Week 4

I actually didn't realized I published the last post. I was planning to add photos first. Oh well, I'll add them later to that one and this one.

This is actually a few days late. I wrapped up my 4th week on Saturday.

My scalp was so dirty all week, so I had to wash it and retwist on Saturday.

I decided that the stocking cap approach was not good enough, so I decided to clip my coils together towards the ends to keep them together and also allow me to scrub my scalp.

I think I diluted my shampoo too much as well, so I used it straight from the bottle this time. My scalp felt a lot cleaner and now I think I'm ready to go 2 weeks until the next wash and retwist.

The bottom 2-3 rows are still driving me crazy. They're not tangling at all. I'm going to do some research to determine the best course of action for them. I may see a loctician for a consultation as well, but I'd like to see someone who does more than coils. I'm not sure if interlocing those hairs will help. I don't think you can backcomb sections of hair that small, but I'm going to look into that as well. I need to research causasian locticians in my area. They can probably help with this section of hair more than a black person.

Week 3

I'm writing this late. I was less than thrilled with the amount of frizz on my head at the end of 2 weeks since the last retwist. I just tried not to look at it much. 

I timed the retwist and it only took an hour. I think it will go faster once my hair is actually loced and I can feel my way through instead of having to use the mirrors. As I retwist I can definitely feel tangles so I'm excited about that. The back of my head is really getting on my nerves. 

My plan for the week is to be much more diligent about ensuring my scarf stays on throughout the night. I'm also covering my hair in the shower. I'm curious to see if this makes a difference in how well they hold up over the next 2 weeks. 

I can't wait until I can wash my hair the way I want. I'm going to research this a little more. I added more shampoo to my spritz bottle. I think I diluted it too much. 

I'm technically into week 4 and I'm pretty proud of myself. I have no desire to undo my work, so I'll probably post this sometime this week and update my fotki too.

Week 2

It's fuzzy but I'm going to hold off to wash and retwist until next Saturday. Well, I'm going to retwist the bottom 2-3 rows and leave the rest until next week. I think that should be okay for now. It's not going to last anyway, but I want to help it along. Hopefully in 4 months it will begin to take better shape. Currently the coils quickly flatten into circles...I'm not explaining that well but you can see what I mean by looking at the pictures

All in all, so far so good I think. I still wonder if the coils are the correct size but only time will tell. With my hair texture and density I'm pretty sure I couldn't/shouldn't have made them any smaller.

Week 1

01.01.10 - DAY 1

01.09.10 - WEEK 1

I said I wouldn't speak on my journey publicly until I made it to one month, so I'm saving this post until then. Overall, I felt really good about my first week. I did a pretty good job of keeping my hands out of my hair. I did feel the back which was completely flat by week's end. I refused to even look at it in the mirror because I knew I'd want to retwist it.

I had no urges to undo my work, which is good because it took me forever to coil my hair.

By the end of the week, my plan was to simply retwist the back two rows. However, my scalp had begin to itch just a bit so I figured I'd just wash it and retwists it. I used a wave cap that I purchased last month and used diluted clear shampoo in a spray bottle.

I can't say if my scalp got really clean, but I'm not worrying about that too much right now.

I was a little nervous when I removed the cap, because I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be able to find my sections.

Surprisingly, when I began separating my hair to retwist it, I could actually feel the sections, even in the back where it appeared as though they didn't hold. I was really amazed that beneath the fuzz and wet hair I had sections. I didn't time my retwist section, but I think it took me about an hour, which was a relief. I'm not taking this journey to spend a ton of time maintaining my hair. Once my hair is loced, that time will probably decrease because I won't have to sit in front of the mirror. I'll probably be able to feel my way through.

The final result looks pretty good. I just used aloe vera gel to retwist.

I do not want to wash and retwist my hair every week. I'd like to go at least 2 weeks between retwisting but I really got nervous about the itching. I'm hoping that washing it will help it tangle. Everyone says how much locs love water. I could feel as I retwisted that some of the hair had begun to tangle on the ends of my coils, so I could tell how the buds would eventually appear there.

I wonder if the back of my hair will fare better this week or if it will look the same. If it does the same thing, I think I'll retwist just the back. I don't know. I'm probably lying. I really need to start working out and if I do, I'll definitely need to wash my hair once a week.