Hairstyle Dilemma!

Hello all my loc'd beauties!  Last night as I was measuring my daughter to begin designing her wedding gown, it suddenly occurred to me that I have given absolutely no thought whatsoever to  how I might wear my locs on her wedding day!  I figure as the mother of the bride I need to look sophisticated, elegant and stunning (though of course, not as stunning as the bride herself!)  It's just amazing what things you think of at the oddest times--she was describing to me her plans for flowers, bouquets, her dress (we're collaborating on an original design), possibilities for her hair and makeup, color scheme, etc. and this just comes to me all of a sudden.

So...I guess I'm now on the hunt for loc inspiration pictures for this momentous day.  All I know right now is that I want an updo--one that is intricate (well, not necessarily intricate, just intricate-looking) and very regal-esque.  I don't know what is is about regal looking hairstyles, but they always make me feel like I'm a tall, slender Amazon!  (HA!  Tall I'm not at 5'3" and slender is debatable; I've got the curvy thing going on and while I'm  not fat, I'm not the thinnest person that you'll ever meet either.)  The intricate part is just because I absolutely ADORE anything that looks complicated (although it may not necessarily be complex and complicated).  I'm thinking some kind of adornment worn in the hair--beads?  Woven ribbon?  Gold or silver charms?  I dunno...something.  Oh yeah, did  mention that I also have to design and make her dress?  And design and make my dress?  So maybe I should decide on a dress design first, then worry about the hair!

I figuring that I'll be doing my hair myself since I don't have a regular loctician and I actually don't know of anyone to go to here in my area.  I'm here in Louisville, KY, so if any of  you have any suggestions, by all means let me know!  Also, if you have any suggestions of loc sites, blogs, photo galleries, etc. that show some bangin' and I mean really bangin' loc updos don't keep it to yourself--let a sistah know so she can check them out for ideas!  Until next posting, stay loc'd, be blessed, hugs and peace!

HELLLLOOO, Everyone! It's been quite a while since I've posted to this blog, and I do apologize for that. So far, this year has been flying by--can you believe that we're already at the half-way mark? I was so hoping that I would have another, less stressful job at this point in time, but alas, it is just not to be right now. I know, I should be grateful that I have a job, right? What with the way the economy is and people losing jobs, homes, etc. left, right and sideways--and I am grateful because I truly know that it could be worse for me. However, ...LOL!

Anyway, just thought I'd post a few pics of my locs as they are nearing their 15 month anniversary...15 MONTHS Y'ALL! Can you believe it?!? And I can remember when they were at that "do whatever WE WANT" stage and not "do whatever I" want stage. they have condensed and firmed up and have some length on them now ("shake dem dreads"!) and they truly look like locs. I've been "semi-free forming"--not retwisting for 2-3 months at a time now and I love the way it looks! Even from the beginning, I wasn't that into the "tightly twisted, see every single part and lots of scalp" look; I thought it made my hair took too scrawny. Now, everything looks really full and lush. and, I have to tell y'all this--one of my customers at the store (thank God I know her as a regular customer) came up to me about a week ago and touched my hair and said "I've been wanting to see how your hair feels. It looks gorgeous on you and it's so much softer than I would have guessed!" Now, mind you we don't hang out or anything like that but she does shop my store all the time, so I didn't feel violated, but I was a little surprised that she would touch my hair without asking. But the best part of it all was that she just raved over how soft my hair was and how pretty she thought it looked! "Course y'all know that I didn't do this for style, but for me; however it was really nice that someone else chose to validate at least a part of what I have already been feeling. Anyway, hope you all enjoy the pics and I'll try to post again really soon! Be blessed...

Me Just Feelin' Some Black Diva Pride...

Hey all--I was just surfing YouTube and stumbled upon several videos by Naturalnana made up of slideshow style presentations of natural-haired black women. All I can say is....WOW! THESE PHOTOS ARE SOOOO INSPIRING!! All of the women in these videos--from very fair skinned to very dark skinned were absolutely beautiful. And it wasn't so much a physical thing, although all of them were very asthetically pleasing to look at--beautifully shaped eyes, lips, beautiful smiles, etc, but it so much more the projection of being comfortable in their own skins, of being and acknowledging their "blackness" as it were. From the complexions to the physical features to the hair--oh the hair, the gorgeous hair! Whether braided, loose, loc'd or whatever, they were all just GORGEOUS!!! The confidence and the "queenliness" was just too awesome to behold; the aura of proud black womanhood just too shining to behold. It made me feel something very close to reverence to be able to project so much from a two dimensional photo.

I feel so much pride when I see black sistas projecting this so strongly, and I aspire to project these things also. Even more than just projecting this type of pride so convincingly, I aspire to internalize this majestic pride and truly believe this of myself--that I am truly an awe-inspiring creation of God and that I am truly and wholeheartedly beautiful in my full fledged natural state--sans makeup, sans chemically altered hair, sans surgically enhanced body parts, etc. I no longer have the chemically altered hair and I don't have any surgically enhanced body parts (too expensive on a practical level for me and I've just never really had the urge to put myself under anyone's knife just for the sake of a temporary beauty lift--guess I just don't want to be that beautiful! LOL) And although I love wearing makeup and playing with makeup, creating looks that enhance my natural features, I can really live without it, if I have to--although I do have to admit that it does help to brighten up my look! Now, I don't personally know any of the sistas that were in the video, so I don't really know if their personalities and actions in real life reflect this high pride in self for real, but I truly want to be able to carry myself like the queen that I know I truly am. This is not false pride nor is it, in my opinion vanity--this is acknowledging what God has, in His graciousness, created me to be--a reflection of Him that should be/is awesome and flawless in its beauty. My physical self--my kinky/curly hair, my brown skinned body, my short, pug-ish nose, my (too) wide hips and my (too) small breasts, my mind--and my spiritual self are all manifestations of Him and are as they should be. It's a shame that it's taken me so long to truly feel ready to embrace this; such a waste of time trying to embrace something that He never intended for me. But, perhaps this is His way of teaching me/us how to truly appreciate what He has freely given us in the beginning. Thank you, God, for allowing me this journey of discovery of self and You, even though the road hasn't always been smooth. Be with me as I continue on this journey of self-discovery and "You discovery" and if it is Your will, continue to bless me with increasing knowledge of You and of myself. Please allow my loc journey to be a part of the vehicle that allows me to gain this knowledge and throughout this discovery process, temper my great and growing pride in self with genuine humbleness and allow not vanity to overcome the lessons that you would still have me to learn. Amen.

HAPPY LOC-DAY TO ME!!!

Hello Everybody! All right, all right, ...I just can't wait until the official day--today I'm going to celebrate my six month nappy lociversary!! **Clears throat**:

happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me-eeeeeee,
happy nappy Lociversary to me!! (AND MANY MOOOORRRRREEEEE!!!)

Sorry, just had to do that! My actual six month lociversary is on July 4th, but I fear that it will be overshadowed somewhat by the annual July 4th Independence Day celebrations. After all, I guess the remembrance of the day that this country became independent from England is just a little more important in the whole scheme of things than the day that I started my locs. (To some people--just kidding!) When I began my locs on January 4, 2008, it didn't even occur to me that my six month milestone would be on July 4th; it just felt like the right time to begin the next part of my journey. Anyway, I've been celebrating all week so far--the ladies that I work with are excited for me and some of the customers are commenting on how much length my hair is showing in just six months' time. By the way, all of these women are white and the ones that are noticing the changes are the ones that are really supportive of me. I've gotten comments like: "I can't believe how long it is now--just seems like yesterday that you had almost nothing up there (on your head!)", "wow, your hair is growing like wildfire!", and "it is really becoming to your face shape. Did you know how you would look when you decided to do this?" (I have to laugh to myself at this question--no, I didn't know how I would look, not really. But, I was just ready to DO IT no matter how it looked in the end!) And of course, the comment that all us women just LOVE to hear, "your locs make you look SO MUCH YOUNGER!" (BOY, DO I REALLY LOVE THAT ONE!! ANYTHING TO LOOK YOUNGER--HAHA!) No, I'm not that vain; I know that if I'm blessed to live long enough, these semi-youthful looks, such as they are, will indeed fade. But it is nice to hear every once in a while that someone thinks you look a bit younger than your actual chronological age. Such an ego boost...

Not much has changed in the way of my maintenance routine. Still washing every two weeks, and rinsing/spritzing daily with eo's/water and sealing with either olive oil or jojoba oil or a combo of the two. I'm going to start trying to stretch out the time between my full retwists--instead of every two weeks after each wash, maybe just every four weeks. Will have to see how it goes. I didn't retwist after washing this past Friday, and discovered that I'm more anal about the "groomed look" than I first thought. It's definitely something different for me to just let the new growth go! I actually like the thick look although I don't know that I would be able to go for months at a time without retwisting like some of the others I know through the loc hair care site Nappturality. At least, I don't think I could go that long right now--just not quite ready for that. Maybe with time and more length to my locs...

As my locs grow strong (and hopefully long), so grows my spirit; or at least that's how I'm feeling. That inner core of strength that I've newly discovered within myself seems to be just a constant hum in harmony with my physical self. It's quiet, to be sure, but I know it's there and it's steady. God is there and is steady, and the beautiful thing is that I KNOW that HE is there and steady. It is indeed a heady thing to know and to feel through and through that this is a TRUTH that will never change. I mean, I've known this for a long time intellectually, if you can actually know such a spiritual thing on an intellectual level, but I KNOW this now on an overwhelmingly deep spiritual level in such a more intense way. It's really hard to explain in words because it's all just there as a full blown thing, like the eternal flame--never ending, never to be extinguished now that it's truly lit. Now, mind you, although my locs are a physical manifestation of this spiritual growth and development, don't think that if I were to cut them off at some point (which I don't plan to do) I would lose this "feeling"--this type of strength is not tied to my hair; rather, my hair is just one way of manifesting this strength. Remember Helen Reddy's song "I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR"? Well Baby--I'm roaring! I AM a GODDESS and I AM a DIVA--I AM a strong LOC'D WOMAN! God bless me and all of you reading these lines. May all of you on this journey called life, whether loc'd or unloc'd, find your strength and your truth and may you all discover your eternal flame. Be blessed, hugs and peace, janel