Update: Locs After Swimming

Hey everyone, I recently responded to a question from a dear pen pal of mine, oceangrins. She wrote:

"So, I gotta ask, how did the sea water treat your hair? Did sand get stuck in your dreads? Was it easy to wash the sand and sea salt out?"

So yeah this month I went swimming in the ocean for the first time with locs. I'm pleased to say I seem to have suffered no adverse effects from the week I spent splashing around. I rinsed my hair after each session and left it in a half basket weave style until I got home.

During the week my hair was feeling particularly soft instead of dry like I'd expected and even the debris I was expecting didn't cause an issue. I imagine this was due to the fact that we only swam near rocky coastlines, avoiding sandy beaches completely, and aside from the water in that region being naturally clear to begin with, I think the lack of conventional products like gels or waxes enabled the residual salt to wash away more easily.

When I got home I decided to give my hair a good deep cleanse just to be safe. After rinsing my hair thoroughly I went on to spray it with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and baking soda (approx. 200ml : 1/4 tsp) and sat with a shower cap for around three hours before washing it all out with Cream of Nature's Kiwi and Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo. I then decided to re-colour my hair (temporary dye) and condition it with raw virgin coconut oil before letting it air dry.

My scalp and roots felt better immediately though it took a day or two for softness to come back due to the acidity of the apple cider vinegar.

Here I'd just taken out my style some days after getting back from my trip:

Apple cider vinegar and baking soda solution applied:

Quick clip of me washing my locs:

 

  

Rinsed thoroughly and shampooed in hot water with Cream of Nature shampoo:



Hair clean and lightly towel dried ready to be re-dyed:

Finished results - I decided to retwist just to get more length after all that shrinkage though I fell asleep in the clips (-__-) and they all ended up swooped to one side:

before

after

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Tips: Moisture Vs. Buildup

Following my previous post where I mentioned steaming my locs and returning to coconut oil, I'd like to throw a few lessons or quick tips about oil, water, moisture and buildup out there for anyone who might need them.


I've learnt that;

1. Products need not be used on a daily basis as is popular with a lot of us.
2. Loc'd, braided or plaited hair holds products between the intertwined hair strands very easily. Have you ever removed cornrows or braids after 6 weeks and found that all sorts of debris was trapped too?
3. Only water moisturises our hair. It's makeup (hydrogen, oxygen and some natural minerals) is able to seep into open cuticles in the hair shaft. Heated water and steam are the most common ways to open the cuticles.
4. Virtually all products can seal in moisture by lying over the cuticles of damp hair just like a sealant would over a crack. But like a sealant they also seal out moisture. Thicker products like leave-in conditioners, waxes, pomades and some gels, will also seal out oxygen. When these products are reapplied daily it leads to buildup and eventually weakened hair. Once the buildup is there it's removability is entirely dependent on the type and quantity of the products used and how mature your locs are.
5. When we find a product that really works, it should work for more than a day. Applying products once a week or once a fortnight will decrease the chances of buildup.
6. At different times throughout the year your hair will need more moisture but not necessarily more oil (or product). Increasing usage of a spritz solution to get more moisture increases the risk of buildup by reapplication of product without shampooing. If you try using oil and water separately you can control how much of each is going onto your hair.
7. Sometimes the scalp becomes dry and some oils are known to help treat it. If oil and water is used separately you can apply oils exclusively to the scalp without over saturating your hair and risking buildup. In reverse, you can apply oil to damp hair without creating a greasy scalp. Harder to do when the two are sprayed together.
8. Other ways to retain moisture include, covering hair with satin or silk and avoiding contact with other fabrics, protecting hair from extreme temperatures, using shampoos with lower amounts of sulphate (choosing specifically "moisturising" shampoos should help), minimising "clarifying" shampoos to once or twice a year (incl. apple cider vinegar and lemon juice), and drinking as much water as possible everyday.

£3.99 from DolphinFitness.co.uk

In my experience:

Going from starter locs through to my first year, my views on the popular oil and water spritz combinations and moisture vs. buildup have changed and developed. You can never really know exactly what your locs are going to do in your climate until you go through all the seasons and experience it for yourselves.

For me I'm finding I get better results when I use oil and water separately rather than together. At first it felt like the spritz idea was working great but throughout the previous winter it just didn't help at all. I became frustrated with having to spray my hair three or more times a day just to make it feel soft. It felt like my hair was either dry or constantly damp.

I've come to the conclusion that as oil and water don't mix (even when agitated) it's not possible to get an even spritz of oil and water every time I use it. In reality some locs will get more oil or water than others if any at all. So unlike commercial solutions it's a little hit and miss. When I apply coconut oil on already damp hair with my hands it reacts differently. I find that the distribution is more even and the effects last longer. I use less and I don't get buildup or a greasy feeling.

Even if they aren't visible, oils will stay in your hair until they're washed out with shampoo (sulphates are known for stripping oil). Since my shampoo is specifically moisturising (lower on sulphate too) my method is: oil or shampoo, not both. If I've rinsed without shampoo I will use oil. If I've washed with shampoo I won't use oil. Obviously if it were a standard shampoo or a clarifying shampoo like Head & shoulders, Dr. Bonner's or Suave, the oils would be necessary.

 

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Update: Progress

Just a quick one....

I've recently started using coconut oil again having finally replaced last year's purchase with a different brand that is 100% raw and unrefined. The scent has really grown on me and now that I'm comfortable with the shampoo I'm using (always diluted), I feel confident using the oil without fear of buildup, though I use it sparingly as I've become accustom to how light and clear my locs feel.

Link to quick tips regarding oils, water, moisturising, and buildup in my next post.

Today I returned to the steam room and sauna I visited last year and decided to steam my hair using the coconut oil and a shower cap. I steamed for about 3hrs before putting on the oil and cap. After another hour I rinsed thoroughly, first in warm water then cold water before towel drying. Tonight my locs feel baby soft and smell lovely. To read last year's entry click here.

 

My locs are coming along. The ends are starting to seal and their density is increasing. I'm not sure why it is exactly but I can tell my locs are changing. In the last week or so they're beginning, just beginning to behave a little better. The back half doesn't stick up as brutally as before and it appears more 'styled' in the mornings. For the past few days I feel like I can just about get up and go.

I'm washing my hair a few times a week to keep them fresh between workouts but of course this year they hold their own with ease. The only thing is I think the frequent moisture is preventing the inch towards the roots from loc'ing up but I'm not fighting with it this time just as long as they keep growing. They'll pick up eventually.


That's all for now.



DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Month 4

Four months, really?!! This month may have been the most complex to date. I previously posted about my Colour: Loc Trial and the experiment ended adequately with two deep conditions and a re-twist. I received my order of L'Oreal HiColor but went off the idea of colouring again until next year.

For the past three weeks I've been hitting the gym regularly and came to a compromise between my hair and exercise regimes. I rinsed my hair most days of week and gave the maintenance a break. My locs were transformed! Most had unravelled and swelled out of control. During this time I decided that I had far too many locs and that I wouldn't mind making them thicker and fewer while they were in this state. Gathering adjacent locs together with rubber bands I planned to twist them at a later date.

After each rinse they seemed to lock tighter feeling moisturised but very firm (what I imagine very mature locs to feel like). Everyday I looked at my hair and wondered if this was true progress. You see my confusion came from a combination of grey hairs and suspected buildup that I couldn't distinguish between. Nonetheless I continued to exercise, rinse and hope for the best.

August 1st arrived and I decided it was time to go through the previously sectioned locs and start my maintenance again. For some reason I suddenly got the over powering urge to inspect my loc'ed ends more closely and cut off one tip! I was shocked, there was buildup, but how? I cut another, again! And another, the trend continued.



buildup at the ends

I cut most of the tips that were hard and each one was soiled. I came to the conclusion that instead of tightly loc'ed hair matting together, I had tightly locked build up matting together. I'd also managed to completely ruin my parts while trying to combine locs so I said enough was enough.

One baking soda, lemon juice and water scrub later I was ready to get to work. I called in on my mother's helping hands and after first conditioning with coconut oil and then with olive oil she set to work re-parting and re-twisting my hair.

I had 107+ at first count. I now have 74 thick twists. Slightly short after their trim but healthy and clean.



before

after

What caused the buildup? I can't be certain. At first I thought it was the exercise sweat but surely rinsing had helped. I then wondered if it was the lock & twist gel I had started my locs with. I only used it for a week but it would explain why only the tips were effected. Either way I've discarded the tub and continue to use only oil & water. I will also be washing my hair every two days and exercising without a head wrap so more sweat can evaporate as I cycle home from the gym and it get pretty windy.

Dealing with buildup? Check out Quotidianlight's highly informative video below:

Also take a look at my post: Tips: Baby Locs Problem Solved.

Oh what fun. You thought my journey was sounding too easy? Well there you have it. I was quite deflated to say the least but let's think ahead to month 5 for a length comparison.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission. Videography material is publicly available on YouTube**

Tips: Baby Locs Problem Solved

It's a new and exciting process in the beginning but as the weeks and months pass we come across unexpected problems that can be frustrating and embarrassing to deal with. Adopting basic hair care habits as soon as possible can solve many of the following loc issues.