Im Back To Black :o)

Finally! I've overcome my fear of putting a color rinse in my hair :o) I'm officially back to jet/midnight black again and I LOOOOOOVE it!!!!!!!

I was really worried that I didn't know what I was doing and that I may experience slippage, but thankfully all is in tact *big smiles*. 

Before applying my rinse, I tried to research videos and blogs of how you perform a rinse on sisterlocks and all I found were vids and blogs on permanent coloring and traditional locs. Everything I found on SL's only had ladies saying "yeah, I applied a rinse to my locs & this is the result" but there was no description or steps of how they did it and that made me nervous.  I know a rinse is much safer than permanent, but I'm someone who is no expert on locs & everything I do other than washing is going to freak me out b/c of fear that something may go wrong. ....I've only given myself a rinse when my hair was relaxed.

But anywho, I just thought about the steps my old beautician did when I used to get relaxers and applied it the way she did....minus the relaxer of course ;o)

PRODUCTS:

 ~Clairol's Beautiful Collection: Midnight Black {always used this color when I had a relaxer & your hair smells good afterwards}

~SL Starter Shampoo diluted w/ water in a dispenser bottle {the spray bottle was broken :-/}

~Black gloves {doesn't matter what color you are using} and rubber bands to section off my relaxed ends from my locs

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Wash hair 1st {only have permission to use the SL starter shampoo, so that's what I used. Also, this is the ONLY time I get the green light to wash my hair without braiding & bundling}

2.  Towel dry {dark colored towel} and part sections of locs so you can dispense color rinse evenly. {Since I have relaxed ends, the rubber bands were also used to separate my relaxed ends from my locs....could only dispense color where my locs began & ended to prevent unraveling.}

3. With gloves, apply color approx .5-1 inches away from scalp {you don't want to have blk/blue scalp!} and run your hands down your locs and apply additional amount as needed. {And by the way, I only needed to use one bottle! I thought I was going to need at least 2, but I guess you can say I have short-med length hair}

4. Once all of your sections have been colored, tuck your hair in a clear conditioning cap & sit under the dryer for 10-30min.....I sat under the dryer for 30min b/c the longer you sit under the dryer, the longer you color will stick.

5. Unfortunately I forgot to put my gloves back on, but when you do, rinse your hair again with a good shampoo and rinse until the water runs clear from your hair....my beautiful french tip nails were turned green :o(

6. After towel drying again, I parted my locs in sections and separated them individually to prevent tangling & bunching {thank God I did that!}...As I separated my locs, I went ahead & started to braid and bundle as if I was getting ready to wash it. I made smaller bundles to have a tighter crinkle....I'll admit, this was very tedious, but the outcome was for the best :)

7. This step does not have to be done, but I sat under the dryer again for 30min to make sure my hair would be dry by the next day {my hair holds water}. 

8. I wrapped my hair with a satin scarf first and a cotton bandanna after...the bandanna holds my satin scarf in place & it always prevents color from seaping onto your pillows....one of the cons of when you first get your color rinse.

BEFORE

Dusty, reddish-brown hair

AFTER

Back To Black!!!!!! :o)

DIFFERENCES

This picture helped me distinguish where my natural hair ended and where my relaxed hair began...this is from the front part of my head where the majority of my hair is relaxed..the back is more natural due to my bob cut prior to locs.

Health/Diet Update

I picked up on my workouts again this week. The little weight I lost were gained back and I'm fed up with the slack. BUT the real motivation came from when I came across an article on google. The article featured a young lady in Essence magazine who was from Morrisville, NC and she lost 125lbs in 9 months. My original plan was not to lose the 100lbs that fast, but its close enough to pay attention to her method....I want to lose my 100lbs in a year.

My goal is to burn 700 calories per workout which has been meet since I've started back. That is my made up goal to assist with the young lady's weight loss method. She said she works out an hour a day and followed Dr. Ian Smith's Fat Smash Diet Book.  I found the book on half.com for .92 cents and I said it wouldn't hurt to try it for that price. It's available on amazon and walmart, but you can never beat half.com prices. My book just got shipped so I'll probably start the plan next week to get a feel of what I need to buy at the grocery store. I'm actually excited about restarting my regimen this time. This is definitely one of my top priorities not just for the year, but for my life. I havent set an exact weight goal for december, but I do plan on seeing a significant difference by the end of the year. I have my fitness pal account created, and by far, it is the best food journal I have come across.....anywho, my sl update will be up soon :o)

Sisterlocks In This Summer Heat {Ugh}

Omg the heat this summer has been completely ratchet! Triple digit temperature almost everyday for the past couple of weeks. Yes, having locs in this kind of heat is definitely convenient, BUT once again my relaxed ends have me blown :o/. In the summer my hair and skin gets very oily and I'm noticing my braidouts do not last as long. The crinkles dont go away completely, but they are falling quicker {within 3 days} as if I'm putting products in my hair. I know it's the natural oil my body is producing along with the continuous sweat that's causing this debacle :o/. My locktician told me I'm still suppose to wash my hair at 2 weeks, but I'm on the verge to pleading with her to let me wash it once a week until this heat wave is over. My scalp is getting itchy and the fuzziness in the front of my head is in full effect smh. I just got a re-ti 2 weeks ago and it doesn't look/feel like I have one :o(

P.S.

I Still Love My Sisterlocks! I'm just cursing this heat for attacking my babies {16 month old SL's}

Amy Winehouse....Another Genius Gone

The second song on my playlist on here is by Amy Winehouse called "Brother"....one of my favorite songs from her & I just wanted to post these lyrics in dedication to her. Ironic the words may be because of her life, but they were deep & from her heart as everything else she sang. This was from her debut album "Frank" and this was before she was caught up in addiction.......Rest in peace Amy Jade Winehouse

Brother,
It’s so much that I could never say to your face
But by now
You should know the world and all its ways
So find your place

How do I find words that do not condescend
When she bore you before me
Cause she doesn’t need a child she needs a friend
A son, not a sob story


Now you must of never heard of what she did for you
And your priority it must be heard
Now you must of never heard of what she did for you
Cause we’ll never be the way we were

She can’t always be there just to hold your down
Our mother
When you are at a age now
well life turns around, my brother

Realize that you don’t have to answer to no man
Responsibility comes down to you
But how can I expect you to understand
When you live life like its so unthrough



Now you must of never heard of what she did for you
And your priority, it must be heard
Now you must of never heard of what she did for you
Cause we’ll never be the way we were

The way we were
We’ll never be
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
At your priority, It must be heard

Beautification Night

I've been thinking lately it's a shame that I dont have "beautification night" like I did when I was college. My last post made me think about this because I expressed how lazy I have been with my locs lately...Thursday nights would always be my night of choice because of how busy I was with classes and work. I would always go back to my dorm room and wash my hair and style/experiment with it all night so it could be "fly" for the weekend. And that's when I would do all of my shaving, get my eyebrows waxed, nails done etc...just went the whole 9 yards. I even beautified my room!

Whhhhhhyyyyyyyy have I not been doing this since I have locs????? :o(. 

The only answer would be that the shake and go  thing has spoiled me like no other. I had much less time on my hands in college & paid more attention to appearance than I've ever done now. I have waaaaaaay more time now to do my hair and yet, I dont take initiative to change it :o/

When I was relaxed, I LOVED curls and I cant believe that I have not attempted curls that much since I'm free to do more styles. I've even been given permission to put a rinse in my hair.....what the crap have I been waiting on???

15.5 Month Old Sisterlocks

I will not reach exactly 16 months until the 27th of this month, but you can observe the fullness and length of my locs. My hair is much shorter in the back due to the fact that my hair was cut into a bob prior to my SL installation. I'm glad that it was cut that way so it could grow out into a simple style since I am prohibited to do anything extreme to my hair right now. My re-ti is tomorrow and I think going to add a cute style to it afterwards....my bf expressed that he misses my perm-rod set lol. I only did it once back in feb and I'm amazed that I didn't do it again because of all of the compliments I received. I'll admit that I have gotten lazy with my hair as far as styling. I just sport the braid-outs and sometimes do a half-up, half-down ponytail when it gets too hot smh. So much has been going on and I am in the process of looking for another j.o.b. You saw in my last post a month ago that my job was dramatic and the pettiness has gotten out of control {not on my part of course}. I just didnt have interest to do any special styles to my locs for that environment. "When you feel good, you look good" ~ and vice versa....that job did not make me feel good at all :o/. I thought when you're unsure about the people around you, you just keep it cordial and keep to yourself. Apparently that's not good enough to avoid mess. Not to say that my locs didnt look good, because SL's ALWAYS look good ;o). I just didnt feel the need to spruce up any styles that's all. Anywho, I may post more pics tomorrow since I have slacked off so much with my blogging :o(.

Work, Sadness, SL Update.....

I have been seriously busy and have totally neglected my blog. So much has happened since graduation and I dont even know where to begin. Work is work right now. I thank God for it, but you know working in a small office full of women spells D.R.A.M.A. Im pretty cool with everyone in the office, but you know I have to stay on my toes when it comes to being the new girl.

Unfortunately I heard some bad news today. I found out my high school classmate was tragically killed last night along with 3 other people. All sooooo young and the manner of death was not deserving to them. I just know that God does not make mistakes and the only thing we can do is pray for their families and that God grants them the strength to pull through this troubling time.....Im really at a loss for words of what happened to those 4 victims, but it hits so close to home when you find out your peers die in such a tragic way. Just gotta stay prayed up people smh.

Just had my re-ti two days ago and I got a great report from my locktician: I CAN USE A RINSE NOW!!!!!! But see, the trick to that is im on my own with that {She's not going to put it in for me lol}. The ironic part is that I have been whining about not being able to color my hair and here I am SCARED about doing it now. I guess I feel uncomfortable/sketchy about the whole thing because I am still using the braiding/binding technique to wash my hair.....im actually scared of what will happen when I wash my locs without binding them. I guess I was waiting on hearing when I could stop binding all together. I thought I would be able to get the rinse when I had the green light to no longer braid/bind. My locktician is granting me this one time opportunity to not bind so I can apply the rinse.....I dont trust myself smh. I have been compliant for 1 year and three months and I dont want to screw up all of this hard work and patience. What should I do???? She said its my decision, but I thought I had to wait til my locs were mature enough to not braid/bind anymore :o/. I guess if Im questioning myself of this task, I need to wait a while longer. I know it takes trial and error to know what works, but I have come a looooooong way. My re-ti time has been cut down to 3 1/2hrs versus 4 now......oh the irony smh