I Lost a Loc

Two days ago I lost a loc. I also took down one because of an error during the retightening process. I may seem calm now but at the time I freaked out. 

I lost a freaking loc! Well - technically two.

Lemme fill you in on what led to that moment of horror. 

Tuesday marked my retightening day but I had to wash my hair first. Nothing unusual there. What was different this time though was that prior to that morning I saw some white stuff in the last row of locs. I could not tell if it was just lint, build up (from not rinsing as thoroughly as I thought I was), mold/mildew or a combination of the three. That led me straight to YouTube researching how to remove the mold since I already knew methods for the other two. By Monday I had a plan for Tuesday morning. 

• Spray hair with Apple Cider Vinegar and leave it for 20 minutes
• Use tea tree oil shampoo
• Follow up with Listerine
• Condition with tea tree conditioner

What actually happened might have been the reason the fragile loc gave up the ghost. Everything went as planned until the shampoo. It refused to lather so I resorted to Dr. Bronners then went back in with the tea tree oil shampoo. In short, I lathered a total of three times. Way more than I do on a normal wash since starting these locs. After that, the rest went to plan.

Fast forward a few hours and after a very long day, I am near the end of my reti. I proceed to do the four point rotation on the loc I'm about to bid adieu to. Everything goes well and I happen to notice the bottom three inches looked a lot thicker than the roots but I ignore it. My interlocking tool (A repurposed plastic needle) slipped off of the loc and naturally, I replaced it and continued working. That's when it happened. The thicker part decided to break away from the root completely. 

For a few moments, all I could do was stare at it. How did it happen? Was it stress? Overmanipulation? Or maybe I had disturbed it too much with the unusual and harsh wash routine? Considering how Houdini escaped once more, along with another loc in the last few rows at the back and Houdini's neighbour barely holding on, I had to accept the over the top measure made the poor thing let go. 

The other loc though - that loc traumatised me. I honestly thought the worst had happened when three inches of a four-inch loc came off but I was wrong. Somewhere around five rows later I managed to create a loop and pull through it forming a knot near the base of the loc. None of my usual techniques worked to correct the error. Half an hour and one sore head later I gave in and asked my boyfriend for help. He could not tell the difference between "what I do with my head and what I claimed to be wrong". 

It was after ten, I was tired and frustrated and getting nowhere so after an hour of struggling, I made the decision to take the loc down to release the knot and start it over. The knot still would not budge when I reached that part. Frustrated, I went to the bathroom mirror, immediately found the problem and removed it in a few seconds. Why didn't I think to do that first? Might have been able to save myself an hour of pain and frustration. *sigh*

Lessons learnt. 

I'll stick to my usual routine until I am fully loc'd. I will take my time when I am near the end of a reti to avoid making mistakes like I have been doing since November and I will go back to washing once a month. 

Til next time - lata!