Saturday, December 22, 2007

What styles can be done with new freeform locks?

So, what styles can be done with new freeform locks? Not many that I know of. I can only think of wearing headbands, wraps, or scarves, so I wanted to see how I look in a few.




Don't really care for that tan color.






I have a few scarves I have that I may wear also.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

2 1/2 months: Buds, Separation, and Thoughts

Well, it's been 2 1/2 months, and my hair is definitely locking. I took a few pics straight in from work.







That pic of the back of my head is cool to me, didn't know my hair looked like that from behind. Here are a couple of pics of some baby locks.






It's cool to me watching them develop. That second pic may look like unlocked hair, but the bottom 1/2 of that one definitely feels different than the top unlocked portion. I also took a few pictures of my hair wet after being shampooed. I think it's easier to tell that my hair is locking when it's not completely dry.





After I shampoo my hair, I separate it. Here is how my hair looks before it's separated.





I feel kind of torn about separating the hair. It really feels like I am stressing it too much. Sometimes I feel that if my hair were shorter, or I were separating into larger sections it would be easier. I feel like it's taking too long to separate the hair. Looking at that last picture, I can see why sometimes it seems crazy, like I don't even know where to start. I didn't have this problem previous times I tried to lock my hair via freeform. I just waited for buds to form, and separated from there. This time, I am trying to separate the coils in my hair, and it's not always easy.

Also, I can't really imagine myself with long thin locks, I think that larger locks would look better long. But with short hair, I imagine that smaller locks would look better. I don't know, I'm confusing myself again. Maybe I can just separate once a week instead of every time I wash my hair. It seems like I am focusing too much on my hair, when in locking my hair, my goal was the opposite, to not give too much attention to it. I don't know why I always do this -- find something wrong with my hair. Dammit, girl, it's not rocket science. Whatever you do to your hair, if you don't comb it, it will lock. You know that, now live it.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

My Hair Looks Good

I was in the cafeteria at work today when I saw a friend that I hadn't seen in awhile. We talked awhile to catch up. She then told me, "I love your hair. It's so ... " and then made this motion with her hands. I laughed and said thanks. My hair leaves people speechless. I later told my husband what my friend said, and he replied "You have nice hair. It looks good." *BLUSH* Of course I love my hair, but it's nice to hear other people like it too.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Freeform Dreads are Lazy

I went to a friend's birthday party this week. At the party, another person asked me questions about my hair. Simple questions like how I take care of it, how do I comb it, how do I deal with the knots in my hair.

Well, I just wash, condition, and oil it. It's pretty easy." I said.
"Well, isn't it hard to comb when you finally comb it out?"
"I don't comb it because I'm locking my hair."
"Well how will you know how big they will be, how many you'll have?" She has a worried and slightly disgusted look on her face.
Sigh. "I separate my hair after I wash it, so it will be the size I want it to be."
"Well, you know you can go to somebody who can start dreads for you, right? They will do them for you and they will look nice." Little miss expert.
"Yes, I know. But this is the way I want to do it. It's simple, and it costs less."

She didn't say anything else about that subject. Several things I want to say about this conversation. First of all, why, oh why do people who don't have dreadlocks want to give you advice on dreadlocks? I cannot count the number of times when I have told someone that I was locking my hair, and got all kinds of advice on how to start them, not to wash my hair for X weeks/months, to use beeswax, to go to so and so every 2 weeks to get my hair twisted, etc. And they don't even say it like, "so and so has locks and he told me blah blah blah." They say it like they personally have done X, Y, Z, and know for sure that it grows great locks. It irritates me to no end.

Second of all, there was this implication when talking with her that you can't just grow dreads. You have to go somewhere and get them done, or do something with the hair to have nice dreads. If not, they will look like you know what. I guess part of this is ignorance, and I can't fault her for that. If everybody she knows goes to get them done, I guess she wouldn't know another way. Maybe it's part of black women's culture that you have to go to the beauty salon and get your hair "done" every few weeks. I don't know, I'm still trying to figure it out. If not wanting to go to a salon and have someone else be in control of my hair is lazy, I guess I'm lazy. If only having to wash, condition, oil, and separate is lazy, I guess I'm lazy.