Is my loc growth at a standstill?

*sigh* I've been taking pictures to track growth and doing everything I should be doing, but I feel like my locs aren't growing anymore. I have noticed that my locs have become much more firm. I think my locs are in that compacting stage where they look short. I know a lot is actually happening inside my locs, but I want to see growth! My locs have shrunken so much they do not look like they're growing. There's nothing I want more than long, healthy locs. A growth plateau is not the business. I think I'll be pinning my hair up a lot more often. That way, I can stop focusing so much on length. Y'all know how much length has always meant to me. Hopefully I'll get past this stage soon! After all, I am nine days away from my eight month locaversary! Anyway, I haven't shown you a retwist in a while. I'm due for my next retwist Saturday, so I'll be sure to post pictures.

Until next time!

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!

Open for Business! Layci the Little Loctitian!

I've officially converted my love for others' locs into money! The guy from this post is paying me to retwist his locs this weekend, and I'm very excited. I recently deep cleansed (using ACV and Baking Soda) and retwisted a friend's locs. I loved the experience. Strangely enough, I was super nervous before I started. I felt responsible for the well being of his locs. He and all of my friends said that they turned out great. His water from the deep cleanse was super murky. He's had locs for six years and has never tried anything like the cleanse before. Anyway, I love doing other people's hair! (I did my friend's yarn braids the same night, yes, one night.) Being able to turn a hobby like hair into a tiny business would be excellent for my college, no-meal-plan-havin' self. I've definitely told all my loc'd buddies that I would love to retwist their locs. We'll see what happens. I'll post pictures of my "client" for y'all and everything!

Until next time!

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 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.

My First Wash and Retwist

After three weeks and one day, (Nov. 11)  I shampooed my hair for the first time! I was very, very nervous about my coils unraveling. So many people were telling me that three weeks was too early to wash my hair. I couldn't wait though! I talked about how I wet my hair in my last post with very good results, so I figured everything would work out. I was right! My hair feels nice and clean. I really missed feeling water move through my hair.

To retwist, I used my Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Gel (Resistant Formula). It took about an hour and a half. My arms were sooo tired after! I was using clips, which I hate. I saw Chescalocs video about how she retwists her hair without clips.

I though my babies were too short, but I figured it was worth a shot. This method definitely worked for me. It was super fast and not using clips was great. The last step, putting them in a ponytail, diiidn't quite work in my favor. Instead of a ponytail, I had two small pineapples. Now my hair is separated in the front and back and kinda weird. It's alright though. I found a method that mostly works. Yay!

I honestly need to put some more pics up here! I'm pretty sure some of my babes are budding. I'm finding tiny knots in some of my smaller locs, while others are getting firm without any signs of buds. I have no clue if that's normal or what. *shrugs* I'm letting them do their thing lol. I like the little knots though. I promise pictures soon!