Lady Mika--The Locs Start HERE. (lol) Leaving the interwebs for a while.

Umph wrote:LadyMika, will you be adding your locs journey to your blog? When I first BC your tips helped a great deal. I still refer to it for recipes.

I didn't think anyone still read it--I haven't updated in months! I absolutely will include my loc journey to it. (The whole thing needs to be updated/overhauled--it's a good place to start.)

FemmeFox wrote:Happy New Year Lady Mika!

Congrats on the engagement! Your fiancee did a great job with the jeweler and the ring. So excited for you! 2011 is shaping up to a be a good year so far! I'm also excited to see your locs when you get them. My GF has been loc'd for 7 years, my brother for 4, and my cousin has been wearing her locs so long I forget what she looked like with loose hair! I may loc at some point but I love wearing a fro.

Congrats on your your engagement, the year of guitar lessons (sweet), and doing your artwork! Creativity, gotta love it!

Thank you FemmeFox! I'm trying to wait on my tax return (hoping to file early) so I can pay for the classes in full; hopefully I get my W2 soon! Yes, 2011 is shaping up to be pretty good for everyone!

wyldhoney wrote:Hi Mika!

Congrats on your engagement! Love that the fiancee got you a great ring. I hope my dude is getting my loud hints that I need to have an EMERALD on my engagement ring and definitely NO DIAMONDS! (i hate 'em)

I think you'd look great in locks and I think you should get them sooner rather than later. You remind me (face shape) of a friend of mine and her locks were so adorable when they were cheek/earlobe length. Hers are big and puffy rather than pencil-sized like you want them but I still think short locks would totally suit you and your cheekbones!

Thank you! I thought I was the only woman who didn't like diamonds! w00t for liking DIFFERENT JEWELRY!

Aww, thank you! After wearing yarn braids a few times I'm pretty much convinced I can sport locs. And believe me, if I wait any longer, I'll do something drastic/stupid like cut my hair again. Can't have that.

Hello all!

The last few days have been pretty decent, in spite of getting next to no sleep Friday night and sleeping away ALL of Saturday afternoon. That wasn't the plan, but I needed it.

At any rate.

Friday night, I went home, washed my hair, let it air dry and twisted my entire head. I used my shea butter mix and EcoStyler gel strictly for hold. I didn't go for mini-twists, since they'd take WAY too long. So, I went for these instead (these pics are as of this morning):



That's the back.



This is the sort-of side. Since it's cold outside, I wear my hat like so:



(Don't worry--my house is pretty warm, and I DO wear a sweater. ) To be honest, I'm really NOT liking the front. It's actually a lot longer than that, but the SHRINKAGE... If it contains water, forget it. My hair shirvels faster than a slug that's had salt poured on it. So far, it's really been two days and already a few (at the crown, AS USUAL ) want to unravel despite using gel. I'm determined to leave them be, in the hopes they'll (eventually) intertwine and bud--if not at the ends, then further up the twist. My parts aren't uniform, but that's okay. The twists definitely aren't the same size all around, and that's fine too (I think the different sizes add character. ). I'll update again with new pics in about another week.

So, that's all for now. I'm at work today, so I'll try to get around to everyone as the day goes on.

Have a great afternoon everyone!

woooooow mika, i havent seen ur hair in so long! love the twist, i can never get mine to look as full as that (and lynnies). looking gooood and thanx for the "smile" in the last pic u must of seen that diddy ciroc commercial when he said "when takin pictures, make sure u smile as small as possible"

diddy: take a picture!!

NubieNatty wrote:woooooow mika, i havent seen ur hair in so long! love the twist, i can never get mine to look as full as that (and lynnies). looking gooood and thanx for the "smile" in the last pic u must of seen that diddy ciroc commercial when he said "when takin pictures, make sure u smile as small as possible"

Thank you Nubie! The back always looks great, but the front shrinks so much! And then the crown won't shrink AT ALL, it's like "I think I'll just sit here and UNRAVEL MYSELF TO PISS YOU OFF!!" Pit falls of having three different textures on your head I guess. Actually, I don't watch tv at all! But I'm honestly not surprised he said it. It's Diddy, what can you expect right?

Hey Lady M!

Twists lookin good! I love the juciness of them! Like Nubie I can never get my too look that full but I usually twist small/medium. The next set of two strands will definitely be bigger.

I am also hoping to file early to fund some of my 2011 projects!

Hello all!

Last I left off, I twisted my hair with my shea mix and EcoStyler gel. Well, that didn't work out. The gel actually made my hair more prone to shrinkage...which is exactly what happened. My twists shrunk MORE than what they already were after even a LIGHT misting of my aloe spritz. So I washed my hair, wore it in a puff for a day (this was Thursday) and twisted again. This time, I did larger twists on damp, almost dry hair. (The pics are as of today. The twists are five days old.)



This is the back.



One side.



The other side.



The front. I like this A LOT better--I actually have some LENGTH. I wore my hat to work but I took it off and just let the twists do their thing. I keep a small 4oz spray bottle of water, conditioner, oils (sweet almond and castor) and essential oils (lemon, orange and cinnamon ) on me. I sprayed my twists with that throughout the day and it was the best EVAR.

I've already got plenty of frizz, seeing how it's Day 5. I'm sure there'll be plenty more come Thursday. At the end of the month, I'll do a retwist with a spray bottle of water and gel. I'm going to invest in a hand-held blow dryer and use that to speed up the drying process (because I got isht to do ).

So, that's my quick update. I'm NOT going to take these out, believe me. I'm going to take more pics and update at the end of the month. (I'm also going to update my blog, Metal-Kink.)

Good night all!

those twist look FAB!!!! get it !

Hey Mika! Your twists look beautiful! Like Chrs said! I get lots of shrinkage via wet twists too. I've been trying to do them more often on damp hair. That seems to help. A lot! What's in your shea mix?

I had to laugh out loud @ Nubie's Diddy comment. That commercial was too funny. You should youtube it.

Anyway, can't wait to follow your loc journey!

Love the twists Lady M! How often are you going to retwist? Are these the twists that will become locs or are you waiting for something specific (date, length, etc)? I'm a bit confused. But your hair looks fierce!

sweetdrk1 wrote:those twist look FAB!!!! get it !

Thank you Sweet!

poeticlyspkng wrote:Hey Mika! Your twists look beautiful! Like Chrs said! I get lots of shrinkage via wet twists too. I've been trying to do them more often on damp hair. That seems to help. A lot! What's in your shea mix?

I had to laugh out loud @ Nubie's Diddy comment. That commercial was too funny. You should youtube it.

Anyway, can't wait to follow your loc journey!

Thank you! I can't do anything on wet hair--the shrinkage and frizz I get is ridiculous. Until my hair locs completely (or at least wash and not unravel), I foresee a lot of re-twists on dry hair. My shea mix contains:

--1/2 lb of unrefined shea butter
--About 1/4 cup of aloe vera gel
--4 (large spoons) of extra virgin coconut oil
--Castor oil*
--Sweet Almond oil*
--Tea Tree oil (preservative--12 drops)
--Rosemary oil (12-15 drops--growth aid)
--Clary Sage oil (10 drops--growth aid, has a bold "wine" scent)
--Cinnamon oil (10 drops--warming oil, stimulates blood circulation--CAUTION: this is a NATURAL IRRITANT. No more than 10 drops.)
--Orange oil (10 drops--I just like the smell.)

Nubie is a mess! Love that girl though!

FemmeFox wrote:Love the twists Lady M! How often are you going to retwist? Are these the twists that will become locs or are you waiting for something specific (date, length, etc)? I'm a bit confused. But your hair looks fierce!

For now, I'm going to re-twist every 2-3 weeks. Yes, these are the twists that will become locs. I took down the other ones because the gel made my hair shrink. I'm going to have to find an alternative to re-twist with (or make one).

those twists look real good ....

Hey there,
I haven't stopped by here in a while. Your hair is growing in nicely. Your twists are indeed ready for locing. They look great

Your hair does look good. That's great you don't watch much TV. I remember I participated and TV Free Week and it was awesome. I caught up on so much reading and other activities. Anyway, your hair looks awesome. It's grown really nicely.

Hey LadyM

You've been posting pictures!!! I'm like impressed!! Love, Love, Love your twists!! You hair is soo pretty!! So you are going to loc? Well, I want you to know that I can't wait to see that!!

Well...you're not missing much on TV, but when my sons where same we only watched TV on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!

Just stopping by to say hi!!! **waving**

TTYL

oooooooh i cant wait to follow u on ur loc'd journey!

BlondeByDesire wrote:those twists look real good ....

Thank you!

Intelligentbeauty wrote:Hey there,
I haven't stopped by here in a while. Your hair is growing in nicely. Your twists are indeed ready for locing. They look great

Thank you. I WILL testify and say that protective styling DOES help retain length. Kept my hair twisted for a month and wore yarn braids for a month--loving the growth I got out of doing both! Thanks for stopping by!

DvaAuNaturel wrote:Your hair does look good. That's great you don't watch much TV. I remember I participated and TV Free Week and it was awesome. I caught up on so much reading and other activities. Anyway, your hair looks awesome. It's grown really nicely.

I haven't watched television in 10 years. I mostly spend my time playing guitar, reading, drawing, painting, and studying about Ancient Egypt/Kemet. Any TV we (The Fiancee' and I) do watch is in the form of a DVD. Thank you so much for stopping by!

KinkyNappyHappy wrote:Hey LadyM

You've been posting pictures!!! I'm like impressed!! Love, Love, Love your twists!! You hair is soo pretty!! So you are going to loc? Well, I want you to know that I can't wait to see that!!

Well...you're not missing much on TV, but when my sons where same we only watched TV on Friday, Saturday and Sunday!!

Just stopping by to say hi!!! **waving**

TTYL

Hey KNH! Yes, I'm loc'ing my hair. I've waited long enough, thought it over, and I have a good crew of cheerleaders behind me. I'm definitely going to keep everyone updated!

Oh forget it! I hear some people talk about what they saw, and I'm like " They really WATCH this shite?" I mean, if *I* want to see some trifling nonsense, all I have to do is GO OUTSIDE. Thanks for stopping by!

NubieNatty wrote:oooooooh i cant wait to follow u on ur loc'd journey!

Trust me, updates will definitely come!

) Good morning everyone!

It's another snowy day in NYC today. Made it to work with little trouble, though walking up a steep hill all the way to the train station in constant snowfall + a thick sheet of snow sucked ASS. (I'm exaggerating--the walk wasn't that bad, but that hill IS pretty foul.) I wore my military issue boots today (side zip steel toes FOR THE WIN!! ) and here I am, at work, on CN trying to kill time until lunch.

My twists are holding up, though they've shrunken a little in the front (ALWAYS the front!! ) since I posted those pics. The back feels and looks good--some of them are already starting to THICKEN. (I can feel it when I pinch the ends!) All I've been doing to my hair is making sure they stay seperated, light mistings with my aloe vera spritz and oiling my scalp every two or three days (or if my scalp starts to itch). I don't play in them too much either...at least I try NOT to. I've never worn my twists OUT before, so this is brand new to me. The Fiancee' even said "Your hair is coming along nicely!" When I get home from work, I'll cleanse my scalp with witch hazel and a few drops of tea tree oil using Q-tips and oil my scalp again.

I made a fresh batch of shea butter WITHOUT aloe vera gel. I was already running low with my last mix, and it was starting to smell funny. Which is my one vice against aloe vera gel. Add all the mold inhibitors all you want--it won't stop a mix from turning rancid. So I stuck to the same recipe I normally use, without aloe vera gel and whipped the hell out of it. I got a nice smooth texture as a result and the amount that I got SHOULD last me into the middle of February. As for a twisting product...well, I'll have to use my EcoStyler gel for now. I'm just not in a position financially to buy and test loc products at the moment. I plan on retwisting ONCE a month and washing no more than ONCE in between (for the sake of hygience) once my hair locs completely, so too concerned about buildup. But from a monetary stand point, it'd behoove me to use what's currently at my disposal. (It'll be a good way to use up that left over KCCC I have sitting under my bathroom sink too.)

Hard to believe a week has already passed. Time flies when you're preoccupied, and if you're me, that's a good thing. I'm so easily distracted it's a shame.

And since I've been distracted by CN for the last 45 minutes, it's time for me to go! (Lunch in ten minutes!) Hope everyone has a great afternoon today, and be safe!

Your twist/locs look great! Why haven't you worn your twist outside before? They look so good!!!

Most people notice their hair starting to lock around 4 or 5 months. Do you think your hair will lock that fast?

Lynnieluve wrote:Your twist/locs look great! Why haven't you worn your twist outside before? They look so good!!!

Most people notice their hair starting to lock around 4 or 5 months. Do you think your hair will lock that fast?

I always felt paranoid about them being too short/shrunken and looking "scalpy" so I wore them under headwraps. *shrugs* Then again, I was using gel and the gel made my hair shrink. Oh, if I knew then what I know now.

I think my hair will start BUDDING soon--not necessarily loc. I twirled the ends really tight to encourage that and to hopefully prevent unraveling. My hair also tangles VERY easily (it's ridiculous), so I'm really not surprised some of the ends are starting to get dense already. Same thing happened when I used to wear twists for a week at a time.

Lady M congrats on your twists starting to bud! If your hair is the tangley kind you may not need too much product. My GF just uses shea butter to twist her roots.

Stay safe and have a good weekend!

Your Twists are really pretty!

beautiful twists!

FemmeFox wrote:Lady M congrats on your twists starting to bud! If your hair is the tangley kind you may not need too much product. My GF just uses shea butter to twist her roots.

Stay safe and have a good weekend!

I was thinking about that (using my shea mix). I'll test it out when I do my first re-twist. Have a great weekend Femme!

summerbreeze76 wrote:Your Twists are really pretty!

thetiffany wrote:beautiful twists!

Thank you ladies!