locs are messy because I am doing them. Nevermind the fact that my hair is going through the many stages necessary to loc'ing. Anyway, my mom decided to "surprise" me by taking me to our natural hair stylist who is also a loctitian. I absolutely love her! She did my loose natural hair for about two years, and my hair reached exciting new lengths with her. In any other situation, I would love having her fingers in my hair again. Buuuut, my loc journey was supposed to be mine! *Disclaimer* I do not believe that loc'ers who are regularly maintained by loctitians do not have their personal relationships with their locs.

Here's a picture! Not the one's that I've been promising, but just a picture.

*Sigh* My appointment is tomorrow at 9am. I'll update you on my feelings, what she says about my progress so far, etc.

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!

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!