Month 14

Hello to all of you old and new. I've been on this journey to loc'dom for fourteen months today. Though the changes are subtle from month to month I think my locs are maturing at a steady pace these days. They're still unruly and shrinkage is still with us but my hair has been considerably more managable recently.

Research into loc extensions has firmly drawn to a close. I found it to be an expensive affair wherever I turned. Buying the hair for a DIY job is pricey and seemingly hard to find and salons (or even at home hair enthusiasts) charge hundreds if not a £1000 or more for installation! Although a worth while investment for some, I had to ask myself; (as I do with most purchases being on student budget) what is the value of true contentment...?

...And so I wait for length. The locs in the back are surpassing those in the front in growth and maturity but developments are happening all over. My locs feel different every month. Now they feel firmer than before, less spongy somehow. They're certainly a long way from the hollow coils I started out with and the compact density really makes them look like locs.

shrinkage and bed head

I used to get a lot of straggly loose hair at the tips when
I washed them but I palm-rub it back in often

On occasion I catch myself toying with thoughts of what I'd do if my hair were loose but it still doesn't really appeal to me. To be honest I don't know if my locs really appeal to me at this stage either but I'm growing with them and I do see potential.

I've seen a good many loc wearers in and around my home town recently (probably due to the warmer weather) and it's really opened my eyes to how popular this style is in the UK. But no matter how many loc'ers I see, somehow dreads still achieve that individual look. I've observed moderate uniformity and trends that various loc wearers prefer but they're all worn in very different ways. Now that I think about it, it's the years of growth and maturity that make them appear so individual and I'm sure baring through without extensions will be just as rewarding. Even when they're groomed and moulded consistently they grow naturally according to who that person is.

I like that.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Colour: Last Minute Change

Just a current update as my hair colouring trials continue. I'm totally amped for going red at fifteen months and I'm hoping the abrupt change will help me abstain from extensions.

You already know that last week I recoloured my test subject (baby loc in the back) but this time instead of Adore in Intense Red I opted for Crimson from the same band, hence the super bright results in my last post.

Side Note: It's been really annoying having randomly coloured locs coloured with differing shades of red for the past 9 months and so many times I've wanted to dye it all black just so it won't look so 'experimental' because I wear as it is so often. The lengths I go to eh?

But anyway having now tried three shades of red I found that they all had a very, very pink undertone meaning that in natural light it looks pink too. I've managed to avoid the orangey, fire red that I feared back in beginning but the pinky tones have bothered me so much I just had to give up and look for a different brand.

I researched all over again and settled on a handful of semi-permanent brands to try. They included Pravana, Ion, and Fudge Paintbox but non were easy get my hands on.

Now I've learnt that the simplest way to gauge what undertone a (red) dye has (if the bottle isn't clear plastic) is to either smear a drop onto a piece of white paper or mix a drop into a glass of water. If you hold either the paper or the glass up to the light it'll be clear whether you have a pink-red or an orange-red. It does mean having to buy a sample in order to test it but all hair colouring involves some risk. The good thing is that semi-permanent dyes are usually cheap.

So it's out with Adore and in with ... well, I've decided to keep the reveal until July, good or bad they'll be photos!

To find out click: Red Locs.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

Month 13

My locs are at an incredibly awkward length now. In the back they've reached the base of my neck for the first time in seven years. Everywhere else seems, to me, shorter than it was at Christmas but I think it's because they don't hang as easily at this size. They seem to be quite rigid but still spongey and they still want to grow up and out. I imagine thicker locs need more time to get heavy enough to hang but it's not easy having 4" tentacles sprouting up every morning.

Speaking of mornings, my getup and go routine is a little more complicated now. The added length makes it just on the cusp of style-able but it's luck of the draw as to whether it'll co-operate two days in a row:

bantu knots

scarf bun

scarf headband

Loc extensions are still on my mind. I know my hair will get to ponytail length eventually but I need to get back to low maintenance sooner rather than later. When I become a student in the autumn I want the carefree hairstyle that allows me to spend time doing more important things. I've seen a ton of DIY extension videos but we'll see where we're at come September 1st.

This week I re-lightened and re-coloured the loc I experimented with in the back after it'd finally faded enough over the last five or so months. I just wanted to be sure of the shade I'd chosen before going all the way in July.

re-lightened

rough ponytail and re-coloured

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Length: 12 Month Comparison

Moments in a dreadlocking journey where you wonder if things have really changed all that much.

Day 1

Month 5

Month 12

Day 1

Month 5

Month 12

Day 1

 

Month 5

Month 12

Amen for progress!

DREADLOCKS ARE...

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

Year 1

Oh how I truly adore my dreadlocks. They're even more beautiful, more meaningful than all those months ago. It's been so rewarding.




one year

To sum up my first year, 'Laying the Foundation':

As I described in my combined locs post. I started out with a million little locs due to the minimal length I was working with. The fuller and longer my hair became, the thicker I wanted them to be. In hindsight the most logical thing to do was to comb them out and start over, though by month four a do-over sort of happened anyway after my buildup escapade, it's just that they were still too short. I split the thickest ones and then spent the next six months awkwardly combining them all back to arrive at my current state. It took time to know what I wanted but I'm glad I got the altering over and done with in the first year.

It was also a year of careful research. As you know I took my efforts toward hair dying very seriously and did more than enough experimenting. I've always envisioned myself with red hair and red locs are all the more alluring. I managed to find a photo of me wearing kinky twist extensions shortly before starting my dreadlocking journey. Though poorly lit, it's the best I have:



around March 2012

The plan for year two is for them take on a more permanent form. When they mature they'll feel solid and compact and I can't wait to see their final size. Growth is the key thing though. Last year I trimmed a lot to keep my ends healthy but this year I want maximum prosperity. I'm entering year two with approx. 48 locs and I'll be colouring them all at the end of July so look out for that one.

The only product I use now is the Creme of Nature Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo Kiwi & Citrus that I bought just before the new year. I don't condition and I don't moisturise either. I don't use oils or gels or sprays or herbal rinses or acv or baking soda as there's been no need for any type of "deep clean" and my locs stay twisted with water alone. As for the battle between buildup and dryness, I'm over all that. I don't experience any sort of buildup and now that I've resolved the over-washing issue my hair stays soft enough between washes and I think frequently wearing my satin bonnet day and night has helped (it now goes under ALL of  my hats). If it gets really dry I just bump wash day forward. It's been far less hassle. Of course things may differ during the summer...

My method of maintenance is still a combination of palm-rolling and comb-coilling. Each technique is dependent on how established the loc feels and where it's positioned on my head.  For example: it's harder to comb-coil locs mid-point at the back so they're palm rolled along with locs that are sturdy and well formed. I palm-rub any locs that develop strange kinks, bulges or stray hairs. Palm-rubbing is how I describe the method of rubbing a loc back and forth between my palms as opposed to palm-rolling where a loc will be rolled in one direction only.

So what stage are they at? Well since I've been steadily combining, budding began again around a month ago. Each dread has meshed and tangled from the middle down to the tip. I'm just trying to train the area nearer the roots to follow suite. They're currently in their swelling and shrinking phase so they're loosing length but gaining width and the hair inside them is slowly knitting together. Some of the skinner locs I still have scattered thoughout the back are a little more dense and a little more loc'd. The locs I combined most recently have now, a month later, formed single strand knots at the ends just like before. I've decided not to cut them this time, though I've had folks ask me to or trying to pull them off *awkward flinch*.

Socially speaking I've had little to complain about. I've received far more compliments than negative reactions and I've been able to work, travel and socialise with hair as unruly and untamed as it's ever been in my life (scroll through previous posts for numerous examples). The only thing that's getting old is the infrequent but quite disturbing 'toucher' incidents. Touchers are those who touch without being given permission to do so, usually those who I don't know well at all. From keen strangers to nuisance youths, it's starting to creep me out. It's like my hair isn't my own.

But lastly, I did wonder what to do to commemorate the twelfth month. I struggled to find anything unique and befitting until I found this:

  

Discovered this cuff whilst browsing at an alternative jewellery counter and it suddenly felt wonderfully appropriate. I have a good number of piercings but rarely wear jewellery as trends don't tend to sway in my favour but this was perfect. Charming and certainly not plain. And it's multi-wear! I love wearing it as an ear cuff but it fits snuggly onto my locs too.

See my comparsion photos from day one to now here.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use with out permission**