Avoid thinning of locks

These are just a few posts that I found in my drafts and I thought I share them before I quit writing here. Some were written as far as 2010 back, so don't mind the tenses or the age, hope the info is still relevant and helpful to you all. I might not be as frequent when writing about my locks anymore but to get in touch with me, you can always find me at my new blog mkenyaujerumani.blogspot.com

1. Using a herb spritz: buy herbs that increase hair growth like those stated in the blog eg rosemary, thyme and spray it on your hair every night and/or morning.
2. Herb rinses work just as well spritzs
3. Don't hold the locks too tight.
4. Avoid the hairclips most people use to hold their locks during the retwist, it increases tension on the lock and the tiny hairs causing them to break.

How to twist palmrolled locks

 

I watched a video recently on Youtube and it got me scared on how the person did the twisting of the locks. Twisting of locks, takes a while to get right but when you get it you never forget how to do them right. 

1. After washing the locks, wipe off the excess water on them, don’t try and leave them bone dry though.

2. Partition the locks from the root and try to get hold of small hairs that may have escaped the lock during washing

3. Apply the gel/honey/wax/oil/shea butter only on the root, only the section of your lock that has not locked yet. Don’t apply it on the locked section especially if you are using gel or shea butter that cause a lot of build up and that’s something we definitely want to avoid.

4. Twist the lock either in clockwise or anticlockwise direction, whichever direction you choose, you’ll have to maintain it always because if you do clockwise today and anti-clockwise next time then you “unlock” the hair, just like the usual door lock.

5. Arrange the lock in the direction you think it will not interfere with your twisting of the next lock.

6. Do this with all your locks and when you’re done either let them dry naturally or in a drier whichever method you wish, though it is advised to stay away from the driers cause the heat might be too much for your hair but if you have very long locks that would take days to dry naturally then please use the drier.

You might be clumsy doing the first couple of locks but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it by the 20^th lock. Your arms might get tired but hey you want to look beautiful right? You could get a friend to do this with, twist me I twist you kind of thing.

If you may have noticed I didn’t mention using hairclips and the reason is, I lost a couple of locks due to the famous hairclips, maybe it was due to inexperience in using the clips that caused the loss. Anyway on that, all I have to say is please stay away from the hairclips if you’re not sure on how tight to hold the lock after twisting. Considering you are using gel or honey to twist the locks, after you twist them, the gel or honey holds the lock in place. I can’t promise it won’t unravel but better an unravelled lock that a thin lock or at worst a lost lock. If you’re not sure on how to use the hairclips right stay away from them, you could do Bantu knots after the twist or do a braid out, you can remove the knots or braids when the hair dries and the twists will remain in place.

Dreadlocks at the office for the locked professionals

 

Dreadlocks have been a stigmatized hairstyle for a very long time in many societies and many that maintained this kind of hairstyle were mainly considered to be unruly and sometimes weed smokers. Now in the 21^st Century, almost every 2nd person out of 5 (ie about 40%) has dreadlocks within the community cause now as opposed to before where the hairdo was only restricted to blacks, now even the Caucasians can be seen sporting it. Right now, more and more people are choosing to go natural and taking up dreadlocks as their preferred choice of natural hairstyle. Why many have chosen this path can not be pinpointed to one reason but being natural is healthier, cheaper, offers flexibility and freedom to especially women that could never walk under the rain with the relaxers and helping attract females (we all know locked brothers are HOT!!) count as some of the reasons in the multitude of reasons given by many people for going natural. Considering more people are taking up dreadlocks as the hairstyle of choice means that more professionals are also included in the group that is going natural.

It is definitely scary to see large afros and long locks in a society that only knew African women with long straight weaves or wigs on. For the whites that have only seen blacks like Naomi Campbell, Condolezza Rice and Tyra on TV screens with "their" long straight hair; it’s definitely a shock to see a real afro, “What? Those things (afros) actually exist? Thought only Baby MJ sported one.” Many may be heard saying when they see a black with an afro.

Now we are professionals, doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers etc and we are sporting locks, how does this influence your professional life? Should your hairstyle have any influence on your professional career? I personally don’t think so but hundreds if not thousands of women and men sporting locks find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to finding a job or keeping their locks. I’ve heard of people who had to cut their locks before they could apply let alone start the job they wanted. A clever solution I heard was a lady that went to the interview in a wig and after she got the job, she reported to work with her locks; it was too late for the boss to sack her.

How do we as professionals get to enjoy sporting our locks and keeping our jobs? Here are a couple of tips I have compiled just for you, if you got any you would like to add then please do leave a comment or email and I’ll add them:

1. Keep them neat and clean regardless of which method you choose to maintain your locks, a professional should be clean from head to toe. This always causes tension as some people have the misconception that to have locks they have to be dirty to be original. Sadly, someone told me recently “Your hair is so beautiful and clean, no one would think you got locks”. Keep them clean and no one will care if they are locks or a wig.
2. Have them in a descent style. Some hairstyles are not for the office so keep them out of the office. I love what many great lock stylists do with locks but some of those styles are only meant for the Bronner Brothers Hairshow, you don’t go to the office dressed in clothes from the New York fashion week do you? For the guys, you’re allowed a ponytail at the back of your head, for the ladies be creative but remain official.
3.  Dress the part. Your outfit should complement your locks and also make your clients comfortable in your presence. Make sure your suits or attire is clean and well ironed
4. Remain professional. Do your job twice as well as you should. Most women that have worked in environments where they were belittled for being women know this well. Sometimes you have to prove yourself. Do your assignements better than expected, finish it on time and always get to the office on time.
5. Enjoy your locks. You should keep them neat and clean but don't forget flexibility and freedom are some of the reasons we chose locks in the first place, atleast I did. Check the net for some great locks styles, don't be boring with your locks. Style them as you would braids or relaxed hair.
6. Respect the company rules. For example if you work in a bakery you need to wear a hairnet all the time. If you follow this simple rule no one will ever have issues with you. Read your company dresscode manual if you have one and follow those rules.
7. Treat colleagues with respect. Assess your own manners and association with fellow collegues. Sometimes people have issues with the way you treat them and not the hairstyle you are rocking, maybe they have never even noticed it before. So analyze whether you treat people well, even if you don't like them, respect them.  
8. Maybe you have done all the right things but they still continue to have issues with you, well They got issues that cannot be absorbed by tissue. You can not change other people's reaction, you can only influence and if by doing what is right you still didn't win them over then they ain't worth the hustle. 

  

Starting locks at home

As you may have read on this blog, I had a professional loctician do my locks for the first 2 times then had my mother retwisting them for the next couple of months and by the time I started doing them myself they were already locked. Those who may have read my earlier blog posts may also know about how I started using the hairclips to hold my locks and try and make them look “professionall” whenever I retwisted them myself and this lead to the thinning of some locks and unfortunately loss of some others. Got me scared there for a minute but as my mother says, “It’s just hair, it’ll grow back”.

Well 2 of the locks I lost were at the back of my head, and the back always looked so bad without the 2 locks as they were from the side and were very visible when I hold a pony tail. That wasn’t much of a problem considering when my locks were shorter I let them fall freely, but now they are growing longer; I hold the ponytail and it looks horrible to say the least thus I decided to start the 2 on my own.

I have tried starting the locks before with the usual twist and gel method but considering I suffer from "Hand in Hair syndrome" (nothing serious only that when I'm idle, I prefer having my fingers on my hair), so I always ended up removing the lock before it could lock up. I honestly thought this would be easy but I realized it isn’t hence the post for all those who are in an area with no loctician in sight but definitely want to start locks. The process will take time before they actually hold or even lock but hey, you’ll be a proud owner of DIY locks afterwards.

This is how I did one lock; the other I decided to join to a nearby thin lock. I used the method on short hair so I can’t assure you it will work the same way for long hair but anyone who’s willing to try it out is welcome to share their story with us.

1. Decide on the size of locks you would like to have thick, thin or medium, choose a size you’ll be able to maintain.
2. Partition your hair into squares of the size of lock you have decided you would like and braid the hair. In Kenya we call these matuta. Make them neat as you’ll have them for a while.
3. This step may be done a couple of days later preferably after a wash of the hair. Do NOT re-braid the hair after the very first braid. After the wash; the root will be loose, now you will need to interlock the lock/braid. Interlocking will help tighten the root of the lock ready for locking. Do this repeatedly, every time you wash your hair, interlock the root. Remember to maintain the usual hygiene, wash the hair right and oil it.
4. After about 4weeks (i.e. after 2 washes depending on your lifestyle), a good length of the root will be interlocked. After the wash you can twist the lock with gel. For the first couple of times you’ll need to gel the whole length of hair. Don’t undo the braid though coz then the hair goes loose, for the next couple of times you can stick to twisting without interlocking.



The missing locks are on the left

5. If you continue doing this, within 3 to 5months your hair will have locked. I’ll repeat again, maintain your hygiene standards, leaving your hair to accumulate dirt will not fasten your locking process.

The lock I started is now about two and a half inches long. I feel so proud, after 3yrs I'll finally have a lock at the side again.

Removing build up from Locks

Here is a lock with build up in it, not very clear but I hope you get the picture

Build up is a major issue many people have to deal with especially those that twist their hair with gel or shea butter that cause build up in the lock over time. You may wonder why not stop using these things and avoid the build up? That would be a possible solution to the problem, but sometimes you get addicted to the sweet smell of your gel or shea butter (not a great excuse but hey, what to do when you are an addict?). Sometimes the build up is caused by using too many products at the same time, especially chemical products. I advise to use one product at a time but sometimes the impatience (I'm so guilty of impatience), you buy a new product a few days after your last retwist and you can't wait to try it out but waiting another 2weeks will "kill" you so you just use the new product. Well, you do satisfy your curiosity and impatient self but most of the times the chemicals react and they do lead to build up.

So now that we have discovered what causes the problem but we are human and we are still bound to do the same silly thing even after knowing the consequences, how do we solve build up?

The web is full of recipes for it from using Vodka (which I must admit was the most interesting of all) to the usual Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). What these 2 have in common is alcohol, apparently you can use alcohol to remove the build up, due to its low density it dissolves the residues from your hair faster and easier than water. But you may want to read this article before you decide to use just any alcohol you find on your hair.

What you need:
- Usual shampoo and conditioner
-A cup of vinegar/ alcohol -I used wine vinegar, it doesn't matter what vinegar or alcohol you use just make sure it's nothing that will leave your hair smelling and/or looking worse than before you tried solving your build up problem. If you find this to be too strong for you, you can dilute it with some water to the ratio of 1:1

1. After shampooing your locks and rinsing them thoroughly, take the vinegar and pour it onto your locks. It would help if you had a small bucket to hold the vinegar so that you can pour the vinegar on your locks several times. The first time you pour the vinegar on, it just flows without wetting the lock cause the locks are wet. You could also try drying the hair after shampooing then pouring the vinegar onto your head to make sure your locks are only wet from the vinegar. The smell can be very pungent depending on what kind of vinegar you use.

2. Cover the locks with a shower cap/ polythene bag and leave them for about 20mins

3. Rinse out the locks several times cause of the smell and the acid (though I've come to learn it's not that bad to have it there after all) from the vinegar.

4. Condition your hair, preferably a deep conditioning (DC) cause the acid leaves the locks a bit dry and stiff.

5. Continue with your usual routine.

A lock after being soaked in ACV and rinsed out. Hope you notice the difference from the before picture, this one has no white pieces in it.

I learnt the ACV, also "helps to balance the pH and helps the hair shaft to open up for growth" by Sandy C.

Do you know any other reasons why ACV or any other alcohol or vinegar rinse is helpful to our locks?

Dying locks, how to do it right

I have been contemplating coloring my locks for a while now, after seeing so many beautiful colored locks I thought maybe it's time I left my natural jet black hair. It takes time to make the final decision, I have never known any other hair color in my life (apart from my braids that were always a different color) so it was a BIG decision for me, now after about 2yrs...lol....yeah it took me over 2yrs to make the final decision. I tried last christmas to dye it but ended up with the wrong type of color, I wanted red but didn't lift the black first so there was practically no change in my hair color. I bought the dye last month and was ready to dye but I still had to think about it again, and finally today I woke up and decided to do it.

All the products I used

I had checked the internet for tips or instructions on how to do it, considering I did it the wrong way last time, but not many have documented any of it with pics atleast. So here are my steps of lifting the color from my babies from jet black to to blond. I'm aiming at Dark Chilli chocolate, so there'll be a part 2 cause I thought dying twice in one day might be a bit too much.

1. Talked to my loctician about it, I do that a lot just to be safe and to make sure I have professional advice as back up and talking to my loctician ensures I get advice from someone who has worked on my hair before. According to him, it's possible to dye my babies in one sitting from black to red but I have to bleach first.

2. More psychological preparation, had about a week between the talk with the loctician and my d-day. You can use this step to go buy the products you will need for the whole process. I bought my products before the talk with my loctician.....I needed a lot of psychological preparation but I guess you are prepared and ready for it right?

3. Search the net for info, now you have it on my blog so it won't be hard to get all the answers at one place.

4. Most companies advice to take an allergy test before using the products. This is not a problem, 48hrs before the d-day follow the instructions and dye a single lock at the back of your head and see how that works out. If it causes you to itch or get boils or stuff, DO NOT proceed to dying the whole head, this might turn out ugly.

On the d-day,
What you will need:
- Bleaching product, to lift the color out of your hair, you won't need this if your hair is blond only for black and dark brown hair
- Final hair color
- An old Tee and a towel,  you don't mind trashing
- A pair of gloves, some dyes don't come with them in the pack
- Neutralising shampoo ( or if you feel adventurous like myself, toothpaste :), I'l explain)

1. Pray that everything goes well

2. Lay all your products on the table, open the boxes and check if all you need is in there and read the instructions.(Incase you skipped the part on allergy test. I didn't do the test, cause I'm rarely allergic to stuff...I'm only allergic to protein (wierd but yeah that's my only worry))

3. Partition your locks into tiny pony tails and hold them with a rubber bands or tiny hairbands. You could tie them once at the top or twice, top and middle depending on how you like it.

4. Prepare the mixture according to the instructions in the box.

5. Spread the bleach at the tip of one tail and squeeze (till there's the ksh ksh sound)to ensure the bleach gets into the locks. Do this to each tail then leave them on for the instructed time on the box or till you like the color on your locks.

6. Wash the locks till the water is clear, this is where the toothpaste comes in.

The partition of the locks after a couple of minutes with the dye on 

I had a discussion on how dye affects your locks a couple of days back, and I almost decided not to dye my hair when one person complained that his locks thinned and became so weak after he dyed them and had to cut them. Then a professional stylist came up with the reason for the thinning, not neutralising the effect of the dye. Well, a short chemistry lesson for all of us. Dye contains hydrogen peroxide which is an acid (pH less than 7) when it is left in the hair it continues to break down the hair follicle that is made of protein (keratin), to stop the process you need a base (pH larger than 7) to neutralise the reaction and come back to neutral (pH =7). Depending on which city you live in, the water in your tap may range from pH 7,5 to about 8, thus it is possible to neutralize with the water from the tap alone but considering hydrogen peroxide is at pH between 1,0 to 2,0 depending on the mixture of solution, water from the tap may not be enough to neutralize it completely. To cut a long story short, with no neutralizing shampoo, I used toothpaste (it can be used in place of anti acids when you have a heartburn so why not to neutralize your dye?). You might not need this whole explanation or step anyway, I was just too paranoid thinking my locks would fall off if I didn't do it....lol.....I actually washed the locks for almost 2hrs, with plain water, with toothpaste, with normal shampoo then conditioner. Let's see how the babies look after a week to see if it was worth such a long wash.

My Bantu knots after retwisting

When all is done and you're sure the locks are clean and no more dye is left in the locks, you can do a DC (deep conditioning), retwist and finally style your locks to whichever style you please......I decided to try out Bantu knots, lets see if my babies will have curled by Monday when I remove the knots.

PS: I used some organic oil on my babies, meeenn it smells like some herbal medicine.....even tried to drown its smell with Olive oil and it's still smelling arrrggghhh hope it doesn't smell like this the whole week. :)

Gel or wax for your locks, how to make the right choice

I bet this is the most asked question about palm rolled/ twist/ gel locks and not only with newbies but also with those that have had locks for a while and still haven't settled in with any specific kind. The most irritating thing though is the answer to this question. It's usually very ambigous as it is very common that the answer goes something like " the type of gel or wax you choose will be influenced by a couple of things which include your hair type, how often you wash your hair and your preferences". I know most have asked and got that same answer and you think, thanx a lot for NOTHING.

Though it is true that these do affect your choice in a gel or wax, I have tried to compile a small list that will help you out. The list might not give you a specific brand that you'll go pick at the store tomorrow but atleast it will help you choose one more easily and faster.

First things first, what are all these things, there is gel, wax, pomade, mousse, paste and gum? What can you use on your locks and what can't you? What is the difference between them? Well considering we all want our locks held in for at most 2weeks, we'll just cancel out mousse, paste and gum from the list as they are not meant to hold the hair for too long. If you have dry hair, completely stay away from mousse, it contains alcohol that dries hair. Now we're left with gel, pomade and wax. Pomade is wax like, actually for some it means the same thing but according to the Wise Geek, pomade contains wax in it plus other oils and fragrances while wax is pure. Both of these lead to build up in the lock though they do hold much better than gel. I would say pomade is better than wax in that it contains oils that moisturize your hair unlike wax that's just plain wax. Though wax doesn't dry up hair like mousse I do think the extra oils in pomades do make a difference. You have to check what kinds of oils are in the pomade as sometimes they use petroleum based oils which cause more build up than moisture.

Now that all those are solved, we're now left with gel and wax yet again. Which is better?

1. Gel is water based so it can easily be washed out of hair after only shampooing once while wax tends to build up and to avoid the build up you may be required to shampoo more than once.

2. Gel should only be used on wet hair as it tends to set the hair, setting dry hair may cause breakage. Wax on the other hand is very flexible and may be applied even on dry hair with no damage.

3. It's advisable to stay away from alcohol based gels, especially for dry hair.

Lastly, I would insist you always check the ingredients of the gels you use before you take them to the cashier at the department store. If you definitely want a specific gel even with it's unadvisable characteristics, you can always "pimp" it. Check out websites on different homemade recipes to enhance your gel, or wax or pomade.

You may also use honey as a substitute for your usual gel or wax, it doesn't hold as well as either of the two but it gives a very fresh feeling to the scalp, you can read about that at Sweet Locks and Sweet Locks Aftermath. But even with honey it's not advisable to use it throughout your locking journey as it bleaches the hair not unless you already do bleach your hair.

Another school of thought advices to completely stay away from both of the above (wax and gel) and instead use oils while other advice to make your own gel. Shea butter is a no go zone, as adviced by various readers when I revealed I wanted to try it out on my own locks. I hope with this I've brought you closer to a decision on what is best for you. Unfortunately, I still don't really know what is in the gel I have been using for my 3 locked years but I'm still trying to get my loctician to reveal the BIG secret.


Finally just for the fun of it, does anyone
remember this scene on There's Something about Mary when she used the guy's sperm thinking it was hair gel?

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.

Wet hair and locking

Hello everyone,

Hope you're all doing great after the looong World Cup break. Did you see all the beautiful locks on the field? You didn't? No worries, I'll be posting some pics for those that are anti-football like myself. Though I must admit, the world cup being hosted in Africa kept drawing me to watch catch a glimps of some the matches and the locked players.....anyway enough of derailing.

Back to the subject at hand, why do people wet their hair during the initial process of locking?  Most people wet their hair during the initial stage of locking only because they wash their hair right before they start locking. Ok that sounds obvious but this is what I think, most people decide the next visit to the salon, I'll do locks instead of relax so when they get to the salon they do the usual wash and after the wash they have a locking instead of relaxing. Others that do it at home do it also in the same fashion, when I undo my braids I'll lock hence after undoing the locks and washing they try and lock the hair.

So should you or shouldn't you? Many people have attended different schools of thought on this issue, but here is my 2cents worth. First of all you should definitely wash your hair before locking, just for hygienic standards and good smell. Secondly, it always depends on the method you want to use to lock your hair, some methods that require friction e.g. the hat method, wouldn't work too well on wet hair. Others like twisting with gel are usually easier on wet hair, remember when you used to use gel on permed hair? The gel was always smeared on wet hair right? Exactly. And if you are doing your hair yourself, and your hair is like mine that is soo springy when dry then wet hair is easier for our to separate and work on.

There is no universal rule on wetting hair before locking, it is a personal decision on whether to do it or not. Some people do advise to stay away from water and washing for a while after you start your locks, but I don't. Locks should be enjoyed and not be a reason for anyone to be ashamed. Locks take approximately 3months to lock fully, can you imagine yourself walking around with unwashed hair for that long? I would personally prefer to delay my locking by 1 or 2 weeks and still keep them clean though I highly doubt washing your locks delays their locking.

Dreadlock loom

I don't understand how looms work, tried to learn during some arts and craft class but I guess that doesn't fall under stuff my brain ever wants to understand. Either way, I find what you can doo with looms very interesting and usually beautiful. Here is one that you can use to make dreadlocks, I ain't sure if you can use it on your head though. (I doubt its practicallity but maybe you can use it to make a cute belt....)

Courtesy of Crotcheted wedding dresses

Repairing locks with a crotchet

Incase your have very long hair and some of the hair is lose from the main lock, you can use a crotchet to tighten the lock. Crotcheting has more or less the same function as latching (will post an article about that also) but it's easier to crotchet  that latch on your own (This may vary, others find latching easier, I unfortunately can't do either of them but my loctician always uses latching when  I do my annual loctician visit.)

Pic courtesy of Dreadlock HQ (In german)

Recycling locks.

Ok before you all think I'm completely gaga with all my "wierd" ideas hear me out. After I wrote about 24hr locks, American made a comment about cutting his locks then reusing them. Funny enough I hadn't thought of it like that when I wrote about the 24hr locks. Guess I looked at it from the outside and only saw buying a stranger's locks and locking with your own especially for the unlocked people.
I had shared about my twist locks thinning and eventually cutting during the early stages of my locking. This was basically caused by inexperience hence tightening my lock a bit too much while I twisted. I got this wierd idea for those who may be going through the same problem I did. The whole process will require a lot of imagination, I only got the idea after I had already separated my locks, but I'll try and add pics of the sewing the tip sometime.

When your lock thins
1. Attach it to a neighbouring lock, after a while the 2 will lock and you will end up with 2 locks with one base.

2. For tidiness sake, just cut off the tip of the parasitic lock. Be very carefull to differentiate between the parasitic lock from the host lock. Don't throw away the tip of the lock you cut, store it well.
The host and parasite take about 2 to 3 washes before they join together and lock but this depends on the magnitude of damage on the parasite lock and also kind of hair It may eventually range from 2 to 3 washes or even 2 to 3 months.

3. Search for the parasitic lock and separate it from the host lock (for those with a lot of hair, but no worries if you do your own locks then your hands will intuitively find them), at this time the tip of the parasitic lock has locked to some level meaning when you wash, the hair won't magically disappear (kinky hair shrinks and scatters on the scalp).

4. The parasitic lock now appears as a small new lock, twist it and give it time to completely lock on its own.

5. When the lock has eventually locked then attach the lock you had cut. You may use thin black thread either by sewing the old lock tip or crotchetting it to the new lock. Attaching the tip only helps to increase the length of the new lock so that it doesn't look too wierd in the midst of the rest.

Combing out locks

Is this really possible? Some say yeah some say no, I guess it's just another case of glass being half full or half empty. I have watched many videos on youtube and read about it on many blogs and magazines so I thought I should also try it and see what happens. Instead of throwing away my last lock that fell off, I decided to comb it out and see what happens.
So question is, is it possible to comb out locks? My answer is yes you can, but before you start trying to comb your locks, I don't think it's worth it. Wait a minute, I don't mean it being worth it in the sense you shouldn't let go of your locks or anything like that. What I mean is, your locks are an entanglement of dirt, hair that cut but didn't fall off and many other tiny little things. If you can look at your lock closely, you will realise it's not like a braid that you can undo and comb out soo simply. Do you remember when you would braid your hair and when you would undo the braids, where the artificial hair had been attached to your hair, there was like an accumulation of oil, drandruff and small bits of hair. Then when you finally finished undoing your hair, it would look soo full then after you comb it out, you end up with a whole ball of hair and the dandruff out of your hair but now on the comb.
When you comb out your locks, it's more or less like that or for me it was. You won't end up bald or anything, but you won't end up with hair as long and beautiful as your locks. Combing out your locks will definitely give you a headstart if you want to grow back your unlocked hair, but it won't maintain the length. Maybe this also depends of the method you use for locking because some of the videos I watched on youtube, it's like combing out a normal braid and the hair remains the same.
I don't know though, has anyone tried combing them out or knows someone who did? Did it work out? How did your/their hair look like after the combing?
All in all, if you are tired of the locks, a change is as good as a rest and instead of starting from bald, you might as well buy a tough comb, get yourself a movie or two and some time to kill then comb out those locks till you got your hair back.
What I would ask for from you would be, a before and after pic and maybe a short summary of the whole experience.

My babies turn 2

I have learnt alot from my locks as they turn 2 today. Here is a list of stuff I learnt.

1. Know the reason why you have locks: people have very many different reasons for having or not having locks. Some for religious reasons, others for beauty, others cause it's the cheapest hairstyle or easiest to maintain while for others it's a sign of the african liberation etc.

2. Realise not everyone has or doesn't have locks for the same reason you do. Just because you think locking is a sign of african liberation doesn't mean everyone who has locks agrees with you. Sometimes there are more "unlocked" people who agree with you than the "locked".

3. Do you want people to respect your reason for locking? Then respect other people's reason for having or not having locks. It saddens me everytime I vist a blog on locks only to find "locked" people cursing and writing trash about all those that are not "locked". For whatever reason you decided to lock, that's great but don't force it down any other person's throat.

4. Your locks are unique and special: Don't try and compare your locks with all the others out there, there are many factors that play a vital role in your hair's texture, colour, weight and even length eg your genes, hormones, climate, hair products you use, age etc. Understand and treat them special they are as unique and special as you are.

5. Too much of anything is poisonous: yes and this applies to all the good remedies you get online too. For anything to work well, it should be used in moderation. Just use enough when you need it but not too much.

6. Excersice patience: It's funny how my locks have taught me how to be patient with other people. I was formerly the most impatient person I knew until I got my locks and I had to wait for 22months before I could hold them in a ponytail and also sit for a little over an hour twisting them myself every fortnight. (All of you, you have locticians, count your blessings)

7. A change is as good as a rest: just because you got "locked" doesn't mean you have to look the same all year round. Change the way you hold your hair once in a while regardless of the length of your locks. If you can braid your locks, even with bought hair ( I aint against enhancing your lock). I have braided my hair twice since I started locking but let me warn you, if you braid your hair after a long time, you scalp will itch like crazy. Maybe for me it was different also cause, I let no one else do my hair so getting "foreign" hands on my head caused the itch.

8. Enjoy every stage of your locking: I guess I was too caught up waiting for my locks to be long enough to hold up and style that I missed their growth. I see pictures of people with short locks well styled and I wonder why didn't I try that when my locks were short?? If any of you is starting their locking or even if you are regrowing your afro, enjoy every single minute of it.

9. Don't use every single product you read about in the blogs, some people are just making money out of you. People do get paid for advertising you know.

10. Keep it simple: stay away from all those compound named chemicals Ammonium lauryl sulphate, dodecahydroxyclohexane, (yes that's one word). Just because it sounds fancy and intelligent doesn't mean it'll help your hair, trust me, I'm a scientist. I use more baby products that adult products. Baby products are usually more expensive, have less intoxicants and contain more pure substances that are less harsh on your skin adult products on the other hand, are usually cheaper than baby products ( to be cheaper it means there is more substitution of pure substances with chemicals) and some can be very harsh on your skin.

11. Locks are just hair don't fuss too much about them: wierd that I'd be the one writing this considering, I call my locks my babies, I take pictures of anything that happens to them and even started a blog for them. Anyway, locks are like any other hairstyle, don't feel guilty for getting tired of having them, it's normal and you are only human. If one day you wake up and want to cut them, feel free to do so. You'll still be welcome at My Dreadlocks. What you feel inside is what matters most, your appearance only enhances but doesn't define the feeling inside.

Black hair turning Brown

Well someone recently asked about her hair turning brown. What would cause your locks to turn brown and how can you solve this? I decided to research on the topic and here is what I dug out from the net and from friends.

Why Hair turns Brown
This can be caused by:
1. the sun, especially if you move from a cold region to a very hot one. It also happens during summer for those in temperate climate. Many call this "sun bleaching" or "tinting".
2. The water you use to wash your hair. Water depending on the source, contains many different dissolved minerals that may affect the natural colouring of your hair. Chlorine is a known criminal and is usually used in swimming pools for hygenic reasons.
3. Using products that contain peroxide (a bleach, worse than chlorine) and/or lemon
4. Using very hot appliances on your hair burns it, making it look brown
5. The wrong diet, if your diet is not balanced then that may also be a reason
6. Extended use of honey on your locks or also chamomile and rhurbarb

What you can do to get back Black Hair
1. If you hair is turning brown due to exposure to the sun, you can try and always wear a hat or just covering it when you go out. If you are in the temperate region, just enjoy the sun, your hair has the whole autumn and winter to recover to its natural colour
2. For the swimmers, use a swimmers' shampoo to wash your hair and always use a good conditioner and hairspray. Don't forget to wear a swimmingcap and tucking all your hair into it, you may also try and smear a bit of petroleum jelly around the rim of the cap before you enter the pool.
3. Avoid bleaches as much as you can. I have been encouraging use of natural products of your hair but you have to BALANCE, too much of anything is poisonous (even something good. Completely stay away from Chamomile, rhurbarb and lemon while for honey you use it in moderation
4. Again, BALANCE, you need it everywhere. Please have a BALANCED DIET a burger, pizza and fries are heathly, soja milk, lettuce and tofu are also healthy but if that's all you eat every single day, you're not helping your body or your hair
5. Don't burn your hair it's not firewood, it's your crowning glory.

Kitchen recipes

Please do remember to use all these recipes in moderation
1. Mix cocoa with your shampoo and use it to wash your hair
2. Use coffee (the drink not the beans) to rinse your hair advised to do it every fortnight
3. You could also use ground coffee mixed with yoghurt/conditioner cover with a shower cap and leave it on for a few hours
4. A mixture of soy sauce and apple cider vinegar may also be used to rinse out the hair
5. Sage tea also helps darken hair even grey hair, just mix it with your leave in conditioner and use it until your hair reaches the shade you desire
6. A mixture of curry powder and coconut oil applied on your scalp may also do the trick. You can also use plain coconut oil
7. Ground blackpeppercorns mixed with curd help darken hair and stop premature greying.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried any of these recipes on my own hair so I'm not sure of their legitimity. Please be careful as you try them out.

Thickening thinning hair

Hallo people, hope everyone is great. I apologize for the loud silence....I'm trying to finish up somethings then I will be back. Enjoy this follow up of the thickening of hair using Garlic and Onions. Hope it helps...


To prevent further thinning of hair, I got a couple of tricks to do it
1. Avoid any Sodium Laureth Sulfate. What is this you may wonder? It's a degreasing chemical used in shampoo to lift trapped dirt and oil.
The only problem is that it leads to hair loss and will soon thin your hair out with continued use. Aim for natural haircare products such as those containing healing ingredients.



2. Eat more nutritious foods that contain hair-growing minerals and vitamins. Yes you need certain vitamins for healthy growth functions in the body, but you also need some for the healthy growth of your hair.All vitamins do not benefit the growth of your hair. Go for the use of biotin, vitamin B, vitamin C, and even ginkgo biloba as an aid to restoring the natural growth of your hair.

3. Work on your Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels, DHT is abiologically active metabolite of the hormone testosterone. A great way to fight this off is to drink four cups of green tea daily.

4. You could do one of the easiest and fastest things which is to buy a weave or just attach artificial hair to your thinning hair. ( I don't recommend this though)


5. Be happy and less stressed. Stress increases hair loss in both men and women.



6. Massage your scalp. This helps stimulate the hair follicles, unclog any blocked oil glands in the scalp, and help promote a healthy scalp and new, healthy hair growth. Plus, it’s relaxing and it feels good, so it’s not such a chore!

Maintaining Locks

My Dreadlocks is a blog about the locking journey, everyone is welcome to share their experience and also to learn from others. I just got a comment from a reader and I thought I should post it for all of you to read it. Some great tips shared by Shasta from Nairobi, hope all of the readers enjoy them and thank you Shasta for the tips.



Shasta said...

Well shampoos in the kenyan market 98% are bogus we kynda have a culture of just buying cosmestics without looking and caring about the ingredients at all.I dont use shampoos on my hair coz most of them have chemicals dat workup the scalp like drying it n covering the spores hence hindering hair growth so when you think of buying shampoos sulphites,petrolatum and any chemical you learned in chem shouldnt be the ingredients.I usualy use the locally made aloe vera soaps infact if you want the best ones go for the less commercial one which are advertised everywhere with fancy boxes they are no better,just know dat commercial products do more damage than good in your beautiful hair.I have always considered when using wax in your hair you aint growing natural locks.So many of my rasta friends use mashed avocado mixed with olive or coconut oil to twist locks which stay on the head for two weeks without rotting or doing anything to the hair but the only problem with avocado is dat it kynda builds up in your hair hence if you use it in very large quantity over regulary your hair root will weaken so be cautious with dat.Honey also works wonders infact dats is what l use to lock my friends with soft hair and the good thing is dat if you wash your hair with hot water it wont leave any residue hence has less buildup but again it if used for long periods can turn your hair brown to much sugar but if you wash your hair properly dat wont be the case. Washing your hair,as much as people say dat you can wash your hair as many as to 3 times a week is good,a big no the most recommended is washing you hair after two weeks,if you oil your hair regularly and leave it open most of the time after every one week will be fine if you rarely oil your hair and keep it covered most of the time after every one month will be fine or when you feel they are dirty. Dust is the main culprit in making dreadlocks dirty so when you keep your locks covered most of the time less dust in your locks,if you keep then open n oil you hair alot dat attracts alot of dust hence regulary washing but if you dont oil it dat much it attracts less dust.Alot of water is good for your locks when it is the one flowing from a natural stream or unpolluted river l wonder where you will find those in nairobbery.But if its then coming from the tap your locks need limited of it coz it has alot of chlorine used to purify it for drinking so the more you use it in your locks the more the damage unless you neutralise it with other natural herbal remedies.Swimmers also beware of the large amoumts of chlorine in the pull so after every swim thorougly wash your hair.I will putting more natural tips for locks up only dat we cant fully grow natural locks the Mau Mau one were the natural ones all the way from locking to maintenance.Peace.

Onion

Use of Onion to thicken hair works more or less in the same way as using garlic for the same reason. Onion juice rejuvinates hair follicles and boosts the scalp circulation, so it should likely help the re-growth of strong hair. Onions contain a quantity of important nutrients, like vitamins C and vitamin B6. Onions also contain calcium and magnesium, along with potassium and germanium. The onion is also high in sulphur, which is a mineral contained in every single cell in the human body.
Sulphur has its highest levels in the hair, the skin and in the nails, which is why it is known as the "beauty mineral".

Here is a recipe to try out.

Apply the onion juice to the top of the scalp and massage deep into the hair roots - but again, do gently, so as not to cause traction alopecia.
You will need to leave it onto the top of the scalp for around 30 minutes and then shampoo.