Dear Anonymous

Anonymous said...

why don't you just free form?

Dear Anonymous

This is a complicated question. There are so many reasons. Some might seem like excuses. I do see beautiful photos of people with free forming dreads. Their dreads look nothing like mine. Unless they have some secret, this is due to hair type. I envy the people who can free form and just put their hair in a ponytail or wear it loose.

1. My hair does not dread quickly. And it grows quickly. So those two things make a make bad free forming combo. If I did nothing to my hair, it would look like a small afro on my head. My hair type just doesn't do the natural dread thing.

2. I live in a conservative area. People do comment. If I were my own ideal person other people's opinions wouldn't make a difference but it does. The conservative people are the people who can hire and fire people....

3. I am worried about my roots. I never did a lot of maintenance. In year one I would do maintenance once a month. Now I do it whenever I feel like it which is once every 3 months or so. No matter what I do, some of my roots are still thin. About 3 dreads have fallen out. I'm pretty sure 2 more are on their way. That's one reason I want to go to a salon. I want to ask, "why are my roots thinning?"

4. I don't like having to wear a hat or scarf to hide my new growth. When I'm just going out, it's fine but @ work I like to cover it.

I'm sure there are more reasons. #1 is the most important reason. Why doesn't my hair look semi-neat if I just watch and go like the others? *whine* I would love to free form but it doesn't seem to work, if you know what I mean.

PSA - don't 1pt latch

I'm done with that latching stuff. I'm pissed. I'm going to an out of town salon in March. I don't have an issue starting over.

That's that. ;)

1 pt latching

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJgzcdyxLhOJHpwBqpFutJBdD4xs1EG1Behlr27LYNBrecN1arjBn8s9CvQxl1sDjkA7Ti67tvEWQpBMhpQy_sqaepgleJIV9QbGV-pf66h2yuBClZIrDH4pzStRfVq7fDkJp2Q/s1600-h/001.JPG">
This was my hair pre-washing and pre-latching. After finally figuring out how to latch my dreads, I did it today! Kinda. Last night I read about how latching can leave a hole in your dreads. So today I did what would be called a 1pt latch AKA playing with your dreads. :) I decided to do it because I didn't like the way some of my dreads were thinning at the root. (Yes I did read that latching can cause thinning - ARGH!!) I definitely won't be doing it for another 6 weeks or so.

What I did was hand latching. I don't even know if it worked. I don't even know what latching is supposed to do to dreads. I was inspired my this video:


I didn't even know hand latching existed at the time. But after watching that video, I knew I could easily do it with all the new growth I have. Later I did find out that this hand thing has a name:

(Thank g-d for youtube!) The lady in the video is doing it right. I only went through each lock ONCE. I hope that makes since. It probably isn't even called latching.

Here is my hair soaking wet after washing with Suave clarifying shampoo. No conditioner this time.


I didn't use any heat on my hair for the first time in a while. I wanted to see if this mattered with frizz (haha - NO). I "latched" my locks right after I watched them. This is how it looked from the top.


Another view:


A few hours later...my hair is about 40% dry. Still frizzy!


The end. Obviously latching can't be (?) used as a the only maintenance technique. When I get back into maintaining my hair, I will probably palmroll. I hate doing it cause it takes so long. And one bad night of sleep ruins it. So what is the point?? Hopefully by then I can figure out a way to braid the extra hair into my locks. I dunno. It took me 3 years to latch incorrectly. :)

random

3 years locked on Jan 14

Don't try this at home. I can't remember the last time I did maintenance on all my hair. And look at it! ha. I'm not doing maintenance throughout winter. I like wearing the hats. During the summer those crochets hats are too hot to wear all day so I'll start back with maintenance in March or April.

3 dreads have fallen out since I've had 'em. Should I be concerned? Will not doing maintenance for months make it worse? The ones that fell out were thinning at the root. I wash my hair every 2 weeks and use conditioner. I just think some of my dreads are too thin. Maybe I'll get to DC/Maryland to see a professional...

one more pic in my fotki album

nov 08 pic

more will be posted in my fotki album later. i hate how when i wash my hair it always looks worse (but cleaner) than it was before. i decided not to do maintenance because i've been doing full/partial maintenance for 2+ months. i'm giving it a break.

score!

I've been having computer/camera problems. That is why there haven't been any new pics. Sometimes my comp just doesn't want to acknowledge that my camera is hooked up. Well here is a pic from April. LOL. My hair sorta looks like now except it is longer and less manageable. (much more frizz)

Thanks for the compliments on here and in the fotki album. I really appreciate it. In the 3D world I rarely get compliments. Most people seemed convinced that I am just using my dreads to grow my hair out!!! #1 - I thought that was near impossible. But the lady at JC Penny told me that I would have no problems taking my dreads out. However I have zero desire to deal with all this loose hair. I would have no idea what to do.

I also get the "you have such nice hair, why did you get dreadlocks?" I tell them I have wanted dreads since I was a teenager. 12? 15? I don't remember. Nice hair? Uh, it's thick and annoying. I refuse to straighten it. It is too thick to really do anything. Thank g-d, I've been in love with locks. Call it destiny or whatever.

I really brought my camera out because I went thrifting today. I hate normal shopping but thrift store shopping is fun. It is an art. I love it. Today is the 1st time I brought shoes from a thrift store. Not because I am scared of them but because I don't wear heels so 90% of the shoes are out for me. Well I brought the. best. boots. ever. I think they will last for 5 years+ which is what I like. Here is a pic of my "new" Nine West $7.00 boots:



Yeah those boots have a heel but it's thick enough to walk on. I have never tried to walk in pumps. I don't like them and I would just fall over if I tried. They look well worn. ha. But they will last longer than any new boots I would buy for myself.

New hair pics coming soon. I had to post my boots. ;)

Yay, to VA for being blue!!!!!!

lisa bonet rules

lisa at the airport recently.

How long has she has dreads?

hmmm, well I am still washing every 2 weeks. I was pissed at my hair on Monday. I washed it at 4:30 on Sunday. Then I sat under a dryer for an hour. ON MONDAY MORNING IT WAS STILL WET! (the back)

I usually never go to bed with my hair wet but blah, blah. How does Lisa Bonet do it? When it gets back to being 90 degrees, I'm going to air dry. I have only done that twice.

doing minimal maintenance

temporarily sick of scarves

hair lockdown

It's been more than a month since I've done any maintenance on my dreads. And I have been washing it every 2 weeks but look @ how brown my hair looks! Is it the lighting or what?? I even washed some of my hair (LOL) without shampoo before work this week.



It's da lighting! more random hair pics in my neglected fotki album.

Anyways I'm washing and probably doing maintenance this weekend.

Random scarf pic

taken last week

queen of the obvious

shampooed, conditioned, oiled my scalp/hair.

getting back on every 2 week schedule.

No maintenance. LOL.

my hair is only 65% dry. ugh, how do people with long dreads do it?

adios

Back in the hair biz?

More pics in my fotki album.

I knew posting would make me do something. haha. Anyways I washed and conditioned my hair. I didn't use as much shampoo as I would have liked. I don't know what I was thinking.

So there it is. Still frizzy. (The fotki pictures show the frizz). I am going to try to go scarf-free for 2 weeks. Afterall this is the first time in months, that I have done maintenance on ALL my hair. My scarfs are hanging outside right now. I was going to not wash them so I couldn't use them but I have others. ::evil laughter:: No more scarf buying.

I still don't know what I'm doing. I'm thinking about going to a salon in DC or NYC for a one time visit in the fall. I just want a professional opinion and maybe a style. Curls? A pin up of some sort? I'm not attached to my hair so I have no probs starting over. My hair is already long enough. I don't want extra long dreads. My dreads are heavy enough when wet right now.

If I start over, I don't even know how I would start over. Sisterlocks are too much trouble for me. If it were maintenance free, I would do it. I would probably start them off with braidlocs or something. ::shrug:: I may just keep these dreads. I have no idea. Obviously. I guess I should go.

hair rut

I haven't posted in a while because I'm annoyed with my hair. I'm just stressed out about other things (work, new pet and my unorganized house)and honestly, I don't care about my hair. Sometimes I don't care if all my dreads fall out and I can just start over. Other times I'm like "I wish I could just go to the salon just once to get my hair done".

In other words, I don't give a damn. ;-) I will one day. Hopefully soon.

beach and freeforming vacay

This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago...when I was freeforming. But I kinda stopped. A little. I never got tired of my hair when I didn't have dreads. I would wear a ponytail for a year and not even care. Anyway, I decided to palmroll a few of my dreads for the beach vacay. I only did maintenance on about 20 dreads...I have about 90-100 locks, I think. This kinda reinforced that doing maintenance is a waste of time. On the other hand, my new growth felt stronger. If you know what that last sentence means, you're smarter than me. ha. In conclusion, I have no idea whether or not I will keep doing some maintenance or none. I'm leaning towards NONE.

I've updated my fotki album with beach pics and hair pics. Enjoy.

i am...i said

This is a pic of my hair today. It looks better from the front. I have fallen in love with scarves. I'm going to buy 2 more and then that's it....So I'm still free-forming but now I have my doubts. Some of my locks are thinning - the new growth. And some of my hair that is already locked is getting soft and curly like.

Some of this might be my fault. I didn't wear my silk scarf to bed 3 days in a row. I haven't washed my hair in 3 weeks. I really don't know if this is normal or what. And NEVER ask someone what they think about your hair. Yeah, obvious. But I had my hair in two cornrows. Sorta. I don't know how to cornrow so I did the best I could. So the person ignored my fake cornrows and starts picking my hair apart.

-Why it is so frizzy?
-I see people with nice looking dreads all the time. (lol)
-If only you could get rid of the hair sticking up. (new growth)
-I would have gotten sisterlocks. (I had to explain what they were before that statement).
-Why aren't you doing maintenance anymore??? (not worded like that)

::SIGH::

Thanx for nothin'

Anyway, I'm off tomorrow so I can't use the excuse of too busy to wash my hair. I am washing it tomorrow but I haven't decided whether I want to do zero maintenance or just maintenance on the sides or top.

I dunno. I don't want to ruin my hair....Obviously. I'm going to do some research tonight to see what other free formers go through. I can still just wash and go. I love rocking the scarves. (And I think it makes me look more feminine especially when I wear earrings too. Guys respond differently but that isn't why I do it. Just a note.)

I will update my fotki album this weekend. Gots to migrate...bye!

Sick of hats

Still free-forming. I have been wearing my hair different ways. Anything to not have to wear a hat every day. I will update my fotki album one day. I keep forgetting to take small pics so they won't overload my hair album.

pic o' the week

Washing this weekend. Still free-forming...

a cause for celebration

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

Yay. Not due to my interview skills. Seriously. I was very Jason Castro during the interview. Ha. I love him. "I was thinkin' Bob Marley, man!"

To make this hair related: I really need a conditioner. I was thinking about my 3 hair products and I forgot that conditioner is good. I will probably choose Suave since I use the shampoo. I haven't had my hair conditioned regulary since the first year.

And I LOVE freeforming so far. I am only washing twice a month though. I hate drying my hair and it would take forever to air dry unless I sat outside all day.

Welcome to my free-forming journey?

I have to have a question mark there because I might maintain my hair 3-4 times a year. I'm sick of doing the maintenance crap. It only lasts for a week anyway so what's the point and it still probably looks messy to everyone else. So I have decided to stop playing the game. Of course I have a job interview coming up. LOL. But these people already know how I look so...I'm not worried. I washed my hair today and did no maintenance (besides separating locks).

Oh this should be fun :) Yay for scarves and tams. More photos in my fotki album

My new product list:
1. Anahita hair butter
2. Suave clarifying shampoo
3. water



I'm hoping that more water will help my hair. I hadn't been doing anything to my scalp - bad I know - because I couldn't find a great product. Now I have Anahita hair butter. I brought the 2oz bottle for $15.00. Well worth the money, I'm sure. Here is a video that shows a way to make it last. I used it after my wash today and I can tell this bottle will last for at least 6 months.

No more greasing the scalp! AMEN. Oh, and anyone can use it. Dreads, no dreads, etc.

I also brought 2 handmade tams/rasta hats or whatever they are called. They are made of hemp and cotton and are made by Purplesagedesignz. Check out her store. I don't quite know how to wear them so I have to keep working until I figure it out. LOL. I swear I am so bad at anything related to hair/beauty. I suck. Anyhow, here are the pics of the two I brought:



The End.

am I late or what?

Woohoo! I think I have finally figured it out. I will be doing something totally new for a while (maybe forever). I don't want to give details yet but I will have pics and do a real entry. I just couldn't resist posting this picture because this is the only time I've gotten my hair in ONE ponytail. :) Scarves were the answer. I know that seems obvious but don't forget that I was clueless about hair before I had dreads and I am finally taking the time to learn. Also I do not wear it on the wrong side with the tag out when I'm going out! LOL. I wish I had more than one. haha. I brought that one on a whim. It was 20% off and I thought I might not use it. Now I'm going to wear it until I can begin my new plans.