Week 30: Stop Pulling My Balls!

Lol! That's what I wanted to say to my grandmother last weekend. She was extremely bothered by the little balls (that probably had lint in them) hanging off the end of my budding locs. I was pretty sure I'd read to leave them alone because they are part of the process. I did a quick Nappturality search for "balls" and quickly received confirmation. They had me cracking up! I was also reminded that at some point it might be necessary to take a Sharpie to my hair so I don't pick apart my new locs trying to remove lint.

Photos of My Balls

I am overdue for my wash since I was out of town last weekend. I am truly looking forward to it Saturday monring. Despite a little frustration every now and then, I'm really pleased with my hair's progress. Some are condensing, while others are just beginning to bud. The braids in the back are still in tact and the other sections of hair that I finger latched are still held together at the ends, which is good enough for me. That section will probably take another 12 months but it won't matter because just a few rows higher, the hair is loc'in and rock'in :) It will cover the baby locs in no time. My primary concern was keeping the hair together and it seems like I finally achieved that goal.

Photos of Locs with Sealed Ends

This loc's end isn't sealed but it's pretty solid:

6 Months

I made a video! I've been wanting to, but not quite sure how I felt about "me on camera." I'm not great on camera but I really wanted to talk about my hair and show some things, so this worked well.



I just responded to someone who commented on my video (yay!) and she said that the top is going to take the longest to loc. I really didn't realize that at first. I guess I forgot how loose that section was. I knew it was a different texture, but it didn't click for me. At any rate, it now reminds me of the sides of my hair at about 3 months, so it's definitely slower.

5 Months

It's been 5 months today! I am extremely pleased with my hair's progress. I had no idea my hair would progress this fast. I'm pretty confident that by the end of the year, I'll have semi-mature locs. This weekend is my weekend to wash my hair. I think I'll try to get it done early on Saturday since I have something to do that afternoon and my dad wants to go to church on Sunday. I think I'm going to mix aloe vera gel in with my oil/water mixture. I think the aloe vera gel probably helped my hair's progression and if was working I don't want to slow down the progress, especially at this stage. Hopefully, it won't flake as much mixed with water and oil.

I watched this YouTube video yesterday and I liked the way she wrapped the loose hair while she retwisted. I'm going to try doing this on Saturday and see how it goes. Hopefully, it won't slow me down much. I think I'm at the 40 minute mark for my retwist time. I also think that I'm going to ditch the clipping step on Saturday. It probably isn't necessary and I'm trying to keep my routine as simple as possible.

I'm so proud of myself! I kind of can't believe that I've hung in here this long. I've become accustomed to the frizzy look and know it's just part of the process.

Week 20

I feel like I just reached the 4 month mark and now 5 months is around the corner. It's funny how my perspective has changed during my journey so far. My patience and acceptance of my hair is definitely growing. I have a much higher tolerance for the frizz and disheveled look. I actually kind of like it.

Here are pictures that someone took for me at work. I wanted to take advantage of the natural light since I usually take my pictures in the bathroom with the flash on. Hopefully, this is a more realistic view of what my hair really looks like.

Although I'm practicing patience, I'm really curious to see what the final size will be and if I'll always have lots of loose hair.

Since it's grown, I think I'll rewtist the front going back. I like the way this looks now.

I was telling my friend who took these pictures that I really want to capture this stage. I'm afraid that if I blink my eyes, it will pass and as much as I'm looking forward to the next stage, I don't want to miss any of them.

Here's a closeup. I plan to take a few pictures of some individual locs so you can see their formation a little better.

I'm still surprised at the quick progression in the past 2 months. I was expecting my hair to take a little longer budding and matting. Despite the fuzz, the coils from my retwist are still in tact after almost 2 weeks. I think I'll definitely switch to the no product and palmrolling method. I love how my hair fluffs up after some time. At this stage, I'm not a fan of the scalpy look that comes along with palmrolling. Maybe I'll feel better once my hair has fully matured.

Week 18 - Month 4

It's been a long time since I've written about my hair and even longer since I've taken pictures. I have some great progress--lots of buds. It seems like I've seen the most change in the last month. Today was wash day and I decided to try a few different things. I was watching some loc'd YouTubers and one was talking about retwisting with just oil and water. As an aspiring minimalist, I thought I'd try it and see how it went.

I also decided to do an ACV rinse. I don't think I have buildup, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Here's what my hair looked like before washing it.

I hadn't worn a scarf in at least a week.

I also decided to try washing without any clips this time. I always find, particularly in the front, that the clip keeps flakes from being rinsed well.

I separated after I washed because I was on the phone and surprisingly I could find my sections in the front middle portion of my hair. This section is progressing a little slower.

The night before I actually detangled the last row or so of my hair with just my fingers and it was far too easy. I decided to try a different method with this section--three strand twists. This is how quotidianlight started her locs. We'll see how they hold up. Since my hair was loose I measured it--5 inches! Of course that's about 2 inches shrunken, but it might help the three-strand twists hold better.

This picture is horrible, but you might be able to see that this hair is silky and curly...not a nap in sight.

I believe it may continue to be my problem child for a while, but I'll keep trying different methods until something works. I really just need the sections to stay in tact long enough for it to tangle.

To continue with my experiments, I retwisted my hair and clipped it. I never do this but was curious about how it would look. Again, I used only a water and almond oil mixture in a spray bottle--no aloe vera gel today.

I can never figure out which direction to twist the front. Usually, when I don't use clips, twisting them toward the front looks pretty good. However, I'm not so sure about that or the results with clips. Kind of scalpy to me...

I prefer the fullness of my normal retwist, but this may help train my hair better. I don't really know. I'm palmrolling my entire head now too. Using this method highlights the fact that my hair is fine. I'm curious to see what it looks like after one week, then two.

So there's my 4 month update. I'm extremely pleased with my hair's progress. I wasn't sure how long it would take for the budding to begin.

I'm looking forward to the coming months...they are actually beginning to go by pretty quickly.

Week 15

Week 15 was last week and I haven't been taking pictures at all. I should, though. I've noticed lots of changes, but it seems like I can feel them better than I can see them. I definitely have good progress in different areas of my hair. I've noticed just a few buds, but I can feel that the hair is meshing and becoming more firm. The telltale sign for me will be when I wash and everything stays together. That's several months down the road, but it's coming! I'm so glad I started sooner rather than later. I'll definitely be in good shape for Homecoming.

I spoke to a guy that went to church with me growing up and who went to college with me and he said it took his hair about 8 months to loc. He has relatively soft hair as well, so I know that I need to just continue to hang it there and let my hair do what it needs to do without interfering. I'm almost at month 4, which is kind of amazing to me, so I'm on the road to locdom! By Homecoming, I'll be at 8 months. I'm excited!

Week 11

My 11th week went well. As a matter of fact...until I didn't wear my scarf my hair looked relatively neat. Now, I'm entering week 12 and I'm a bit fuzzy. I'm almost at the 3 month mark, which I consider to be April 3 since it's a Saturday. I don't have any true buds yet, but I can see where they'll be, hopefully by month 6. I have high hopes for month 6. By month 6, I hope it stays together better after washing. By month 6, I definitely want to see several buds. By month 6, I truly hope that my bottom 2 rows in the back stay together. Time will tell.

I started to search for YouTube videos of people's 3 month loc update, but I know I'll be frustrated because my hair is unlike most people's. There's one guy with soft hair that I'm following. He's at 6 months and has buds, so hopefully that expectation is realistic.