Tips to healthy beautiful locks

I was reading Parents Magazine recently and found this article, I pimped it a bit to focus on locks though it was orginally written for "combable" hair. So here it goes

1. Massage your scalp often. You can do this everyday before styling your locks; everytime you oil your locks and when you wash your locks. The massage helps increase blood supply to the scalp ensuring more nutrients needed for hair growth, also massage works as a stress reliever and remember no stress increases hair growth.

2. Avoid products with harmful chemicals that destroy your scalp and/or hair. Rule of thumb, if it's not safe for kids or your skin, then it ain't good enough for your hair.

3. Don't hold your hair too tight, it causes the hair to break. Many website encourage people to use hairclips when they retwist their locks, take it from me, this IS NOT a good idea. I know you want your locks to look like they were done by a professional loctician with all the tiny hairs held in the lock, but those hair clips usually break more hair than they hold. I have lost a couple of locks from this tip on websites, please don't do it.

4. Don't use too many products on your hair simultaneously. Some products are basic others are acidic while others are neutral, if you mix all of them on your hair, they'll be reactions taking place and something will end up burning, stinking and having build up.

5. Rinse out your locks until the water is clear regardless of what you put into your locks. Unlike straight hair, locks are like sponges that suck up everything into them, so squeeze out any residue that maybe left in the lock. And I think I should add wash your locks regularly to avoid stinking locks. They stink coz of sweat from the scalp.

6. Reduce the use of too much heat on your hair, I know most of us think that this rule only applys to straight hair but it doesn't. Always going into the drier to dry your locks ain't such a great idea after all, take a walk under the sun. If you're in Scandinavia where you only see the sun like twice a year, then try and retwist your hair early mornings so that you have the whole day for it to dry. The funniest thing is, most people I know guilty of this are Nairobians who are at the equator and have the sun all year round.

6. Exercise for great blood circulation throughout your body. Good blood circulation ensures that all cells have the required nutrients to function as required, it also helps to transport the waste from your cells for excretion by other organs.

7. Sometimes, as much as you try to avoid build up, it still does occur, so try once in a while not too often to soak you hair in Apple Cider Vinegar for about 15mins in between rinses to take out the build up. Don't do it too often because vinegar is acidic and when you use it too often on your hair it will destroy the hair follicles.

8. Balanced diet, you are what you eat. Nutrients will only be transported by your blood when they are supplied to the body in the first place.

9. My last and "favouritest" tip is don't care too much it's just hair. You changed from relaxed hair to locks to be free from all the rules on relaxers, don't walk in the rain, don't wet your hair, treat it every 2weeks, etc now you're locked and you got even more rules that's not how freedom works. I think the only reason free form locks, grow longer and waaayy healthier than most "modern" locks is cause the free forms only have the basic care, they are clean and oiled the rest is left to the hair.

Hope your locks are now looking lovely and fresh....

Locked swimmer

So you have dreadlocks and wondering if you can swim and if you can then how with the locks down to your waist. I thought I should put this up before summer is over and everyone has found their own solution to it or don't need to swim anymore.

Apparently, chlorine and salt help your locks lock faster, I guess because they dry up the hair follicle (this also applies to dyes). The catch here is not the chlorine nor the salt but the water getting to the locks. If you have hair like mine that is soft and silky when wet and turns into steel wool when dry, then I bet you are also worried that after every swim you have to retwist and this is not very convenient especially if you want to swim more than once a week. So here are a couple of tips to help you out.

1. The easiest, would be to get yourself a swimming cap for the locks which are available online. Sites suggested by acquintances are: My Swimstuff, Aquapride and  XL Swimcaps by Fran. I read a suggestion, that you divide the hair into and stuff each side into a cap then stuff both caps in a larger one, I don't know how that works though.

2. Those with new locks, need lots of rubber bands. Tie one at the root and the other at the tip, this helps to keep the hairs in place.

3. The main reason we wash the hair after swimming is to remove the chlorine stuck in it, a great idea would be to avoid getting any chlorine in in the first place. Wet the hair before getting into the pool, so it won't take up any chlorinated water in it.

4. After the swim, dry the locks completely don't try to tie them up and forget about it. First of all, they will stink (Just like a wet towel). Second of all, they might form mildew in them (the kind that forms on damp clothes).

5. Lastly, enjoy the swim and keep keeping fit, it's healthy.

Interlocking

This weekend I found myself hooked to youtube (instead of reading for my exams (^_^)). I discovered Ms Island Spice. She has some great videos on styling locks and great advice. What I particularly interesting was the one on Interlocking.

If you can remember I had written about Crotcheting sometime ago. Interlocking is more or less the same concept only that with interlocking you don't have a crotchet, some locticians use a specialized hook for the same but if you're doing it at home right before your next retwist as you watch tv, just use your fingers.

Interlocking is very helpful especially for those locks that take too long to lock. You know the locks that usually distangle until you're left with hair at the root and a dangling lock? Those need interlocking. My loctician usually does the same but for him, he braids the root then passes the lock through the bottom of the "braid". With time the braid comes out and the hair locks without the lock falling off. I always thought that was a complex process that only a professional could do, or atleast someone who can see the top of my head. After the video I sat down and interlocked a couple of locks and I feel like I just visited a professional loctician.

Something to remember; if you plan to comb out your locks in the future, interlocking makes it next to impossible because it's like combing out a locked braid. If you plan to keep your locks then keep interlocking but not too often cause it makes them bumpy. I think I'll try and do it about every 3months atleast or until my locks start misbehaving again. I wish I knew about this when I started my locks, I would have saved myself a couple of locks.

I'm trying to start 2 new locks (they aren't really new, they fell off after bad maintenance) using braiding and interlocking, I'll tell you how that goes, hope it works.

In other news,
I'm still waiting to see if the tips I sewed onto my locks have joined to the lock, it doesn't look too hopeful though but I'll keep you updated.
I solved the issue with my email address, you guys can continue emailing. I even found out the email add of the person who hacked the account, apparently they're based in South Africa, I'm definitely disappointed in the person's actions.