My Loc Journey

In June I decided I needed a change. I had been toying with the idea of loc'ing my hair for a few years, but was afraid to commit in the past because I like to change my hair so often. I also didn't know just how versatile locs were. I realized over the years I was either covering my hair with wigs, weaves, braids, or twists, or just wearing my own natural hair in a bun or puff. I started to hate doing my hair, and I would choose styles that would allow me to not have to deal with it for some time. I went natural back in 2008 and have experimented a lot in the last 10 years. Now, with being a mom and just more responsibilities in general (i.e., less free time), I'm looking for simplicity in anything I can. That includes my hair. I also just think locs are beautiful. When I decided to loc my hair, I started a private board on Pinterest just for locs . I started watching YouTube videos on how to start them and maintain them, and found so many women on Instagram whose locs I admired. I made the appointment last month for starter locs in July (the loctician I went to was super booked and that was the soonest I could get. Mind you, I was super excited and having to wait was KILLING me Lol). I didn't even tell anyone, just my husband and my sister. I didn't want to give space for any possible negativity (you know how some people are and how they can be close-minded).

Here is a pic of my starter locs on Day 2. I pinned the coils up on one side.

pinned up on one side

Below are some pics of my hair before getting my starter locs, and how my hair is now with them. The loctician used the comb coil method and diamond parting (this parting method shows less scalp which is perfect for me because my hair isn't super thick - though it appears to be in pics - it's an illusion).

Protective Styling

I'm still allowing my hair to grow out and I'm just trying to keep it as healthy as possible. I love my twist outs but my hair tends to get dry really quickly the more I wear it out. My favorite protective style right now is a part on the side, with flat twists starting in the front and combining into a low bun in the back. I can leave my hair like this for a few days for no manipulation, and my ends are tucked away. Wearing your hair up with your ends protected as often as possible helps to eliminate dryness and excessive split ends. Some of my other favorite protective styles are a high bun/top knot or small- to medium-sized twists pinned in an updo.

A Look at 2016's Hairstyles So Far...

Anyone who knows me - or, let's be honest - knows OF me (Lol), knows that I love changing my hair up. It's a creative outlet for me. Some styles I have even done myself in the past, using YouTube and Pinterest as guides. So, here is a little fun post of some styles I've done this year so far (after deciding in November 2015 to grow out my shaved sides - yep, I shaved my hair).

Hair Growth Update

I have been loving my hair lately - which makes me feel so good because after 7 years of being natural, I was getting bored. I've gotten to a place now where I'm just enjoying taking care of my hair and letting it do what it does. My style as of late has been a twist and curl (2-strand twisting my hair and then curling the ends with perm rods).

In previous months, I was having a HUGE problem with excessive frizz. My hair would never frizz that bad before, so I knew something was up. It was DRY. I went to see a natural hair stylist (Carmen at Velvet Waves in Ellicott City, if you're in Maryland - she's amazing and so knowledgeable) - and she gave me so many helpful tips. Here is what I've been doing that has been working for me:

Hair Growth!

For those of you who follow me on other social sites, you know I shaved the sides and back of my hair around August/September of last year. I LOVED the style but the upkeep with having to constantly go to get it shaved down was a lot for me, and I also wanted to do my styles and started to feel limited. Since then, I've been wearing protective styles while I grow the sides and back out until I felt comfortable wearing it out again (weave for 2-3 months, then box braids). I also took my Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamins to help speed things along as quickly as possible (I'm impatient, I already know Lol). I'm loving my results!!

Last Friday I took my braids down, and Saturday I went to get it trimmed and got a twistout.