Markings of a New Me!

Alas....I can no longer call myself loc'd lady....but don't be sad for me, no, instead, be happy, rejoice if you must, for....I have taken down my locs and rejoined the ranks of loose natural hair. Sure, it took 4 days to accomplish this feat, but it is well worth it, in my humblest opinion, and all of this was done with a mere rat tooth comb, a spray bottle of water and olive oil, and some conditioner.

Here is a picture of when I took down the first loc, my hair is stretched to show length.....

And here is when a set were completed (By set, I mean at least 10).

Another set, my hair stretched to show length

This is when I put some conditioner on my hair so that it could help in softening my locks and repairing them. I left the conditioner on for 30min.

In this picture, my hair wasn't completely down.....I had to go to a BBQ and I wasn't about to miss it...(Jeema throws some good BBQ's), so I washed the conditioner out of my hair and put some light Pooka oil on it and threw it in a pony puff.

Here is the result of all of my hair being taken out....two pony puff pigtails and a very happy smile!

Tonight, I'm going to pre-poo, using Vatika oil and Amla Oil. I really enjoy the oils, although they do have a certain.....smell about them, but they are really lovely for the hair.

Meh....I know I look rough, but I mean really, should I put on my glamour and make it look like I've gone out for tea and scones with the girls, or should I look like I'm really at home, taking down locs? I choose the second, and sometimes the latter of the matter.

I know that most of you probably have questions as to why I took them down, so, feel free to ask away! Ta ta for now!

Starting to be that time......

What time, exactly?

Well, from what people who have locs/dreads/dreadlocks (whichever term they choose to use with theirs) have told me of a time when things get a bit.....ugly.

Ugly, as in fuzziness, random budding, stray hairs, the lot, actually.........and I think that my time has finally come.

On the 14 August 2011 (duh, this year) will be my 8th month loc'd, and I have enjoyed it thus far, even though I get a bit........nostalgic about my loose hair and my puffs, twist outs and such, but loc's just suit me better at the moment.

These are my roots....I suppose....it's a bit fuzzy....lol

Natural ways to Dye Hair

I'm big on dying my hair, changing colours whenever I feel the time is appropriate (Mainly, when I get a feel of how free I can be with my hair and whatnot at a certain job).

One day, I came across a recipe to naturally bleach my hair. Yes, I said it. I naturally bleached my hair.

HOW?

Well, with cinnamon and conditioner. I, of course, added a few extra things (honey and paprika--paprika because I wanted it to have a slightly red tint before I completely finished the dying process) to add a bit of spiciness to the hair. You are supposed to leave the product on overnight, but seeing as I can't stand the smell, nor the taste of cinnamon, I simply couldn't comply with said instruction. Instead, I left it on for about 9hrs. The results weren't bad, for my hair lightened a bit, and then I used Henna on my hair, which helped to give my hair a red tint. My friend said that she could see the red in my hair when the sun light touched my hair jussssst right. I used 250ml (1 cup) of conditioner to 3 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp paprika and 2tsp honey

So, here is what you'll need:

Cinnamon

Conditioner

Optional:

Honey

Paprika

Here's the instructions on Henna.

I get henna from the local Indian market across the road from my house. I get it in all natural powder form. It's best to get your henna from a reliable Indian/Middle Eastern market because those already sold in jars (in powder form) have been tampered with. With the henna, I squeezed the juice from some lemons and added paprika (see, miracle powder)

Henna

Juice of Lemons:

Paprika (see picture above)

This mixture I had to let it set over night at room temperature. (Which means I put it in my kitchen on the floor near the bakers rack) and the next morning I applied it all over my hair, and the part that had been "bleached" previously has a more reddish ruddy tint to it.

ALWAYS REMEMBER! Follow up your henna treatment with a good DEEP CONDITIONER, or your hair will forever hate you! It will be hard and brittle to the touch. I always leave mine in for 25-30 minutes under a towel(s). My deep conditioners usually consist of conditioner (duh), honey, and castor oil/olive oil.

All in all, this is a 2 day process.....so don't start it without having any free time......