When I started, I knew nothing at all about locs except that I wanted them. The hair dresser advised me to use Jamaican Mango and Lime products and I faithfully used them all through this and the next loc journey. After six months my hair had barely grown an inch and when I took out the wool, the amount of grease and build up grossed me out completely. This led to me combing out the locs and washing my hair several times. I attempted to repeat the process using wool a few weeks later but did not like how the braids look and took them out after a month or so.
My next attempt to grow locs started with what I call plait-twists. Basically, the hair is twisted except at the base where it starts as a braid. I got a cousin to do as many of these as she could. I didn't know it then but that had been my first set of microlocks. For 18 months I loved them - right up until one fell out. I still hadn't learned much about locs. Every other month I tried a new product but always went back to Mango and Lime products. When that lock came out in my hand I freaked out and started to take down my locs once more. It took a week and a large plastic bag but I did it. I would have inserted pictures here but I can't find any for my first two sets of locs.
After that, I kept my loose natural hair for five months before I gave in. My longest lasting loc journey started in May 2011 around my birthday. I had asked the hairdresser for medium locs which she started with twists but the final result turned out way larger than I intended.I had minor issues I thought would go away with time with this journey. I didn't like the way the parts had been made, the fact the ends were thicker than rest of the loc nor the fact the middle locs were nearly twice the size of most of the other locs and three times bigger than the smallest ones. But I struggled with it for nearly five years - afterall, I did't hate them.
During that time I finally learned about locs. I stopped using a lot of products and found that using just oils and water could hold my retwist but I still resented the size of my hair. What made me take them down though, I'm not sure how to explain. My first apartment had mold and I think it got into my hair but I didn't notice until I fell asleep with wet hair and woke to find the 'lint' in my back row had moved from two inches to one inch away from my scalp. I immediately took out the back row. I knew it would take a long while to do a complete take down so I waited until I got time home. It took three days while sick to complete but by the end I had loose natural hair again along with a damaged thumb - that's a story for another day.
My next loc installation started a mere two months later. I knew I wanted smaller locs but I also did not want to spend to much time on my hair. I used finger coils and spent weeks trying to get all of them close to the same size. I even enlisted the help of family members but something was still off. They started budding and locing faster than any of my other locs but the middle of my head felt exposed. I didn't mind it too much but one day I found myself reluctant to wash my hair because I knew I would have to spend the rest of the weekend maintaining it. My chosen maintenance method at the time, interlocking, took a lot longer than palm rolling to finish and I hated it. Week after week I struggled to bring myself to dedicate that much time to one task and finally, two weeks before my birthday I made a decision. I would get a professional to deal with it for me. It didn't take long for me to start wondering if I am letting someone else deal with it why not get the locs I really want? And so I took down my locs for hopefully the last time.
Presently, I have 312 locs and I love it. It takes my consultant one hour to do a complete retightening so I have plenty of free time. I also don't have to use any products in my hair which means no build up. If I do decide to start another loc journey after this then it might just be sisterlocks.
Til next time - Lata!
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