Wrapaloc Set

My wrapalocs orders consisted of 4 medium packs, 2 small packs and the instructional DVD. I washed my hair and then blow dryed it a little. Instead of a deep condition, I opted to use the SL cream moisturizer on each section of hair. I did NOT use any setting gel, foam or spray. I used about 35 small tools and 18 medium tools. To save time, I purposely used about 7-8 locks per tool with the exception of the front. Whether I actually saved time or not is definitely up for debate. I would say I spent about an hour putting the tools in. Another 20 minutes was spent gawking in the mirror and saying to myself, "What are you doing? This doesn't look anything like the instructions." So out the window went the benefit of not being able to see the tools in the hair.

I contemplated wearing a covering on my head the next day. But I played with the sections some more until my hair had more of a bantu knot look. Since under normal circumstances I don't know how to create bantu knots, I was perfectly fine with this look.


My co-workers sure know how to make a gal feel special. The compliments kept pouring in and I believe they thought the tools were some sort of hair ornaments. But since I was too self-conscious about the tools showing, I only wore them in for 1 day. When I took them out the next day, below is the result. Not bad for somebody who didn't follow directions.



So after all is said is done, is wrapalocs worth the money? I'll put it this way....
YES - if you love your soft spikes curler set but wish the curls would last a week or two longer.
NO - if you complained your soft spikes set was too curly and you purposely went out of your way to make the curls looser.

Pictured above, the curls have fallen after about 4 days. Since I don't see myself using the recommended 3 locks per tool right now, I am perfectly happy with my results. I'll reserve this for use in the future as my hair gets longer. However, I will strive to hide the tools more in the front next time so that I'll feel more comfortable wearing the bantu knot look a few more days.

On Having Longer Length

I get bored with the same old style very easily so finding new ways to style my hair is definitely not a problem. It's more of how long it takes to get these styles that is the problem. Fortunately, updos usually take no more than fifteen minutes. Such as the one in these photos. I've got my single plaits for braidouts down to about 30 minutes and I don't want to spend more than 45 minutes on roller sets. So this means I'll be using more locs on each roller and I'm perfectly fine with that. Since I just got my wrapalocs order, I won't have to worry about the curls not lasting long enough.

On the flip side, the chore of washing it was it was a bit overwhelming at first. I remember when it was nothing for me to come home after work and wash my hair in 15 minutes, towel it dry and be out of the house afterward. That ritual is truly a thing of the past. The new ritual is to wash the loc ends 2.5 times and then wash my scalp only for 2.5 times.

Condition it, moisturize it, and blow dry out some of the wetness. If I do a braid out or roller set, this entire process is at least 2 hours. But my scalp and locs are getting so much cleaner now. I've commented on a few blogs how the dandruff that was getting trapped in my locs was very frustrating. Something else that seems to be a thing of the past, I hope.

As for lint, what lint? No linty particles shall come near these locs I say! I am all about avoidance. I just prefer this approach instead of dying, cutting, scrubbing, etc. Consultants are quite surprised as I get commented quite frequently, "I see you don't have a lint problem." That's exactly how I intend to keep it.

Loving Accessories

Greetings everyone!! Length + maturity = I really get to enjoy my accessories to the fullest. Pictured above I'm wearing the Betty Davis Tomoka Twist. Sensational is all I have to say about this collection. As a matter of fact, it describes all of the pieces on the site. More sets are definitely in my future.

Below are a few pics of me wearing my Loc Soc. A different variation of how I wore it here in the summer. Versatility is so great.





As for washing, I took advantage of Chosenvessel's Komaza product post by going to the site and purchasing a few samples of the shampoo with emu and tea tree oil. Since it helps alleviate the itching and dandruff, I've splurged on a full bottle purchase. I have absolutely nothing against the Nizoral, but I would like to stick with natural remedies if possible. I will admit that I really don't look forward to washing my hair anymore. But that's just another one of the growing pains I guess.

At first I just knew I would keep growing my hair until I could at least sit on it. Strictly from a maintenance perspective, that probably won't happen. I'm pretty confident no hair cuts up until I hit my 4th year. After that, I'll just have to go with whatever feelings are driving me when that point in time gets here. In the meantime, I'll keep looking at Audrey's gorgeous Sisterlocks to help keep me motivated.

Self-retightening is still in the works. Despite the $250 for the SL training, I definitely have no regrets on taking the class in July of this year. Initially it's tedious but still liberating. Life happens and you never know when a situation is going to arise prompting you to have to give it a go yourself. My first try was over 30 hrs, the second was in the neighborhood of 20. I only have ambitions to get down to 10-14. In a couple of weeks, I'll have another try to see how close I come to getting there.

Class or no class, knowing that you can touch up your locks if needed is truly no understatement.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY HOLIDAYS

The Take Down

I wore the updo plaits for five days and received many compliments on it much to my delight. Turns out it was quite a hit and I had nothing to worry about in the first place. I'm even more pleased with my crinkly braidout result. Funny it kind of reminds me of my jeri curl do from back in the day. If it holds a little past the weekend then I will consider it a definite success. Since I did not use any setting lotion, I guess it will be interesting.

2 Year Update

I am over the blog lazies long enough to do my two year update. Yeah baby! The below collage is my two year growth compared to my day one installation.

Next are photos of this years growth compared to my one year growth.

Despite the ups, despite the downs, you all know the speech - I love my hair! To all the newbies, keep toughing it out. The growing pains don't last forever.

At first tonight was just a wash. Then I wanted to do something different so I decided to single plait for a crinkle look. I did this back in January and loved the volume but the style was gone the next day. Therefore I wanted to keep the plaits in for at least 2-3 days, but then there is work. I thought about wearing a Loc Soc but only as a last resort. After putting in the plaits, I remembered some advice I gave Chosenvessel a while ago and I started to pin up the plaits. It's a bit on the eclectic side but hopefully I can pull it off. I'll take my Loc Soc with me to work just in case. I'll wear this up style until early next week and maybe my crinkles will have a fair chance.





A little bit of length does come in handy. Whoohoo!

A Visit With Paulette

Yesterday I was in Detroit visiting with the very lovely Paulette. Her new shop Locks4Life is now open. The product junkie in me just couldn't resist buying a couple of Loc Socs from her new display. I've been wanting to try one for a while but the website has been under construction. Last I heard, some folks were still having trouble with the site so I'm not sure of its status. I guess it would be safe to send an email to the owner before making a purchase. They are advertised to be very very versatile.

Growing Into My Hairties

I couldn't be more excited that I'm able to sport the true pineapple look with my Brunsli Hairties. Today I wore the Amy for the first time since I bought it however many moons ago and decided to compare these photos against my Renee hairtie photos taken eight months ago. You can really see in the back how I can pull up the back locks so much higher and they are not constantly falling out of place.
When I wear my hair in a hairtie, curls or some other style and the implication of how come I don't wear it in these styles everyday really irks me. Of course
I shake it off but the nerve to imply my freestyle isn't good enough for daily wear does strike a bad nerve in me.
Oh yeah, I am 100% over my post-grooming freestyle jitters. It's on and poppin once again.

So What Am I Free From?

When we all made the decision to go with Sisterlocks, I'm sure there were plenty of reasons that motivated us to do so. We wanted to be free but free from what? Some say Sisterlocks are too costly and time consuming to offer any kind of freedom. But I think until you've been in a person's situation, you are in no position to pass judgement.

But for me, my #1 and #2 reasons to go with locks and subsequently Sisterlocks was to be free from that chemical damage of the relaxer. Not because I hated wearing my hair straight. Not because I never wanted to spend another penny paying for my hair to be done. Not because I never wanted to step foot in another beauty salon. Not because I look forward to doing my hair myself. Not because I was looking for a new fad hairstyle. Not because I was looking for some inner spiritualness of being black or to be a rebel against conformity and the white man. Do I receive some of these benefits? You betcha. But they weren't my primary motivators.

I WAS TIRED OF THE RELAXER DAMAGE AND GOING BALD BECAUSE OF IT.

Some of my other motivators in order of importance are below.

3. I didn't want to deal with my hair on a day to day basis.
4. I didn't want anymore combs going through my hair.
5. I want hair that's past my shoulders, healthy and mine. Not fake, glued or sewed in.
6. The same styling versatility that I received from wearing a relaxer.

I can't speak for anybody else, but I got the freedom I was looking for and a lot more extra.

Napptural Gathering in Cleveland

Whoohoo! A Napptural gathering where I only had to drive 20 minutes to get there courtesy of Ms. Cheleskilove. Everyone is so beautiful and down to earth. I loved seeing our natural diversity of hair and common bond that brought us together....self love to a higher power. When you're in the company of folks who know who they are, what they want and are on a mission to get it, I don't see how you can go wrong. I send much love and blessings to all of my new napptural buddies.

Love These Curls

From tight curl to loose curl, I love it either way. These curls are like the energizer bunny - they just keep going and going and going. Blaq honey, I finally see why you love your curls so much! I was looking in the mirror and told myself I could definitely do a curl set at least once a month. Prior, I was thinking every few months. Now that I've fallen in love with these curls, it's time to up the stakes.

I'll continue to stretch wearing my curls for another week by doing some flat twists in the front and then capping it off with a curly pineapple in a hairtie. You all know I've been waiting for this moment. I hope you can feel the excitement. I rejoice!

Soft Spike Curls

Recently, I finally ordered another pack of small Soft Spikes. My first roller set was in October and I really liked the way it turned out. My curls were going pretty strong for about a week and a half - with no setting lotion. But when I ran out of soft spikes, I was really scrounging around. I found a few sponge rollers and still didn't have enough of those. I had to make a couple foil rods to finish up the last sections.

But this time around, I was able to make smaller sections and frame my face much better without the stress of running out of curlers. It took me about an hour and a half to roll my hair and I did use Crinkles and Curls setting foam. Then sat under the dryer for about 40 minutes as an insurance for it to be dry in the morning. When I unrolled it in the morning, I didn't finger comb the curls or anything. I don't mind the Miss Poodle America look since I have serious issues with spending hours on my hair and having nothing to show for it the next day. I won't have to worry about that this time around.

I don't think the pictures have the best clarity, but with my hair texture - it is what it is. Thank goodness I can finally appreciate it.

18 Months

I wonder how many times can we say, "I am so in love with my hair!" before it sounds like a broken record. I never would have dreamed in a million years that everyday I am more in love with my hair than I was the previous day. I will also add freshly tightened roots is a nice pick-me-up as well.

After perusing the 3 year updates of Brunsli and Katika, I am doing the Maryee happy dance more so now than ever because I am half way there. The time is flying by so fast one day at a time. Feet don't fail me now.

Same Style, Slight Variation

Honestly, this is where my sister wanted to leave off initially. She started complaining how my hair was too thick and probably wanted to call it quits anyway. I'm sure my, "Not too tight, not too tight" every two seconds didn't help either. But I wanted to go for the more conservative look having the back braided up. Assuming you consider a mohawk conservative, lol. Plus I told my sister a few days later I could take the back down and have two hairstyles from one. So that's what I did. Voila!

Mohawk Do

Last night I attended a business gala and of course I pondered what to do with my hair. As I gave it some thought there was a set of requirements that I needed which included:
a) preferably an updo and something different
b) not doing it myself cause I'm too darn lazy
c) not going to the salon because I don't feel like putting forth the time or money
So I'm going over in my mind, how in the world do I satisfy this list? Thursday night I finally had my Eureka. Ask your little sister to style it for you! So thanks to my 19 year old sister, my Mohawk do came alive.



So as my sister is doing my hair and her, my mom, and I are talking, my mother tells me she ran into a lady I met about Sisterlocks. At first I thought Linda, but she said that name didn't sound familiar. Then my mom says, "I think you met her at Sam's Club." Now to jog you all's memory, I did the post about the lady I met at Sam's Club and I was so excited that she came up to me and asked if I had Sisterlocks.

So of course I asked my mother how did this connection happen. My mom told me they met at the doctor's office and as they were talking she told the lady that she gets her hair done in Detroit and the lady says:
Lady: You are the second person I met who gets their hair done in Detroit.
My mom: Well that's probably my daughter.
Lady: Tanya?
My mom: OMG! Yep.


All I can say is wow!

Somebody Caruso'd Her Hair

Yep ladies. A few weeks ago I bought a caruso set and decided to make a debut while having lunch with Linda yesterday. The gadget was way more easier to use than I was expecting. Since it was my first time, I dedicated an hour to get my curls. Unfortunately, I needed more time. But I didn't want to be late meeting Linda so I had to leave a small corner near the top unrolled. Plus I was getting very frustrated that it was taking me so long. I said screw whether this is healthy for my locks everyday...ain't no way in the world I'm going to dedicate an hour to curling my hair everyday. I figure if I had more small rollers, that might shave off 20 minutes or so. But even 30-45 minutes daily is too much maintenance for me. Two minutes a day has spoiled me rotten! Despite my griping, I did enjoy the bumped look very much. But I'll definitely need some curls that will be able to go the distance. Soft Spikes here I come...............................

Before

After

The Renee

Again, not in the mood for freestyle. I do that all week for work. I needed an updo. Chic, but not necessarily fancy. I tried a black headband I bought from Target six months ago. Back then, I didn't think my locks were long enough for it because it made me look crazy. Today, the headband gave me what I call the "wild child" look. I was sooo in the mood to work this look today. But something was still missing from the look. I needed more uumphf. Why not go for a hair tie? So I traded the headband for the Renee and voila! A little wild, unique, and chic. I absolutely love it.

I'm About to Pass Out

I'm so happy I stumbled on Sunsail's blog and took a minute to browse around. Her blog has a link to Renaissance Hairtopia in Brooklyn, New York. The styles on this site are so drop dead gorgeous I'm about to pass out. Now this is why I'm always moaning and groaning about wishing I had more length. I am beyond inspired. I hope you all are too. Thanks for sharing!

Breaking up the Boredom

Don't get me wrong. I love my freestyle. But it gets a bit boring for me sometime. That's why I crave for longer hair so I will have more styling options. So today I was off to the salon. My hair is long enough for me to experiment with a braidout or caruso set. But if I don't get over my laziness, God only knows when I'll be wearing them.

Ode to the Original Rastas

I browsed through Tai's photos from his trip to New York via Brunsli's blog and I felt extremely proud for two reasons. For one, I was definitely in touch with the Ode to the OR's (Original Rastas) which made me very aware of the evolution that has taken place within the dreadlock circle. One one side of the spectrum, you have the organic locks that require no extra manipulation to the other end of the spectrum with the manicured locks, locks that are meticulously crafted to be very neat and precise. My conclusion is that up until the manicured came along, most folks are probably somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. But whatever one's style or preference, how could he or she have got there without the organics paving the way? Without Bob Marley paving the way??? So that's one major point I took away after looking at the slide show.

The other is, I'm apart of the new evolution to manicured locks. I absolutely love my locks and I wear them ever so proudly everyday. I don't regret a damn thing about my Sisterlocks decision. So for any OR's who think that these aren't real locks or not truly representing, that's a crock of you know what. I think of it as an evolution that was bound to naturally take place based on cultural and market demands. Manicured locks represent a niche that was just waiting to be tapped! Manicured is to dreadlocks what Hip-hop is to music ---> not going anywhere. I am so proud to be right in the heart of this upswing take off. Perhaps in ten years I'll be in somebody's slideshow with admirers from afar.

My Latest Hair Accessory

Yesterday I made a very fun, rewarding and impromptu trip to Paramount's King's Island near Cincinnati, Ohio with my cousin and her son. So for $5 and a guess of October instead of April for my birthday month, I've got a new fashion hat. I think little bit of couture every now and then is good for the locks.


And one more thing, thank goodness I no longer have to be afraid of the water rides when I go to amusement parks. My cousin wouldn't stop about how she just couldn't get her hair wet and yadda yadda yadda. The more she ranted about this through out the day, the more I said to myself, "Thank goodness that's a ship I'm no longer sailing."