10 Months and Still Traveling..

Pic above was taken at 9 mo SL

I must apologize, these aren't the best photos. It's difficult to see the details of my locs. I have a hair clip on the left side and you cannot see my highlighted ends. I bought a new digital camera, and the golden rule remains the same, "you get what you pay for!" Not to fret, when I take my anniversary pics in two months, I'll be sure to use my Sony digital camera to capture the full effect. I can't believe it's been ten months into my journey. While I admit, there have been some rough periods and frustrations with my hair; overall, I have no regrets and I'm still in love with SL! I think most of my frustrations were due to the expectations I envisioned of my hair at this point in my journey. I envisioned a longer and more even length all around. My sides have grown extremely long, while the back and top seem to be in a resting phase. It makes for difficult styling at times.

For those considering SLs, the best piece of advice I could ever give you is to have "patience". I've discovered that the hair on my sides and crown is resistant to locing! Last month my consultant trimmed the locs in the back and a little on the sides; cutting off the balls at the end of my locs to give it a neater appearance. She stated that because of the "suspect texture" on my crown, she wasn't sure if the crown was ready to be trimmed. As expected, after a few washes, a few locs on the side slipped.

Upon my latest retightening visit I asked Elaine if we could try Dr. Miracle's 2-n-1 shampoo that is supposed to help with dry and itchy scalp. The shampoo contains glycerin, which could impede the locing process on my "resistant" locs. She suggested I wait until my locs are more mature before using that product. To help with my dry and itchy scalp, Elaine did a hot oil treatment before retightening. After retightening, she later massaged a brand (i.e.,Kiehl) oil into my scalp. Elaine recommended that I purchase some tea tree oil to help with the dry scalp. Perhaps it's time I start using the essential fatty acids again.

The following is my current daily vitamin regimen:

Women's multivitamin w/ iron (Vitamin World): 2 tablets
Super Biotin: 10,000 mcg (1,000 mg)
Vitamin C: 500 mg
Retightening Frequency: Every 4-5 weeks

Some of my co-workers asked about me taking the Retightening class so that I didn't have to travel to Dallas once a month. At this point, I have no desire to retighten my own hair. For one, it's thick and I have Carpal Tunnel. Two, having four children, working full time, being a full-time grad student consumes most of my time. My spouse is now retired from the military, but has chosen to return to Iraq; working with a contractor. So, essentially, I'm a single parent of four, on top of my other responsibilities.

Speaking of my spouse....he came home for Christmas and I actually got him to escort me to a retightening session. I was amazed that he had the patience to sit for 2+ hours. When I think about it, in the 18 years we've been together, he's never accompanied me to a beauty salon when I had relaxed hair, let alone sit the entire time while I was getting it done! I think it's safe to say that SLs has converted him (smile)!