Updates Galore!

Oh, Blog, how I've missed you! It's been far too long. So much has changed and my life has taken so many dramatic turns since my last post. Let me update you in list form:

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...

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!

Is Biotin Helping my Locs?

I'm not quite positive. As you all know, I'm taking the maximum dose of 10,000 mcg of Biotin everyday. I have been taking them for about a month now. I do not see too much of a difference in the growth rate of my hair. The major difference I have noticed is in my nails. Because I've always had short nails, I decided to grow my nails during the spring semester. I failed miserably. Once my nails reached a certain point, they just broke. The Biotin has definitely made my nails much stronger. I'm not sure if they are actually growing faster, but I'm retaining the length I have. They bend much less easily. I'm not used to these long nails, and I scratch myself some times. Only me, right? Well, that's what I'm seeing from my Biotin use so far.

Until next time...

Locaversary, Yarn Braids, and Biotin: An Update

Hey! I'm two days away from my six month locaversary and my hair is in yarn braids! I did this completely by accident. I didn't realize while I was putting them in that my locaversary was so darn close. *sigh* I won't get to actually see my locs on this special day. I've had the yarn braids in for less than a week, so there's no way I will be taking them out so soon. Oh well! I will be learning patience while I wait to see my babies again.

Anyway, my yarn braids are very thick this time. I mentioned this in my video, but I think that this is due to the growing thickness of my locs. I always try to match the thickness of the braid to the thickness of the loc. This time, I required a lot more yarn to braid my babies. I love how thick they are! It gives me an entirely different look. We'll see how my actual locs turn out.

I know I haven't talked much about a regimen of any kind for my locs. That's because I do not have one! I am terrible at regimens for my body besides brushing my teeth and taking showers, to be honest. I even suck at vitamins. Even though this is true, I bought some biotin vitamins from Amazon.com today. They were only $8 and I have an Amazon gift card, so I figured they would be worth it even if I fell off the regimen. I will be taking 10000mgc pills everyday as often as I remember. My friend told me that they have been excellent. She says that she has noticed her hair becoming stronger and having less pimples. I have awful acne scars, but not so many breakouts anymore. I've heard some say that the vitamins have helped their skin while others say the exact opposite. I will definitely let you all know what happens! I'll also post the exact brand I bought in the next post.

Until next time!

Update 4/26/12
I got my Biotin pills in the mail today! The brand is Natrol, and they contain 10,000 mgcs of biotin. This is the maximum strength. I took one today and became slightly nauseous. I was at fault though, not the pills! I was supposed to take it with a meal and I didn't. I know better next time. 

What Do Your Locs Feel Like?

Lately, my hair has been going through some definite changes. I read this post on CurlyNikki Forums, and I could definitely understand where these loc'd ladies were coming from. My hair has certainly transformed over the past five months. I think the most drastic transformation occurred within the past two or three months.

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:

Five Week Loc Update

Oh my gosh! Time has certainly flown since I started my loc journey. It's been five weeks and one day already! I have been so busy with life lately that I haven't had much time to blog. Since my last post, I have had a birthday, my first Deltaversary, and enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family. A lot has happened huh? With all of that going on, my locs have made lots of progress. I believe they are right on the cusp of budding! Heck, maybe they are budding. I am having the most trouble trying to take pictures of the individual babies, so I'll try to describe them.

Let's take this lil boo in the back for example. I think this loc has a lot going for it. It is one of the few locs that is no longer springy and bouncy. It is more compact and does not stretch out anymore. There are also a few areas where I can feel a knot forming. It's like the individual strands are starting to loc, but not just yet. I have plenty of those all over my head. I'm sure its a good sign.

I've been promising pics and they are definitely coming! Unfortunately, I'm an awful photographer, and my camera isn't much better.

Til next time...

It's official!

Today was the marker of my third week loc'ing. I'm in love with my hair! I haven't retwisted yet, so my hair is kinda wild. I like it though! In most places, I have about an inch of untwisted hair before the actual coil starts. My hair looks very full. I know a retwist is coming soon though. With my twentieth birthday and Deltaversary next week, I want to look a liiiiitle less all over the place. I'm actually thinking about semi-free forming since I like the more natural look. I will probably be shampooing my hair soon as well. I wet my whole head while in the shower yesterday to see what would happen. Thankfully, all of my coils stayed in place! I love these lil ladies :D

Now the journey ACTUALLY begins...

I'm officially two weeks and one day into my loc journey! The time flew by, even though it hasn't been that long. I feel like I'm actually in my loc journey now. Before I just had some coils. Now people are asking me if I'm loc'ing. I guess they see the roughness and are tryin to figure out what the heck is going on. Oh well! I'm excited that they are starting to look a little rough. That means something is happening and progress is being made.

In other news, I partied like crazy last night! I picked a bad day to actually dance at a party for the first time though. The coily babies at the nape of my neck were soaked from all of the sweat. Gross, I know, but it happened. I was so scared that I would lose all of my coils in one night. Thankfully, I woke up to the same amount of frizzy babies I had before, sporting a lot more frizz than before. I'm okay with that though! I'm happy none completely gave up on me. The few that were startin to firm up are still firm and everything. Yay! No damage done :)

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...