(almost) 1 Year Natural: Shrinkage and a length check

Quick post. It's been a long and fruitful year. Here are a few photos of my current length and how well shrinkage disguises it.

From the fro where it all began to now:

soon to be 1 year natural approx. 5th Jan 2013

re-dyed with adore intense red (71)

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

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Month 8

Well don't things look different this month? Since month seven my spirit has been expressing itself quite vividly and I've chosen to go with it for now. As you can see, the external results have been bigger hair and intensive shrinkage. I combined a few locs in the back using loc beads or rubber bands but after about a week I got tired of the rubber bands and untwisted and backcombed or palm rubbed the roots instead. Several of them have meshed and matted about an inch along and I have one loc that has formed very nicely since the end of summer:

new favourite loc: it's so sponge-like

Other locs are still figuring things out:

I used a homemade rosemary rinse for the first time and I'm quite pleased with the results. My hair felt soft and smells great with no additional oil so I'll continue with a wash and go approach and look out for any signs of progress. In all honesty I suspect my locs are maturing at a considerably slow rate but I'm still hopeful. I had three compliments from people who "love my hair", one person wanted to touch it and a stranger was grinning at me in such a strange way as he asked what I "call that hairstyle". I think he may have been mocking me...

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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Week 33: How d'you clean dem dreads?

If you've been keeping up with my journey over the last seven months you'll know that I don't use shampoo or conditioner on my baby locs so I thought I'd do a quick post on what I use to wash my hair instead.

Now you may be thinking, how have you survived for so long without shampoo? Well I was plenty skeptical at first but it's become quite normal now. I guess the main reason I stopped using shampoo was for fear of loc buildup from various ingredients that I still don't know much about. I also haven't yet used a shampoo or conditioner that actually delivers what it promises, even products specifically designed for afro hair weren't dazzling. What I use now leaves me with clean, healthy hair that feels light and manageable.

Products:

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)
Baking Soda
Aloe Vera Gel

Method:
Once I wet my head with warm water, I apply a runny paste made with a 2:1 ratio of, ACV:Baking soda, through my scalp (going row by row to ensure complete coverage). I then massage and gently scrub my scalp until I'm ready to rinse (alt: leave on using a shower cap for up to 20 minutes before rinsing). I follow up by massaging the aloe gel onto my scalp (once again row by row) and spread it onto my hair. After massaging for a further 5 minutes I rinse thoroughly in very cool water and I'm done!

It's a bit of process but here's how I prep the aloe vera gel on those days where I have time for a bit of luxury cleansing:

You can clean your hair with the aloe alone or you might try adding it to your current shampoo. Goes well with a herbal rinse too. (simmer herbs in boiling water for 10-20 minutes, strain and use water when cooled)

Click the link for a video on a Rosemary Rinse

Aloe uses:
Face mask
Shaving gel (tried and tested)
Antiseptic
Anti-inflamitory
Personal lubricant (who knew)
Edible ingredient (food & beverages)
Laxative
Teeth cleaning
...to name a few


Oh and before I forget, I recently came across a short page of information and discovered that my cleansing method is considered to be a 'no-poo' approach. Never knew it had a name lol. Click here to have a read.

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DONOT use without permission. Slideshow made at photosnack.**

Week 32: Weekend Update

Want to know what's going on in Naturalocs' corner of the world? Well I thought I'd jot down a couple of the things that I've been up to this weekend.

First up, I've been ebay-ing like crazy. I don't know why but every now and then I look in my clothes dresser and see nothing but black, white and dark blue or purple. I love colour but I never see anything that really works for me and I never pay full price for anything these days. Here's what's caught my eye lately.

They should arrive soon woohoo!


Secondly, I found a nice little job for the Christmas holidays and finally started last Sunday:

I've never worked in retail before but I have say it's be pleasant so far. I'm looking forward to being part of the Christmas cheer working in the centre of my city. Oh and if any of the hostile, short tempered customers are reading: please be nice, we want you to enjoy Christmas too!

Thirdly and finally, I joined a small and friendly choir a few months ago and yesterday was our first 2012 winter concert performing the highly famed Carmina Burana: a selection of secular medieval poems set to music by Carl Orff in 1935-36. I sang second soprano:

Ii was incredibly enjoyable and had a surprisingly big audience. It was worth all the hard work. I insist you experience a choir at some point. Find out where the nearest carol sing-a-long is and bring a friend!

That's it for now. Busy, busy, busy. As you can see I've been rockin' the headband look this week and I'm glad my little dreads have been part of the fun.

-Peace

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

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

Month 7

Oh boy it feels like a long time coming but here we are. Seven months in and they're beginning to move y'all! I predict they'll be swaying by month twelve. Yeah I can see it - "oh sorry is my hair your way?" *flick* teehee.

So, it appears my locs are in transition. Following some of the issues I was experiencing a couple of weeks ago I've since taken down my two headed locs and re-coiled them thanks to the advice shared by friends over at Loc and Roll, My Baby Girls Curls and My Africa is Showing. Shrinkage is here one minute and gone the next and the buds are increasing and expanding. I think I'm getting a case of the fuzzies too:



fuzzay-wuzzay

My locs drink up water like there's no tomorrow. They look a lot like this after a couple of days using my water and oil spray:

swollen buds

I love the results of palm-rolling and I've learnt it's all in the technique. If I palm-roll congruently from root to tip, in time, they'll grow more uniformly:

 

freshly palm-rolled

Here's how my braided loc is coming along. I like this one because I can feel just how much new growth I'm getting and I haven't had to maintain it since it was installed two months ago:

I'm trimming regularly, especially since I'm starting to get those single strand knots hanging at the ends, but my hair is around 3-4" long now yayy!

Peace.

DREADLOCKS...

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