I have dreadlocks yo!

Woohooo time is flying! Its been 3 months and I see & feel my hair transforming a way. No more starter locs or twist, my hair is actually being recognized as dreadlocks now. Compared to most people I would say my hair locked really quick.  I really am enjoying the serendipity each day brings with my babies. The best part of my day involves waking up to see what the morning will bring to my hair. I kid you not, every single morning it looks slightly different. Around the 2 month mark I was waking up like WTF???

Mostly because they wouldn't lie down flat, the locs were sticking out from every angle of my head although I tied them down at night.

2 month fly-aways

Now they seem to be trained to lie down more flat and in a certain direction. I would assume that happened from the finger combing. I usually run my fingers through my hair from the front to the back kinda sectioning it along the way once or twice a week. I am no longer rubbing them down with Aloe vera & coconut oil daily, I just found that unnecessary and caused build up. Here's a quick little update on the progress.

2 months

3 months
As you can see there is a huge difference from 2 -3 months.

The locing process is more prominent within my root area and I'm doing a lot more "popping" these days to make sure I don't end up with one massive dreadlock.  Once a week I wash and spread the loc apart at the root by pulling them in opposite directions. I read this should only be done while the hair is wet to prevent damage to the hair. Speaking of washing I will have to update you on my wash regimen, its the BOMB. I have a weekly routine and I absolutely swear by it. I'm still freeforming, doing the minimum amount of maintenance. I have not gotten them retwisted or palm rolled since the day I started 3 months ago # team freeform! Apparently my new growth is just forming into the locs on its own. I literally wake up, shower (love the way the steam makes my hair fall), spritz it with water and oil, do a little finger combing then go.Water is with a doubt your hairs bestie & essential to having tight right locs. Something about that H20.
So I have also gotten a lot of feedback from friends, family, and of course random people so far its been pretty positive.

Mom:  "I don't like it, I liked the fro better"
Co-worker:  "When you getting your hair retwisted?"
Ex hair stylist:  "I love it, what made you want to freeform? I cant lie girl it looks good"
Random guy:  "I like your hair ma"
Uncle:  "Oh you got them dreadlocks huh?"

2 1/2 months

One small observation that I've noticed, these random loose nots at the end of a few of my locs. I knew more knots would form as a part of the process from it tightening but these are just like stray hairs, I'm debating on just snipping them off... Idk I will have to do some research on that.

3 months

 My next post will be on my wash routine, promise.



-Peace & love

1st signs of transformation

I'm Super excited about my 1st small signs of transformation into locs. I have about 1/2 inch of new growth and a lil more fuzz or frizz than when I first started a few weeks ago. You can notice they are gradually loosing the twist pattern which is great great GREAT. Excuse the excitement. Luckily because of my hair texture I haven't had any problems with it unraveling, people who have a loser curl patter usually have to deal with that.

My scalp was also itching a little bit more than from the last post, as a resolution I have been spritzing it daily with a peppermint oil and water mixture. I absolutely love the way the peppermint oil makes my scalp feel, it really stimulates it which circulates the blood flow and controls the itching. This is something I will continue to do even after I wash just because the stimulation promotes hair growth...healthy scalp means healthy hair!  All essential & natural oils can usually be found at the health food stores such as Whole Foods, Sprouts and even vitamin world...

Use only 2 drops to 4 oz of water

I  pinned up a few on the side tonight and created a lil style that took about 4 mins. The last thing I have been doing as a part of my daily routine is rubbing coconut oil on each loc every night just before bed.  And by rubbing I do not mean twisting but treating each loc as one strand of hair and rubbing the oil in.The coconut oil has been doing a great job of keeping it nice and shiny without making my hair too oily. The real downside to using the oils daily is that oil attracts dirt which is why I use the peppermint & water to kinda cleanse & stimulate otherwise it would be really dirty. So week 4 and my hair is making great progress which I'm in no rush at all just excited about the whole process. I plan to wash it tomorrow so wish me luck!

Peace & Love

Quick update

So my scalp has began to itch just a tad bit which is perfectly normal and my hair looks kind of dry to me. This comes as no surprise since my hair is really coarse & has always been thirsty for oil. I would usually do a hot oil treatment every 2 weeks plus spritz a little oil concoction daily to keep it well lubricated. Since I'm waiting at least until the 4th week of having my starter locs before I wash them, I decided to do a lil something something to my hair. I used a q-tip & applied tea tree oil on my scalp then gently moisturizer each loc with Aloe Vera gel followed by unrefined coconut oil. Nothing fancy, just something to add a lil luster & stop my scalp from itching for now. As far as the appearance of my hair it looks pretty much the same except a lot more fuzz. Here are the pics & products, until  very soon peace and love...

After the gel & oil

Perception is reality?

You can't control how other people perceive you. People assess things based on their own prejudices and preconceptions, since you CANT control how people perceive you why bother yourself worrying about it? With that being said I know along this process "Locing my hair" I will be perceived in many different ridiculous ways, but being happy with who I am no matter how my hair, clothes, religion or any other personal attribute is the ABSOLUTE most important thing Remember being happy within yourself is #1. Ok enough of that...So I'm about 1week in my process and I love the fact that I'm waking up a literally running my hands through my hair for hmmmm about all of 60 seconds then on with the rest of my day. Now I know this wont last long, the longer my hair grows the more time its going to eventually take to manage it on occasions but I can deal with that. So this is what I can imagine my hair to be...

Aren't they gorgeous? 

She is definitely my loc envy lol. No but seriously I'm really looking forward to this journey along with a few others patience is key. 

Loc day #1

After 2 beautiful years of being natural and rockin my fro I decided to start my locs. Going relaxer free and embracing my God given glory, my crown which is like none other, was one of the best decisions I have made. As I embark on this new journey I will be documenting the process along the way.  So basically today marks day 1 of starting my locs and I'm so excited! I started with the two strand twist method but my goal is to freeform from now on. That means I will not get my hair retwisted, palm rolled, or latched on a regular basis. I plan to only separate them when I wash and of course maintain them with essential oils. My locs were started relatively thick as to my preference and it took about 2 1/2 hours with wash included.

Look at me getting my Angela Davis on

Finally done & its about 50 twist

Products used to start which mimics the natural oils in your hair