5 months in

I have started oiling my scalp. I haven’t done that in years. Oil/grease usually gives me flakes but now I also have Sulfer8. It seems to be working. My stylist told me to do it three times a week. I’m only doing it twice a week. I hope that is good enough. Maybe my hair won’t be as frizzy. I’m using olive oil. Unfortunately it has alcohol. I know that alcohol is bad for hair but all the natural stuff I have tried has that fruity smell. I don’t want to walk around always smelling like I just walked out of a salon. Some people would have a fit! So I’m sticking with that until I can find an unscented product.

Even though this journal isn’t regularly updated, my hair photos are updated often (link on side of this site). I will have some beach hair photos this weekend…if it doesn’t rain the whole time. ACK!

Something’s Gotta Give

Today is my four month lock anniversary. I don’t know what to make of my hair. I notice that no one else’s hair looks like mine. I was going to post on a forum but I chickened out. I am a lurker on a few message boards but I don’t like to get too involved. I will just wait this out. I don’t know if this is what is supposed to be happening or if my stylist is doing something wrong (doubtful) or if I am doing something wrong. Maybe my hair needs to be re-twisted more often. Maybe everything is going fine. ::shrug::

I went to the salon for my wash & re-twist yesterday. My stylist said that my locks will start getting thinner. I guess that is a good thing. Bleh.

Buckwheat stage

I was going to do an entry about my confusion about the bad stage. Am I going through the bad stage right now or what? I haven’t gotten my hair wet and I have been wrapping it every night. Why it so messy? I got the answer from a novel I’m currently reading. They call it the “Buckwheat stage”. It is described as

That’s when your hair is growing but hasn’t really locked up yet, so it’s just standing all over your head looking like Buckwheat.

That is probably me. Of course my hair isn’t that messy because I have twists but I do have a lot of extra hair that is NOT twisted. And when I go to the salon the extra hair doesn’t stay twisted long. That may be normal. At least I hope it is.

By the way, I’m reading What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage. I am also listening to an audio book by Alice Walker. That main character also has dreadlocks. I keep getting the stories mixed up. I don’t know what happened to who. Heh.

Curls?

I’m 90+ days in. My stylist said I will be able to get my locks styled soon. I’m not sure about the cost so I may decline that offer. I would like to have curls from time to time. I could probably do that myself. I just have to put rollers in, right? LOL. I’m beyond clueless. Anyway, not much is going on. He no longer leaves the conditioner in since my hair is locking.

I updated my hair album with two new pics. I’m looking at a person’s hair album 2 years into the locking process. *drool*

blah

My last entry was pure frustration. I just hate the fact that when my hair gets wet or I don’t wrap my hair tight enough, there is nothing I can do to fix it. I am so incompetent when it comes to hair. ::Sigh::

Anyhow, my hair is still frizzy. I go back to the salon in less than two weeks. I will post new pics in my hair album soon (link on sidebar). The following is an unclear pic of my hair from Saturday:

Groan. Groan. Groan.

I think I messed up my hair. I have to live with this crap until mid-April. This past weekend I spent the night at my mom’s house. I forgot my wrap so I went and brought a satin cap. Well a satin cap can’t be tied tightly. It is a cap. It can’t be tied at all. And then last week, my hair got wet for a second when I was outside in the rain. I quickly put a hat on but it still got wet. Screw it. If I have to be perfect for my hair to look okay then I give up. My hair will look messy for a month and I will be completely fine with it.

Yeah right.

No doubling back

It looks like my hair had a growth spurt overnight. It will probably shrink back after a few days. My hair is finally starting to lock. I guess I‘m stuck with this style for a while. Heh.

Obviously I don’t have much to say about my hair these days. So I will just go over my salon routine. It only takes two hours. First I get my scalp messaged. Then I get my hair washed. He uses leave in conditioner for now. He will start using regular conditioner when my hair (fully?) locks. After the wash it is time for the re-twist. He twists and then puts a clip on the end of each twist. Then off to the dryer I go. I know some people have issues with sitting under the dryer. I used to be anti-dryer when I had straight and nappy hair. I didn’t like what the heat did to my ends. Now it doesn’t bother me. I don’t know how the heat is affecting my ends. So far I don't see any problems. With locks it might not matter as much (to me at least). After the 20-35 minutes under the dryer, he snips some of my ends. All during this process, he is spraying stuff on my hair. I don't know what the product is. This happens once a month. The End.

I updated my hair album with after-the-salon pics. This weekend I will try to take some clearer pictures. I’m going to try different settings on my camera.

All is well

March 14th was my two month lockaversary. I am feeling good about my hair this time around. I haven’t worn a hat or a snood in a month! I have an appointment at the salon on Saturday. Right now I am only going to the salon once a month. I hope this continues. I don’t need maintenance every two weeks. I can live without that.

My hair routine is really simple. Okay, I don’t do much of anything so I can’t call it a routine. All I do is spray Sulfer8 almost everyday and then I oil my hair once a week. And I have been wrapping my hair extra tight. I wonder how much that will change when my hair locks. Eventually I will be doing my own maintenance. That is a scary thought.

I will probably update my hair album this weekend after I get back from the salon.

No water

I am really liking my hair this time around. It may have something to do with the sides of my hair being different. I think he styled it a little. I don’t feel the need for a headband. Of course I like it now - I went to the salon 10 days ago! I can’t believe I have to go back on the 18th. That seems so soon. I hope my hair continues to look like it looks now. I have been wrapping my hair much tighter. I only woke up with a headache once. LOL.

I do have one issue. I haven’t oiled my hair since last week. I love the oil I have but the smell is too strong. Even when I use a little it still smells like I just walked out of the salon. ::Sigh:: I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want to use it when I know it irritates other people. On the other hand, I want to oil my hair. WWOPD? (What would other people do?) As of right now I am planning to oil my hair on Friday or Saturday. By Monday the smell should be gone or at least faint. I was diluting it with water but now I have the “no water” policy so that’s out. After my last experience I am scared to use water on my hair.

Things I’ve learned

Doing the same things and expecting different results is crazy. I am doing some things differently this time around.

1. I will wrap my hair tighter at night.

2. I will make sure my hair doesn’t get wet. This is partly due to appearance and partly due to me wanting my hair to lock ASAP. Last month I was caught in the rain a couple of times. And when I tried to give myself a dry shampoo, some of my hair got wet. I think that is why my hair looked like crap during that last week.

3. I will use Sulfer8 daily. I am already struggling with this one. If I keep flakes out of my scalp then the flakes can’t fall in my hair. (I’m a genius!)

I think that’s all. I know it is silly for me to be disappointed that my hair hasn’t locked at all. But I was told my hair would lock quickly. I thought I might notice something by now. It still looks like twists. They are a little thicker than they were last time.

Comparing my hair

I just realized how bad my hair was looking. It is partly perception. If I think of my hair as “dreadlocks”, I’m fine with it looking unkempt and frizzy but sometimes I think of my hair as “twists”. For twists my hair looks like crap (before the salon). Of course 99% of the people that see my hair have NO IDEA that I am locking my hair. All they see are messy twists or better yet they see it as messy hair. Hair that needs to be fixed in some way.

I’m just thinking. I am trying to come up with ways to keep my hair looking better. I think I am going to try different wraps at night. My stylist did ask, “are you wrapping your hair?” LOL. Yes I have been but obviously I need to do something different.

My hair album should be titled: Learn how to do your own maintenance or your hair will look like this. I posted my hair album link somewhere and now I am embarrassed. How pathetic. NO ONE’S hair looks as bad as mine.

Third doubts.

I can understand why people suddenly cut off their locks when something bad happens. I felt like doing that yesterday. Well I don’t have to cut, I can just untwist. I’m feeling a little better about my hair now but I really want to do my own maintenance. There are just some things I’m not good at: writing, speaking, fashion, HAIR and many more things. Sigh. I’m thinking about paying someone to show me how to do twists. Who? I have no idea. LOL. I think I’ll be fine once my hair locks but until then I’m clueless. I have read directions for twists and I twisted my hair. My hair looked nothing like my hair looks right now.

I would recommend the salon to anyone. In fact I plan on suggesting it to people online. Salons just aren’t for me. I hate them. I thought I could get over it for dreadlocks but no I can‘t.

So I went to salon yesterday. I finally got my hair washed! That felt good. Then I got my hair re-twisted and sat under the dryer. It only took 2 hours. You would think that I would have some kind of plan, now that I’ve had my locks for 40 days. But I still don’t know what products I will or won’t use. I think I’m sticking to Sulfer8 and Hairobics hair oil. I think. I don’t know how to clean my scalp without getting my hair a little wet so…

Hair album updated.

39 days in, help!

39 days of twists with no maintenance is not pretty. My hair looks like I don’t sleep with a wrap on but I do every single night. I wish I knew how to palm roll or something but I have a loctiation. He is supposed to do all that. I don’t want to mess it up more than I already have. When I gave myself the “dry” shampoo, I think too much of my hair got wet. I probably won‘t do it again. I hope he doesn’t notice any major damage when I go in on Saturday.

I was worrying about flakes for nothing. I had a pretty good mirror this weekend with excellent lighting. I couldn’t see many flakes. If I can go 39 days without major flakes, I’ll be fine. For some reason there are more flakes in the front but they are so tiny. The bad news is, I will be wearing a hat all week. I've never wore a hat for that long. I don't think I will cave in and take the hat off like I usually do.

i don't care

I have too much going on to worry about my hair. I am stressed out. With that being said…Some people should never try do to do anything to their own hair. That someone would be me. My hair appointment was canceled. Apparently my stylist has the flu. So I decided to give myself a dry shampoo. Ugh. Why? Now my hair smells like sea breeze! Ick! I give up.

Operation flake patrol

I asked my mom about my flakes again. (cuckoo!) This time we were in a place with bright lighting. I knew that if she couldn’t see flakes there then the chances of anyone seeing flakes while I’m work are slim. She said, “I can only see a little bit of flakes because you pointed it out. Otherwise I would never notice it.” She also said someone would have to stare to notice a few flakes near the top of my head. I hope she is right. I have become ultra paranoid about flakes. Obviously. I even covered my hair with a scarf for a whole day last week. I got fed up of wondering about the flakes.

I have finally received my hair products. I got natural hair oil (a mixture of jojoba, sunflower, soy, castor etc.) & braid sheen. I also got sea breeze astringent for my scalp. That is what the owner of the salon told me to use to clean my scalp. Um. I guess she forgot to mention that I have to WASH my hair after using it. At least that is what the bottle says. What happens if I don’t wash after I use it? Build up? Grrr!

I have been looking at other hair albums. Their hair looks a lot better than my hair. It looks like some of them have Sisterlocks but they say they have two strand twists just like me. It is probably due to hair texture. My mom says that my hair probably looks messy because it grows so fast. I don’t know…

Good news?

I thought I had to go back to the salon on February 11th. That would have been 4 weeks with my ‘dreadlocks’. Well I found out I don’t have to go back until Feb. 18. That is 5 weeks from my initial visit. Five weeks without having my hair washed! Five weeks of having these twists in my hair. I am sort of relieved that I don’t have to go back again so soon but in a way I would like to get my hair washed (what a novel concept) and I want some new twists. Oh well. At least I won’t have to rush around next weekend. No salon for me. I hope these twists last until the 18th.

According to my mom my scalp is fine. However, there are still flakes in my hair. How bad is it? I don’t know. The only way to get rid of them is to wash it. (here we go again) She couldn’t see the flakes with bad lighting. I hope we have bad lighting at work. Heh. I haven’t gotten my new hair products yet. Bummer.

Moisturizer

Just to clarify the salon situation, the problem is me NOT the salon. My stylist is fine. The problem is 100% me. I don’t think I will ever get use to going to a salon so I will always complain about it. This is just a warning.

I think my scalp problems are in control. Combine the Suler8 with the salon visit and everything is fine. I still need moisturizer. I ordered 2 products that the salon recommended. One day I will do a product review when I have enough experience with different products.

Nothing is really going on with my hair. It is dull and I can’t wait to get it re-twisted (even if it means 3+ hours in a salon. Haha). I have been reading about how people's twists unravel around the third week. I hope that doesn’t happen to me. Only the ones in the front seem close to unraveling. Oh yeah, I have decided to go hat free. I will only wear a hat at work if I have scalp issues (flakes!).

Confused

I am the most confused person on the planet. I should be the last person with a hair blog…

I went to the salon today. I am counting down the days when I don’t have to go there. I am not a salon person. I just dislike salons. I don’t even know how I would stop going. Do I just cancel my appointment and never call back even though they have my phone number? I have to be confident that I know what to do to my hair first or if my stylist in anyway indicates that he dislikes me I will just quit it. Until then, I will be there every two weeks.

Today I got my scalp massaged and cleaned (I guess?) and some moisturizer for my hair. I realize that at the very least I have to moisturize my hair between visits. I have to do that and clean my scalp daily. I am going to order what the salon supposedly uses. One reason why I don’t want to use anything is because of the lack of washings. My hair is only being washed one every 4 weeks. (sucks!) So I don’t want build up in my hair. I will wait until I get close to the fourth week as possible before I put extra stuff in my hair. That way it won’t matter because I’m getting it washed anyhow.

I don’t even know the status of my hair right now. I have it covered. I will add a pic or two today or tomorrow. I do know that my hair looks much messier than it ever has. I like the messy look (until I have to go to work…LOL).

Flake update: I found out why I didn’t know I had flakes that morning. Everybody’s scalp produces oil at night so there won’t be many flakes in the morning. But by noon for me, flakes appear! Ugh. So I guess I will wear a hat in the afternoons? Nah, I’m going to continue to try to go hatless. I will spray Sulfer8 on my scalp in the morning and at lunch. I hope it doesn’t smell. I have a coworker that sneezes at anything and I mean anything. I used a little Olive Oil one morning and her nose was irritated. I used hand lotion and she immediately spotted it. I washed it off during my lunch break. I don’t want any problems so if Sulfer8 smells AT ALL, I won’t use it.

Oh dear

#&@!

This is embarrassing. Slightly humiliating. I have to get over it. A hair problem can’t be that serious, I know. But I looked at my hair in the mirror this afternoon. FLAKES!!!! Not dandruff. FLAKES!! I have really, really, really, really, really dry skin so this was bound to happen. The only real solution is going to a dermatologist. For now I will wear a hat. Damn, I know the people at work saw my hair and probably thought, “ewww!” It looks horrible. Really flake-y.

Even when I wash my hair, I get flakes 6 hours later. That is just a by product of dry skin. My skin ALWAYS flakes. I do nothing, I get flakes. I wash my hair, I get flakes. I use products, I get flakes. I had stopped wearing a hat for the past couple of days. Well now I have to wear one.

I’m going to the salon on Saturday. They will probably treat my scalp. I have a bottle of Sulfer8 that I may use after I go to the salon. That seems to work for other people with dry scalp. This will be a lifelong issue. I’ll just have to deal with it. I just can’t believe I was walking around with all that crap in my hair. LOL.