Another Hair Trip

Danger

2009-11-03T21:04:00.003Z

Since I am already in danger of being an absentee blogger again, I will post random photos/thoughts to remain blog inspired!

Ok.. this one is not too random as it shows a hairstyle I discovered for a wedding, I did not sleep for two days it was so tight, and I lost a loc whilst unravelling my hair, but it looked really nice.

Unfortunately I only have one profile, I am hoping some one has a front shot which I can post later.

The idea came from the video by Salkis on youtube she is absolutely inspirational. My hairdressers execution was quite different as all she had was me to explain what I wanted. It was quite difficult as my hair is really thick and just about shoulder length, the good thing is that I did not have to "stuff it" ( you will have to watch the video to understand)

New Clothes

2009-07-28T19:16:00.002+01:00

Just had a good look at what blogger has to offer, I think my blog needs some new clothes, she has been wearing these for far to long.
I am so lost to the world of blogging, I have much catching up to do!

Im Back....again!!!

2009-07-26T22:04:00.002+01:00

Yeahhhhhhhhh !!!!!

I have finally managed to log on, I had long forgotten my email address and password... I thought I was lost to Another Hair Trip ..... forever..... sniff sniff!

Fuelled be caffeine and aggression I finally made it, I have missed this blog and fellow sister bloggettes!

Love Ya XXX

"U can tell I am excited"

I'm Back.....

2007-10-29T20:01:00.001Z

Feel so bad about being away for so long.... got caught up in real life and Facebook.

My SL 1st year birthday went by with no fanfare, because I forgot!

To be honest I am not happy at the moment there are bits of my hair at the front that won't loc a whole year later !

I am beginning to feel like I get my hair braided every seven weeks as it is tight at first, I can still see hair roots in the base of the locs and have lost a few locs around my hairline which is extremely sensitive. This is the main reason I chose locs I hate pressure or tightness on my scalp.

I think because I have thick hair when I complain of hair loss people always assume its minimal. I will now request that my hair is not tightened to the root and go more frequently for tightenings.

My hair does not appear to have grown much as it coils back on itself it does not help that I have started to snip just here and there.

However I am predominately happy with my hair choice, I was going to go for a bright colour on my 1st, but may settle for a black rinse and some red lipstick like my current style idol Ms Ross Jnr (Tracee).

We All God's Creatures

2007-09-22T01:41:00.000+01:00

Happily watching TV lying on my sofa relaxing, something catches my eye,

you see something in your peripheral vision, you try to convince yourself it was nothing,

you know it is something.

I see it .......a humongous spider,

okay what do I do, it is now under the PlayStation,

luckily I remember the insecticide next to me, used to spray the humongous fly the day before.

I sit perched on the edge of the sofa deciding what to do, the spider is now on open ground, I leap like a panther and spray it, got you sucker, it runs for the door, in the direction of my bedroom, noooooooooooooooooooooo, I will not be able to sleep in there, ever.

I run, I skid,

insecticide and wooden floor propel me forward on my heels,

I land,

under the dining table, chair lands on top of me, I cry in shame,

thankful there are no witnesses.

"come home there is a huge spider and I fell"

"are u alright..."

"yes but the huge spider..."

"okay I am coming"

Everything in the room is shaken, it is found behind the mirror, I will not give gruesome detail.

I am typing standing, it is hard to sit.

Too Long

2007-08-28T11:17:00.000+01:00

My SO asked if I had updated my blog recently,
I said no,
to which he replied don't you think you should,
why?,
your hair looks nice you might actually inspire some one.
Veiled insult or compliment?

Little Brown Children

2007-06-23T00:53:00.000+01:00

On holiday I was taken to the beautiful home of an elderly English couple who have grand children of mixed race, half English and half Caribbean to be exact.

The husband declared how he loved the perfect colouring of his grandchildren a nice brown unlike his pale pasty skin (his words), my girlfriends and I eyed each other uncomfortably I knew what every one was thinking "as opposed to a horrible dark brown?" well he didn't go that far, little did I know more was to come but from the wife.

Whilst proudly showing off the grand kids pictures she said her grand daughter was lucky to have her mothers hair, how she had prayed that she would not have "you know, that difficult hair" like her grandson has, I am sure we had eyeballs like saucers by this time.

What had me in silent hysterics was she then turned to one of my girlfriends and said "you must be able to relate", now there were 3 of us, myself sisterlocked, one with braided extensions and the other with 2 stranded twist.

We did not understand why she directed her comment to Miss Braided, did she perceive the braids as an attempt to tame the hair whilst we just accepted the difficult hair.

None of us said a word during her monologue, or were offended by the ignorant comments as we all knew no malice was intended.

I did not say anything as they were not my friends, all my non black friends get to take black hair 101, plus I did not want to be perceived as a sensitive (aggressive) black person in their home, I truly think that line of education should come from their son in law.

Oh I almost forgot I went to the Caribbean on holiday, Antigua Barbados and Montserrat the pictures are of the famous volcano and the beaches had black sand.

Whilst on the topic of Montserrat and skin color my friend who has been there for 6 months told me that some people (I think the Guyanese) refer to mid brown to light complexions as clear, not clear as in spotless and smooth but clear in reference to skin tone ????? the sky can be clear, water is clear, if I was clear I would have transperant skin and you would see my innards. Can anyone explain this?

(blogger keeps doing weird things with my formats)

Tagged

2007-06-21T20:17:00.000+01:00

I noticed I had been tagged by Mel a while back, unfortunately I am one of those people that never returns text, and I am really poor at replying emails, not that I have a really busy interesting life it is just that I am disorganised and tell myself I will do it later.... actually this qualifies as a random point.

1 down 6 to go

2. I LOVE HIP HOP, misogynistic lyrics and all, there are all sorts of people out there including hoes and bitches though it is unfortunate mainly young black men mention them so often whilst artistically expressing themselves.

I am really not a fan of the N word purely out of respect for those who fought so long and are still fighting for racial equality no matter where or what colour they are.

On a positive note I love beats and rhymes and Hip Hop is the best combination of the two, it has made a lot of black folk rich and there are some conscience messages.

Common - Like Water For Chocolate

DMX-Its Dark and Hell is Hot

The Roots- Things Fall Apart

Dr Dre - The Chronic

Kanye West- Late Registration

Talib Kweli- The Beautiful struggle

Erick Sermon- Music

Busta Rhymes- Extinction Level

Nas - Gods Son, Illmatic

Lost Boys- Legal Drug Money

Rakim- The 18th Letter

p.s and I dont think Tupac was the greatest rapper dead or alive, its Nas.

3. I can't swim, I plan to learn as soon as my locs have matured

4. I seem to be the only woman I know not petrified of mice.

5. I want to collect more contemporary art prints, so far I have 2 which are still not on my walls, I would love to fill my house with art as soon as funds allow and would like to acquire at least one piece a year.

6. I get bored easily, I am currently bored thinking about random facts about myself, does that mean I don't find myself interesting? I know I do as I talk to myself and I try to avoid talking to uninteresting people.

That is a random fact in itself, I am not one for small talk or polite conversation when I am not at work getting paid for it.

7. I laugh and smile a lot especially during polite conversation, once it is over my cheeks normally hurt. Talking of which when I was younger anytime I sang hymns my cheeks would hurt I managed to convince myself that I must be slightly evil as I could not think of any other explanation, I haven't sung hymns for a while so I may be all good by now.Everyone I know has been tagged at least once!! I must make some new friends!!

Back from Vacation

2007-06-17T00:16:00.000+01:00

I have been on holiday for 2 weeks "hurrah", I am back "sigh"

which means I have to reply to the 142 emails at work,

the 3 "where are you?" post left by my dissertation supervisor

and my neglected fish whom my SO tried to kill in my absence... (the fish bowl broke all by itself).

Can you guess from the pics where I spent some time?

Love Hate

2007-05-27T09:30:00.000+01:00

Things I hate this month

dogs chasing/barking at joggers

dog owners who say the dog won't bite ( I don't care, come and collect your dog)

waterproof eyeliner that runs

skinny men in skinnier jeans

skinny people with no muscle tone

skinny people with no muscles (just bones)

parents who put there toddlers on fast moving apparatus in the park and are surprised when gravity kicks in

my hairline

people who eat garlic before getting on the tube (have been guilty myself)

my bathroom scales (I put on 28lbs when I threw the last one out)

my friends and SO who did not tell me how big I am

working next to so many nice boutiques

schizophrenic London weather

Things I love this month

my friends and SO who did not tell me how big I am

working next to so many nice boutiques

Sister Locked London's new eMag

guyliner (Captain Jack Sparrow "stylee")

Dont Ask

2007-05-01T09:28:00.000+01:00

........ no I am not pregnant, nor planning just yet ( yes I can hear you, I am talking to the people who know me personally making rude comments about my bio clock)

I came across these items which look fantastic, great for fashionista mommies and come in wonderful colours. I don't know if they ship internationally, maybe I will start badgering them now. Sakura Bloom Baby Slings.

On another note my hair is annoying me, I stopped trying to fix it myself after the massacre of 2 locs, the hair line just refuses to play ball, if it gets done too tight it I see my follicles pop out which still leads to unraveling..........any advice.

Violated

2007-03-16T19:36:00.000Z

I got the bus from the station today, I usually walk but had new heels on...ouch.

Standing on the bus a lady was staring at my hair I should have smelt trouble, when she did not blink, I made eye contact, big mistake.

Let me set the scene the bus is full, rush hour, no room to exhale.

"I like your hair"

"thanks"

"who does it for you?"

"a lady in xxx"

"its all yours isn't it"

"yes"

"how long you had it ?"

"6 months"

every one is looking at me now

"do you wash it?"

"how can anyone have hair they do not wash?"

"I have had mine for 2 months now I don't wash it"

"sigh"

white gentleman looking at both our heads like he is watching tennis

"it is very small, how much"

now I normally do not answer this question, why oh why did I? maybe it was because I couldn't escape

"mumble mumble mumble"

"what"

"from mumble mumble mumble"

"THAT IS TOO MUCH"

every damn person on the bus is looking at my hair!

black lady in front laughing

"IT IS RELATIVE some people pay xxx to get their hair done every 2 months"

"yes but it is still TOO MUCH"

"sigh"

"can I touch?" by this time her hands had rudely pulled up my fringe, if there was room I would have been in my kick boxing stance

"it is nice though, how long did it take"

"it took 3 days"

"too much"

"sorry"

"the money still TOO MUCH"

She got off the bus at the same stop and I tried my hardest to explain the technique, I gave her the SL web address and reluctantly my stylist's number, hoping there will be no financial debates if she calls her. It will be worth the embarrassment if I have another SL convert.

Retightening

2007-03-11T14:14:00.000Z

Just wanted to show my mad hair line before and after shots. Dawn my stylist will continue to retighten until my locs have matured. My job is to make sure my hairline does not escape again in between retightenings.

Training Day

2007-03-06T20:02:00.000Z

I thought I would never get the hang of retightening my locs, but my instructor Marie at Cammalocks has the patience of a saint, after several near misses involving conjoined locs, I now have the hang of it, however I will not be retightening my whole head any time soon, I will just tighten the hair line and tame those locs that normally go AWOL, I also learnt some new hair grooming tips such as plaiting the tiny escapees between retightenings. My next mission is to try the nappylocs tool as it does not look like it has any "catchy" bits.

I had to take a picture of Maries perfect waist length sisterlocks which she maintains herself, visit her site to see more of her work.

Not Braiding

2007-02-19T19:16:00.000Z

I have been quite naughty recently and not braided my hair before washing, I have however twisted it and banded the ends, my logic is it works for the ladies with shorter hair. I just wanted to be able to massage my scalp between the locs.

Parent advisory: do not try this at home, I am not recommending this to anyone, but it worked for me. The little rogue locs at my hairline had already broken free before I washed it, apart from that I am quite happy with the results. I really love the fact that this is the first hairstyle I have had that I can wash and go and it looks good.

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-02-13T21:55:00.000Z

Weird Dream

2007-02-13T21:35:00.000Z

I had the weirdest dream last night, I was seeing an old friends partner (honestly never thought of him in that way ever and have not seen either of them for years), the scariest part was that he picked a maggot out of my hair and pointed out I had dandruff. The only good thing was when he got close enough to see my hair he had a very nice smell, I have never noticed smells in my dreams before.

I am washing my hair tomorrow.

I also dreamt last weak that Tyson Beckford was chasing me, (no I am not on any medication) I do not fancy Tyson one iota, mainly because he looks like my older brother.

Dream interpretations please!

Snow..

2007-01-24T21:00:00.000Z

I looked out my window, shock, London had turned into a white winter wonderland, I luuuuuuuuurve snow.
Snow means hat and scarf, which now means lint and fluff, I have sold most of my fluffy things on eBay, apart from a few, I have read suggestions of sewing wave caps into hats but who has the time to do that?? except for a few superhuman out there.

So I got my lint roller and aggressively attacked one of my "I am never getting rid of" wool hats but the lint kept on coming , I decided maybe later I will use the lint roller on my hair.
Just playing ... On second thoughts has anybody done this?

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-16T20:24:00.000Z

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, I can’t believe how long it has been since I blogged last! There are always a million and one things to do around Xmas…. which is not my favourite time of the year.
Firstly because of all of the drama surrounding where people want to spend Christmas day, get over it, let everyone go where they want and be happy for them and rejoice that there are less people to argue with on the day!
Secondly my birthday is on Xmas eve, this is not fun and has been a sore point for as long as I can remember mainly because :-
I get one present for both Xmas and birthday from most people, which is normally quite a crappy present due to Xmas expenses, as an adult this no longer bothers me, I just buy myself what I want, I’m sure if I went to a shrink they will diagnose that my compulsive shopping habit stems from not enough love on my birthday as a child!
Secondly celebrating my birthday on my birthday is always a non starter, restaurants and clubs tend to close early, and people I love are preparing for Xmas, or have gone away. Celebrating before my birthday involves sharing space with droves of drunken office workers out on the razzle and after Xmas everyone is too broke and too fat to want to go out myself included.
I once told my mother I wanted an official birthday like the Queen, preferably mid year, that suggestion met a frosty reception, however she did suggest it this year???
Despite my moaning I had a very nice birthday and got quite a few lovely gifts including a dear friend cooking a delicious dinner!
One of my favourite gifts was a pedometer which has led to an obsessive compulsion of having to do my 10,000 steps a day, no matter how slowly I do them, I have a lateral thigh trainer I jump on, on my way to the fridge, to make up the steps I don’t do in the natural course of the day.

P.s. my hair is fine.

Balding??

2006-12-06T21:41:00.000Z

Despite my blog rules, I keep forgetting my blog is for my hair and not to whinge about my life! so at last some pics of my hair.
I wear my hair in 2 French braids, very convenient for the gym, which means my hair has puffed a little bit, I could not do this during month one, whilst I’m on the topic, my locs are now 3 months and a bit old!

This style draws attention to the fact that my hair is thinning on top (towards the front of parting in top pic), I noticed this when I cut off my OL’s some months back, there could be several reasons for this:-

Stress
Yeast infection (I bloody well hope not)
Alopecia
Disease ( I'm fine thanks)
Female pattern baldness (FPB)

Stress is a possibility, (I have a job and a man), yeast infection I very much doubt as no itching or weird goings on plus I tend to use fungicidal essential oils to prevent lurgeys and try to ensure my hair is dry before going to bed.
Alopecia a strong possibility as I have a couple of small 7mm diameter spots which I have had for as long as I can remember and can never find unless the person doing my hair points them out (like I want to be constantly reminded).
Now the final possibility is FPB aarrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I thought this was a male domain why are women also inflicted with this hormone related male curse, men don’t get PMT, the one hormonal side effect they get we can have too!
My mother is thinning so that not good news but she troubled her hair for much longer than I did so I may be wrong, my sister has a good head of hair right? I’m too scared to ask her, she has been wearing weaves for as long as I can remember but last I knew she had a thick head of hair. Maybe I should stand on my head to make it grow (I don’t think I could do this even if I really wanted to), maybe I should rub it with alcohol as teenage boys rubbed their non existent beards when I was in school.

My lost corners are started to grow my loctician Dawn advised taking Pilfood, I know several people that say it works wonders, there is no way on earth I will intentionally take anything to encourage hair growth, I spend half my time trying to get rid of it, I know I could get a better job but bearded circus lady is not an option.
I will never complain about how thick my hair is again, it reminds me of when I was young and first grew breasts, I was embarrassed and wished emphatically they would disappear or I could, well they did when I started working out, I bought some wonder bras back then the most uncomfortable restraints known to woman, I so prayed “please give me my boobs back” I got them back alright, I just forgot to specify distribution of fat to my chest area only please, not hip thighs bum and tum!

PC

2006-12-02T23:07:00.000Z

My favourite saying used to be “it’s better to be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt”, on second thoughts open up your mouth and let every one know exactly how stupid, ignorant, dumb, inconsiderate, foolish you really are, you know who I am talking about, Mr West and Mr Richards.
I am a bit fed up with political correctness, I believe in free speech and I mean free, yes I know exactly what I’m saying. I want to know if some one is racist, sexist, or if they want to incite violence,

political correctness just pushes it underground, people are still all these things, we just don’t know they are.
It should only be a crime when they act on their small minded ignorant beliefs.

Some people can find laughter in anything.

Crazy Week

2006-11-25T22:59:00.000Z

I got shat on by a seagull on Monday morning it hit every item of clothing I had on except my coat and my hair, I had to return home I missed my meeting, my boss found this hilarious. Bad

I got a pay rise ( not enough). Good

A friend at work said I told some one something, I didn't even know to tell, and would not tell me who said it or who I was talking about, confused? so am I. Bad

One of my "wards" at work wrote a letter and blatantly lied, I called them up and told them exactly that, it felt good, but ruined my Friday afternoon. Bad

I feel asleep at 6.oopm and woke up at 1.ooam. Bad

I have put on 7lbs. Extra Extra Bad. Damn free trade chocolate

Mongey came back from her world travels conspired with another friend and suprised me at dinner, when I saw her I thought I was so hungry I was hallucinating. Good

Ms Cameroun is leaving for a UN placement in Montserrat on Sunday , I will miss her. Badish Good

Okay my random ramblings are done thank you for your time!

Oh and I almost forgot I discovered a way of settling disputes in the the office,

and I did watch a video that cheered me up no end. Extra Extra Good

AWOL ROGUE LOCS

2006-11-25T06:15:00.000Z

Thanks Bygbaby for the Mohican/Mohawk advice, I did use about 6 small bands to hold the locs except at the front, I don't think my hair is long enough for only 3 bands, not defeated, will try again in 6 months.

I have not paid my hair much attention really and cannot believe I have been locked for almost 3 months, I have noticed that my black rinse has faded, possibly due to the sun on my holiday lightening my hair, I am a fan of jet black hair, not keen when it fades to that dull brown shade, but can't colour it just yet.. sigh..!
I have not been doing much with it, apart from spray with my lavender water most days, the advice I was given is not to wash too frequently, which I am quite happy with especially as braiding and banding is not my thing.
I had my second tightening, I am really glad as the front looked untidy a couple of rogue locs have escaped, I think I will have to learn to tighten at least my hairline myself. The sensitive corners have still not recovered from my scalp stretching corn rows and were a bit of a mess, 6 locs along the hairline had unravelled.
Been wearing it in a puff with a quiff, I really like it, which is quite naughty as stretching them is not allowing them to do their own thing, my hair is so soft I love squidging (squeezing) the puff. I'm notorious for assaulting soft things, cashmere, angora, fur, faux fur, this includes children's toys, soft furnishing and other peoples coats when their not looking, I might end up with no hair where my puff used to be.

My Mum told me my hair looks classy, so I wound her up and accused her of implying it looked unclassy before! she also said I looked prettier, a mothers love!
I knew she would prefer the Sls to my OLs, and has always thought my OL's would affect my corporate progress!
Cannot wait for my hair to grow, watched kettle and all that. Might try and get a style for Xmas
I still have not managed to dispose of my ole hair grease sitting in a carrier bag ,must do this weekend, its amazing how much more space there is in the bathroom.

This post was to be accompanied by photos, I haven't taken any of my own head for a while, must get that annoying camera out!

My Bald Avatar

2006-11-03T23:01:00.000Z

My avatar is bald, being a hair blog why is this so?
I think subconsciously I don't want hair woes and this is what my avatar represents.
The picture is from one of my favorite coffee table books Soul by Thierry Le Goues, its full of tasteful pictures, beautiful naked black women in very contrasty shots, as you may be aware from my Stacey Dash post, I'm not afraid of a little nudity as long as its not my own !!

Mohican

2006-11-03T22:09:00.000Z

I attempted a mohican
I have always wanted one
It was not good
M pleaded with me to take it down
I didn't think it was "that" bad!

In Answer to My Last Post

2006-11-03T22:06:00.000Z

???

2006-10-25T21:41:00.000+01:00

I don’t understand,
On going to a ladies loo (toilet)
The last user has not flushed
They did a number one
There is no toilet paper in the toilet!!??
Maybe it is not something I should dwell on in great detail.

Beach Hair Blues

2006-10-24T21:49:00.000+01:00

Part of the reason I did not enjoy my trip as much as I should have.

1. Did not take my camera charger, as I planned to buy a new camera but didn't.
2. The small clothes and the need for a swimming costume brought home the message again that I need to loose weight.
3. I missed my OLs (original locs/ old locs).

I'll elaborate on item 3.
I missed my OLs as I could not jump in and out of the Indian Ocean as I pleased and had to try not to get my hair wet which took me back to bad places (days of perm). I had no intention of braiding and banding my hair and looking like an alien in public, even though the beach was secluded, plus it is too soon to wash my hair frequently, as my last wash proved, my SLs do not love water.
The second reason was the humidity totally shrank my hair, interfered with my weak attempts at styling and I could not just pull it into a ponytail. I felt really sad and for the first time in a long while I was not happy with my hair, I couldn't even put on make up as the humidity interfered with that too!

p.s I'm back to normal now

Not Vermont, Cape Verde, Frankfurt....

2006-10-19T14:28:00.000+01:00

But Malaysia!

After my boring foray into economics, I decided I needed a much deserved break, so I went to join my mate Mongey who is exploring the earth by herself, brave lady.
I'm not sure about my Malaysian experience it was humid and is also a shopping destination I honestly did not know this, the good thing is everything was too small, so it was one of the first places I have been and did not come back with shoes.
On the other hand most of the people we met were nice and curious about us; it is one of those places that they still believe that black people do not live anywhere else but Africa. I can’t blame them, as Mongey looks like an African Goddess.
However a few people did decide she was Jamaican as she had twist extensions which equals locs in their eyes. The cleaner must have had a fright when they found the locs in the bin one day.
Mongey told me allot about her experiences in India which were not good, and it is no longer on my list of places to spend my tourist pounds, I found their ignorance quite surprising especially as some of them are just as dark as she is, I hope she will blog about her experiences. I also found Malaysian Indians quite hostile and stared the most, everyone else was great I have been to places in Europe were I have been eyeballed more ( Italians can stare anyone down). My new name is Sweetie and Mongey's beauty as well as Akuna Matata this is what we were called in The famous China Town (original fakes) market in Kuala Lumpur, I think the latter was because this is the only "African" they spoke.

The evil mosquitoes were on an Island called Pangkor they decided that my Oyin Body Butter was a delicous accompaniement to their main course.. me!

Do they really have big mosquitoes in Vermont? Cape Verde was on my list of travel destinations, I may have to reconsider !

Mosquito

2006-10-16T13:16:00.000+01:00

I am on holiday.....
I look like I have chicken pox....
I have been a meal for the insect vampires...
I was the one in search of an exotic meal....

more clues about my destination when I get back on Wednesday !

Opportunity Cost

2006-10-01T00:32:00.000+01:00

In the past 3 weeks I have bought
4 items of lingerie
3 CD's (The Roots..excellent, Conya Doss.. the jury is out and Ray Robinson.. great)
7 dresses (of which 3 were very very bad decisions)
1 pair of shoes
Numerous items of junk food to eat in the library
1 skirt

I also wanted (but showed great restraint. lol)
1 pair of trainers
2 pairs of jeans
1 blouse
1 sweater
2 other dresses
1 pair of boots

I have been told I need some help and had to protest extremely loudly to get into a shoe shop on Saturday luckily I did not buy anything. I was going to post pics of items but then it would be difficult to claim I bought them ages ago, when asked by my self appointed conscience.

All that money spent could have bought 1 Issa dress which I really want, new doors or a bath which I really need.
I am currently studying a module in Construction Economics and Value management a compulsory module which I find dreadfully boring, but it is part of my pursuit to gain a professional surveying qualification in my old age. You would think studying economics I'd be more efficient with my resources?? Nay.
Where I'm going with all this, is there are shops on the way to the library, namely TK Maxx which is a time warp, once in you only spend a minute and all clocks appear to jump 2 hours forward in time, I tried sitting at home but there is EBay (also a time warp) and internet shopping.
So do I have a problem or do I just need pleasant distractions when I am supposed to be studying, the other option is falling asleep when I try to concentrate on tender pricing and other construction economics jargon.
So I checked out a shopoholics website.

What causes it?
Compulsive Shopping seems to be associated with:
1.Emotional deprivation in childhood
2.Inability to tolerate negative feelings, pain, loneliness, boredom, depression, fear, anger
3.Need to fill an inner void empty and longing inside
4.Excitement seeking
5.Approval seeking
6.Perfectionism
7.Genuinely impulsive and compulsive
8.Need to gain control

I can identify with item 2 BOREDOM, item 4 EXCITEMENT. Okay okay and item 7 genuinely impulsive and compulsive. Item 8 is confusing need to gain control? of what my life or the shopping? Shouldn't it be ...need to loose control of my budget and common sense?

P.s I must admit everything I bought was a bargain.
I guess a bargain you don't need is a waste. I seem to wear the same items repeatedly no matter what I buy.

SLs Week 2/3

2006-09-29T22:55:00.000+01:00

Nothing much to say today! 'cept I'm still happy!!
Although the gym has being doing funny things to my hair! it gets totally wet during work outs, which is new to me, maybe the pattern allows moisture to travel along the hair more, I dunno ??
My hair is very soft I was really expecting it to feel like cornflakes due to no oil or conditioner, I spritz regularly with lavender water and grape seed extract (2 drops to the bottle) to prevent funky things growing in my bottle and on my scalp!

My Beautiful India

2006-09-22T22:32:00.000+01:00

I had been dying to buy my very own Brunsli Hair Tie, to be the very first to sport one in London but alas my extra big head has decided it may not be so, my hair is not long enough hair for a pony and my head is too big to use it as a headband. I am not going to attempt to lengthen it myself, otherwise it will join my other half finished DIY projects.
I just had to have one on my blog as I was getting a bit jealous, hopefully the next time you see one here it will be in my hair.

So Brunsli I will be purchasing another shortly with longer elastic.

Have you noticed I have been having fun with my camera's macro function.

The Count

2006-09-11T13:03:00.000+01:00

I asked M to count my locs every so often he will touch my hair and say 1, 2 .... 4 days later we are up to 53... he thinks this is hilarious ..I don't !..... anyway I decided to count myself, 630 +/- 50 I couldn't remember if one bundle had a 100 or 50 !!

A lady on the tube asked if I had SLs... yahoo! she claimed she had just started hers but had large two stranded twist ??!! I didn't want to seem rude so didn't enquire further, I presume the twist are a cover up while her hair grows, this seems like extra hard work.

Flash makes scalp look extra scalpy!!

Sisterlocked Braidyfro

2006-09-09T12:55:00.000+01:00

I got my eyes, got my nose,
Got my finger, got my toes,
I got HAIR!!!

Yes I am sisterlocked.... it took so long, I’m glad it was done over 3 days, Dawn was such good company it was more like visiting an old friend and catching up.

I love how it looks, best described as a braidyfro, some people have already assumed I have twists, braids...whatever, I have not got the time to explain to everyone at work, those who need to know..Know.
But everyone appreciates the time it took.
I didn’t take pictures during the process as we were running a tight ship, and once the camera comes out I knew I would spend ages fluffing and preening to try and get the best shot.... okay the truth is I was just plain lazy.

Everyday we stopped and went to lunch, on the final day we went out the door, Dawn asked "where is your hat?" I was already loving my hair I had plain forgotten my unfinished sections.

One of the reasons I am really excited is that I know how to style my hair when the time comes courtesy of all the wonderful blogging sl ladies, I have my softspikes and maybe will mature into Caruso Curlers.
My one complaint.. my stupidity at having my hair cornrowed so tight I can’t believe the amount of breakage in the front corners. When and if they grow back we may have to undo the SL's and incorporate the hairs in a more uniform pattern.
I have small sisterlocks, initially wanted micros, I was schooled on the impracticalities especially as my hair is so thick, and more so the stir craziness having to sit for so long.

Got my freedom.... I got life.......

Dog Tired

2006-09-05T23:47:00.000+01:00

Two days into my three days.... I am so tired my behind is flatter due to all this sitting!!
I'm even too tired to take pictures or play with my hair.
I also have a cold which is really not helping, maybe in a way it has as I am less inclined to fidget !

I am really excited as I am not scalpy......... Yaaa HOOOOO

Good Night

My Appointment

2006-08-18T13:11:00.000+01:00

In response to Tra's question, I am getting my sl's done at the beginning of September though I originally saw Marie at Cammalocks for a consultation, she is too busy, so I will be getting my hair done by Dawn, a loc artist with 7 years experience.

I saw a couple of her clients whilst I was there plus I have met 3 other people with beautiful sl's that were her handiwork.

On the downside it will take about 3 days to do my hair, so I have started to do mathematical calculations on how long it will take. she must be able to do about 20 an hour minimum, so 8 hours, 3 days, 160 a day x 3 days = 480

I am not going to mention the cost, as Dawn put it "a mortgage payment".

A week and a half later those cornrows were still tight, I have lost a lot of hair, even though I got her to redo a couple.... I wonder if I will get a discount for the missing hair.

Temp Face Lift

2006-08-16T20:31:00.000+01:00

A girl at work did the hair and lashes, trust me, she got every single hair strand on my head, even the baby hairs, I had to release them and it still hurts, Im taking pain killers ...never again... I almost took the whole lot out, I didnt want to offend her,... but if I undo them I'm sure my scalp is so sensitive I wouldn't be able to comb it .. if I can last today I will be ok. ..plus it does look nice..... Laverne said my scalp is whaling (looks sore) never heard that expression before..... well there goes my hair line again!

sore head + sore foot + no sleep = impending sugar rush.

I got the lashes done, as my girl friend Ms Lodoku is getting married on Saturday I thought well, since I'm not going to fit into the gorgeous silk black dress sitting in my wardrobe ( with a busted zip from the last time I tried it on) I may as well get some fat lashes to go with my cheeks. Any way I am off to Monsoon whose dress sizes come up big, my foot is much better so I can spend an hour prancing around in the dressing room.

A Very Bad Start to My Day

2006-08-10T22:30:00.000+01:00

I was wearing these shoes, and ended up flying half way down the stairs this morning, and my heel broke off.
I love them they are my Minnie Mouse feel good can run and stomp about shoes, as they have such a large heel....
I have obviously stomped one time too many.
I now have a sore foot, and couldnt go to my fitness class, which means I couldnt work off the two bags of peanut M&Ms I ate yesterday....which means I am moody and want to eat more M&Ms.

Women Over 30

2006-08-09T20:45:00.000+01:00

As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all.

Here Are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 30 will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, "What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.
If a woman over 30 doesn't want to watch the game,
she doesn't sit around whining about it.
She does something she wants to do.
And, it's usually something more interesting.
A woman over 30 knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is,
what she is, what she wants and from whom.
Few women past the age of 30 give a damn what you might think about her
or what she's doing.
Women over 30 are dignified.
They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant.
Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved.
They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

A woman over 30 has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn't
trust the guy with other women. Women over 30 couldn't care less if you're attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won't betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a
woman over 30.
They always know.

A woman over 30 looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. a woman over 30 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest.
They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk if you are acting like one!
You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her. Yes, we praise women over 30 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of 30+,there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of
himself with some 22-year-old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize. For all those men who say,"Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free". Here's an update for you.
Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why?

Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage.

written by Andy Rooney from CBS 60 Minutes

A pearl of wisdom !! Yes it is Stacey Dash half naked, a beautiful picture from her playboy shoot, she is 39!! If you look that hot at 40 and some one is willing to pay you loads of money to pose nude "tastefully", why not !!

A More Interesting Topic

2006-08-01T05:13:00.000+01:00

I have been asked how important is hair, could you not find a more interesting topic.....?

Right, I started to blog about my hair because, I was looking for information and where I found the most useful information was on other hair blogs.

I did not find many UK black hair blogs and I am still searching.

Maybe I just wanting to blog about something non time consuming, and something in my everyday life, something non taxing, something which did not involve too much personal disclosure, with some elements of hilarity, voila my hair blog.

Do I want to blog about my other interests, photography, politics, yada yada ya.... maybe, maybe not, maybe I'd rather read others opinions on such subjects, maybe others are more well versed on these topics.

Name me one person who is more familiar with the naps and kinks of my hair but me !

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!

2006-07-31T21:02:00.000+01:00

I bought an epilator.......... just had to share my pain !!!!

No Nonsense Hair

2006-07-31T20:47:00.000+01:00

As mentioned in my last post, humidity was wrecking havoc with my twist out, my last attempt resulted in an afro after only two days. So I combed it out which took 10 minutes and luckily managed to get a friend to braid the sides, this took place on a Thursday evening ( the time is very important).

I went to lunch with my boss and some colleagues on the Friday, he asked when did I get my hair done, thinking he meant when did I cut my locs, he then said you had individual little puffs on Wednesday, did I spend my day (Thursday) working from home, getting my hair done !!! I was not in the mood to give a lesson to all on afro hair.
People have started to touch my hair again............Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Ma Twist Out

2006-07-25T20:11:00.000+01:00

I have been asked over the past couple of days how I got my hair like this, veteran nappies will already know.... but her goes

In order to get value for effort.

Wash and condition hair, double strand twist hair using a holding product, I use Nyoxl gel, wear hair in this style till next wash.
Do not undo twist
Wash and condition hair carefully.
Towel dry, use leave in conditioner and a bit of her gel on wet hair to set.
Dry, I just leave it to dry naturally, or use a hair dryer with a diffuser ( I cant find my diffuser!)
Untwist hair.
Use afro pick to raise root, to give a little more body if need be.
Spray with oil sheen or serum.
Voila funky hair.
which can be styled as desired.
In order to make this style last longer I roughly divide it into 5 with elastics, before going to bed this prevents it getting too flat.

Pics are of two day old twist humidity and heat have shrunk it !!! Its hotter than July we are experiencing temperatures hotter than Rio at the moment this would be great if the environment was built to accommodate this weather...... I had to get a foot spa to soothe my hot swollen feet, which drastically interfered with sale shoe shopping my favorite activity.

Natural Hair Month

2006-07-24T20:58:00.000+01:00

I have been out and about quite a bit this month, hence my reduced blogging activity, but majority of the events and places I have been to were full of beautiful people with locs.

The picture top right is my favourite taken at the Rise Festival in Finsbury Park London, I think it deserves a post of its own

The pictures mid and bottom centre and bottom right, were taken at Adornment market place, a truly special day of ethnic fashion, crafts, and an open mic session.

Middle left was at Mahogony Amplified at Lyric Ls showcase, a load of beautiful women with beautiful hair and beautiful music... lets not forget food!!

Each of these occasions really deserves its own posts, too hot and too lazy !!!

I got a present.........

2006-07-15T18:59:00.001+01:00

My dear friend Po, bought me a pressie..... a book on hair !!!

Textured Tresses : The Ultimate Guide to Maintaining and Styling Natural Hair
The book has some nice ideas, it would have been even better if they had concentrated more on how to achieve hair styles, as I am not really interested in her celebrity resume.

But Iam extremely grateful for the gift and that some one was thinking about me and my hair.

Po you did not inscribe the book as promised !!!

OH NO SHE DIDNT......

2006-07-15T03:05:00.000+01:00

http://www.bestweekever.tv/2006/07/05/icymi-viewing-brandy/

Oh yes she did
What were those cronies thinking !!!!!

Pretty Hair

2006-07-08T00:11:00.000+01:00

Check out my basket woven 2 stranded twists, quite a mouthful for such a simple looking hairstyle, it is cute, but I do feel scalped, I have taken to wearing heels everywhere to lengthen my torso, as my peanut head makes me look huge!!

I am starting to feel a little nostalgic and it is not even one week yet, it didn't help that I went to a salon that specialises in locs to get my twists, the lady who did my hair, said I have pretty hair , which sounded quite nice in her Jamaican lilt.

HAIR!!!

2006-07-04T23:23:00.000+01:00

I have finally finished ..... over 150 hours and two months later, not a task for the faint hearted, and I have ended up looking like a cross between crabman and Don King.

I am so glad I did it, some of the stuff in my hair kept making me sneeze !! The good thing is I spent approx 4 hours a day on my hair which means I could retighten my sister locs myself.

This picture was taken before I trimmed and washed, I will be going to Jay's tomorrow for a black rinse and two strand twists, I wanted to leave it free, but its been over 30 degrees here, and I didnt want to start with a large 'fro and end with a TWA before the end of the day, which happend to me one night, I was at a hot club, I passed a mirror and thought "that girl looks like me 'cept she has short hair" .

Anyway my mood has picked up apart from the fact there is hair in every corner of my home, I have a day of cleaning to look forward to.... sigh.....

On a brighter note I am closer to my sis locs ! on a downer my hair is longer than 3 inches approx 6 inches which means its going to cost more ( I hope not double).

I love how it feels and thought about not locing it again, having washed it I was quickly reminded why I grew locs!!!

p.s I have a tooth ache, gargling with sambuca will only numb the pain for so long, I hate dentist, I always seem to leave without my teeth and money!

Foul Mood ....

2006-06-25T11:01:00.000+01:00

I am in an extremely bad mood today, due to personal reasons and hair issues, I have finger blisters, broken nails and my hair looks mad, it doesn't help that I am PM.....
So I am going to have a little rant..........................
I have really enjoyed looking at the lock it up groups( Brunsli, Tanya, Lachanda, Leighann) NYC trip (extremely envious actually)...But it has made me hate Picassa, those picture grids whilst a good idea, don't let me have a good close up look at the beautiful faces and hair so I have my nose on my monitor trying to check out every ones hair !!
To the phone camera user, the same applies, those are not finger prints on my monitor but nose smudges.
Whilst we are on the subject of cameras I went to see MJB last Saturday for a one night only sell out concert at Wembley, Mary was in rare form, no frills just thrills, no costume changes or dancers, just raw uncut Mary looking fit and singing her entire back catalogue, money well spent but, I bought the most expensive tickets I could find albeit a little late, but it looked near enuff the front, only to discover the area is flat so when she came on stage people stood up !!! then the girls in front of me stood on their seats !!!!! so I had to too, which was quite uncomfortable because the seat was some plastic fold up curved contraption.
Now being that I love pictures, I was set to take loads on my compact digital canon 5MB ixus.....wrong.... I couldn't get one decent picture, people with camera phones were getting better shots, my camera is about 4 years old the best I could get back then in its price range, well any way I am just fuming!! the only consolation was I discovered the video option has sound doh...... it only tainted me enjoyment a tiny little bit and I got some "arty" out of focus abstract shots too embarrassing to post.
Another quick rant there are some people out there that I love reading their blogs, but they don't update very often.... you know who you are ....LOL.

Thanks for listening I feel better already.

The first day..........

2006-06-19T15:34:00.000+01:00

......in over 5 years that I have needed to add extensions to my hair... in my over zealousness I have cut off too many locs at the back, hence I needed a disguise this morning, luckily before I grew real locs I tried out loc extensions 6 years ago, I had them put in by a stylist in Brooklyn on my last trip to New York (I cant remember the salon name or address) , the hair was such good quality I kept it just in case I wanted an elaborate up do one day. Thank God I did as I had to put some around my pony tail this morning as my hair was not covering the chunky plait I have at the back.... I will also have to wear scarves and extra wide head bands from this point forth.

I have now undone 69 locs leaving 101, which is over a third but less than half :(
my scalp is a bit sore from the combing and tugging something else I have not experienced for a very long time, and did not miss for a minute.
My mission is to complete my task within two weeks an average of 7 locs a day....... which equates to 3.5 hours..... I have started to increase in dimensions again, as I am confined to sitting for long periods of time and eating crap to keep up my spirits, ice cream with bits of hair in it still tastes good.
Lint is SO the enemy, I have found lint of every colour of the rainbow in my hair ( no cereal yet) In some places especially the back almost as much lint as hair, when I grow my sister locs I will be slightly more neurotic about what I wear and where I lay my head. This is such a shame as I have a penchant for wool knit cardigans, scarves and blouses I better wear the hell out of them before my hair becomes shoulder length? does that mean I have to wear synthetic man made fibers all the time?...yuch.

Soft Spikes

2006-06-10T15:08:00.000+01:00

I took them out and I looked liked Medusa... this picture does not do the snakes justice as they were sticking up every where.
This is what I had to do to tame them.
10 days later they finally look acceptable and so do I...
But I had to go out like this.... because I was scared a big gust of wind would come along and reveal ......

THIS

2006-06-10T14:13:00.001+01:00

THIS I have undone about 15 locs at the back of my head, and will soon need some new hair disguises. I lost quite a lot of hair at first but now I have discovered Nexxus Headress leave in conditioner, magic!!
My Mum said she "may" get sisterlocks she is waiting to see mine first.

That reminds me, I met a beautiful lady in the hair shop with lovely sisterlocks, she let me touch and gave me the name of her stylist.!!! and no I did not ask her!! Her hair was amazing jet black and shoulder length.

Dada The Spirit Child

2006-06-10T14:13:00.000+01:00

Having spent some of the formative years of my life in Nigeria where I discovered a couple of things about locs.....

On an adult locs were considered dirty, this stereotype was due to mentally challenged folk(I think this is the correct PC term nowadays if not, I am open to correction), unfortunately the health care or lack of a health care system did not extend to mental health, hence unfortunate victims were left to wander freely, obviously their hair is not a priority so it is left to form organic locs, along with all the debris from the streets intertwined, hence locs are associated with dirt and madness. So if you have locs in Nigeria you may find yorself being called Wheyrey (incorrect spelling but hopefully phonetically correct) which means mad or being called Bob Marley, I know which I would prefer.

What often amuses me is that Nigerian's will claim to be devout christians or muslims yet still have pagan beliefs, maybe I should consider them to be our cultural traditions, one such tradition is a young child born with locs or dense hair which quickly form locs in Yoruba tradition is called Dada, the parents cannot cut the locs with out a ceremony other wise their antics will incur the wraith of the spirit world, I have heard many different versions of this tale, so I have just put the common running theme here. This story has always fascinated me but I have not managed to get to the bottom of it, as in why are the spirits so concerned with a childs hair?

Dont they have more pressing problems like all the demons that escape to the human world and seem to turn up at my work place?

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu has recently published Zahrah the Windseeker, (cover image top) a story about a Dada girl child, a must read for me as I have a morbid fascination with the spirit world as depicted by African American authors, such as The Famished Road by Ben Okri and more recently the Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi both recommended reads.

Shea

2006-06-08T16:13:00.000+01:00

I am totally in love with Oyin's body butters, BUT it takes a couple of weeks for orders to arrive, so whilst awaiting the Mixtress to whip up my latest order, I decided to try some unrefined shea butter as everyone on BlackPlanet keeps raving about it, I am currently sitting here unable to cross my legs as they keep sliding off one another, well the good thing is I wont be restricting the blood flow to my feet anymore, we will have to wait and see if there are any other shea benefits.
Shea is almost odourless but smells ever so slightly of palm oil, not the most pleasant fragrance, L'Occitane have a non smelly one for twice the price but maybe refined shea. Apparently it is quite easy to mask the fragrance by gently melting and adding your favourite essential oils I came across a couple of recipes on the web.
I wont be putting any shea to my hair.

The sun has finally arrived in London Yeah, its been sunny for 3 days in a row quite an amazing feat, I promised myself I would be slim by the time the sun came out, oh well there is always next year (again).

Best Beauty Buys for Whom???

2006-06-04T20:00:00.000+01:00

I am always fascinated by must have list in the media...... I always wonder must have for who?
Whilst browsing InStyle magazines site I thought it would be a laugh to see how many of their products on their Best Beauty Buy list I have heard of, let alone bought.... so hear goes ...

Up first body products
1. A jergens moisturiser... Yeah have used this
2. Some Opi nail lacquer not used those particular colors
3. Creative Nail design solar oil, I loved this I'm sure I still have a bottle
a lot of Neutrogena products on this list hummm, self tan not in this life
I have used 3/31 and heard of most of the brands

Next face products
1. L'oreal Paris True Match Super-Blendable Makeup
wot more Neutrogena products???
2. MAC Blot
3. Nars blush
4. Shu Uemura makeup brushes
4/24

Lips 0/8 not used any

Eyes I must find something here
1.MAC Eye Kohl
2. MAC Paints.... I love this, eyeshadow that does not disappear into my crease
3. Lancome Definicils... the best mascara in the world
3/15

Hair next ..... he he he !!
John Frieda Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Shampoo.LOLBumble and Bumble Thickening Shampoo...ROTFL... I may need this one day
1. Kiehls Creme with Silk Groom .Yeahyeah 1 for me
1/31 as suspected

Skin... this should even things out
not looking good
what 0/30 !!!!

11/139 whoa I feel like I just failed an exam

Just 1 more category favorites
1. MAC Lip Pencil in Chestnut.... thats more like it
2. MAC Lipglass in Entice .... thank God for MAC

before you ask yes I have a job, friends and hobbies!
3. MAC Powder Blush in Raizin

3/24 MAC almost saves the day....

They do have all sorts of other lists like Deals and Steals

Mmmmm Online shopping!

Hair Disguises

2006-05-27T12:22:00.000+01:00

My attempts at concealing my undegrowth

The Loc Comb Out

2006-05-24T20:50:00.000+01:00

Vibe Vixen have published a feature on how to comb out locs, Naadii has posted about it on her blog .

My only problem is, the length of the process, I would not want my hair wet over a period of days.

I will probably saturate the locs I want to comb out with a leave in conditioner and a spritz of water, don a shower cap for 20 minutes and then comb them out, and repeat this process as and when I want , washing at intervals.

Confidence Boost

2006-05-22T21:45:00.000+01:00

After being told to smile this miserable rainy Monday morning by a total stranger, I was then told that he liked my hair, I was tempted to say "are you sure even with the afro edges?"

instead I responded politely and said "thank you, are you married?"

only joking I just said "thanks".

Determination Part 2

2006-05-21T16:53:00.000+01:00

I managed to unpick a lock on my head and got about 5 inches of hair at the moment my hair is extremely soft, I have a sneaky suspicion that Oyin's Greg Juice has something to do with this, it may not be a good idea to use it on the newbie lock stage as it may prevent locking.

I have also decided to stop spelling locs as locks, don't ask why some complicated reasoning maybe because my locs enable a certain type of freedom, so locks is not an appropriate name, I will also not refer to them as dreds or dreads either, as there is nothing dread about my hair.

So I have decided to unpick my whole head, yes I will, I cut off the 4 very thin locs at my hair line as I know unpicking them is a no no, I did this to give the area a bit of a break as my pony tail is quite weighty and tends to pull at this area...... There is no going back now, I hope to have unpicked all my hair by the end of June. If I am brave I will post picks of the intermediary stages.

I'm so glad I may not have to go back to a TWA.

Indian Sensation

2006-05-20T10:23:00.000+01:00

So loving India right now, she heard about "my" hair dilemma and wrote a song about it.

"I am not my hair"

I didn't bat an eyelid when she cut off her locks, I knew where she was coming from.

She has always appealed to me her wholesome looks and style, and her warm mahogany tones, her voice gave me goose bumps both times I saw her live

All her albums are in my collection and no doubt as soon as this one is released it will be a permanent fixture on my mp3 player.

what's more I love seeing some one I can relate to in the media spotlight who is not Hollywoodified.

Determination

2006-05-19T21:42:00.000+01:00

I unpicked a lock today (the one I had cut to get my 4 sister locks, I knew it had a purpose) I managed to get about 3 inches plus the 2 I still have on my head, that is approximately 5 inches of hair I can recover, I don't know what the quality will be like, especially as I unpicked it in the wrong direction that is from the cut outwards, hence more hair would be lost than if I was actually unpicking from the cut towards the roots on my scalp.

It took me an hour, so 169 locks * 1 hour = 169 hours = 7 days

7 days of non stop hair picking !!!

It will still be faster than growing it all again.

P.s the gaudy background is my mouse mat!

A Taste of Honey

2006-05-19T20:54:00.000+01:00

My Oyin Handmade review

Greg Juice
I love this oil free spray moisturizer, it smells superb and my hair feels so soft, I want some more.

Body Butter Bar
This is my favorite product, my knees, elbows, feet and areas subject to friction (thick thighs) are loving this product, I even put it on my irritated face a couple of times, instant relief. I want to stock up on this, my only complaint is there is not enough of it. It smells edible but not over powering like Palmers Cocoa Butter where people can smell you coming.

Honey Tint Lip Balms
I really wanted to love this product but sadly I didn't, I didn't like the smell and the shades are nondescript.

Funk Butter (deodorant)
This product smells great, I love the name, but I have not tried it yet.

Needless to say I will be placing another order of greg juice and the body butter bar.

Oil Free T Zone

2006-05-16T20:59:00.000+01:00

The latest mission I have set myself along with, eating less, not speaking my mind, is trying to combat my shiny T zone.....

I'm not a spa kinda girl so thats out, but I have made a conscious effort to try with my daily beauty regime
I do not like AHA's ( fruit acids and glycolic acids) and will never use them on my face again..... I have had microdermabrasion I would do it again but I am more interested in what I can do daily.

Beauty starts on the inside, .... I'm not going to talk about food again..... but I am trying to cut down the sugar and hydrogenated fat ( very very bad fat).

The first thing I rediscovered is my Dermalogica Microfoliant I LURRRRVVVVVEEEEE this product, why I stopped using it I don't know ( lazy). This product contains salicylic acid which is number one for unplugging blocked pores hence I have had more spots in the last three weeks than usual, but now I have no black heads and no spots. I used it 3 days in a row ( I have never done this before) and 3 people at work complimented me on my skin, admittedly I had on a base but it looked smoother due to the smoother skin underneath..... where was I ... oh yeah worshipping at the alter of the microfoliant.
Dermologica are very good with samples (hint) this is how I discovered this product.

My Routine

Wash with Dermalogica "The Bar" using their facial brush, just started using this is a bit soft but feels good
No toner ( I am thinking about it though)
Scrub with Microfoliant for 1 minute
I have just bought Dermologica's Skin Refining Masque, which contains Bentonite and Kaolin oil busters I "plan" to use this every 5 days.
Moisturise with Dermalogica Intensive Moisture balance (this is a little to rich for the summer and the day)
In the day I don't use the scrub, and prefer to use Crystal Clears skin refining moisturiser.

Most oil free moisturisers leave my skin slightly dry, so do mattifying lotions, so these are out.

Today decided to try using make up to achieve a matte finish, so I will be prepared for a special occasion, this is the first day after using my new masque.

8.30 am applied make up, Matte

12.02pm no touch up and no shine (yet)

I must admit I actually set my Becca foundation stick base with Clinique loose powder today I have not done this in years( I think I have had the powder for years but it smelled alright, I'm sure I look a slightly bit more orange than usual ).....

Also in my make up oil busting arsenal are

Clinique Super balanced compact in spice, I am peeved that I had to order this on EBay and have not received it yet, as they don't stock my colour in the UK, are they not indirectly implying I must be living in the wrong place,anyways this product is supposed to balance oily zones, science never fails to amaze.

Becca compact powder for no base days ( they do a fabulous range of colours for all hues)

MAC blot powder, portable anti shine buster.

12.29pm I'm glowing

13.59 back from lunch, glowing alot, lip gloss missing, base coagulating

14.15 looking matte again, and no it did not take me 16 minutes to touch up, I had to do some work

16.03 Still matte

There are 2 women in my office I envy, one wears a lot of make up but stays matte all day, the other does not wear any and stays beautiful all day.

19.00 A healthy glow... I am shocked!

I wrote this post about 6 weeks ago and forgot to post it, so here is an update.

I do not use the mask every five days ( I knew I was deceiving myself)
I love the clinique foundation, it stays put !! but I prefer the Becca foundation topped with loose powder, it has a better hue.

A friend recommended L'oreals regreasing moisturiser, I don't know why I thought I could trust something called "regreasing", it gave me a bad rash and an irritation, though it gave a nice matte finish, I am still trying to clear the rash.
I have discovered MAC paint eyeshadows, which do not slide off by mid day!

P.s I lost 7lbs, I looked at some muffins today so I am sure I have put it all back on.

Taking the God Mom Thing Too Far ??

2006-05-14T14:35:00.000+01:00

Short Lived Joy

2006-05-14T02:44:00.000+01:00

I was told unceremoniously that,

I look like I am suffering and cant afford to get my hair done,

that I should retwist my roots, wear a scarf or cut my hair.......

The sad thing is I agree.

The non retwisting of roots is not going to fly !!

Need to rethink hair plan.

Sitting here typing with scarf on head!

I'mmmmmmmmmm Back

2006-05-14T01:53:00.000+01:00

I have been blogging just not posting !!
It took me ages to system restore my PC
and I managed to loose a whole heap of pictures....
I am well vexed...
I have learnt a valuable lesson .... a back up drive
I got myself a Western Digital portable one...

Hair Wash :(

2006-05-10T12:07:00.000+01:00

I washed my hair

I did not retwist my roots ( hurrah!)

I have a 1 inch afro under my locks

I lost 2 of my 4 sister locks

I didn't wrap them around a bigger lock, as I was advised :(

I Got Sisterlocks

2006-05-02T23:50:00.000+01:00

..... ok only 4 of them.... but still I got some !!

I went to see a consultant today the lovely Marie in Croydon, it was far .......

Anyway I had a consultation today and cut off one of my locks, which suprisingly did not have any build up in it !

Marie put in 4 sample locks, which I have already touched to death, she could not reproduce the square formation parting due to the small area of hair she had to work with.

She does wonderful work please check out her site and I am determined that she will start my hair, even though she will be closing her books soon, but I love the precision of her partings !!

M is still not impressed, I think waiting in the car for an hour while I had my consultation did not improve his mood!!!

Im a God Mom

2006-04-30T00:06:00.000+01:00

Some one has finally entrusted me with the religous well being of their child, yeah!!
Ok she didnt trust me that much as my God child has 5 other God parents, I want one all to myself.

I have first dibs on their next child, here he is looking serious and boy is he heavy, I call him Odge Podge as he is so sturdy, he is so cute and looks just like his Mum who is one of my closest friends.

The guy behind is Odge Podge's uncle... ruining my shot!! I really need some cropping tools

I ate so much cake at the Xtening ! it was absolutely delicous!

Easter Hair

2006-04-16T00:11:00.000+01:00

Pics of my last style before the BiG ChoP, I wonder if I can holdout, I was on my way out the door,
I have got my coat and bag over my shoulder,
I had to take the pics as my hair does not stay tidy for more than two minutes!!

Jay styled it, she was quite accepting of my wish for change and even recommended a sister loctitian, but I already have my heart set on someone, well if that does not work out!

P.S I have a better pic, but it needs cropping and I havent reinstalled my photo editing software after my Nortons fiasco!

NORTONS ANTIVIRUS

2006-04-14T23:56:00.000+01:00

Has given me a migraine,
I am having all sorts of PC problems,
my online activity is limited,
blogging is addictive,
I am suffering from withdrawal.

CHICKEN

2006-04-10T12:10:00.000+01:00

I saw a lady with what looked like sister locks on the tube this morning :)
I was too chicken to ask her about it :(
If I see her again I will pluck up the courage :))

M has launched a one man campaign to prevent me from cutting my hair,
I will be reading up on psychological manipulation.

How Black am I ?

2006-04-08T23:11:00.000+01:00

I have been snooping around message boards and forums for a while now, the topic de jour always seems to be chemical vs natural........ ......(I once posted on a natural hair site, who changed "pressing" in my post to "burning the hair straight" at first I was amused and then quite annoyed).

Brief summary of my forum experience.....

Relaxer bad, Natural good...
Relaxed girl self hate, Natural girl loves self...
Relaxed girl open minded, Natural girl ignorant to rasss.....
Relaxed girl corporate, Natural girl customer service....

I have nothing against relaxers, perms etc I have been there, done that and its not to say I will not do it again, I admire all hair styles chemically induced or not, but please do not tell me it is not harmful to scalp or hair. I must admit my hair was lovely relaxed, it looked good most of the time, and I got numerous compliments .....

I wonder if afro hair products are subject to as stringent quality control as other beauty products, some of those relaxers are lethal and can do serious damage, I also wonder about the long term side effects.

My Relaxed Experience

I remember.....

....the million and one styling aids I had to put in my hair, which had to blow in the wind, meaning a whole Saturday at the hairdressers, a couple of mornings a week with flat irons and a blow-dryer.

.....one night I arrived home at midnight my SO said " where are the braids?"
translation it should not take that long for a relax and blow dry.

.....running like a mad woman when I see rain ...the other day I saw a woman with a bag over her head, it brought back memories.....

....worst of all it impinged on my love life.....sweat means fluffed up hair

....sisters on reality shows, scared of the swimming pool or the beach

A white male friend told me once that he didn't like relaxed hair on black women as it looked stagnant on most, with no movement or gelled down to the scalp, which to him was not natural , needless to say I was offended.... now I kind of understand where he was coming from.

Relaxed hair is high maintenance .......... I disagree, natural hair can also be high maintenance, it depends on how you wear your hair when I had a TWA I still went to the barbers once a week to tidy up my fade, washed it everyday..... when it was longer I had it cornrowed, treatments, steamed..... now its locked I used to go to the salon 3 - 4 weeks at approx £50 a pop, now that I can do my hair myself, the salon is a treat..... I think high maintenance is really an individual thing.

I still see just as much badly maintained natural hair as I do relaxed hair.

Natural hair can also be damaging if not looked after right, the number of women with receding hair lines because our braids/ locks are too tight, this can also cause alopecia, I have been a hairline victim, I am just lucky it grows back. Excess colouring can do similar damage as with a relaxer.

The argument that really gets my goat, is what gives another person the right to comment on my state of mind based on my hair ??????

As a lot of the hair forums prove natural heads can be just as ignorant as anyone..... the number of posts, I have read which condemn sisters for their hair choices, e.g you want to look white or you have been brainwashed ??

So if I have natural hair,..........am I more or less ignorant......
or if I have natural hair, know nothing about my culture ....more or less ignorant?........
or if I have relaxed hair know about my culture?....
to confuse matters more, I have used a texturiser for only 5 minutes, where do I fall ??? mild self hatred?

I have not really noticed similar arguments regarding colored hair, I suppose the principle is the same the blonder the colour the more white you want to be?? I guess when I had blond relaxed hair, I had absolutely no self worth, hated myself and wanted to disassociate myself so far from my natural state.

I do believe hair has psychological links but doesn't everything else in our lives, I love black nail polish on my toes, does that then mean I have some underlying urge to be a devil worshipper, Goth or rock to Black Sabbath???

Since there seems to be some unwritten laws about this, can someone please let me know where I can find out exactly how black I am based on my hair style or hair colour ???

The Post Office

2006-04-05T14:51:00.000+01:00

My Oyin products are sitting at the post office waiting to be collected,
the post collection office opens between 8.00am to 12.30pm on weekdays,
which means anyone with a day job cannot pick up their mail.

What annoys me the most,
is you have to pick up mail,
which could fit into your letter box,
But they force mail through,
which under normal circumstances,
would not fit in your letter box.

When I ordered my Oyin products I included instructions to wrap well, as the UK postal service is nosey,
It will be interesting to see, if there will be an obligatory peep hole in my parcel.

The Sugar Monster

2006-04-04T16:55:00.000+01:00

Weighing scales are the devils work, they used to beg me to get on them every morning
only to tell me I am overweight, which would then get me upset and to console myself I would eat some cake.....
I no longer get on the scales every morning, the scales have been hidden !!

I still find other excuses to eat cake

Stress=cake
Work=cake
Dinner=cake
Lunch=apple pie (I do like variety, actually I prefer pie to cake...I prefer chocolate to pie)
Tea=biscuits
PMT=chocolate

My mum bought me some pills to stop sugar cravings called Chromium Picolinate, they work,
I no longer crave sugar, I just eat it for the hell of it.

Hair Clips

2006-03-28T22:14:00.000+01:00

One big problem I have with my hair is large decorative hair clips... I cant find any!!!

I cannot get my hands around my hair and I have big hands.... when I find clips they stay on for about
2 minutes then they launch themselves into the air like scud missiles

Well I did find some, some very nice ones at Fenwick on Bond Street, they were so expensive.....
Hairclips fit in the same category as sunglasses, earrings, watches and keys, things I lose on a regular basis, so £20 on a hair clip is not going to happen.
If you know of anywhere online... please hook me up

The clips here are the ones I bought for my mum from Hennes, I kept the blue ones for myself and will be posing with them shortly!

P.S I had to remove some of the clips, the pics need formatting and I'm too lazy and going to bed... G'night

My Hair

2006-03-28T16:51:00.000+01:00

I have used several black hair colours over the years on my natural hair, none of which last including permanent colours

Dark and Lovely (didn't last very long)

L'Oreal Feria (lasting results but quite drying)

Textures and Tones (didn't stay black very long)

Bigen (The cheapest and lasted the longest, not the most swish packaging).

I like jet black hair as opposed to black/brown, I think it makes my skin look clearer due to the stronger contrast, and it makes my hair look healthier. At the moment I think my hair is back to its normal, black brown see the pic on the left, considering the colour of my natural hair in the past it has been very resistant to other permanent colours....

I use Fantasia maintenance Products, ( the web site is a bit crap links and pics missing)

1. These products are not all natural

2. They contain lanolin and mineral oil (2 of the dreaded trio, the third being beeswax)

But they work for me... plus they are relatively cheap I can spray as much as I want, as often as I want, they smell nice but not to strong as to mask my perfume.

I use 3 of their products.......

P.M Oil - alternate days, I sometimes add drops of lavender oil into this (I will stop using this on my hair, it works great on my feet)

Braid Sheen Spray- alternate days

Hair Polisher Spray - Only when going out as I feel these products just coat the hair

I retwist my damp hair using Nyxol gel which is a clear gel, suited to wet hair, and leaves a shiny finish,yesterday when I washed my hair I did not use anything but water and a little lavender oil (thanks Ms_Lavender ) to twist as I am now following the plan, which means no more holding products.I only use heat on my hair when its still wet by bedtime.

These and an olive oil sheen spray are the only products I use on my hair, Jay uses the gel and some natural oils which she mixes herself.

In general I don't like to put anything in my hair, I wouldn't want on my face.... I no longer use anything which is a solid at room temperature.

I have tried Sulphur 8 light on occasion when my scalp itches which is extremely rare nowadays unless there was something dodgy in my diet. My scalp flakes but I know for a fact this is dietary related.

Its only recently I have started washing my hair myself frequently, I use Nexxus Products

Aloe Rid Shampoo (I would not recommend this on coloured hair, I sometimes think it washes my hair too clean, and I might get the same result from washing up liquid for less money :o) )I have also tried the Botanoil which I liked.

I use the Emergencee Conditioner (It is not thick or creamy and has a runny consistency) I can now stop using this, its sort of a left over from my hair frying days.

In the past I have also used Humectress and the botanoil conditioner I may go back to one of these.

My favourite conditioner has to be Philosophy Amazing Grace, I think it is a little too creamy for locks (I think once in a while wouldn't hurt),but is amazing on natural hair.

I also like everything by Kiehls, I used to use their Creme with Silk Groom but I found it makes my scalp itch, I was really upset about this as it really moisturises natural hair.

I have tried Keracare oils but again I get the itches...

I was going to try other products like Carols Daughter and Oyin.

Whilst checking out Blackvoices it appears Carols Daughter gives some people the itches, forget that then.

Oyin I am really keen to try as firstly Oyin means honey in Yoruba my fathers language, secondly honey has wonderful healing properties, another plus is the site is great...and I want everything on it .. I will let you know how I get on, I feel more green bottles for my wall.

Afro Puff Girl @Monsworld

2006-03-27T17:30:00.000+01:00

Mongey normally has braids she has grown out her perm..... she came into work today with the cutest puffs, luckily I had my camera!! she has the most beautiful face I have ever seen !!

Mongey is off round the world for a year ....doing good deeds, (I am green with envy), check out her plans here at Monsworld

Joblessness

2006-03-25T19:49:00.000Z

You can guess I haven't done anything constructive this evening, there were some braids but I had to have the hat, which didn't come with braids.... Its autumn after all.... Do you think I have over accessorised?

Hair Plan Blues

2006-03-25T19:13:00.000Z

I just read my own post and got depressed..... that damn hair plan is going to take forever !

The Hair Plan

2006-03-25T18:38:00.000Z

The Plan

1. Grow hair for as long as possible before chop and loose 20lbs ( I put on 5lbs last week)

Untwist before every wash so they dont lock

2. Cut locks when have 3 inches of unlocked hair....... this will be difficult any one who knows me knows I DONT LIKE MESSY HAIR, locks are no excuse for messy hair...... so this is going to be hard...... I chose this pic cos you can see my fluffy edges up close.... When you take your own pic why does the bottom of your face appear huuuuggggeeee unless you got great bone structure.......I may chop it off in future, slim it or give myself cheek bones... the power of adobe!!!

back to the plan

3. Use cut locks as extensions..... I just came up with this one, it seems like a very good idea "in theory".... till my hair is 5 inches ....

4. Colour my hair a fiery auburn...

5. Have a baby 'fro .... till I get caught in the rain ...

6. Get sisterlocks... seems easy enough....

One problem I have 170 locks, which by my calculation ....multiply by 4 equals 680 sisterlocks ...... I wont be tightening those myself ,ever...... hummmm

Its Mothers Day Tommorow........I bought some pretty hair things for my Mum, Im off to recharge my camera to photograph them

BLOG RULES OK !!!

2006-03-25T18:24:00.000Z

I was going to have a real rant about a colleague at work on my blog and caught myself and decided

now I know about blog etiquette I need blog rules.

I will not blog about

Work - It occupies enough of my life as it is - easy
The SO - He may read it( I doubt it, he hears about my hair far to often I'm sure he wont want to read about it too)- very difficult
Ex partners-I'm not allowed to make derogatory remarks or curse - difficult
My flat-being refurbished (over 2 years?) - difficult
My family- see partner- extremely difficult
House prices- bloody ridiculous- easy
Politics & Religion - I don't like flame mail -easy
Television- see work-easy

Things I can blog about

My hair- the initial inspiration for my blog
My friends- real friends will forgive me if I get bitchy (I hope)
My shoes- I spend so much money and don't wear them, so I think I should share them with the world to get value for money
My goldfish- they cant talk, enough said
My clothes - see shoes
Music- my first love
Books

I sure these rules won't last 5 minutes.....

rules are meant to be brooookken ... rules are meant to be.......does anyone remember this Anita Baker song................?

LPO lip balm obsession

2006-03-22T19:48:00.000Z

I have an obsession with lip balm I apply it over ten times a day, it has to be one of the last things I do at night,
I have a Vaseline aloe vera lip therapy in my handbag, in my bathroom, in my gym bag, under my bed I have even equipped my SO with one.
If I go more than 3 hours without reapplying I feel my lips look cracked.
They never used to get cracked before I started applying Lip balm
I never had dry hands before I started using hand lotion,
I never had cuticle build up till I started removing them
Do you think our bodies natural defences, get lazy when we pamper our bodies so much they get used to it and don't want to work as hard, most men have good skin without Cleanser Toner & Moisturiser.
....One minute I need to apply some lip balm....
Personally I think toner is a waste of time and money, to close pores splash cold water on face.
If you need it to remove excess cleanser, splash cold water on face, only joking.
I guess it is necessary if you don't use water but only cleanser, IMHO I cant imagine not using water on my face
as that is the only thing that wakes me up in the morning
I know a lot of us wear make up so cleanser is essential but is that £40 moisturiser? the facials??
I'm still looking for a cheap moisturiser that makes me feel good.
Personally I am not a fan of AHA's and glycolic acid I feel the benefits are short lived and contribute a lot to lazy skin, plus I got lumps under my skin, and a really dry face no matter how many times I exfoliated, I once read an article in Essence that did not recommend them for black skin and since then read others that do.

Unhappy ME

2006-03-20T19:38:00.000Z

I HAVE HAD TO REBOOK MY NEXT HAIR APPOINTMENT I AM NOT HAPPY....

mY nExT APoiNTmeNT WiLL Be iN TimE for EasTer HaIr.......

UK Lock Stylist Reprezent

2006-03-15T12:58:00.000Z

One of the reasons I decided to create my own natural hair blog is I am yet to come across any UK hair blogs.... if you have one please please pleeeeeaaassse leave a message on how to find you.

My locks were started by Kevin who at the time was based at Morris Roots, in Tooting South London another hot natural hair salon, owned by Morris and his beautiful wife, because of its popularity they are very busy, they use a comb to tame new growth, and started my hair with comb twists. I loved the salon as you will always see people with locks in all stages including the staff, Morris did style my hair a few times, even when it was quite short, and I looked wonderful.
I have seen one or two Europeans in there, who also got quite good results.

I stopped going because it was too far from me and I did not like the pronged hair clips they used to divide the hair amongst other reasons. I would still recommend them highly!

I must add I am the sort of person who has been kicked out of a hairdressers and told not to come back, cos I took the comb from the stylist, I am super fussy, do not mess with my hair !!!

KD who started my locks now works in the VIP Hair Studio on Holloway Road in North London, unfortunately I have not been to the salon, if his locks are anything to go by, he is still doing good work. I did meet a lady who had a really nice colour which was done by KD.

My stylist is currently Jay at Locs4Life, the pic on the left is hers, she is a professional and I would recommend her highly to any one, she has recently acquired a shop on Bruce Grove in North London.
She offers a personalised service and I feel I don't have to tell her anything twice...... she palm rolls new growth and boy is she fast, and as you can see from the pictures she is a hot stylist.... next time I get my hair styled I will post pictures.
I wish she would become a sisterlock stylist so I don't have to find some one new.

There are other natural hair stylist in London, But I can't rate anyone I have not had any experience with.
Some advice on choosing a lock stylist

Please do not go to anyone who advises you

1. Not to wash your hair for excessively long periods (e.g 6 months)
2. Uses beeswax, especially without giving you a choice
3. Does not want to discuss or consult with you first
4. Your spirit does not take to !!!

I have also come across a great site Tytecurl, I am a very visual person the site looks professional, is easy to navigate, has lots of useful links and advice.
I am sorry to go off on one but I just don't find this very often with UK small black owned business to me presentation is everything !!

Locks are for life, not just for Christmas.....

Pauline

2006-03-14T17:25:00.000Z

Pauline cleverly pointed out today, that if I am serious about cutting my hair I might as well colour it first, if it gets damaged, well I am going to cut it anyway..... good point..... but I don't want to HAVE to cut my hair because its damaged.

I am thinking about it....... I have a hair appointment on the 13th of April I have 4 weeks........

Personal Trainer

2006-03-13T18:46:00.000Z

I have a personal trainer, he is beautiful,
He is just as annoying as he is beautiful,
He tells me not to eat carbs after 4pm,
I am not a Mogwai, and will not turn into a Gremlin.
The other day he tried to kill me,
I have been avoiding him for 2 months.
I'd rather be fat than dead.

One Green* Bottle

2006-03-13T18:43:00.000Z

One green bottle sitting on the wall
If one green bottle should accidentally fall.......
There will be 100 green bottles sitting on the wall.

*Moisturiser, oil sheen, perfume, lotion, SPF, exfoliant

.
Despite my appearance I am not a girly girl,
I hate fuss, I would be happy with just one of everything,
but I just have so many darn bottles of stuff,
I throw them away, give them away,
they just keep coming back time and time again
to clutter my bathroom, bedroom and my office desk drawers.

Why wont they just stay away,
I go to my girlfriends houses lo and behold,
they have the same self-replicating bottles,
some of them replicating at a faster rate than mine,
shelves of stuff, stackable containers overflowing, bottles creeping out from under the bed.

But even worse these bottles are cunning, very cunning,
they hide and protect Neo,
Neo is "the one", the one bottle you are looking for at any point in time,
the cunning self replicating bottles disguise and hide him, yes
if you are looking for deodorant they disguise him and make him look like hair removal cream,
and vice versa,
this is not so bad,
it is when the deviously cunning self replicating bottles disguise the oil sheen spray as hair removing spray,
then you have a problem,
you then know you have
killer deviously cunning self replicating bottles.
The only way to get rid of them for good is close your purse,
the burning hole in your purse,
the deviously cunning self replicating bottles power, their food source.
cut it off kill them before they take over your space, your home, THE WORLD.

Magnificent Masai

2006-03-10T19:15:00.000Z

I've always thought masai hair is extremely beautiful,

I wonder if she gets asked "is it kanekelon or weave ?"

The other day someone said to me "I can't have my own hair in locks, I wouldn't feel it was clean after a wash"

I was at work needless to say I kept quiet, even when I was ignorant enough to think that way, I was smart enough to keep it to myself.

I must add that she has a full head of weave which resembles a helmet, I was tempted to say, at least when I wash my hair my fingers touch my scalp !

Mark

2006-03-09T18:58:00.000Z

Mark ...."what is your hair going to look like when its cut?"
Me ...."What did my hair look like before I grew locks? "
Mark....."Not as nice as it does now"

Lara

2006-03-09T12:28:00.000Z

I was walking in front of my niece Lara,

when she said "Aunty are you Nigerian?"

I said "why?"

she said "you don't have Nigerian hair" ???

I asked "what is Nigerian hair ?"

she replied "not your hair !"

I am Nigerian :(

She is five

2006-03-07T21:52:00.000Z

Genetics,Social and Environmental

This is a topic of discussion which interest me quite a bit as women we are always in pursuit of great hair nails, skin and external appearance, awareness about what we ingest and exercise has also been highlighted recently.

If you are genetically engineered to have hair that is sparse or only grows 4 inches can we change that, there are some ladies blessed with abundance of "good hair" ( my defination to come later),

I know the latter can easily be reversed, tight braids, poor diet, over processing, allergies and alopecia, can we reverse the former ? I read blogs and forums that discuss things as extreme as horse tail growth???? to vitamins, can these products convert thin hair to a full 'fro ??.

In the hair department I have been blessed genetically I know its genetics because my mother and sister were blessed likewise, infact everything that is termed dead I have been blessed with, my nails grow but then again so does the hard skin on the soles of my feet ... too fast Im sure it contributes to a half a shoe size.

But my skin is another story okay eating right and drinking lots of water helps, but I glow( you can fry an egg on my nose) have ingrown hairs ( thick hair + sensitive skin = bumps). I some times wonder given the choice nice skin or good hair, knowing what I know now I might have opted for the skin, but do people get as many compliments about their skin as hair gets, not being endowed with flawless skin I cant answer that.

The environment we live in must also help why does everyone in Trinidad have great skin, it could be the sea air, fresh fish or maybe just genetics, not drinking and washing in hard, chemical saturated water probably has its benefits.

Popping pills may help, but its a viscous cycle, vitamins + poor diet does not equal good diet it equals expensive pee, as you need a fairly decent diet to absorbe the vitamins, if you have a decent diet why do you need the vitamins??
I find better results when I leave things out of my diet than adding things to it, like leaving out hydrogenated fats, yeasty food and sugar..... not very often I might add.

I honestly believe you can persuade Mother Nature to bend so far, we can improve are diets, stimulate our scalps, consult orishas.

Other than that just thank God you got some hair and choose a color cut style that accentuates what you got.

2006-03-07T20:45:00.000Z

Okay I'm quite new to blogging so I'm not sure about blog etiquette I would like to be educated !!!

Here goes---

When reading someone else's blog can you post comments on old topics and archives, would they be read?

Do you ask people to put links to you blog ??

Do you ask peoples permission to put their links on your blog ??

I don't wanna come to a party and forget the wine, desert, partner etc ....

HELP !!!

2006-03-07T20:13:00.000Z

This is a temp pic taken Oct 05, the armpits and braids belong to various girlfriends it was Kemzies bday, and its the only decent digital pic I have, I need to find a scanner.

P.S clean hair and two broken finger nails...... my stylist can have the ordeal of retwisting my hair next.

Moi

2006-03-04T20:53:00.000Z

Today is the first day I knew for sure my locks were going to go... I found so many excuses, they take too long to retwist, I can see follicles in them, I'm sure they wont look too good coloured.

The bottom line is I needed a change I have a head full of healthy hair, but I am just fed up, I need a change I see sistas with silky hair and I think nice but no straightening chemical will ever touch my hair again ( I hope).

I gotta wash my hair tomorrow myself an experience that I dread: the four hour retwist, it takes my stylist 1.5 hours and it looks great when she's finished, when I do it, the untrained eye may just notice the difference.

don't get me wrong my lock journey has been fun and interesting, I will recommend it to anyone, get the right stylist and a little patience and your hair will look gorgeous.

The only reason I am not sitting her bald is because my partner looked like he wanted to cry when I said I wanted to cut my hair..... He is not a shallow man but I thought it only fair as he supported me during my early growth phase and as anyone who grew natural locks will tell you it is a trying time, buy lots of hats and scarves time.

The truth is I will grow locks again I will try sister locks next but I may take a break in between and experience some other natural hair styles.

My favorite has always been the two strand twist washed and set loose... and voila funk 'fro.

I miss the versatility my unlocked hair offered, I am paranoid that if I colour my hair chemicals will hide in my lock core and eat my hair inside out munch munch until I scream in terror ( ok enough B movie fantasies). One of the problems I have is I think I'm part Yeti yep I am so hairy my hair line ends down my neck and always have to tell the person washing my hair to get stuck in I have left many a hairdresser because of this, if I have to tell you more than thrice it means your not having a bad day you are just plain incompetent if you cannot wash a head right.

Anyway the plan is to see how long I can grow my hair without retwisting my roots before I cut it, the second plan is I need to loose some weight as I don't want to have a pin head as it would just highlight my big behind.

I have been to the sister locks website, spoken to a stylist, investigated further on Black Voices to devise the plan.

What really disappointed me was the lack of British sites maybe, I just haven't been thorough but I will look again.

Will keep you posted with what I find.

P.s I have locks just past my shoulders and have been growing them for 3 years and 4 months, I started with comb twist, more on this later.