6 1/2 INCHES!

Photo credit: Lawrence Kerr Photography

I was sitting on my couch and felt something touching my upper back. I smiled as I shook my head and realized it is my longest loc! As the longest I've chosen to accesorize it with my first piece of loc jewelry gifted to me by a friend. Kind of a christening gift I guess. 

It's also my favorite one. I love the way it has formed and matured. It is thick and strong and is the first one freed from one of my previously installed extensions when it slipped off early in my locing journey. For some reason at the time I decided against having that extension re added. I loved this partiular loc from time! It keeps me inspired to stay on the journey and appreciate it. There is one not too far behind in length (just shy of 4 inches) a sister to the other. That one will be next to receive a christening. 

I Loved Them This Week!

I think I may actually be making progress. This passed week I abandoned the "wiggery" and wore my locs out. Each day I looked in the mirror I loved what I saw more than the day before and felt increasingly comfortable. 

Though my hair isn't styled in any particular way and the roots have grown out I found that it has gained volume and length and despite the parting it has found its own way of falling to suit my slender features. Sweet!

I purchased a needle and black thread from the local beauty supply to repair my separating ends but I'm having mixed feelings. After watching a few videos on YT I'm confused more than ever as some suggest that stitching the ends is not needed. 

They said the "P" word... Patience is all that's needed as those ends will eventually mat together. Sigh... I'll figure it out sooner or later. Essentially what it comes down to for me is finding the time to sit and repair each one. 

Aesthetically, the splitting hasn't taken away from the locs so I'm not in that big of a hurry either. I have some loc jewelry I want to install that was given to me almost a year ago. I held onto them all this time so I could wear them on my own hair and not the extensions. Stay tuned via my IG feed for more photos and links to the first video I've done rocking my locs @Bimshirebabe. Coming up my collection of oils! 

We're Splitting Up

My current situation. That instant gratification is definitely dealing me a hard blow. This is one lock (apologies for the photo quality) but this pretty much going on throughout my head. The end of each lock is splitting in two.

I was warned recently that interlocking can cause the locks to split and that same time is when I began to notice it was happening. 

I've been putting off getting a retwist for a bit since removing the extensions to give my hair time to do its thing, grow and stay strong. I will be consulting my loctician soon to see what can be done cause this ain't cool. I'm worried. 

When Instant Gratification Strikes

Yes, yes another blog about a loc journey... But this journey is unique. Welcome to Sherlocs. I've toyed with the idea of a loc journey blog for quite some time but I wasn't going to do it if it meant more of the same. Events of the passed month prompted me to finally get going. 

This is the beginning of a journey not quite at the beginning. After bleaching my hair back in 2010 my hair could take no more and died. Yes died. It broke consistently no matter what treatment or protective styling I tried and in 2011 I decided to quit the creamy crack. 13 years of relaxing every 6-8 weeks had taken its toll. 

I did my big chop in January of 2012 while on a month long trip home to Barbados. Nothing in life made sense back then. I was resentful, angry and confused by a series of unfortunate events, my health was failing and the demise of my hair was the final straw.  January 13th, 2012 I got afro kinky extensions installed and the intention was to let my natural hair regrow and be worn loose. Side note: Time flies so quickly I some how got in my head I started the journey in 2011. My sister ( who did her big chop the same time as myself) reminded me of the time line. 

I returned to Canada and attended an event where I over heard a young lady in the ladies room mention that she could "give you locs in one day!" One day?! I yanked up my knickers and busted out of my bathroom stall and took her card. I always loved locs and longed to experience the myriad of life changes I'd heard and seen so many chronicle via YouTube. I just didn't think I had what it took to get through the early stages. Locs in one day sounded fantastic to me! Bitten by the instant gratification bug! 

I later made an appointment and had my human hair loc extensions installed over my previous afro kinky extensions. They were beautiful! I fell in love with a job well done and it was the beginning of a great friendship. Wearing them out in public and getting questions like, "how long have you been growing them? They are lovely!" was delightful. They looked every bit as real as if I had grown them.

I rocked several styles throughout the following year. Fashion forward, unconventional, bold, trendy my loctician got skills! Every 6-8 weeks I would get my roots retightened using the interlocking method. Side note: I started with palm rolling in the first 3-6 months but my hair was not bonding so I switched to interlocking. Perhaps another decision driven by instant gratification...

As time progressed I began to experience some of those life changes that lead to enlightenment which I had heard so much about. Greater sense of self, individuality, consciousness and a metamorphosis of a concept of beauty. I started to feel a disconnect between my now baby locs and the extensions. I began to court the idea of removing the extensions. I thought about it for about 2 months; the withdrawal I'd feel from suddenly not having the length that allowed me and my loctician to express creativity, the fact that I'd lose some of my own hair in cutting off the extensions...

In the middle of October 2013 I told my loctician to cut them off. She did and I was happy with the new shorter look. Fearful of lifting the colour of my own hair I had added some human afro kinky to the top of my hair in the colour 33. It looked sassy especially with this new short do. I'm a month in since removing the extensions and finding myself more frustrated than anything else. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the progress my hair has made. After each wash I fall in love with the frizz and waterlogged lengths. It's beautiful, unspoilt and endearing.

What I really am pinning after is the volume and fab styles I once rocked. Damn you instant gratification! Damn you! That being said I wouldn't have done it any other way. Frustration at the so called "ugly phase" seems inevitable no matter which route you take. When I have that full head of locs I'll look back on these periods of love and hate as the lesson I needed to learn in patience. Something that is a huge struggle for me in all aspects of my life. 

These locs are a beautiful manifestation of so many changes that have taken place in my life. The interlocked segments will forever represent a time in my life when things finally seem to be making sense, a time when I let go of limiting self identities, a time when instant gratification fueled some decisions. Though this stage is trying I will wear them proudly and let them grow! Follow me on instagram for selfies of those occasional moments of love @Bimshirebabe.