My Loc Journey

I Am Not my Hair but My Hair is Me

Before I loc’d and way before I got my first perm, my mom would always plait my hair or give me big twisties with ballies and barretts. I was an oldschool child-I didn’t wear hair pieces or extentions. I wore my natural hair made manageable with water, grease and a heavy handed comb. I was extremely tender headed and  sometimes I would fall asleep on mother’s lap or in between her legs just to wake up with a sore scalp. Don’t get me wrong, my hairstyles were on point. I would always get compliments on how pretty my hair was. But the process of getting my hair done was a pain in the a%$. Do you know what it feels like to have a comb raking through tightly coiled and tangled hair? Do you know what getting cornrows feels like? Have you ever had someone almost knock you upside your head for squiriming and trying to run away? Do you truly understand the definition of ‘’OW!’’ Well, I do and I’m glad those years are long gone. I won't lie, I do miss getting braids and Mohawks but trust that I do not miss the pain, boul. Now, when I finally decided to loc, I was happy to have a hairstyle that reduced the amount of pain accompanied with styling. But avoiding pain was not the main reason I loced my hair. It was a contributing factor but not the main factor.

I was a preteen, a young girl growing up. Ballies and barretts were no longer for me. I needed something that was up to date, something mature enough for my age, something affordable for my mother and manageable for me. I thought a perm was the solution. It was quick, simple and easy to work with. So I begged my mom to let me get one and she did. During that time, having a perm was manageable in the sense that I didn't have to style it everyday. But I also was unable to wrap it every night. I didn't know how to put rollers in without denting my hair, eventually my hair shedded from split ends and the heat damage from the constant blow drying and flat ironing broke off my hair. In short, I didn't know what the hell I was doing with permed hair. It just didn't fit my lifestyle, I guess.  I had a perm for about two years before I reverted back to my natural look.

Carmel Treatment E'TAE Natural Products

From the age of 13-15 I began going natural.  As, I allowed my perm to grow out,  my hair broke off some more and became uneven. During that process, I tried Carmel Treatment, a "natural perm''. Basically it was a solution of ‘’natural’’ ingredients that gave you the same straight look a perm produced. I put natural in quotation marks because I honestly don’t know what natural is anymore. But anyway, I also I learned how to twist my hair.  Initially, I thought twisties weren’t  for me but I was ready to see my natural hair again and needed some kind of transition style.  I saw my aunties wearing twisties in so many different styles and colors. Coincidentally, several women at my highschool sported twisties...but something was different about their twisies and my aunts twisties. Their twisties could not be undone. They were called dreadlocs by many and locs by a select few. One teacher in particular was from Jamaica and had the most beautiful locs I had ever seen. Her tips were dyed blong, her locks were medium large and clean and she wore the dopest styles. It didn’t take me long to become a hair stalker. I was curious about this look-up until then I had never seen locs before or at least payed enpugh attention to know what they were. Whenever the time came, it would be my time to loc and I was going to do it right.

I was 15 going on 16 when I began to loc my hair. February 2015 made my it 7th year mark. It was a personal decision I made after two years of research and observation. Throughout my loc journey I learned how to retwist and style my own locs (saving aot of money). I also experienced a little build up, had to switch locing gels and twisting oils and I also had my hair cut a couple years back. If I had to give advice to anyone thinking about locing their hair I would say DO RESEARCH. There is no need to rush, this is a lifestyle not just a hairstyle.

Okay, I’m not Rastafarian and you don’t have to be Rastafarian to start your locs but locs require patience, care and concern. You need to be patienct with your hair during the locing and budding process. You need to care about your hair during the process and you have to be concerned about the health of your locs if you want them to last. Breakage, thinning and buildup is real, so real. And you need to be willing to paitiently discover a loctician who  you can trust and communicate with. One thing is for certain, if you cannot communicate with your hairstylist about YOUR hair without them thinking it's THEIR hair, there is a problem.

 Hair Safety & Love is important. It is something I adopted growing up after having my mother be so protective of my hair. I don’t let just any old Patty, Sue and Brenda touch my hair and I don’t depend on anyone to do my hair. That’s a fact. But there are a couple of locticians whom I have learned to trust and I appreciate their work on my hair. One woman in Philadelphia actually clipped my ends after I needed to release some negative energy. She was very Afrocentric and intuned with her spirit so I knew she cared about my hair as much as I did. Another woman in D.C styled my hair a few times and gave me the red streaks I asked for. She is also a down to earth woman who is concerned about the health of her client’s hair not just the look.

Call it a myth or crazy thinking if you want, but there is a spiritual component associated with locs. .My hair represents a part of my story. My hair is a part of my culture, my heritage and my essence as a black woman. My hair represents my courage and strength to be me and not a plastic Barbie you see in magazines. My locs are mature twisties. My spirituality is defined by my value and appreciation of self as my natural self IS good enough. Spirituality is when you care for something or someone beyond the surface of their existence. I care about who touches my hair and what I do to my hair. Spirituality applies meaning/value/worth and symbolism to objects. My hair has a story too.

On another note, let’s switch gears. I posted some photos for you. Check out the hair styles I have done over the years. Keep in mind, some photos are not in chronological order.

Note the length

Simply pulled back

Levels 

Making my short length work

Bun on top/ Hair hanging in the back

Freshmen year of college using rollers instead of pipe cleaners

A random style I did 

The back looked like a heart to me :) When you look close enough.

I loved this one too. This was freshmen year of college.

Sophomore year of college.

Bun up Hair down 

Gots to have curls 

Hair was done by a loctician in Philly. She clipped my ends and banded one of my locs

       

Loc Peddles 

Bang made from loc peddles 

Locs can be made straight again by dipping them in water. I prefer warm water just because. 

Mohawk 

Going to the Howard Bison Ball

Bun on top /Bun in front

Full Bun

Simple look made cute with a bandanna

Hair twisted  around pipe cleaners then released to full bouncy beauty

Pipe cleaners again

Used pipe cleaners in the front of my hair and plaited the back. This way I have gradual length. Short in the front/long in the back. 

Locs twisted around pip cleaners and then molded into a Shirley Temple style

Flat twisted on the side/Pulled back into a bun/Cover with a stocking cap/Bun Bang in the front/Flower on the side

Mohawk #2
Locs plaited in 3s then gathered to the front ending in a band made of plaits 

Where I am Now
Hair dyed and still growing