1 year locversary!

I can't believe it's been a year already since I started my locs! They are now fully loc'ed and growing slowly but surely! I have been slacking with the updates on all of my pages, but I will do my best to keep it up and challenge myself with new styles.

In the meantime, I leave you with the most recent picture of my hair...which I just took on my phone.

Later!

Experimenting with latching

Before I started my loc journey, I did some extensive research on how to take care of my locs and specifically how I would retighten my new growth. I decided that I would palmroll my locs, because latching seemed too complicated and I thought that I needed a tool to do it. Little did I know that palmrolling was not ideal for my lifestyle, i.e. regular exercising, itchy scalp within a week and the non-belief in the idea that my hair had to steer clear of water for 2-4 weeks at a time.

I attempted to palmroll my hair twice. The first time was a semi-failure since only a few of my locs actually looked like they had been retightened while the rest of my head was loose within a day. (see pics below) Note: I curled them at the same time.

And here's what my hair looked like after I rinsed a week later. It looked like I hadn't done anything to it!

I gave my babies a couple of weeks of rest before attempting another palmrolling session and researched the topic once again. The second time around I found a few helpful videos on YouTube such as the following:

-A video by Nubian Kinks. (I do not use their products so I can tell whether they would help in my loc journey or not) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgAbjVOyEMk

-A quick video by one of my favorite YouTube gurus, MsButterfli http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Oe_hy7lm0

These videos were very helpful and the second time around I managed to twist my hair nicely. What did I change this time? I dried my hair longer (about an hour), I used a comb to help in certain areas, I gave my hair a "break" from water for two weeks and I did it during the day, instead of the middle of the night. Here are the results from the second palmroll.

Despite my efforts, when I washed my hair two weeks later, the roots unraveled once more. Some told me that I needed to see a professional loctician but I was and still am determined to enjoy this DIY journey to the end and refuse to pay for what I could do on my own. I realized then, that palmrolling was not the solution for ME. So...I did some more research again (lol) and went back to a thread I had never viewed on the Nappturality board entitled "The Thread to Maintain Latched Locks, DIY Latchers Thread" http://www.nappturality.com/forum/index.php?s=28c3f16f1c3cc2968f6ca99ed274599f&showtopic=128256

This thread is a bit long, but you are sure to find all the answers to questions you might have about latching your locs AND visual aids (a necessity for visual learners like me!). So about three weeks ago I tried to latch my locs with a hair pin and I was amazed at the flexibility it gave me. I have spritzed or rinsed my hair daily, washed my hair once week with no ensuing unraveling! I am so glad I made the switch! So far I have been using a 3pt rotation (S, W, N) or if you are confused about the direction, I still go in a clockwise direction ending with my loc going in a downward direction. Confusing, I know, but the best thing is to figure out your own method. I haven't latched my temple area too tightly for fear of damaging my already weak sides. I will add a few snapshots of my locs since I started latching them in the next post because all of that editing is annoying!

Been missing...

It's been a little over a month since my last post but I promise that it was well worth it. My babies are now a little over two months old and are giving me daily satisfaction. I have experimented with different products and deep conditioning to see how my hair would react and I must say that I have learned a great deal over the past few weeks. I will give you more details about my "discoveries" in the next post(s).

A few pics of my hair before I started my loc journey

That afro has grown on me! I sometimes miss it but immediately dismiss those "regrets" when I think of all the progress that I have made. Here are a few shots of my loose naps.

Here is my hair pressed two years ago...obviously the puff had taken over!

Loose hair before graduation in 2008.

One of the last few pics that I took of my loose naps in Feb '09.

My hair in its wet state.

If you want to see more pictures of my loose naps, go to www.fotki.com/perlenoire83

"What is that?!"

I received my first negative comment today by a family member. My cousin saw my pinned hair and asked me "what did you do to your hair?". Silly question to which I did not answer and surprisingly did not get offended by... And that is how far I have come since the beginning of my natural hair journey. Three years ago I would have probably been so upset about it, telling my boyfriend how ugly I felt and looked, that I would have certainly ended up questioning myself and my decision to loc.
Today, I was Ms. Crown of Hair, the strong woman who carries her head proudly regardless of the comments or the weird looks. I was the black woman who viewed her God-given Crown as a blessing instead of a mane waiting to be tamed. I was ME!!!
Now, compare that to being complimented by two brothers withing one block... Yes, two black men stopped to look at me, and politely tell me how beautiful they thought I was two days ago. Nothing could have made me feel better...except for my boyfriend's unconditional admiration for my hair even when I feel like it looks like a bunch of worms.

First retwist

I did my first retwist last night at 2:00am, four weeks after I started my locs. I was so excited about it and was glad to see some thick new growth. However, there is one little problem: I REALIZED THAT I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO PALM TWIST MY OWN HAIR! I watched some YouTube videos about this method, but they were all showcasing locticians doing it on other people's hair. Therefore, I did not know how to do it on one's self (does that make sense?). Some of my locs turned out just fine, while others looked like they weren't touched at all...
Oh, well! I'll wait another 4 to 5 weeks to retwist my hair, because I do not want to overdo it and mess my hard labor.
On a more positive note, I noticed that my hair is looking less and less like twists. Rather, they look like comb twists which can only mean one thing! My locs are starting to mesh together, slowly but surely. I've received compliments about them from strangers and family alike, the latter being rather surprising to me.
I'll come back later to post some pics!

Introduction

Hmmm...my very first post. Who am I? Why did I create this blog? What am I going to talk about? These are certainly the questions that came to your mind and my first post will attempt to answer them all for you.
First off: Who am I? I'm a 25 year old black woman trying the make the best of her life with what she has. I am not endowed with material riches, but I am blessed by love from people I cherish (even when that love gets suffocating...). I graduated last year right before the recession hit the country and of course I was among the people affected by it...and still am. I know, I know, everybody talks about the recession nowadays and how it has negatively affected everybody's lives, but I personally can say that it has helped me grow and get stronger. I no longer cry and feel like a failure because I can't find a decent-paying job. Instead I focus on the positive aspects of my professional life, i.e. substitute teaching, and try to make the best of it. Every new day is now a day I look forward to with its trials and tribulations, its joys and pains, its losses and gains.
I am also a black woman who proudly wears her nappy crown of hair, thus the title of this blog "Crown of Hair". I made the big jump almost three years ago despite my family's disapproval and negative comments which have now turned into admiration for my hair's length, thickness and surprising versatility. I wore my afros, twists, buns for a little over two years and last month I decided to make another wide turn in my hair journey...GROW LOCS.
My hair is growing nicely and is longer than it has ever been while I permed it, but like Spiderman's uncle would say "with great length comes greater maintenance". My hair is what they call a 4a-4b depending on the area, and we all know how challenging that can be. I loved and still love my hair, but I was going through so many issues that just one more "problem", i.e. my hair, would have made me snap. So it was either cutting it to a shorter and more manageable length or finally grow locs. I knew I was growing to grow locs eventually but was afraid of the "limitedness" of locs and was attached to my loose naps' versatility. I cried over my hair 6 weeks ago, the first time since my hair started falling off in 2005 due to damage. I, then decided to do some research on locs, weighed the pros and the cons and within one week I had made up my mind. Locs I would grow, and hair I would keep!
I still love loose naps but I have learned that locs are not a death to versatility. I view them as a another option for natural hair. Obviously, I did not chose to loc my hair up for spiritual reasons and I do not view locs as better than loose naps. It is all just hair and a personal preference.
Why did I create this blog? I created it a while back but was too lazy to actually write anything...lol I have finally decided to write my first post as I enter my loc journey and want to share it. I have some YouTube videos but I sometimes get lazy and don't want to make any videos because they can be time-consuming. My blog is therefore a good alternative to my "video-free" weeks...or months.
What am I going to talk about? Primarily my hair, but knowing me I will also write about other aspects of my life, since there is more to me than my hair. It will range from rants, to topics or pics I want to share, polls and more. I do not want to engage myself yet to post on a set schedule, but I will try my best to post at least once a week...
And that's all folks!
P.S.: I will post pics of my journey when I finally find them all! Stay tuned!