29 July 2012

Colour: Loc Trial Review

Hurrah for experimentation. I quite enjoyed my loc colouring experience and was surprised at how straight forward the process was with the right knowledge and preparation.

An overall good effort. I achieved a notable colour difference, learnt how to lighten and colour locs and most importantly, came one step closer to finding my desired shade. FéRria Plum was exactly what I got but unfortunately it wasn't the colour pictured on the box and was too dark for me. I was hoping for a rich deep red but we didn't quite make it. Let me explain:

Deep Auburn Red
Red has a rediculously wide spectrum and it's easier to say what I don't want than what I do. Firstly, I don't want red with any orange tint. In fact I strongly dislike orangey-red, redy-orange and the like! I also don't want red with any pinky/purple tint.

Intense Red
So what next? Well L'Oréal hasn't failed me yet so I thought I'd move onto a brighter shade in their FéRia collection but then I discovered their Hicolor for dark hair only line and I'm keen to give it a go. Deep Auburn Red, Light Auburn or Intense Red. I can only go by online swatches which isn't ideal but hey, this is trial and error right?

Light Auburn Red
Deep Auburn Red looks like the exact perfect shade I want however in reality it may come out too dark, so perhaps the Light Auburn, but does that look too orange?! Intense Red 'implies' more red that the auburn but the swatch looks ever so slightly pink to me. Oh I don't know...

How about getting Deep Auburn Red AND Intense Red? I can mix the two if it looks too dark.


DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

**Photography ownership is held with memebers at L'Oreal co.**

25 July 2012

Loc Spot: Festival Locs

Festival season in full swing so I ventured south by train to a fabulous event in central Gloucester.

Gloucester Park: Live was home to serval talented UK artists as well as California's very own We Are Scientists. And off stage I spotted a handful of festival loc'ers basking in the sun and enjoying the sounds.

I had to be super subtle with my camera but enjoy:



If you don't already know, dreadlocks are still quite rare in parts of the UK. There are limited places to get information about them but their popularity seems to be on a slow incline. I'm glad I got to spot some of the my local loc wearers.

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

**photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. Do Not use without permission. If you are in the above photography and would like your picture removed please leave a comment below.**


23 July 2012

Colour: Loc Trial

I decided to dye the locs just behind my ear and near my temple, they're out of the way but still in a good enough place for me to see what I'm doing in the mirror.

What I used:
  • L'Oréal Paris FéRia - P37 Booster Plum Power
  • MAY's 6% (20 vol) Cream Developer
  • Trulites Tz Rapid white Powder Bleach
  • Sweet Almond oil
  • 1 Glass Bowl
  • 1 Tint Brush
  • 1 pair of Latex Gloves
  • Aluminium foil

20 July 2012

Colour: Past & Present

I have to admit before I started my journey and wrote about my dread aspirations I left out one thing that is very important to me:

5. To Sucessfully Colour My Locs Red.*

17 July 2012

She's Gone Natural Too

It's quite the occasion in the hair community when someone makes the decision to go natural and few decisions are more significant than when they're made by someone close to you.

My mom had struggled with what to do with her hair for much of this year but she finally decided that a lengthy transition wasn't for her and instead bid her perm adieu and scheduled a big chop.

Then (2008)


Then (2011)

&

Now (2012)

She hasn't confirmed any concrete plans for herself yet but she does aim to improve the overall health and thickness of her hair in the coming years.

Well done mom!

-NaturaLocs

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DONOT use without permission.**

13 July 2012

Thinning: Oil Haul

So this thinning issue had me scouring the net for information about the success of castor oil on natural hair and later for price comparisons. After failing to find an affordable price I decided to head for my local afro hair shop and purchased a couple of potentials...



Africa's Best Ulitmate Herbal Oil: Not exactly what I planned to pick up but having read the back of the bottle carefully I found it to contain only natural oils and extracts and for the price it seemed a worthwhile venture. It also contains castor oil anyway.

West Indian Castor Oil: Now, I did see this brand online and it was cheaper than the most popular brand - Jamaican Black Castor Oil - (by more than half!) and at this particular shop it was even cheaper still. The one thing I was weary of is the lack of a ingredients description anywhere on the bottle, but it claims to be castor oil nonetheless so in the basket it went.

Side note: I have been using a different brand of sweet almond oil for around three weeks now and I feel that the quality is much better than the previous brand I had purchased online. I received it as a gift from my grandmother. It came wih a detailed leaflet and I think you can purchase a vast array of oils at absolute-aromas.com.

Finally, I'm still using lavender essential oil in my daily spritz. No more than 3 drop as it can over power anything which is useful when using castor oil. As you can see it's a well loved  20ml bottle on the right. This is another oil given to me by my grandmother. Couldn't say where she gets it from because she just pops round and "tops up" my bottle from time to time.

I did a hot oil treatment using the Africa's Best and West Indian castor oil this weekend. Now I'm applying the castor oil to the affected area daily. Check out my previous post to see the thinning.

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DONOT use without permission**

8 July 2012

Week 13: Thinning?

It's rare that I take successful pictures of the hair at the back of my head but these days you can find information on virtually anything, check out Nappy Headed Black Girl's post  How to Take Pictures of Your Hair.

Unfortunately during my most resent effort I discovered a thinned patch at the nape of my neck.

(click picture to enlarge)

what my nape line looks like now

It's just occurred to me that my hat and nightly head scarf both rest on the nape of my neck and that wearing them everyday may be causing the problem. I can't be certain but I do wear my head scarf tightly and it's probably no coincidence that this is the only affected area. 

I can feel some hair back there it's just very fine and wispy.

Ho-Hum. I have never dealt with this issue before and it's quite alarming, however, all moping aside, my immediate thoughts are; change to an elasticated satin bonnet and invest in some hair growth improving caster oil.

I just hope the damage is reversible...

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission**

3 July 2012

Month 3

Today marks the third month in my dreadlocking journey, which is in fact a quarter of a year!

I must say, things are progressing nicely overall. In the past thirty days I have experienced the advantages of additional hair care and noticed increased budding and shrinkage which, although a good sign, is also a tad frustrating because one day I can twist and tuck and pin to my hearts content and the next they're barely long enough lie down properly. I haven't been able to do flat twists since last month - click here.


shrinkage
 
Nevertheless, I am really enjoying my hair like this. It's strong, soft and sprouting. Things are so straight forward right now, I know what to do with them and the maintenance fits into my schedule:

Week 1 (weekend): wash, moisturise, retwist.
Week 2 (most days): moisturise.
Week 3 (weekend): start over.

My hair is continuing to mesh and I'm now able to exercise without retwisting. Towards the mid-point in my fortnightly routine my twists swell and look rather unruly but I don't mind the contrast. I still have several locs at the back that need extra help with rubber bands but the front, sides and crown are well on their way.

So far I haven't been entirely happy with the appearance of my baby locs at this length but this month I've grown to appreciate them as a style in themselves. With a little more length and accessories a go, I will wear my baby locs proudly:

(click picture to enlarge) 
scarf accessory from a local charity shop



DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission.**