LocksRevisited

HELLO ALL

2012-02-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

Dont get too excited, just thought i show my face as i didnt in the last profile. Plus it may be a little while longer before that thing i mentioned in my post last week.

See its quite weird that sometimes my bling doesnt look blingy enough. (Imagine...... didnt think I'd ever say that....ha....'not blingy enough!')
For now though I have no plans to grow out the sides because I love it soooo much. Not to mention the fact that 1) It takes a fraction of the time to retight and 2) I dont have to stress out the delicate temples.

So people 'jobs is a good un' as some parts of Britain say.

Do still look out for that thing I mentioned ok?

SILVER BLING UPDATE

2012-02-09T01:02:00.001-08:00

Hello People,

I know it been a wee while. Got really bored with my locks and just decided to leave it be. Though I maintained by shaving the back and side every month and retighting. I also decided a while back now to double the little suckers.

Just not fun spending endless hours retightening!

Anyway I just thought I had better update as I am planning something else very soon. So stay posted now....your girl is back on track!!

Much love.xx

Just a couple of hours ago I took this picture before setting off to work. I just wanted to see how the land lies regarding the intensity of silver. Very interesting indeed.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed how much my locks have grown. The locks at the back now reach to the nap of my neck when pulled out. Wowsa!

My left side

My right side/best profile.

PIPE CLEANER CURLS

2011-09-26T01:48:00.000-07:00

Hello People!

I will let the pictures do the talking. It was a joy to put in pipe cleaners, less hair length, less time to put in/out, less drying time! Though if am honest i just ran my hands under the tap and rubbed my hair twice, then i put in the pipe cleaners.

1ST YR NO DYE......BUT WOT ELSE?????

2011-09-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Hello

I liked my shaved sides soooo much i decided to retain it. So when i went up to Manchester i paid a visit to her barber/hairdressers and got them to shave the sides and the back into a 'V' shape.

The result you see directly below.

Then i hated to see the coloured bits sooo much, I french plaited it all the way down showing off ma Mohawk man! lol
Then I had a panic attack....'oh my god, work!'. So i put a head scarf on it.

Then I had a Wedding party to attend and so i French plaited it upwards kinda like a pineapple. With the coloured bits hanging out randomly.

Then i went to down to Plymouth to see my little 'Chicken', and he had hair issues too! Plus let me tell you, i wasn't liking that crazy fringe thing! And the coloured bits were seriously beginning to take their toll on me.

So in honour of my 1st year anniversary i chopped off all the coloured bits that have bugged me for the best part of

one year.

So how you like me now?.... I LIKE VERY MUCH!!

11 MONTH SILVER BLING THING

2011-08-24T05:52:00.001-07:00

Below is one of the many styles I wear my locks, with one of those fabric elasticated Alice band with the option to fan it out. My favourite style below.....letting it all hang out....lol

Where the bling is at folks.....on the crown area

My temple (right side) although there is growth the hairs sprouting here are still quite fine. So with this in mind I have decided to maintain this style option until density improves.
I retightened last weekend and decided to take a snap shot of what it looked like.

Shocked is the word that came to mind. I had no idea things had changed at the back so drastically. Ah well sh*t happens.

See what I mean folks.......Jeeese!

11 months worth of Silver Bling Things!

ITS BACK!

2011-08-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Before

AFTER
It's growing people! Since i shaved the sides and a little bit at the sides, i got into the routine of brushing my hair again. Could this be what is responsible for a fuller hair growth? I feel it's a number of things, i stopped colouring my hair 11 months ago and the only thing i use on my hair is Olive Oil.....neat from the kitchen cupboards!!

Love to read some feedback, so dont be shy and tell me what you think or better still what your experience has been.

PIPE CLEANER CURLS

2011-08-10T06:06:00.001-07:00

MY DAUGHTER GRADUATED!!!

2011-07-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen allow me to present my beautiful daughter who graduated last Tuesday from university with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology!

My pretty baby!

One down and one to go.....it's got my son all fired up and motivated! There is indeed a God!!

I set my hair in pipe cleaners and 7 days later today, it's only beginning to drop. Check out my next blog and i will elaborate more about it.

Does this look good from behind?

We are so proud. Congratulations SuSu!!

UPDATE ON THE SHAVED SIDES

2011-07-14T02:33:00.001-07:00

Hello again blog people!

Just thought i would keep you updated on my shaved sides (1 month) as well as my Silver journey (10 months).

From the pictures below, you can just see where i added silver curly hair (not human). It is actually a perfect match. Wish though that is wasnt so curly as when i braided it into my locks, it made my lock curly too. If i was that bothered about 'braid outs' i guess it would look fabulous. It's still a work in progress and i have in fact taken some out as it got a little too much.

Anyhoo, check back soon as the journey continues.

MY NEW LOOK

2011-06-20T07:09:00.001-07:00

Okay, like i mentioned a couple of posts ago, i wanted to go with the flow and then basically went a little doolally!

In the picture below, on the left hand side where there is a concentration of grey is the offending patch....i say patch, to be fair it is growing ever soooooo slowly.

Then i went to see a barber in the hair salon and forced his hand to make the sides equal, by cutting some of my locks which he did reluctantly on the right hand side......(why do barbers do that? Hair salons were scared to come near me.....weird!!).

Anyways to me it looked like my natural hair line and for the first time since having my locks installed i was able to wear my hair in a pony tail out of the salon feeling very liberated. Though am not convinced its equal but no probs there.

If am honest, for a little while now i had to combined many locks at the back, because they where just too thin and it was something that bothered me especially when i retightened. I wish i had thought about it before.

So from this day forth i will always trim back at least an inch from the nape of my neck and let it be. In fact when i retightened at the weekend it felt sooo good because the first locked i grabbed to retighten was solid and strong.

Now for the front (this bit i did myself a week before i went to the barbers) .......my right hand side temple has been a bone of contention for a while now....and if it isnt one thing its another. So i did the decent thing and SHAVED THE SUCKERS OFF!!!! HE HE HE

I actually didnt mean to shave it all........its just that there wasnt much hair there to begin with....i hated it so much. I used hide it. I used grade 1 on the clippers and it just looked bald. Damn it i rocked the sh*t out of it. I can hear you guys screaming i must be mad......well you'd not be entirely wrong there.

Have you calmed down yet????? Good! Now.............. back to the barbers, i got him to shave the other side and i kinda have a Mohawk thang going on.......(well only at the weekends....so i dont scare my co workers) then i got him to trim the edges and make me look neat and tidy and the result you will find below.

This picture below is how i wear it to work and i luuuuurve it. I think its about not hiding that side of my head anymore!!!! Now i EXPOSE it for the world to see.

Oh yes i almost forgot to mention, i also had a big trim of the length....roughly about an inch which felt sooo nice and neat. You see the thing with the patch at the back is that as my hair grew to shoulder length, it got quite noticeable that something was going on underneath. So i did the only decent thing........and this is how i present myself for work.

A little close up for you.

PS = I did save all the locks that were cut off.....strangely and perhaps not surprising, i didnt have that much maybe 12 if that.

What are my plans for the temples? Who knows......though from experience when i start cutting it's a very very slippery slope.......I get twa envy........OH GAWD WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME??????

Anyway the sides look better now as i have more growth .........i have no plans of putting strain on my right temple so only time will tell what am going to do next.

As for the left hand side....i may then again may not reattached the salvaged locks when it grows out a bit.......watch this space and see what happens.....

UP DATE ON THE SILVER LOCKS

2011-06-17T07:53:00.001-07:00

Its hard to believe that 9 months have past since i last coloured my hair. Wow

Here is an update on how much silver is coming out of my head!

Stay tuned though for the big up date regarding the 'patch issue'.

IT ALL STARTED WITH A SMALL PATCH

2011-06-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog land!!

It's been a wee while.....

Okay even before i started locking (before October 2008) i had this small patch at the back of my head.... I ignored it and carried on doing my thing, you know retightening, going blonde, doing the henna thang then back to blonde.....got to admit didnt really help matters.

It had a mind of its own, so it got slightly bigger.....
Then funnily enough it began to send me signals it was in love.

Then I got really mad with it and the war had truly started!!!

Then i stopped colouring and stopped fighting and decided to go with God's own bling and work with what nature is saying is my destiny......why fight it....when i can just go along with it and go with the flow??

Watch out for what i did next.......in my next post.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

2011-04-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

Good Morning to all mothers out there on this Mothering Sunday!!!

I hope you're not lifting a finger to do anything and your children are spoiling you rotten like only you deserve!! Me? As usual i woke up hungry and had breakfast not long ago. My son did ask me 'what time do you want breakfast mom?' last night when he came in late from a surprise 18th birthday of one of his best mates.......ah well when he eventually gets his shinny 16 year old black a**e out of bed, he can make the lunch.....I look forward to it. = o

Any hoo back to the hair story! I will let the pictures do the talking. I added silver kinky hair to the crown area last week. Yesterday I washed it and set it in rollers. Below are the before and after pictures.

Even if i say so myself, the silver thang looks better when the hair is set. Do i look like an old lady? I think so.....perhaps I will have to experiment with set hair styles. Actually no perhaps about it...I will!!!!

No.....this is what my son did for me on photoshop. What i will look like when my hair is eventually covered.......on second thoughts, no rush to get to that end goal thank you very much!!!

So whaddaya think? Let me know....I really value your opinion.

Enjoy being spoilt today.......here in England the sun is shinny and its such a beautiful spring Sunday. Just Peeeerffeccccct.

MY PERMANENT HAIR COLOUR ISSUES

2011-03-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I am discovering every month how much silver, white and grey hair i have. Its new to me and exciting at the same time!

But as you all know, the issue i have is the permanent hair colour i will never be able to shift as grey hair is porous, and right now cutting the coloured bits off is not an option.....well not yet at any rate.

I tried silly things like matching thread wrapped around it and it just looked well......silly.

What i hadn't considered is wrapping extensions around the coloured bits and see how that fairs.

In the picture directly below i have done just that using a blond hair extension (for clarity). So all that's left is for me to match my silver, white, grey hair with a matching extensions and am good to go.

I am going to just have a go and see how it looks, surely its got to be better than this very ugly stage. Am not a very patient person and in fact this Monday just gone marked my 6th month without colour. Shocking for me.....didn't think i could do it.

Anyway, that's the plan so watch this space as i transition over to the God's Bling space.

Below (a little out of focus, sorry) is how much grey i have which is predominately on my crown. Kool! I like!

THE SILVER STORY SO FAR

2011-02-25T07:48:00.000-08:00

Its been 5months since i last coloured my hair....and i can tell you, its quite liberating to go the whole hog and having never to care what other people think. The idea of colouring my hair is almost alien to me now........People that is progress!!!

Anyway without further ado....i will allow the pictures to do the talking. Just one more thing, as the silver grows out it obviously doesn't look as bad as it was say 4 months ago. Another bonus is that i am purposely using shampoos that are known to strip colour from the hair followed by a good conditioner. It is working a treat....i have also used 'Colour B4' which removes old colour....just take a gander at the pictures and you will see what i mean.

Its all good and i am a very happy bunny.

IS THIS MY FUTURE AS A SILVER FOX?

2011-01-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, a very happy New Year to you all in blog land!

This is one of my staple hair style, with a head band though i wouldn't normally tie it back.

I was experimenting over the last weekend and came across a white hair spray that washes out with just one wash. Let me just tell you folks, i think am just going to be patient and let the hair be and grow out slowly but surely. I wasn't prepared for the impact it would have on how i felt about the whole grey thing.

Below is the back which is (in my book) next to nothing grey wise. I didn't spray any white on the back.

Da da......its a whole lotta white thing going on!!!! This was taken in my bathroom.

And this in front of the window offering some of daylight.

But don't worry folks i washed it all out this morning!. I don't recommend it...i think its was designed for a little fun and washed out as soon as possible. I slept with that crap in my hair for two nights and the whiteness disappeared and left a matt grey look. Plus as i shook my hair to rid it of excess water in the shower, i noticed quite a lot of hair on the shower walls. Far too many...if you do spray that sh*t in your hair wash it out the same day!!

According to my 1 panel judge (my son) he said it looked like dust!!!!

So that is, as they say is that!

Till next time.

3 MONTHS AS A SILVER FOXY LADY????

2010-12-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Well folks here i am exactly 3 months to the day i last added colour to my hair. When i see this picture, i wonder if i am really ready for the transition. On the plus side i can be quite stubborn so i think that trait will stand me in good sted.

Out of desperation and something to do to perhaps draw out my greys, i tied some grey cotton randomly down the entire length of my hair starting at the root where the grey meets the brown. I sat one evening & did a handful in front and it looked weird. And you can trust my 16year old son who just shook his head and said 'no mom, it doesn't look good'......so the following day i remove 80% of it and left a handful at random.

So in the meanwhile as i literally wait patiently....i will continue to try and wash out as much colour as possible by any means possible, so as to minimise the contrast between the colour and my natural greys.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions as to how to cope with the ugliness of this transition?

I have head band and scarfs at the ready.........but am looking for something really different apart from cutting coloured potion off once my greys have locked. Have i overlooked anything??

I look forward to your suggestions.

MATURING GREYS FULLY

2010-11-25T06:40:00.001-08:00

Hello People of Blog land!

My first greys came when i was just 16 years of age....albeit a few strands but grey none the less!

By the time i hit my 20s i had started colouring my hair to disguise the grey. My late mother used to (Dye) her hair...nasty business with the little pot, brush old towel and black dye around her hair line and most of her ears. She had only one colour available to her...that's right BLACK!. It went everywhere....and i was only 10 or so years old....so i tended to associate grey hair with getting really old. Hence my struggle.....(though i obviously didn't realise it at the time).

I have now decided to bow out of the colouring my locks altogether as i and only i have allowed it to become the bane of my life thus far. At one time i was colouring every 4 weeks then i tried stretching out as far as 5.5 weeks (which was as far as i could stand it once upon a time).

Anyway fast forward to present day if you please. So far i haven't coloured my hair in 9.5 weeks (get me....mmme) and you know what??????? It ain't that bad! Am not as grey as i imagined i was....don't get me wrong, i am 80% grey and almost white especially on the crown area.....the back is just turning grey which is a good thing in my book......it will hopefully blend in nicely at the point which i decided to stop colouring. Mmmmme

People are funny....they look but don't say anything now.....i can just imagine what they are thinking. Ask me, if i am bothered???.....HELL NO!

The only thing am wondering is........WHY THE HELL HAVE I BEEN STRESSING MYSELF STUPID ALL THESE YEARS AND ESPECIALLY SINCE HAVING MY MICRO LOCKS INSTALLED?

Sorry, don't have an answer to that one........the mind boggles!

There have been times when i just wanted to start over....you know another big chop!!! If am being honest what brought all of this 'no more colour' on are HEALTH issues.... Eczema to be precise coupled with intense urge to SCRATCH myself to smithereens!!!!!!!

Am on top of it now with the help of my G.P. and Calendula creams and lotions to soothe the skin topically.

I have always said that i will forgo colouring my hair when am good and ready. Guess now is the time.....the thing is i am strangely at peace with the whole thing. I don't have anymore issues with the subject.

Guess what i noticed in the 9.5 weeks of not colouring......new hair growth around the front edges of my hair....wooopppppyyyyyy!!!

SSSHHHIISSH: Want to know another secret???? Am looking forward to more greys...am soo going to work it....with your support of course. ; o

2 YEARS OLD!!

2010-10-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

I will let the pictures do the talking.

23 MONTHS LOCKED

2010-09-02T07:22:00.001-07:00

Well its been 23 months since I had my locs installed by the lovely Marie of Cammalocks. The time is certainly flying by. On my 2nd year anniversary next month I shall show comparison shots to see exactly how far I have come.

HOW I EXTEND THE ODD SHORT LOC

2010-08-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Okay people a quick show of how I extend short locs with harvested 'two headed' dragons.

First of all I get my needle and invisible thread as shown in the picture below. (If you stare hard enough you will see the thread.... apologies for the quality).

Next I harvest 'one head' from a 'two headed' dragon and pass the needle through it and secure ready for re attaching below.

Then I locate the said short loc below

Dont ask how the picture below happened, it just did....the invisible thread is actually holding them together in a way it appears to defy gravity.

Anyway enough of the science, allow the new piece to over lap like shown in the pic and wrap the thread several times around the existing loc to secure. Then stitch as you see fit ensuring you go through the existing and the new piece and again secure.
(Otherwise it will come out every time you get your hair wet.) It's really trial and error for me.
And another thing, I only do this to locs in the front, what ever I dont see, dont tend to bug me so much. lol

Now you see the bump in the loc below (and again if you look hard enough you will see the thread hanging down from it).

And now you dont! Viola!!

That's it...... tutorial over, any questions?????

MY 1 MONTH MEGA TEK CHALLENGE

2010-08-19T03:19:00.000-07:00

Well people if you remember I said in my last post that I had something up my very long sleeves?

You may well have heard about it, it's certainly been around for a while judging by the You Tube vids which date back as far as 2007. (Guess you are not meant to find out about stuff until the timing is right for you.)

Anyhoo....I couldnt find any micro lock or any kind of lock wearers who had tried Mega Tek. However, there were shed loads of people doing tutorials about how to use it on human hair....(okay so far I have failed to mention it is for use on pets....well it was created for horses and someone tried it and the rest as they say is history)

Okay okay dont get irritated with me = ( I shall come to the point now!!!

I sent for my bottle above and decided to read the instructions and 'do me'. I must say that one thread that was running through all the vids and forums, was to combat excess shedding to take garlic supplements along with garlic hair conditioner. I didn't I just stuck with the garlic supplements.

The only shedding I noticed was when re tightening and to be honest, not enough to cause alarm or for me to curtail the use.

My routine is to just shake the bottle then squirt a coin size dollop on my hand and rub it into the areas that need it most. I do this every day.

The lotion smells like coconuts and the boyfriend likes it.....(to come to think of it his nose is never out of my hair........lol.)

CONFESSION TIME.

I have a bald patch at the back of my hair that started off the size of a small coin some 3 years ago. It has now expanded into..... a big heart shape.....yep I got the love thang going on in my head. I know I certainly didnt help matters by going blonde and colouring like crazy every 4 weeks on the dot. Until you have greys like I do, guess you will never truly understand especially when you arent mentally ready.

Anyway I haven't been brave enough to post pictures. However i have made a promise to self that when it all grows back, i shall show the before and after photies....cant be fairer than that.

The GOOD NEWS here is that I have a little tufty island (as the boyfriend calls it). Long enough to braid YaaaaaaaaaaaaY!!!

They say its good for nails too.....not mine unfortunately, but WHO CARES??? I didnt buy it for that reason.

HEED THE WARNING THOUGH

I dont recommend this product to newbie lock wearers or any one with very fine hair, it would unravel your locks before you say Jack Robinson!

Even with my nearly two year old locks, I was stunned to find 1 lock more or less unravelled. It was then I reduced the amount and ensured i rubbed into thin and bald spots. A little goes a long way.

I 'do me' so you've got to 'do you' and find what works for you. You may decide to use it every other day or even once a week.....I have 3 words for you here....TRIAL AND ERROR.

I leave the product in, others co wash their hair 3 times a week and then apply it ...i dont.

Remember 'DO YOU' and do your RESEARCH!!

One other thing....be prepared if you are using it all over because your hair will grow depending on your personal rate of growth.

Lets just say two weeks after I re tightened I was able to go a full rotation in my rapid growth areas on my head.

I am happy with my rate of growth generally so not doing that again.....just the area that needs a likkle help.

Read all about Mega Tek below:

http://www.horsehealth.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=122_124&products_id=804

METAL FILLINGS: 2 MONTH GROWTH UPDATE

2010-08-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

Picture directly below is how my right temple looks like now, 2 months after my dental appointment.And the picture below here was taken in the same week after I had the metal fillings replaced.

I have seen some growth and in fact installed a hand full of new baby ones, though from the 1st picture they don't look at all like baby locks because, I re attached locks (taken from two headed dragons) and cheated!! He he.... just smarter than the average bear!

A WORD OR TWO OF CAUTION

When re attaching locks any where on your head, be sure to harvest 'two headed dragons' from close proximity to the lock you want extending, so the lock size is uniform.

I made the mistake of harvesting from the back and re attached to the front....what a kerfuffle!! Needless to say I had to remove it, as it looked top heavy!!!!

I have vowed to curtail my hair colouring to 6 to 8 weeks, currently I have just passed the 4 week mark and am not in that desperate mode to hide the greys...I have just gone back to what i did in the past...the use of soft Kohl pencil in between week 3 and 6 (HOPEFULLY!!!).

I have been full circle with the flipping colour issues, cant fight mother nature, so i have finally learnt to live with it......well sort of...am still colouring but not as often....got to look after my hair as I have really treated it badly and its a wonder I have any hair left!!!

In light of that, I have purchased a 'No SLS green Intensive Repair' shampoo for colour treated hair....more expensive @ £10.50 for a 200ml tube. A little goes a long way so they say, i will find out myself when i use it for the first time this Sunday. Previous to that I have been co washing once a week for the past month or so. As a result I am seeing more baby hairs sprouting everywhere.

All I need now is a thicker body to give the temple a fuller look......watch this space because I've got something else up my very long sleeves...he he he.

(I am in the middle of reviewing a product which I cant wait to share the results of...safe to say am a very happy bunny).

Till next time folks!!!

HAIR GROWTH AFTER 3 WEEKS

2010-07-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

My last couple of re tightenings have been at a 3 week interval, which takes long enough over a couple or so days. My fear is leaving it to 4 weeks and take forever to re tighten. I have noticed an incredible growth rate, granted from my crown area where all the density is on my head.

What's your rate of growth and where?

21 MONTHS

2010-07-07T06:23:00.001-07:00

Well would you believe it, I am nearly at my two year anniversary!
It had been five and a half weeks since I re tightened so as you can safely expect, it took me a wee longer to complete. I did them in 3 evenings after work. A lot easier to digest that way. All i remember thinking was that it was taking soooo long and i was getting bored.

So the re tightening you see here folks are just 1 week old.

Just noticed the grid pattern is quite noticeable from the crown....good job am a 6 footer ...actually doesn't really count as i sit to do my work = (

But from the pictures below one cant tell = )

Till next time folks.

THIN HAIR ON RIGHT TEMPLE ONLY!!!

2010-06-09T03:34:00.000-07:00

Ok i have a BIG axe to grind!

I notice years back that the right side of my temple is.......devoid of hair...okay so i exaggerate a little....lets just say its SPARSE. It has bugged me ever since trying to figure out why just the right temple and not both as most people experience due to tight braids, perms etc. I got by, by being grateful that at least its 1 side as supposed to both sides.

Only of late (not helped by my constant colouring to hide the greys) its become more apparent to ME anyways.

I had two issues on my hands regarding hair styles.

1) Just gotta hide the greys hair do

2) Definitely gotta hide the sparse side of my temple.

SOLUTION???? RESEARCH, RESEARCH AND MORE ON LINE RESEARCH!

A couple of weeks ago i read several forums and articles regarding amalgam metal dental fillings and the fact that they contain 50% Mercury. One lady in particular said she noticed after she took her 7 year old to have his teeth filled that his hair began to fall out. And she could only tie it in to the trip to the dentist. Later on she took him back and had the fillings replaced by white fillings and miraculously his hair grew back!!

Okay a lot of folks out there will poo poo this as non sense, trust me I am one of those folks who is allergic to this, that and the other (working on that issue) and i thought apart from the cost, what harm would it do????

This woman went on to challenged readers to check to see what side they had fillings and to note the side of thinning hair. Trust yours truly....i did just that and was happy to notice that i had 1 fillings on the upper right side (in fact my new dentist said i had 2!!).

My dentist also confirmed that the metal fillings did contain 50% mercury.

Any how...fast forward to 1 week ago today. I had both metal fillings replaced by white ones. After she finished excavating both teeth she asked me to rinse. I used 2 cups of solution just to get rid of the debris of metal fillings and when i felt the holes with my tongue i was shocked to find that 1 tooth in particular was so large, there was barely any enamel left. (so folks imagine the amount of metal filling it took to fill that hole!!!!!!!!)

Never been happier to spend £190 to replace metal fillings i have had for soooo long am sure its more than 20 years.

So now i have noticed that i have fine hair where there was none and thought i would share my experience and get you guys to follow my progress of new growth...yay.

I wear head bands loosely, (don't want to add to the problem!)
Now that my hair is a bit longer i wear the head band and tie my hair into one at the back.

Above is how it would be seen by the entire world.

This is it in reality, could do with a couple of rows of locks!

Click on this picture you may actually see fine hairs. I will continue to post my progress on a regular basis...so fingers and everything else crossed for me folks.

Anyway i feel quite positive about it and that folks i believe is half the battle!!

Till next time.

HAIR TEXTURE AT 20 MONTHS

2010-05-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd let the picture do the talking.

YOGURT, OLIVE OIL & 1 EGG COLOUR LIFT

2010-04-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well People,

As mentioned last week i decided to give the 'home made' colour lift and brassiness remover a go this weekend.

I did it, instead of retightening this weekend, i lifted more colour of my hair and guess what???? I got better than expected results, i got a more vibrant colour.....this stuff has definitely taken me back to my Henna days.

All i needed was 1 tablespoon of Olive oil, 1 beaten egg and 3/4 cup of plain yogurt and mixed together.

I applied this to my hair coating each lock as best as i could and left it in for 1 hour.

I then rinsed with cold water...LIE!!!!...didnt think i could bare the cold so i made it very tepid. WARNING FOLKS, DON'T!!!!

In short people i scrambled the egg a bit in my hair. Honestly you've got to use cold water or you'll spend all afternoon picking the damn things out of your hair all day long.

If you're going to give this a go, i recommend doing it in summer when you can tolerate the cold water better on your scalp.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!

So what do you guys think eh?

COLOUR REMOVAL

2010-04-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

Why the colour removal?

Please just take a look at the picture below....would have made an otherwise nice photy, but no my colour disaster ruined the whole scenario!!! I became quite paranoid, you know how it is when you believe EVERYONE is focused on your hair because it's the most important thing in the world!!!! lol.

The colour is a dark blonde used on the roots only but somehow the rest of the hair is getting darker and darker with each application.

Result is just plain NASTY. = {

Anyway enter 'Colour B4 Extra' £11.99 available here in the UK at Boots. It gently removes colour applied up to 72 hours. Reading the 124 reviews I found a lot of ladies were ecstatic as it removed years of colour disasters! It is safe to use up to 3 times without causing any damage.

I was very happy with the result it had on my hair. It appears to have taken me back to my Henna days...(remember the love affair i had with Henna???lol).

Overall the colour is more uniform with less of a contrast.

Having done that, i wanted to see if i can get more colour off, but decided i wanted to use a home made recipe. So i did a little research and it was as easy as some baby shampoo and vitamin C tablets.

Well to be precise 1 vit C tablet to about a teaspoon of shampoo. Crush the tablet and mix in with the shampoo and apply to dry hair and leave on for 1 hour. I figure it is safer to use on my hair than more chemicals. Apparently there are so many house hold products you can use to remove colour on the hair, cloths detergent to name just one!.....(yes but they are full of chemicals too, so user beware!!)

The picture below shows the mixture already in my hair. Bare in mind, that it shows where my white hair lies predominantly, so it is very light.

I left it in for about an hour and a half , then i lathered it up with some warm water. I noticed that some colour did wash away and i was very pleased with this. I finished up by leaving the conditioner in my hair for about five minutes before washing it out with cooler water.

The result is what you see below. Aside from the fact that i saw colour wash away with the water, i cant say i see much of a difference.

The main thing is that the home made 'hair colour remover' worked for me as it was simple, straight forward and safer to use on my locks.

(PLEASE REMEMBER NEWLY LOCKED, THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR MY HAIR , YOU WILL NEED TO ASK YOUR CONSULTANT OR DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH TO FIND OUT WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU)

Okay at least one problem has been solved here. What next? There is another home made remedy i will try this weekend. It claims to remove brassiness of colour from the hair whilst conditioning it.

It is the yogurt, olive oil and egg 'colour remover'!

Mix ¾ cup of plain yogurt, 1 table spoon of olive oil and a beaten egg together and work into the hair.

Leave for an hour and rinse with cold water (do not use hot water, as it will scramble the egg!!).

Visit me next time to see what happens when i tried the above. Till then. xoxoxo

18 MONTHS LOCKED!!!

2010-03-26T02:40:00.001-07:00

The first picture was taken just last night when i started messing with the camera on my phone........couldn't get to sleep so i occupied myself with stuff. lol

The second pic (taken on my way to work this morning) shows the gradual colour phasing am currently going through. According to my son, its getting lighter! Great!

When i colour now, i just concentrate on the roots and rely on the previous colour fading naturally.

I have noticed now that the locks on my crown have finally compacted......boy are they slim. When i retightened last weekend, i had to do what i had to do. That is combine locks that have always been a little on the thin side. Did that 4 times at least!

The fact that am thinking 'this lock is thin' means all is not well......so i leave it till the next retightening and if i feel the same way, i combine them. This helps me so as not to be combining wheely neely and wind up with just one phat lock.......ha ha ha.....as if!

Till the next time.

THE FRINGE THING

2010-01-27T01:47:00.001-08:00

Some weeks ago i cut my hair at the front to create a Fringe, what i believe you Americans refer to as a Bang....strange, but anyway i think its rubbish on me but i feel perhaps if i wasnt quite as generous with the chopping it would have been okay. Still it can only grow and improve on a weekly process right????

I just wanted a different style to wear plus it hides a multitude of sins......e.g The Grey.

RETIGHT AFTER COLOUR

2010-01-25T05:27:00.001-08:00

Well people, the photos below show my progress through the retightening process this Saturday gone.

My hair grows mega fast in the crown area and as you know it was exactly a week to the day i coloured my hair. If you click on both pictures you will see the grey sipping through at the roots. And to come to think of it, despite the fact that i spent ages ensuring i covered each and every lock with colour, it would appear i made a bit of a mish mash with it, but you know what, i dont care as i am going through a process.

This picture shows the completed back section. It is now taking a wee while to finish as my hair grows in length.
Three quarters have been completed with just 1 quarter to go, i think this photo shows the grey more, which just confirms my next plan of going lighter......gosh how i wish i could just go for it and let it all hang out. psychologically am just not ready YET!

COLOUR PROCESSING

2010-01-18T01:26:00.001-08:00

Well people I said I'll be back once I have decided on what am going to do re the colour thing. I used Henna for a good 14months and because of the percentage of grey i had, i wasn't ecstatic about the colour result.....I basically went with the flow and learnt to love the bright tangy orangey colour. The sad truth is now that i have gone a bit darker i actually miss it.

I had seen Naturtint just before i decided on the Henna but decided I was going to give Henna a damn good go and if things didn't work out, i could always fall back on 'Naturtint' the permanent hair colour below.

I started off my sending a picture of my hair to the 'customer services' and asked for advice on what shade/shades i should use in order to achieve a much lighter colour (7N) given that i have 95% grey and i have been using Henna.

Within 24hours i got a reply to my email and the lady was very helpful indeed. She suggested that in order to achieve the shade i wanted (7N -HAZELNUT BLONDE), i would have to use a darker colour like the shade below (5N LIGHT CHESTNUT BROWN) to cover the entire head and then at the next application, i could go ahead and use the 7N which would then lift the colour by at least two shades.

She went on to explain that because I had previously used Henna which merely coats the hair, it also prevents other colourant from lifting colour in the first instance, hence her suggesting first application of a darker colour then going for the lighter as a lift.

Naturtint Permanent Hair Colorant with Vegetable ingredients is the leading alternative hair colour in the UK health market and fastest growing colorant in Spain with 24 colours which can be mixed easily & economically to create an infinite range. No ammonia or resorcinol it is dermatologically tested and whats more, it covers 100% grey and can lighten up to 2 shades at a time. It is enriched with Soya, Corn, Coconut and Wheat Extracts it also adds wonderful shine and vitality to the hair.

WARNING: IF YOU'RE NEWLY LOCKED, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COLOUR YOUR HAIR WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR LOCKTICIAN.

Well that's it folks, I should leave you now to check out the results as i believe the photos speak for themselves.

Click on the one below and above for more detail.

15MONTHS

2010-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL IN BLOG LAND!!!!

Just a quick post to let you know how my locks are progressing. Am afraid my love affair with Henna has ended.......

....The reason for this is because i have far too much grey than i care to admit and there is nothing more frustrating that spending hours with the Henna applied then spend an age rinsing it to find that the coverage isn't sufficient. So at the mo i am doing a bit of research to see what products out there would be safe to use after Henna.

In the meantime here are some pics taken recently of my locks. ENJOY.

HAIR UP DATE

2009-11-24T02:43:00.000-08:00

Hello people!

Well i did another 4 weekly retight Friday night/Saturday morning. It looks set to be my regular routine now....i have tried doing it during the weekday evenings...you know one half one evening and doing the other half the following evening. The only time i have done this is when am due for a retightening that weekend and i have other stuff planned. It works but i don't really like going out anywhere with half my hair retightened. I know I'm the only one that is aware of this, but hey I KNOW and that is what matters. lol.

Anyway here is a photo i took after my retight on Saturday before i headed off to the mall to get me some much needed Iman foundation stick (Earth 7). Like you really need details huh! If you click on the picture below you will see very fine detail of my handy work. Ignore the grey. I am planning to do a henna thing this weekend....I just couldn't be arsed.

Since my hair has grown a tad, i can actually wear the retight pattern (i.e the back half going back and front halves falling to either sides), and get away with not hennaing so close to a retight.

This way the only place to hide the grey is the center part which more or less ends at the middle of my crown. All i do is get a kohl pencil and blend away.

What do you all think?

A FEW LIKKLE RECRUITS

2009-11-16T07:53:00.001-08:00

This Saturday just gone by, as I lay in bed while it was raining cats and dogs. I wondered how I would spend my day as i played with my hair....then the idea struck me.....I got busy with a little maintenance work on my locks!

I found a total of 4 new locks to start although only two are shown here, I did however add another, you can just make out the loose hair by my ear. The other one is behind my left ear right at the nape of my neck.

UMPTEENTH SELF RETIGHT

2009-11-02T04:11:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I thought sod it all am going blond again and I don't really care about the repercussions!!!!!

Naaaaw only joking, I stood under the lampshade with a energy saving light bulb and it made my hair look blond!!! Pretty cool don't you think???

See proof that I was merely kidding....BTW excuse the white blob on my cheek....wasn't planning on taking pic that would end up on my blog....

Here is the back and if you notice near my left ear the is a little 'sparse thing' going on. Well its been there for well over a year now and I have just gone back to my Chinese Herbal Doctor who has given me another bottle of a hair tonic to combat it. He did tell me off for not coming to him the moment I notice the hair was gone.

You see about two years ago the same thing happened on near the right hand side and I used the tonic and before I knew it the hair had grown back. In fact the only reason I was back seeing him is because I have some skin issues and I just happened to mention the bald patch. So anyway, I will keep you guys posted on the progress of my hair regrowth!!!!

MY FIRST YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

2009-10-05T01:28:00.000-07:00

Well would you believe it....1 whole year has passed by since I had my locks installed! It was a year this last Saturday gone!! I still remember the morning vividly, how i could barely sleep and looking forward mostly to someone else sorting my hair out and generally enjoying the process.

Last week i was reading Kitty's blog and she mentioned that she just uses conditioner in her hair once a week and then on a monthly bases she shampoos. So i thought I'd give that a go...after all my locks are a year old and can with stand the softness without unraveling my locks. I had a little giggle to myself as i marveled at the perfect timing to the day to be precise!

Well it was a little strange when i applied the conditioner in the shower but i just imagined i had just shampooed and now i was about to condition. The result was excellent...for once my hair was very soft and it appeared to gain instant length..(though i believe it the weight of the water and the conditioner combined) not such a bad thing in the grand scheme of things.

In the weeks leading up to this anniversary, I tried to sum up my feelings and the things i have noticed about my locks thus far.

1 Obviously gained length
2 Gained body
3 Still lots of curly Q ends (I like)
4 On closer inspection, some locks on my temple have mature
5 Am not fussing so much, just letting them do what they are supposed to do to lock
6 I like that sometimes when I feel them, I am genuinely surprised at the length.
7 Discovered henna works for me so, I can safely say I am chemically free. (Yay me!!)
8 When I used the conditioner, I didn't have to oil my scalp.
9 When I shampoo, I have to oil my scalp once immediately afterwards
10 I love my locks and the freedom it brings
11 I love that I maintain my locks myself
12 I love that I get compliments about my hair from both sexes
13 My hair styles and options change as I gain length
15 I thank God I had the Big Chop with my traditional locks
16 I glad that I practically shaved all my hair off to start from the very beginning
17 I add a couple of drops of Glycerin to my spritz water, which maintains softness
18 I keep my routine very simple
19 I still braid and band about 7 locks at the back due to unravelling
20 I wear a shower cap everytime I shower to combat colour on front edges fading too quickly

BRILLIANT WEEKEND!!!!

2009-09-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

First of all there was the ladies night out on Friday night, then there was the unofficial 'Burn Fire' night at a friends on Saturday night. (which was really an excuse to have a little 'get together' and burn off old damaged wooden furniture and have a general tidy up).
Then the fun began when we lit around 20 magic lanterns and

released them into the night sky......they looked so pretty.......BUT the best bit of the weekend was Sunday afternoon........

when I was taken for a spin in this little baby...The British made Lotus! You guys should have seen my locks fly.

When I got home my son thought I looked like a mad scientist....

11 MONTHS LOCKED TODAY PEEPS!

2009-09-03T02:46:00.001-07:00

The first 2 pictures where taken this morning just before leaving for work. Today folks marks exactly 11 months since my hair was locked by Marie of Cammalocks.

The next 2 pics where taken a few days ago when I spent the long bank holiday weekend with a good friend in Exeter.

And finally the last shot was taken about 7 days ago.

I don't tend to style my hair in the way most people do....if am honest I just like plain ol' Free styling with the exception of Alice bands and hair bands. I dare say when my hair grows long enough, there will be the odd pony tail here and there.

I can hardly believe that just next month I'll be celebrating my First Year Anniversary!!

I HAVE A KNOT THAT WONT SHIFT!!!!

2009-08-18T03:33:00.001-07:00

Somebody help me pleeeeeeaaaase. I stupidly put a loose knot at the end of this lock, (so i could identify the lock quickly on my return), got up attended to something else and sat back down and instead of patiently removing the knot i started pulling at it till the damn thing got tighter and wound up at the base of my lock!!

Any idea of how to remove it, i have tried wetting it to loosen the knot i have tried using a tiny crotchet needle, i have tried those fine tooth combs you get with the metal handle, i have tried enlisting the help of my daughter, nothing, nothing, nothing.

Desperately seeking assistance. I am due to re tighten this weekend.

MY HAIR TEXTURE @ 10MONTHS

2009-08-12T05:41:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd document the texture of my hair at this stage just before the first year anniversary.

I know loads of sistahs out there are fretting because their ends haven't completely sealed yet...the thing is, i must be the only one who likes it like that and hopes they never seal entirely. I like the Curly Q thing going on.

Am I the only one?????

10 MONTHS TO THE DAY!

2009-08-03T03:09:00.001-07:00

MONTH 1 MONTH 10

MONTH 10 MONTH 1

THE ART OF A WEST AFRICAN HEAD TIE

2009-07-29T06:46:00.000-07:00

In the picture above I simply removed the head tie to take a closer look.

This is the view from the back of the head tie.

This shot is the front view.
The follow pictures are of a different design. The above pictures are from the head tie I wore.

This is my daughter in the completed head tie.

First of all you take the stiff but pliable fabric and fold almost in half.

Starting at the front to the back.......

do a cross over and return to the front....

and then cross over at the front to ........

finally secure at the back ........

with a knot, then

work the fabric into a shape that takes your fancy...

for example work into a flower petal...

Then tuck in any loose ends.....

Here you have the finished article

daughter and mother.

NOTE
Typically head ties are worn to complete the look to an African attire, not the worn with western closes like the pictures depict above. lol

MY 1ST MEETING WITH OFO

2009-07-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

The lovely Ofo
Ofo, Lady E & myself

Ofo and her daughters doing a traditional Ghanaian dance

Ofo's daughter leads the African attire fashion parade

My daughter getting her nails done with her little friend looking on

Ofo, myself her daughter and Lady E

And the rear view of our different locks types, (had to squat down a little so our heads are level...lol)

My son and daughter.

I met up with the lovely Ofo on Saturday for the first time, when she kindly invited me to a fundraising event organised by some of the congregation at her church. It was held on a beautiful 17 acres of conifer woodland called 'Spring Meadow Farm'

It was such a lovely day with lots of African food, dance, Auctions and lots of laughs naturally. There were also lots of ladies and young men sporting natural hair styles.

All in all a fun day out. Isn't that right Ofo?

9 MONTHS

2009-06-23T01:06:00.000-07:00

I CALL THIS STYLE THE MRS SPOCK LOOK.

I cant believe that 9 months have passed since I first had my locks installed. One thing i did notice actually this morning funnily enough (when i couldn't sleep at 4am an hour before i put the flipping side lamp on to read in the hope it will bring on drowsiness), was that the front part of my hair is now beginning to seal...I should miss the curly bits when they eventually lock. They feel fatter.

MY REVIEW WITH MY CONSULTANT

2009-06-03T05:19:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, I paid a visit to my consultant as pre-arrange the last time she retightened my hair. She estimated an hour to check that I was doing my retight correctly.

I carried out my 'self retight' 3 weeks ago so there was a little growth but Marie was still able to see what she needed to see to ensure I was doing it right. No word of a lie, I was in and out of there in less than ten minutes! The best bit was when she said there was no charge! YAY

I left her place on cloud 9 and was once again really proud of my handy work. When I got home, I applied some henna for 3 hours and later did a little retight on some rogue locks in front and one or two at the back whilst watching movies on the box and before I could say JACK ROBINSON I had commenced another retight without even realising it. When I got up to go to bed and check the back, I realised how much I had done. So when I rose in the morning I carried on till the afternoon when I completed yet another retight. Unfortunately because I wasn't planning it, I didn't time it.

So because that unscheduled retight took place the last weekend of the month, I have decided that is when I will schedule all future retights (easy to remember, every 28 to 31 days). This also means I will only have to do 1 4pt rotation per lock which means I will be done sooner rather than later. Well that's the plan anyway...you know how life sometimes gets in the way. ; 0

I HAVE BEEN NOMINATED!!

2009-05-29T04:37:00.001-07:00

THANK YOU TO 'OFO' & 'EUPHORIA' FOR NOMINATING ME FOR THIS KREATIV AWARD.

I WILL NOW LIST RANDOMLY 7 THINGS I LOVE

1) First and foremost I love life! I treat it like a game of monopoly and the object of the game is to WIN, WIN, WIN!!

2) I love my daughter.

3) I love my son

4) Yep, I love these babies and their size .....JUST RIGHT.

5) I love being creative when the mood takes me, below is a candle holder i purchased from an antiques store and spray painted it to transform into a jewellery stand with lots of room for MORE!!.

6) I love fooling around with my son...this was the response i got when i told him I didn't care if he was on holiday and that he should go to bed!!!'

7) I love my C200 sport coupe SE Merc I got it as an early birthday present to self last year.

I NOW NOMINATE:

1 KITTYLOCKS

2 MY HAIR, MYLIFE, MYWAY

3 TWO ISLAND GIRL

4 MY DREADLOCKED JOURNEY

5 NAPPY BY NATURE

6 LAKIA'S LOCS

7 BUSINGYE'S JOURNEY

VIBRANT OUTDOOR HENNA COLOUR

2009-05-26T05:10:00.001-07:00

8 MONTHS LOCKED!

2009-05-15T04:42:00.001-07:00

Its funny how every time I take a snap shot from the back tipping my head backwards my hair always looks much longer than it is....though to be fair my hair is much longer at the crown.

Just cant believe how the time has flown by!

YAAAY I DID IT, MY 1ST RETIGHT!!!

2009-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

My son had gone to a 'sleep over' on the Friday night so I was alone and decided to tackle the front right quarter of my hair. I completed it in 3 hours and felt a great sense of achievement.
On Saturday I began right after breakfast and tackled the left front quarter and completed this in 2 hours and 30mins! Now initially I had planned to spread the retight over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but thought 'what else am I doing this weekend I may as well plod on'!
The back I found the easiest simply because I could actually watch the TV and feel my way through.....(the down side is that, I had to get out of the chair to see how much I had left to encourage me to carry on)...... I completed the back right quarter in 2 hours and 17 mins and the last left back quarter only took 1 hour and 36 mins.

ALL IN ALL THE WHOLE RETIGHT TOOK ME 9 HOURS AND 40 MINS!!! (The grand plan is to beat this time as time goes by...I know this will vary from time to time as my hair gets longer)

PARTS OF MY BODY THAT ACHED A LITTLE:

1 My neck
2 My shoulders
3 Well............ there is no 3!

I can tell you people I feel a great sense of achievement and I am very proud of myself! Yaay me....the best part????? I saved £50!!
I am scheduled to see my consultant in 3 weeks time for a review...am guessing she will cast her professional eye over my handy work.....cant wait!

46 YEARS YOUNGER!!

2009-05-01T01:24:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday today people and I feel like a little girl once again. Honestly I don't know where I get the energy from. I got my first text greeting at 10 to 6 this morning, it made me giggle...(Yes I was awake!!!) my son came in at 6.30 and presented me with two gifts and a card. ( I tell you that boy is going to make someone a near perfect husband one day!) My daughter sent me some scented candles from Body Shop and my big sis rang me this morning, the texts are just pouring in...it is good and I am blessed.

I mean look how they dressed my desk up at work....that was a lovely surprise.....Yaaaay!!!

In return I went to Tesco's and got in some goodies to share at work! Doughnuts, chocolate cakes...mmmmme yummy for my tummy!

Douuuughnuuuuts Doh

WASHING DILEMMA

2009-04-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

This Sunday just gone, I washed my hair and braided and banded the front only. The back was fine and it was lovely just to be able to get to my scalp and scrub gently. The issue am experiencing here is over the past month or so I have be suffering from dry scalp in the front...(I believe the problem is not being able to get to my scalp because its in a braid!) Its so bad it resembles 'Cradle Cap' the new born often get....just too nasty, and the only time I notice this is when I have just removed the towel from my head. I mean who would believe I have just washed my hair???

So two big questions here fellow bloggers:

1) From the picture below do you think I am ready to wash (7.5 months) without braiding? (click on the picture to get more detail.)

2) If am not, how can I avoid the 'Cradle Cap' situation?

PREPARING FOR GOING SOLO

2009-04-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Can anyone guess what is in this chocolate tin? Wrong not chocolate!
It has all the little tools I need to go solo
And here they all are! Right beside the scissors are my home made locking tools. On the far right is my invisible thread for holding stubborn locks and fixing minor repairs. Did someone just ask 'HOW COME IF ITS INVISIBLE YOU CAN SEE IT?' Honestly.....you try threading the damn thing and you'll soon know about it. No seriously, it just blends on right in there with your hair...its brilliant am sure a lot of you use it. If you don't go get some!
And this is all the work I got to do.......3 MORE WEEKS AND COUNTING.
YIKES......YIKES.....YIKES

28 WEEKS (7 MONTHS)

2009-04-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

Well let me just tell you now that I couldn't get past 15 days without washing....I really tried and the funny thing was that the idea of braiding and banding seemed like a small prize to pay. I was/am grateful to go through that process.....the process that enables us to achieve wetting the hair to clean it!!

What I found from not washing was that my hair got drier by the day and honestly when i put my hand in my hair it was not a good feeling....so in order to change that feel to a good one...I washed. And guess what....if i have to continue braiding and banding for another year, i will do so.....the consolation prize here is that it wont be long before I can just stand under the shower and wash freely.

I tell you like children, you tell them what to do and they don't listen and then you let them learn through their own mistakes and hey presto they remember and don't need reminding quite so often.

We all have a little of the kids that don't entirely go away...(Thank God!!)....because as you know we all need the ability to carry on learning in our own way but learn we will!

THE HUMAN PSYCHE

2009-04-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

The human psyche is a funny old thing! From my last post you will know that I am virtually on my own now regarding the re-tight thing.

All of a sudden I have decided that am going to see how long I can go without washing my hair for up to a month (and only using anti-bacteria gel as often as i please). Challenging for me because i have always washed once a week and since getting installed i have left it up to 10 days. Now i am convinced I can hold out for up to a month at a time. Why I hear you ask.........because I will be self maintaining from now on!! Why add stress to my first re tight?? How about colour???? Yep that too.......am going to be such a good girl......he he he.......well a girl can try can't she?? (though this Wednesday will make it 2 weeks since i last coloured and already my hair styles are slowly limiting as I try and hide the greys :..( )

As my consultant Marie put it......(in similar words anyway) we need to take the security blanket away....its the only way to go solo........The girl is not wrong! My lovely blanket is gone and I am following her advise to the letter. Total madness? Not really I suppose...it makes perfect sense while Marie still re-tightened my hair I could shrug my shoulders and think.....Marie will sort me out....now I just think....Don't need the stress on my 1st solo re-tight

4TH AND LAST RETIGHT WITH CONSULTANT

2009-04-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Below is the parting I will have to make in order to organise my self re tightening in 5 weeks time. Marie very kindly countered my locks horizontally and vertically to the centre of my head , using my centre part and my ears as starting points. This will enable me to achieve my 4 bunches which I will tackle a bunch at a time. (YIKES!!)

My re-tight took 4 hours as supposed to the normal 2.5 hours owing to the fact that I coloured my hair with henna and there was some slippage. (I must admit I kind of over did it a little....coloured a total of 4 times!!!!! YES I MUST HAVE BEEN OFF MY ROCKER!!!)

Hey but I knew there was a chance it was going to happen. I took a calculated risk and it paid off. It cost me an extra £10.00...on the face of it, it was well worth every penny because Marie wants me to have a crack at starting to 'self maintain'.

The plan is that in 5 weeks time I will attempt (and succeed) in re tightening myself and then 2 weeks later I will see her for a review (which cost considerably less at £15.00 for the hour) to see how I get on. Yay me.

I forgot to mention a little while back that Marie noticed that I had been doing some re tightening here and there and she confirmed that I was doing it right. Yay me again! However am to keep and eye on ending the correct position etc etc. (Mental note, take phone of the hook or let it go to voice mail....oh yes AND CONCENTRATE WOMAN ON WHAT YOU'RE DOING).

Back view 1st day of installation. Back view 25 weeks later.

25 weeks later 1st day of installation

MY CONSULTANTS LOVELY LOCKS

2009-03-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

This is my beautiful consultants luscious locks. How long do you think they are?..........click on the picture to see more detail.

Mmme quite long and thick....lovely aren't they?.......

No actually quite long.....in fact she had no idea how long because she hadn't taken a rear view photograph in such a long time. Needless to say she looked quite pleased....so she should...lovely locks am sure you'll all agree.

24 WEEKS (6MONTHS)

2009-03-20T02:46:00.000-07:00

HENNA UPDATE

2009-03-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow bloggers, this is just a very short update on the effects of henna on my hair thus far.

Things I have noticed are that my hair is:

Softer
I swear it has grown longer in the 13 days, than any other time before henna!
I feel quite confident that henna and I are going to have a very long and meaningful relationship!

That's it, short and very sweet!

COMPLETE HEAD OF HENNA

2009-02-26T00:42:00.001-08:00

In the picture above, I have just applied the henna. Notice the length here partly caused by the weight of the henna.

This is 2 hours later. Length here is beginning to shrink.

In this shot it had been in for 3.5 hours. Oh dear more shrinkage.

At last, all rinsed and shampooed after a total of 3 hours 45 mins.

This is a shot from the rear left side.

This is a shot from the rear right side.

And here is a shot from the top...this is the first half I coloured last Saturday.

So all you ladies with grey hair listen up...you've got to give 'Lush Henna' a go. I love the fact that my grey is the reason why the colour takes so well, I also like the fact that it adds a sheen to where I don't have so much grey and that the colour isn't uniform (which stays true the natural formation of how the grey is dispersed on my head)

Yes its all new and I am excited about the result, I am hoping this is going to be a long and fruitful relationship with henna and I can stop fretting about what is best for me.

The best bit of all this....IT IS CHEMICAL FREE....YAY!!!!!

HENNA COLOUR

2009-02-25T03:52:00.000-08:00

Okay people I finally succumbed to colouring my hair with the above Lush's Caca Marron (reddish brown)......

Well at least front half of it anyways. From the picture above you can see the stark contrast and the effect of the reddish brown on the caramel blonde. Overall I was very impressed with the colour and as I mentioned in a previous post, the colour continued to develop even after I rinsed and shampooed. I liked it then and I like it now. Why only do half???? I figured if there is major slippage, I will only have half to repair.......

As it turns out, there was no slippage!!
Imagine my locks with a subtle sheen!!! I don't use any products on my scalp other than spritzing with water to style each morning and occasionally rubbing some of my consultants home made scalp oil in areas that need it most.

I have decided that later today I will colour the back and be done with colour for a few weeks....
So what do you think?

NOTE WELL

Remember folks that am still only in my 5th month and before colouring I was certain all will go smoothly.....you need to know your hair before colouring and or before your consultant has given you the go ahead!!

5 MONTHS & 3RD RETIGHT

2009-02-20T01:58:00.000-08:00

Can anyone guess what I used as a head band in this picture???
Just to distract you for a moment, check out my picture in the background my traditional locks were about 2.5 years old. The artist made my face a little chubby....it was done in Paris by the Notre Dame in 2001.

UPDATE ON YARN TOOL

2009-02-11T07:56:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Dave in the steel cutting room downstairs at work very kindly obliged by cutting the 'yarn needles' exactly where i needed them cutting. Yay......thanks Dave.

I gave it a trial run and it was A Okay! Would have preferred for the ends to be tappered...but hay it worked just fine....and that's all that matters.

I will now just wait till my Consultant gives me the nod and I'll be off doing my DIY thing.

IMPROVISED LOCKING TOOLS

2009-02-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

To the left is a 'blunt yarn needle' which I expanded using a pair of scissors and you can see the mark i made, where am going to have it professionally cut.

Next in line is the a 'bodkin' which I have reduced in length and bounded with a masking tape. The problem with the bodkin is that it catches the hair, though advantages is that the metal can be cut easily...and if am honest, all that masking tape...just annoying as the more you use it the more it gets sticky and yes you can imagine the rest....blah blah blah.

Finally to the right is a 'kids plastic yarn needle' which ironically, has a sharp end to it...being plastic it is very easy to manipulate, took me less than 2 minutes to get it the way i wanted. I also used it last night to retighten some of my locks...it was great....all i had to worry about is not latching two locks together! (which i did several times, in the end i had to get my son to rescue me from them)

The local needle craft shop retails these little babies above (Blunt yarn needle with a large eye) at 89 pence for two in a pack!

And these little kiddy ones above at 49pence. They are great but I can't imagine they will last long. Think of it this way, you can buy loads, trim them and at least if you loose one you won't go ape sh*t 'cos they cost so much!! (food for thought there folks!)

You're probably wondering why not just go out there and purchase these tools. Great question:

1) To purchase the Nappy loc tool from the USA will more or less cost double for those of us who reside here in the United Kingdom....Anthia -Ofo would testify to that!! http://ofoslocs.blogspot.com/search?q=ordering+tools (Am not prepared to do that..)

2) I was about to purchase a Lock Key from my Consultants website (see side bar..CammaLocks) and for some reason i wasn't able to make the payments having tried 3 times or so. I will i suppose as some point purchase one if by any chance my consultants have some in stock when i go for my retightening this Friday. (mental note: Ask Marie for LockKey!)

3)Well i took it as a sign and decided not to reinvent the wheel and see what I could manipulate to do the same work.

MICRO LOCKS AT FOUR MONTHS

2009-01-26T06:23:00.000-08:00

Micro locks in the 1st month!

Micro locks at 4 months!

HENNA STRAND TEST

2009-01-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

Well folks, I just couldn't wait I had to go out and purchase a slab of (CACA MARRON) this lovely product.
The girls in the store were all in their jim jams, so as we walked in i said to my son....'look the lady is still in her jim jams'. She smiled 'naturally' and carried on with the displaying of nice smelly unpackaged soap bars. My son located the store by smell!!!
One of the lovely ladies even suggested the colour I picked, but before that she pointed out she had the same colour and proceeded to show me her hair, then there was the girl at the till and she even went as far as dragging a girl from the back of store!! (SUCH LOVELY PEOPLE AT LUSH!!)

I followed the instructions and picked a section in the front with lots of greys and applied the paste I made before hand. And as it dried it set like clay and each time i lifted my hair to see what was going on, it rained tiny little clay balls on my lap. I left it in for 3 hours and in that time, i cooked, i ate and i even had a light but delicious snooze.

And here is the first result after i rinsed & washed out the paste. There is quite a difference! The disconcerting thing about the henna is even after you're done, the colour is still developing for a few more hours. However the good thing about this henna is that i could repeat the process for three (3) days in a row (like am going to be bothered to do that!!! I'd rather dedicate a whole day and get it right first time!!) and even adding coffee you if want to get a darker result!

So check this out, see my greys??? Yep that's what i have to deal with, came as a bit of a shock as i haven't gone without colour for four (4) months since i began colouring. Yep I've got grey alright folks! Anyway forget the grey, I have.......look at the contrast.....not bad eh?

I have pulled the hair back and as the colour is not a million miles away from my blonde chemical colour....i think am going to stick with this and enjoy learning and experimenting with the different shades within this colour range. You know what gets me all exited????

IT'S THE BEAUTIFUL FACT THAT THIS IS INDEED 'NO S**T HAIR COLOUR!!
Feed back please people........what do you think??????

POSSIBLE COLOUR PRODUCT????

2009-01-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

https://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=519&Itemid=80

Am not sure this product is available in the United States as it's British. It's from an all natural product store called LUSH.

This colour is called Caca Brun. (Caca in french means poo). It's called that because when melted it looks like poo....he he..... anyway go for a browse on the website....its great because there are loads of customer feedback good and bad, though the good far out ways the bad!!

It comes in 4 different colours, Caca Brun, Caca Marron, Caca Rouge and Caca Noir. The great thing about these colours are that you can mix them to get your personal desired results. Plus as it's henna you can re-apply the next day if not happy with your results!

BIG WARNING THOUGH PEOPLE, ALWAYS DO A STRAND TEST!!!!

Personally I am seriously considering this as my only way to colour when the time comes.......cant wait!!! (Btw my consultant says I'll have to wait till the summer before i can go there......awwweee)

Ladies with grey.......YES YOU CAN!!

2ND RETIGHTENING

2009-01-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

As usual the session went well and the following is what I discovered:

1) The sessions took 4 hours an hour more than the last session.

2) This is because, I had new growth where I had none previously which meant incorporating the new growth with my existing locks.

3) My hair felt different from when I had it retightened the first time.

4) It felt thicker and fuller to the touch.

5) I can visibly see the new growth and even new baby hairs!

6) Plus Marie is happy with my progress!

7) Enough said after #6!!!

THREE MONTHS THIS WEEK

2008-12-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

GUESS WHAT I DID LAST WEEK?

2008-12-15T06:35:00.001-08:00

Can you see what I had done in the picture above?

You see it now?

Yay you guessed right!!..... I got a tattoo of my beautiful butterfly because it represents the different stages of my life and I truly BELIEVE that I am emerging a fully fledged butterfly, roll on 2009!!!

LOCKING TOOL

2008-12-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

Well I have started to think ahead into what tool is going to be best for me when it comes to the DIY thing.

Last week I ordered the above (latch hook tool) after viewing several 'You Tube' vids. The price ranged from £1.10 to £4.99! Don't ask me why the huge price range.

Anyway I stumbled across a website that had bought assets off another website and selling them off cheap! I in fact got this one for £1.10 + 50pence for postage and packaging.

It arrived the following day. I was pretty impressed with that........but not however with the latch hook tool itself when it comes to locking my hair!

Here are my findings:

The tool is too long and fiddly for some of my short locks.

The opening though clever because you don't have to thread your locks through the loop, does however catch strands of nearby locks. (needless to say, rather painful)

On reflection, it looks easier for someone else to use while locking your hair.

For £1.50, it was well worth the try.

2 MONTHS

2008-11-27T02:33:00.000-08:00

I purchased this metal butterfly Alice band a while back and today I thought it a good idea to wear it as it keeps my locks in place thus hiding the grey roots. He he.... I think am a smart cookie, just have to find ways of hiding the grey.
Advantage though is that you can see quite clearly how much growth you've had over a certain period. (see, grey hair has its uses...he he)

Okay people, these piccies were taken this morning, woke up earlier than usual and had a 'light bulb' moment! Thought I'd jump in the shower sort myself out and take a few shots of my 2 month old locks et voila!

2 MONTHS

2008-11-27T02:27:00.001-08:00

1ST RETIGHTENING

2008-11-17T04:29:00.000-08:00

My re tightening experience went like the breeze.

Marie had anticipated over 4 hours simply because of the extremely tiny locks I have lurking about 2 inches above the nap of my neck! Only God knows what's going on there. ..... Anyway the good news is that it's growing and I also appeared to have gained an extra lock....Yaaaaaay!

Three and a half hours later I was on my way home! No pics folks, because not much as changed other than the grey on my head ain't as bad as I had anticipated.......Don't get me wrong, I have plenty! Anyway with the blonde thing going on, am wearing it well!!

I will post photos at the two month mark! The difference should be more apparent then.

As usual, thank you for reading folks!!

10 THINGS I HAVE NOTICED ABOUT MY LOCKS

2008-10-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

1 It's more flexible.

2 It feels stronger/thicker.

3 There's a lot of growth, especially in thinning areas!

4 It looks fuller.

5 It has a mind of its own first thing!

6 It is very obedient to 'water only' spray.

7 It responds beautifully to finger combing.

8 It has curls at the end in some places.

9 It has what looks like bubbles in some.

10 I grow in love with it from one micro second to the next!

1 MONTH OLD MICROLOCKS

2008-10-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

WESTFIELD SHOPPING MALL

2008-10-31T05:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a new shopping mall opened in London that boasts to be the largest in Europe! It spans several post codes and believe me it is very different and very big with upmarket stores like Prada, Gucci, Mulberry Versace to name a few almost rubbing shoulders with the high street stores.

I was there yesterday for the grand opening and the winner of 'Pop Idol' last year (Leona Lewis) treated first day shoppers to a performance alongside random catwalks and a speech by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The real reason for me being there is that our company also completed 'Dune' shoes which was located in one of the malls 265 units; and I went along to take photographs for our company portfolio.

Today however also marks my 1st month since I had my micro locks installed!

FIRST WASH AFTER LOCK DOWN

2008-10-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well people, I ain't as daft as I look, I got help with my first wash!! (VIEW PICS FROM BOTTOM TO TOP)

1) First of all my hair was put in bunches (not braided because my hair was too thick in areas and too short in others)...aren't they just pretty???

2) Then my hair was dampened with a mixture of Ayurveda shampoo (means science of life) and water from a spray gun.

3) Then the actual bunches were squeezed individually to ensure proper saturation of mixture into the hair, whilst the base was patted gently.

4) Finally the hair was rinsed using tepid water from the shower ensuring at all times the water pressure was very low. Too high ladies and gents and you will literally blast away your consultants hard work!!

5) Rinse well to rid your locks of any shampoo residue....(it is certainly worth the extra minute or two of TLC!)

6) Towel dry hair gently to absorb excess water.

7) Individually remove bands by pulling one part of it with your fingers before inserting a pair of scissors and snipping: and like magic, they unravel themselves from your locks. (GOES WITHOUT SAYING HERE FOLKS......BE VERY CAREFUL YOU DON'T SNIP YOUR LOCKS!!!).

8) Working bunch by bunch, separate each lock from the other, (this is very important especially if there is new grow....these babies love each other so much they want to bind with each other!!). Speaking of new growth, can you see the grey babies saying hello again???

9) Once every bunch has been attended to, you may blow dry to speed the drying process........but again use very low gentle heat and work in a circular motion. (Personally I prefer air drying).

10) Last but certainly not the least, style as desired. THAT'S IT.

MICROLOCKS TWO WEEKS OLD!

2008-10-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Well, what a journey the last two weeks have been, and how time flies when you're having a lot of fun with your MICROLOCKS!!!!!

Don't know if you can actually see from my pictures that I have varying lengths of locks on my head and boy is it short in some places. Marie worked her magic and made it happen and in return I promised to be a very good girl by not spraying with water or anything else for that matter. Water causes swelling and swelling causes slippage! It has been extremely tempting at times as my locks have a mind of their own first thing in the morning. However as you all know, taking a bath/shower usually sorts the locks out as the steam tames them a little bit.

How about the itching folks? I normally wash my hair every week and to say that it has been very challenging, is an understatement. However I look on the positive side (or negative in this case) and think don't want to do SLIPPAGE!! As if my magic, the yearn to get in there reduces a great deal.

Whilst on the subject of shampooing, my first wash is planned for this coming Monday. So look out for my posting on the subject.

Till then my lovelies!!

MICROLOCKS INSTALLED AT LAST!!

2008-10-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

FINISH!!!!

START

Well people, I finally got my little babies installed over the weekend in just under 24 hours!!

My experience was awesome and it was filled with little surprises all the way!
A BIG THANK YOU TO MARIE OF CAMMALOCKS!!!
To summarise, we chatted, we listened to various types of music, we watched movies, I napped, Marie plodded on, we chatted some more, we listen to more music, we ate, we laughed, we laughed and did I mentioned that we laughed?
It was a long time coming as you know (& if you don't, read my earlier posts). It has certainly been worth the wait!!!

LAST COLOUR SESSION FOR A LONG TIME!!!!

2008-09-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

In this shot, I have washed the colour out and massaged conditioner in. I guess because am not standing in the same spot as the two pics below it looks some what darker. Hey, can you see the banded/braided test lock waving at everyone?

A view from behind, ha ha sounds sooooo rude! I have varying shades of blonde on my head....guess that's what makes it so unique! I dread to imagine what it's going to look like with salt & pepper grey showing from the roots. Well guess I'll do what I do best and wear it with pride and just ROCK IT.

This will be the last time I'll be using permanent colour (Creme of Nature's Caramel Blonde) in my hair for a long while!!!!......yikes so I decided to colour a few days before lock down. I will of course wash the hair again the evening before my appointment.

BLONDE EXTENSIONS

2008-09-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, here I am a few weeks ago at works do in London's Covent Garden (opening of a new dance store we recently fitted out) with blond extensions that my daughter put in for me, it took her a mere 3 hours! I enjoyed it for about one week and they really began to irritate the hell out of me.

So gradually the extensions started falling out and I encouraged them too by pulling the ones on the perimeter and wearing head bands to cover the mess!

They lasted a total of 3 weeks whereby I couldn't stand it any longer!

Did I mentions that am having micro locks???? Boy I can't wait!!!

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED BY NIHURU

2008-09-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

THESE ARE THE RULES

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share 6 non important facts/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog.
5. Let them each know they have been tagged!

1. I asked my parents to send me to boarding school when I was 11 years old. It was three thousand miles away!

2. Every time I lock the front door to my home, I always have to push it 3 times to make sure I have definitely locked it! (minor OCD or what???).

3. At least 3 times a week, I walk the 3 miles it takes to get to work. That's 1 hour to work and 1 hour back from work. Which can workout to be a total of 6 hours or more per week! (No gym and it's expense pour moi!).

4. I generally try to eat my evening meal before 7pm. So in the morning, I am really Breaking The Fast!

5. I am going to miss my 18 year old daughter who is going to university on the 14th of September (next Sunday). She is such a Gem, I should miss the extra goodies I find lurking the fridge and the smell of cooking when I turn the key in the lock in the evenings!

6. I make sure I use my instincts every moment of my waking life. I use it for the tiniest of decisions to the big ones. I have been know to ignore it in the past only for me to come back and do what I should have done all along! You have been warned.....use your instincts and don't let greed, ego and all the negatives get in the way!!

OKAY PEEPS YOU HAVE BEEN TAGGED!!!!
1. ANGEL LOCS
2. BLAQKOFI
3. DEWDROP
4. EZME
5. REDROSE
6. SCHOLARLY1

2008-08-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

MORE SAMPLE LOCKS

2008-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

My Lovely Consultant added 3 sample locks in a row above the old ones and 4 in a row below.

The reason for this being that she feels it maybe that the old ones are too small hence the 3 above, but just in case she has added the 4 below with different lock systems.

Then in 2 months time when I have my locks installed she will be removing this babies to make room for the fresh ones.

Oh yes, she also re tightened the four '25 day old' sample locks.

FAIRYTALE PART 6

2008-08-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

After N1 concluded her conversation with the TC, She immediately called the very first CC she'd emailed just to 'off load'......(you know the lovely lady who couldn't see her till around November). (Note to N1: 'Patience is indeed a virtue!)

As it happens, the Lovely Consultant had a cancellation and can now fit N1 in from the 3rd of October through to the 5th of October.

The LC empathised but wasn't really surprised as she has clients on her books who had been through the same hassle locating a decent consultant.

Even over the phone this LC was so thorough and filled N1's head with more information than she'd received from the other two consultants put together!

Two days later she was sat on the LC's chair adding 7 more sample locks to N1's hair, and while she did this, she explained the reason for each row she put in.

N1 also watched a presentation that lasted 30 minutes, she signed a mini contract, she received a receipt for her payments and she laughed a lot!!

This LC is very very professional and N1 walked away with plenty of paper pamphlets plus she even got a call the day after reiterating that if N1 had any questions about anything, (even the money) she mustn't hesitate to call her and ask. (Is this woman an ANGEL or what??).

So boys and girls this is the end of this episode on finding the right consultant.

The moral of this story is....well I have more than 1!

1) Patience is a virtue!
2) Listen to your gut instints or (God instints)!
3) Don't sell yourself short!
4) If you're trying too hard, it ain't going to work!
5) You should feel totally relaxed, like you're with your best friend!
6) Distance shouldn't be numero uno on your list!
7) Remember you're paying for a good all round service!
8) Would you recommend your consultant?
9) Does it feel like 'coming home' when you step through her threshold?
10) How does she feel about you?

FAIRYTALE PART 5

2008-08-04T05:01:00.000-07:00

For what happened next, see 'LAST MINUTE CHANGE OF CONSULTANTS' AND 'INSTALLATION DATE HAS MOVED' before reading below.

Now although the date for installation had moved to 2nd & 3rd of September, N1 was thinking hard and questions began to swirl around her head. 'My goodness' she thought 'the TC hadn't called to arrange a consultation I'd better call her and get my questions answered'.

So people in light of the 'telling offs' she'd received in the past, she wrote down her questions and actually PRAYED for her words to flow so that the TC wouldn't take offence by anything she said.

N1 called and asked a few questions.......she could sense the woman wasn't happy and imagined her standing with both hands on the hips & wondering what stupid questions might come out of N1's mouth. Then they got on to the subject of money and the TC said with such authority N1's heart skipped a beat.......'its £300 as stated by the CC when she spoke to you, the price is not going to change!!' At that precise moment in time, the penny finally dropped for N1. She made a decision there and then that the TC will NEVER CLAP EYES ON HER, let alone do her hair.

End of part 5, stay tuned for the final part 6.

FAIRYTALE PART 3

2008-08-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

One lovely Saturday morning N1 got ready and headed down to the CC's house and as she got closer to her house she had to call the CC to get a more detailed direction.

After the CC gave directions she asked N1 for her name again and N1 told her. CC then lounged an attack that went something like this

...' you're the one that called TC and wanted to go and see her as well as seeing me.....let me tell you something, we don't do things like that, we Consultants are all very close and we inform each of 'would be' clients trying to DO THE ROUNDS!'...blah blah blah....

Well folks you can imagine N1 went ballistic and wondered what the hell was going on.....here she was literally minutes away from the CC's house and she was accusing N1 of wrong doing.....so she did what any hot blooded female would do and slammed the phone down after thanking her graciously for wasting her time and energy coming all the way to her area. She didn't care for this sort of accusations over nothing; and in fairness folks the CC did call N1 back and said as she was nearby she may well come by. (note to N1....always listen to gut instint....you should have gone HOME!!!)

N1 got to her house and it was as if cross words were never spoken before, but as N1 felt really uncomfortable, she brought the subject up again and tried to clear the air and even apologised for getting angry.

To cut an even longer story short, she gave N1 an album to look at which mostly consisted of shots of her good self, and N1 ended up leaving a deposit of £30 for securing an installation date. (How silly was N1...her gut instint was screaming what are you doing....are you guys going to be able to work together for the next year or so?????)

End of part 3, stay tuned for part 4.

FAIRYTALE PART 4

2008-08-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

The day finally came for N1 to visit the CC for the installation of her sample locks and she made sure she set off from work on a Monday a good 2 hours early (45 minutes journey even with traffic folks).

As she got into her car the skies opened up and to make matters worse a car had overturned making the traffic a little unbearable, but because she set off early she was fairly confident she will make it on time. As the time passed, she called CC and warned her of the traffic and it went to voice mail....no matter thought N1, at least she will retrieve the message at some point.

Eventually N1 got there full of apologies and CC didn't look too pleased. 'No matter' thought N1 'keep apologizing!' N1 sat down and before she knew it, 4 sample locks were installed!

However folks while she was putting the locks in, CC then asked N1................. 'so where exactly was this accident on the motorway?' N1 answered but in her head she was thought........ 'gosh I have just spent the last two minutes apologising and explaining what happened, she obviously doesn't believe me'

Naturally the CC warned N1 the importance of arriving early etc etc for the big day, and that was that. N1 was practically frog marched to the door. (well she was running late & had to go out!)

End of part 4, stay tuned for part 5

FAIRYTALE PART 2

2008-07-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

In the mean time N1 was doing the smart thing and continued her research (you can never do too much of this children!), while the months rolled by. N1 grew inpatient and checked the Sisterlock register again and picked two ladies that lived in the same area (the closest to where she lived). One was 'Certified' and the other was a 'Trainee'.

She called the 'Certified' consultant and was told to come down and have a look at her photo album and ask any questions (for no fee) & then if N1 was interested she can decide what steps to take there after. N1 and the CC agreed a day she could pop in.

When she put the phone down, N1 called the TC and hoped she might be able to go in and have an informal visit also whilst she was in the area. (This made a lot of sense to N1 as they both consultants lived fairly close by). Only the conversation didn't quite go as N1 had expected. It went something like this...

'Sorry, can I stop you there....we don't do things like that..' N1 replied something like what' am sorry I don't understand' She asked for N1's name and N1 gave it, then she asked what the consultant's name was that N1 had arranged to see and N1 gave her the name..(N1 supplied all information requested as she didn't have a game plan!!)

To cut a long story short, the TC said she was unable to see N1 anyway as she was out that particular day. When N1 put the phone down she felt like she had just been told off by a head teacher. However because N1 is a positive little girl, she dusted herself off and looked forward to seeing the CC on the agreed date.

End of part 2, stayed tuned for part 3.

FAIRYTALE PART 1

2008-07-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

I am going to tell you an on going story.

Once upon a time, there was this little girl named N1 who once had a head full of lovely traditional locks, she got fed up with them one day and cut everything off until she was practically bald!

Then one day almost a year to the day, she decided she was going to start growing her hair again and thus began her search for the ideal hair option that would suit her lifestyle.

This little girl was determined that nothing was going to stop her. She used the Internet to do her research and she came across the 'Sisterlocks' website. It was then that she realised exactly what she wanted, locks only this time, so tiny that her hair would be more versatile. This was expensive but she soon realised that it was worth every penny!

So she accessed the website and contacted a 'Certified Consultant' by email and even added a photograph of her short blond hair. The reply arrived the following day with a lovely little message regarding her photograph but unfortunately she was fully booked until the end of the year.

This little boys and girls did not put little N1 off she replied and said 'no problem, my hair is still short and by the end of the year my hair would have grown a bit more'. N1 then received another prompt reply that said she would be contacted nearer the time, but in the mean time 'look after yourself on the inside and the outside would take care of its self. (or words to that effect!)........

End of part 1 stay tuned for part 2.....

1ST WASH AFTER SAMPLE LOCKS

2008-07-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

Well people, I managed to colour & wash my hair this morning without a hitch! (hard to believe I coloured it....people grey hair is so stubborn! I started going grey since the age of 16!!) HAS ANYONE OUT THERE ANY REMEDIES FOR COLOURING GREY HAIR.........PLEASE????

It's been 15 days without washing and I managed not to have issues with that. I found that the less junk in the hair and scalp the less likely it is to itch. I spray water with a few drops of Tea Tree oil and that does the trick for me on a daily basis.

Even though there are only 4 sample locks in my hair, I braided the four together and used an elastic band to hold them together. I left the locks 'as is' till I was certain it was dry.....then 'hey presto!'

INSTALLATION DATE HAS BEEN MOVED!!

2008-07-19T02:03:00.000-07:00

Yep that's right! I cant believe it either....but its for a good cause.

You see ladies and gentleman, I applied to go on a game show back in April and exactly 8 days to the day I was going to have my locks installed, I get this phone call from one of the game shows researcher.......'would you be able to come for an audition on Friday the 25th?' Well that took all of two seconds to decide...1st second was to process the date and the 2nd was to realise it was the day of my installation....the decision way easy my online friends........it was a toss between a chance of winning an incredible amount of money (top cash amount won so far on the show is well over £100,000...roughly around $60-70,000 us dollars) and doing my hair (which BTW has been moved another 6 weeks down the line to the 2nd and 3rd of September).

I have been walking on cloud 9 for the last 48 hours and thanking God with every breath I take.

My next goal is to get selected for the show itself. All prayers and positive affirmations are very welcome.

My daughter is going to University at the end of September and she is going to need all the assistance she can get financially so she can concentrate on her studies! It would also mean I can pay off all my debts and (this goes without saying) I wont have to worry and fret over how much my hair is going to cost to install and be maintained. Oh sweet sweet Jesus........I thank you!!

LAST MINUTE CHANGE OF CONSULTANTS

2008-07-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was thinking about calling my consultant just to confirm how much and how she would like to get paid. I didn't actually get round to doing this but surprisingly enough, I did receive a call from her in the early evening.

Turns out she is moving and so wont be able to do my hair until late September (she didn't want to do this as she knew how much I've been looking forward to my sitting next week!), so she has recommended the next best person.

I have spoken to Consultant #2 and we are all set for the same day. As per usual, I am looking forward to the day and know everything will be fine.

There is a reason for all changes that takes place in our life's......am always very optimistic about changes.....in fact I get quite excited about it all.

DA DA!

2008-07-08T01:38:00.000-07:00

The weather was horrendous yesterday, with bad weather comes traffic!

As I was about to leave work (One & half hours early), I received a phone call....someone requesting printed drawings that urgently needed mailing out. (by now I was screaming in my head...'Homer Simpson' style). I thought 'no.......calm down there is a reason for this.....I am being delayed for a purpose'. I managed to get out 15 minutes later and headed straight into traffic on the motorway. A 4x4 was over turned and was holding up the traffic on both sides!

Anyway an hour & a half later I arrived at my consultants full of apologies for being so late. (The way I'd planned it, I was going to be mega early!!!).

I must have sat in that chair for all of 2 minutes and that was it.....she'd installed 4 baby ones! (She is so filling me with confidence right now.....here is hoping and praying!).

We confirm my installation date (16 days to go folks!) and I was out of her home in a shake of a lambs tail.

I got home and I got my son to take snap shots.......(had to drag the poor boy out of bed....only 5 minutes).

When I managed to get into bed, did I sleep right away? No, I started looking at the pictures on the camera over and over. Eventually I put it down and slept. What was I dreaming about.........yep you guessed right......baby locks.

My hair is so thick that when I touch the locked area, it feels like my hair has been shaved off! Anyway as you already know, am no stranger to extremely short hair.......so BRING IT ON!!

SAMPLE LOCKS

2008-07-07T02:41:00.000-07:00

Yey! Today is the day for my 'sample locks' installation. I just can't wait.......so watch this space!

SHORT 2

2008-07-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

As my hair has reached the length I most detest, I refuse to wear it any other way other than with an Alice band, a scarf, head band or hats....never a TWA.......just doesn't look good....trust me, I look like a geek on speed (no offence to you geeks out there).

SHORT 1

2008-07-01T04:41:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken more recently......yesterday to be more precise! Not bad for 4 months growth.

SHORTER 2

2008-07-01T04:34:00.001-07:00