Hunt for cute hairstyles

Image found at: Image found at: http://sheenasays.com/images/sarahair2.jpg

After having our two children (we have a son and a daughter), I realized that I no longer had time to spend hours experimenting with my hair. I was on a hunt for cute styles that would allow my growing locs to flourish. I began to use Carol’s Daughter products (http://www.carolsdaughter.com/), specifically, the shampoos and loc butter. Now, I’m not a Carol’s Daughter spokesperson but I can say that my locs seemed to love the products. Then, I was told that beeswax should NEVER be used on locs. Oh gosh, I could feel another product onslaught coming on. You know what I mean: you try one brand of conditioner (or, shampoo, detangler, moisturizer, fill in the blank), then you hear something else and go out and buy two other brands of the same product. The intent is great, we want to take care of our hair; however, the execution can make us seem like crazed product fiends. I had my share of natural hair care products affairs but I always came back to products that use natural ingredients that I could pronounce. J I think that that might be good for all types of hair, not just locs.

I also started looking for cute hairstyles. Back then, most of the hairstyles were found in loctitian photo albums or hair magazines. But NOW!? Whoa, talk about resources. Here are a few of the websites that I turn to when I want to learn something about my hair, try something new or look extra special:

Khamit Kinks- http://www.khamitkinks.com/loc.html. A great salon, I used to go to the Manhattan shop before it relocated to Brooklyn (I believe that’s where the shop originated). Ms. Anu Prestonia, President, KNOWS hair. While she never did my hair, it’s clear that the other stylists are tight as well.

kimmaytube – an informative YouTube channel that contains some nice step-by-step styling tutorials

BronzeGoddess01 – another YouTube channel that has hair tutorials as well as some hilarious takes on life

KinkyCurlyHairCare – demonstrates how to use Kinky Curly Hair Products

I hope that these sites help. I'll be sure to share more. Also, please comment and let me know the sites that you rely on for hair care styles, tips, etc. FYI, Kimmaytube and KinkyCurlyHairCare talk about natural hair, not locs specifically.

Hunt for cute hairstyles

Image found at: Image found at: http://sheenasays.com/images/sarahair2.jpg

After having our two children (we have a son and a daughter), I realized that I no longer had time to spend hours experimenting with my hair. I was on a hunt for cute styles that would allow my growing locs to flourish. I began to use Carol’s Daughter products (http://www.carolsdaughter.com/), specifically, the shampoos and loc butter. Now, I’m not a Carol’s Daughter spokesperson but I can say that my locs seemed to love the products. Then, I was told that beeswax should NEVER be used on locs. Oh gosh, I could feel another product onslaught coming on. You know what I mean: you try one brand of conditioner (or, shampoo, detangler, moisturizer, fill in the blank), then you hear something else and go out and buy two other brands of the same product. The intent is great, we want to take care of our hair; however, the execution can make us seem like crazed product fiends. I had my share of natural hair care products affairs but I always came back to products that use natural ingredients that I could pronounce. J I think that that might be good for all types of hair, not just locs.

I also started looking for cute hairstyles. Back then, most of the hairstyles were found in loctitian photo albums or hair magazines. But NOW!? Whoa, talk about resources. Here are a few of the websites that I turn to when I want to learn something about my hair, try something new or look extra special:

Khamit Kinks- http://www.khamitkinks.com/loc.html. A great salon, I used to go to the Manhattan shop before it relocated to Brooklyn (I believe that’s where the shop originated). Ms. Anu Prestonia, President, KNOWS hair. While she never did my hair, it’s clear that the other stylists are tight as well.

kimmaytube – an informative YouTube channel that contains some nice step-by-step styling tutorials

BronzeGoddess01 – another YouTube channel that has hair tutorials as well as some hilarious takes on life

KinkyCurlyHairCare – demonstrates how to use Kinky Curly Hair Products

I hope that these sites help. I'll be sure to share more. Also, please comment and let me know the sites that you rely on for hair care styles, tips, etc. FYI, Kimmaytube and KinkyCurlyHairCare talk about natural hair, not locs specifically.

Dreadlock Journey

I was now wearing double-strand twists and waiting for them to loc. It was quite an interesting process. I like my hair to be neatly sectioned, parts gleaming through. Well, I was told to clean my scalp with Sea Breeze so that I wouldn’t have to wash it as much so that my hair would loc. I got my hair professionally maintenance every month. That meant that my scalp was covered in new growth (wow, NOW that was a good thing. I remember when I wasn’t quite so happy about it: http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-growth.html and http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-growth-meant-not-pretty.html). I was excited by my new hairstyle but I had to make several adjustments.

1. I had to stop expecting my hair to “lay down”. As I waited for my locs to grow, I’d sometimes stare at myself in wonder because a particular piece(s) of hair would stick STRAIGHT up. My hair seemed to have a mind of its own. Yes, my twisting product would allow me to bring them back into the fold but I realized that my hair was not meant to lay flat, it really wanted to grow OUT!

2. I no longer had to run from water. There were many times when it would start to rain and rather than bolting to safety, I could take my time. No, I don’t dunk my head in water every day (eeks, I still don’t go swimming…that is the last frontier for me I guess, hmm, I need to write about natural hair and exercise!) but I no longer view water as my enemy.

3. I had to accept that everyone wasn’t going to appreciate my journey. This was a huge deal. My immediate family knows that I have thick, coarse, kinky hair. So, they thought I was crazy to loc my hair. You know how when you get dressed up to go out and your family says, “Awww, you look beautiful”? Well, I had to stop expecting to hear that, at least about my hair. I had to seek affirmation from folks who appreciated what I was doing. Note: Now, my family loves my hair. I don’t know if time to adjust or the length of my hair did the trick.

I had to make other adjustments but more about those later. I am on a hunt for pictures during this part of my hair journey. Will post if I find them! J

Here is a site about locs: http://www.nappturality.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:locking-your-hair&catid=34:careinfo&Itemid=30. Also, “The Bronze Goddess01” channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/BronzeGoddess01) has great loc styling tutorials (e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZaRFJ3Ab7Y).

Enjoy your journey!

Image found at: http://csnwf.org/files/images/short_dreadlocks1.jpg

Dreadlock Journey

I was now wearing double-strand twists and waiting for them to loc. It was quite an interesting process. I like my hair to be neatly sectioned, parts gleaming through. Well, I was told to clean my scalp with Sea Breeze so that I wouldn’t have to wash it as much so that my hair would loc. I got my hair professionally maintenance every month. That meant that my scalp was covered in new growth (wow, NOW that was a good thing. I remember when I wasn’t quite so happy about it: http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-growth.html and http://tropie7189.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-growth-meant-not-pretty.html). I was excited by my new hairstyle but I had to make several adjustments.

1. I had to stop expecting my hair to “lay down”. As I waited for my locs to grow, I’d sometimes stare at myself in wonder because a particular piece(s) of hair would stick STRAIGHT up. My hair seemed to have a mind of its own. Yes, my twisting product would allow me to bring them back into the fold but I realized that my hair was not meant to lay flat, it really wanted to grow OUT!

2. I no longer had to run from water. There were many times when it would start to rain and rather than bolting to safety, I could take my time. No, I don’t dunk my head in water every day (eeks, I still don’t go swimming…that is the last frontier for me I guess, hmm, I need to write about natural hair and exercise!) but I no longer view water as my enemy.

3. I had to accept that everyone wasn’t going to appreciate my journey. This was a huge deal. My immediate family knows that I have thick, coarse, kinky hair. So, they thought I was crazy to loc my hair. You know how when you get dressed up to go out and your family says, “Awww, you look beautiful”? Well, I had to stop expecting to hear that, at least about my hair. I had to seek affirmation from folks who appreciated what I was doing. Note: Now, my family loves my hair. I don’t know if time to adjust or the length of my hair did the trick.

I had to make other adjustments but more about those later. I am on a hunt for pictures during this part of my hair journey. Will post if I find them! J

Here is a site about locs: http://www.nappturality.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:locking-your-hair&catid=34:careinfo&Itemid=30. Also, “The Bronze Goddess01” channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/BronzeGoddess01) has great loc styling tutorials (e.g., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZaRFJ3Ab7Y).

Enjoy your journey!

Image found at: http://csnwf.org/files/images/short_dreadlocks1.jpg