My Loc Journey

The Kink wasn't only in my hair.

Well..this has been a long time coming. My hair journey has been so much more than just about hair, it has been about self-love, self-hate, and self-discovery.

There were 2 things that I HATED about myself while growing up. #1: my nose...God had decided to give me a nose that would not allow me to deny my African ancestry..and I had planned to have a nose job as soon as I turned 18...surprisingly, I got over that. #2: My hair....I cannot put into words the disdain I had for my coarse, yet soft and troublesome mane..well not so much a mane because it was so short..but you get the drift?

My mother absolutely refused to let me chemically straighten my hair and she refused to give me the money to do it. I could not understand why she hated me so much that she wanted to cause me to be ridiculed by family, friends, and frenemies. For most people, that would put a damper on the dreams of having soft, flowing, silky hair. But, not I! At the age of 13, I started to babysit my cousins and also sell chocolate to save up to get a perm. I was ecstatic that my life long dream would come true! Soft flowing hair... yes! After having the smelly goop smeared on my head, experiencing a burning scalp for 20 minutes, the process was done..finally the promised land!..Ya, not so much. It really didn't look how I expected it to..it was kind of limp and just there..but to me, anything was better than what I had before.

After that summer I entered high school. I had numerous encounters with bad hair experiences. My hair pretty much broke off in all directions. I started thinking that this straight hair thing was not such a great idea for me. I thought my hair was too weak for this level of chemical. So, I grew out my hair, transitioning with braids, mostly micro braids, I loved the wet and wavy hair. I cut my the chemically straightened hair myself in my bathroom one evening..mostly out of frustration. I wore my fro maybe once or twice to school...but mostly, I was ashamed of my natural hair. After trying a few styles, I tried a 'natural' texturizer...I hated how it looked. I wish I was more confident to try funky styles with my natural hair...but, such is life. Eventually I started extensive online research about locs. I started my locs a few months before high school graduation, and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. The experiences that this journey has allowed me, has been nothing short of life changing. I thank God everyday as the journey continues.

I am sad that I do not have any pics of my fro but at the time I was still trying to accept my natural hair and had issues with showing it much less taking pictures of it...I wish I had!!!!
I did not keep a strict chronology of my hair journey, so the pics are in the order they looked right in :)

A few months after starting my locs via braids in 2004
It's a picture of a picture ..sorry about the quality

My teeny weeny ponytail-front pinned up

My locs looking like a bob


Crimped...I killed this style

Loc Updo


This is about the time I had to start combining locs because they were too thin and the root bends had weak foundations.



I think this is 2006...I cut my hair so I would have bangs. I loved it but it didn't look right when it was in a ponytail, so I let it grow out. I'm pretty sure this pic was taken after the last one...not sure how I got the last hairstyle to look so full.



Chin Length..not sure what year this is.


Loc Bun!


I love to wrap my hair like this sometimes.



2008






It's getting long now..


2009


June 2009
Took a long break from latch hooking as you can see from the loose front.



August 4th 2009!
Basically shoulder length now. Experiencing a bit of difficulty with breakage at the hair line, especially at the back. I have taken a break from tightening them. I am also taking my iron supplement again as well as Silica gel and that seems to be helping tremendously. I am also combining locs again to create a larger root bend- as they get longer, there is a greater strain on the roots.







I ♥ MY LOCS!






"Remove the kinks from your brain and not from your hair" - Marcus Mosiah Garvey

The Journey Continues...