Something New Once Again

Since i'm a member of LIU I get to hear some pretty good stuff. People trying new things. Products that worked or didn't work for others. The comments of many different consultants and what is happening with others locks. When the subject of taking responsibility for maintaining your own locks popped on the board my eyes were wide open. It was suggested that because many were having difficulty in maintaining appointments during this time of economic hardship we should learn to maintain our own locks. I so agree with that. Fortunatly, Kalidewdrop (i'm sorry if I misspelled your name.) was kind enough to post two YouTube diy's that helped quite a few of us learn to help ourselves. That being said here are a few pictures of my attempt at self retightening.

I learned that in order to have as much scalp showing, as many do, the hairs would have to be gathered ever so close. This in turns gives me a headache. I decided to lessen the rotations, which in turn didn't show o much scalp, and also ddn't give me a headache afterwards. My hair is doing it's own thing now. There are a few that the texture have changed on and some are just hanging around being themselves.

I think I did pretty good. What do you think??

Month 3 Photos

Well, I decided to post a few pictures of month 3. This has been an interesting month. I decided to follow directions and try to not wash my hair until the day before my retightening. This was truly a task. I lasted three days shy of 4 weeks and just could not take it any more. I was instructed to use a shower cap even when I took a bath. It felt really wierd but I got use to it. In the beginning I used a small bit of oil on my scalp and it was much needed. Then I stopped using the oil. In the pictures you will see what happened once I stopped using the dab of oil. Goes to show I should have stuck with what I knew was working. I've only had about four locks come loose. Two in the front and two at the nape or so. The hair in the back of my head is extremely straight and the front just doesn't like to be in bondage. ;)

The Pain is Gone.

So it's been 1 1/2 weeks since my last retightening. I was taking a few different pain meds because my head was killing me. I learned alot during that time.

1. My body takes a greater amount of time to purge medications than most people. Especially if it's close to a narcotic type pain med. I have some Ultram left from when I tore a ligament in my foot. Since the pain of my head was the same as the pain of my foot I thought what the hey. I soon remembered why I chose to suffer through the foot pain. The meds are to be taken every 4-6hrs. One pill lasted me 1 1/2 days. Never again.
2. If there's pain when the process starts there is going to be pain at the end. How long the pain lasts you will soon find out.
3. If there is pain there will be bumps.
4. Since my scalp is naturaly soo dry i have to oil it every 4-5days. I started using an oil I use on my daughter's hair. BB growth oil. I have a small bottle with a direction tip on it. I added a few drops of tea tree oil (my favorite cure all, since i'm a naturalist i've been using it for years.) Anyway the growth oil is all essential oils. No petro, lanolin, wax or mineral oils. I love it. My scalp loves it. I have had no slippage!!!! I washed my hair before my last retightening and don't plain to wash it again until the day before the next retightening.
5. Use the oil or flake up!!

My hair has had time to lose the spacey look so i'll take some pictures to show the difference 1 week makes.

New Pictures!!

Here are the new pictures I promised:

If you view my other pictures you can see the difference between this retightening and my last. This is day four and my head still is tight. Definatly one less rotation. I have the hair bumps to prove it. Beauty is not painful!!!!

More Photos:
http://public.fotki.com/spjparker/

Retightening done

Okay, so I had my retightening done. It unfortunatly took two days (12hrs) total. Yes I did say twelve hours. This consultant was much closer and she is very funny. I decided to go with someone that has been recommended by another blogger. She is very fast and told me that we would not be doing anymore long retightening sessions EVER. It's been three(3) days and my head is still sore. That's something i'll have to discuss with her next time. It sort of reminds me of when you go get your hair braided. That is a feeling I was determined to never feel again. NEVER SAY NEVER! However, after reading Brunsli's blogg I will make sure to never allow that to happen to me again. The whole point of locks is a healthy head not just healthy hair. Hair loss I don't need. I will be posting pictures of my retightening tomorrow. Gotta go buy some rollers and material to make some socks for my head. Fortunatly I can sew and don't need any patterns I can look at something and reproduce it. Family filled with sewers!!! Back later.

Time for a Retightening.

It's time for a hair fix. I'm do to get a retightening on the 7th. Unfortunatly the only funds I have left are to get my hair retightened. It will be the end of cash for me as I still don't have any money coming in. I could use the funds to pay my car note. Well at least a protion of it. But after paying $525 to have these locks put in I can't afford to not have the process continued. I have decided to switch consultants. I've found on that is closer to home and she comes highly recommended. This will save me a few dollars that I don't have. Somehow, someway funds will come for me to pay my bills.

I have some not so pretty pictures. I will be 2mths SL on the 8th and 9th. Some of the pictures are form my last retightening and then there are those from after my wash with the SL shampoo. I won't be using that again. It's just not for my already extremely dry scalp. I've tried the Seabreeze technique (worked for about 5mins). I eventually started using Benadryl spray to control the itch and burn. Anyway, enough about my trials here are some updated pictures.

I can officially say I have had the plucked chicken hairstyle. I don't ever want to see myself look like that again. It took several days for that to soften up. Okay, I know you can see the white dots in my hair. The dots are from the after effects of the shampoo. the last time I experienced something like this was when I had a perm. I have a very sensitive scalp. I have to pay close attention to whatever I put on my skin or all heck could break out on my body.

More Photos:

http://public.fotki.com/spjparker/