nappylove

Step by Step Loc Detangling

I'm going to break this down, step by step.  I got pictures and everything.

First I have to say that it is NOT necessary to cut your locs.  Even if your locs are five years old, you don't have to cut them in half before you start picking them out.  My youngest daughter's hair turned out to be almost twice as long as her locs were and if I'd cut them, I would have been cutting into her length.  I cut off the very tips of my locs, because they were "sealed," but I did not cut more than 1/2 inch off the ends.

You'll need something to pick the hair out with.  I use rattail combs and lift combs, like these.  A fork will work too, but I found that the tines were too large and I was ripping out more hair than necessary.  You'll also need something to give the hair some slip.  Any cheapie condish will work, I've used both White Rain and Suave.  Adding oil to the conditioner helps too, it doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive, vegetable oil will work fine.

Wet the section or loc of hair that you're going to work with and slather on plenty of conditioner/oil. Slip the teeth of the comb through the end of the loc and begin detangling. I'm right handed, so I hold the loc with my left hand and hold the comb with my right.  Work slowly and make sure the hair stays wet and coated with conditioner.  Notice that I've broken two teeth from my comb, but that's why I prefer using a comb with five steel teeth over the rattail comb.  I've taken down two complete sets of locs and I've gone through six or seven of these combs.

It's important to work your way up the loc SLOWLY.  If you move too fast, you'll end up ripping out the hair, which totally defeats the purpose of picking out your locs, right?

15 minutes later. It took an average of 40 minutes per loc to pick out my 5 year old locs.  My youngest daughter's locs were 3 years old, but slightly longer, and hers also took about 40 minutes.  Her locs were started with twists, mine with comb coils.  My older daughter's 1 year old locs (that I'm working on now) were maintained by latch-hooking.  Her locs are fairly short and they take about 15-20 minutes to detangle.

Obviously, this ain't something most people can do in a weekend.  It was a six-week project for my own head, and even longer than that for my daughters (I was a little more laid back with them).  Patience is key.  I worked from the back of my head up, and wore a LOT of headwraps as I was nearing the end.

That's basically it. If you're thinking about untangling your locs, shoot me an email and let me know how it goes.

Locs & Bantu Knots

I've been wearing my hair in twists with braided roots since the beginning of the year.  I cowash weekly, and about every 3 weeks I'll take it all down and rebraid/retwist and put it in bantu knots.  The bantu knots make a really nice curl that keeps for the entire week.  I think I'm going to keep wearing it like this--at least until it gets really hot. 

Bri had, at last count, 92 locs left.  Since they're on spring break this week, I'm trying to get this done before she has to go back to school.  I hope I never have to do this again.  There are little balls of hair all over my house and my left arm is numb from the elbow down to my fingertips. 

Her locs are shorter than either mine or Liv's, so it's taking less time per loc, but since her hair is also thinner, she has more locs than we had. She's looking forward to wearing Afro puffs to school next Monday.  I'm just praying my hands hold out that long.

Blog Links?!

I'm trying to put together a list of links specifically for nappy blogs.  So if you have a nappy blog, email me your links so I can add you to the list!

Why did I choose to take them down?

I used to work as a bank teller.  About 3 years ago, long before I had even considered going "loose," I had a customer ask me about my hair.  She was a young black woman that liked to wear this cute little curly wig and as I'm counting out her paycheck on the counter, she asked, "How do you discontinue them?"  I was confused.  Discontinue what?  "Well," she continued, "How do you take them out?"

Okay, I understood.  It seemed like once my locs grew to shoulder length, I started getting more and more comments about how pretty my hair would be if was straight.  I explained to her that you have to cut your hair (going on the info I had at the time), that there was no way to "discontinue" locs.  She picked up her money and shook her head (one of those "damn shame" head shakes) and said, "Well, that would have been the whole point of getting them, so I could grow my hair out."

I always wished I would have said something like, "No, you're missing the point," but I didn't.  But I'll say it now.  If anybody is getting locs to grow their hair to shoulder length or bra strap length or ass length just to pick them out and enjoy long flowing hair, they're missing out on a wonderful experience that is just about enjoying the process.  And since long flowing hair probably ain't gonna happen anyway (due to shed hair, breakage and pure nappiness), they're probably wasting their time as well.

Growing locs was probably--those were the best years of my adult life.  I had an awesome loctician that became one of my best friends. During this time, I met my boyfriend; I started writing again.  Y'all.  I fell in love with me. 

And that's at least part of the reason why I didn't want to cut my locs off and toss them in a large Ziploc bag somewhere.  Silly as it may sound; I wanted to keep some part of that experience.  It was right for me.  And I don't regret it.

Of course, that's only half of the story.  When I first went natural, I only stayed a loose nappy for about 4 months.  Less than that, actually.  And then I was locked. Again, it felt right at the time and I have no regrets, but knowing that I had never experienced my hair in it's natural state for more than a couple months was also a deciding factor in my decision to pick my locs out instead of cut them off.

Since I went natural, I've gotten some off the wall comments.  I've been called lazy, cheap, unprofessional and my favorite: "too pretty to wear your hair like that."  Someone told me (which I thought was rather bold) that I obviously had too much time on my hands to go through all the trouble to taking my locs down.  Whateva.  When I took my locs out I had a job, I was a full-time student and mama, I was in a relationship and I was finishing up a manuscript.  What folks consider a "waste of time" is relative to that person.  I picked my hair out while I was helping the kids with their homework, or when I was reading or studying or watching TV. 

I've been "loose" for almost a year now. I experienced so many ups and downs, growth, breakage and split ends, not to mention my rudimentary styling attempts.  I discovered henna and Qhemet, Nexxus and Trader Joe's (stuff I never paid attention to as a low-maintenance locked head).  It was NOT easy, but I've been loving this chapter of the journey.