Locing…my new journey…

I know I haven’t written in awhile- which is fine since no one is really reading this and this blog is just kind of for me and my journey. I have recently decided to loc my hair. I am one who really likes to read and research before I commit to something. I have been admiring locs for awhile- especially the versatility I found with sisterlocks. I decided that route was a little too expensive for my blood. So I decided instead to lock my hair. I called my good friend Cookie over and we sat down for 8 hours putting in tiny two strand twists. I will have to have my best friend send me pics of my hair after it was freshly twisted. My husband is buying a new camera for me for Christmas. I am hoping to get it early- (read: Black Friday) and therefore start taking pictures documenting my new journey.

Usually what inspires me to blog or write would be frustration. I have been very frustrated with the lack of help from my fellow sistas out there. Now I am not pointing the finger to all- but there have been some I have reached out to and there have been no responses or vague responses. I have basically been interested in learning the best way to tighten my locs. I realize that is going to be a personal preference. However when I a see a fellow sister’s locs I instantly want to know her routine. It was no different than when I was a free natural. I do my best to make sure i pay it forward and if someone needs help I try to be more than willing to lend the knowledge I do know. I guess its going to boil down to me buying some books- I have no problem reading on my own.

I may find later that I am making this harder than it needs to be. The common thread I am finding is the simplicity of locs…. so I guess I will lay back and try to enjoy the ride and learn some patience.

Hopefully the rest will come

Peace and Blessings

LMC

Hair show- OKC 2010

So I went to my first hairshow this evening…well actually I was IN my first hairshow this evening. I enjoyed it immensely. I have been trying to open myself up to new experiences, getting to know more people and yes- even networking a little bit. I have been known to be somewhat of a loner. So I am trying to come out of my shell- especially when it comes to helping/ socializing/ networking with other natural/naptural ladies. I have been going to this forum called “Lets Talk About Hair”.  The organizer/founder’s name is Kiauntra and she is cool people. I have been trying to help her with this forum wherever and whenever I can and just offer my support and time. My time is a very big deal- I am selfish with my time. And that is primarily because I work full time, I am married, and have two children- and I go to school in the evening. So any so called “free time” I am very stingy with. But I have a passion for natural hair and this movement that is slowly sweeping Oklahoma and I like what this young lady is doing.

Anyway on to the hairshow. We kept it simple- we posed, we strutted, we tried to illustrate the use of hair accessories. We all purposely wore our hair very different to illustrate the diversity that women can have by wearing their hair in its natural state. We actually had a lot of support (clapping and hoot hooting 🙂 ) from the crowd. I was pleasantly surprised. All in all the show went very well- we practiced quite a bit in the short amount of time we had so it was nice to see our hard work pay off.

While I am writing I would like to vent on something else that has been bothering me lately. I get so sick of sistas saying (either to me or behind my back)- her hair is nice…EVERYBODY can’t wear their hair like that though. Or “my hair don’t look like yours (therefore) I can’t go natural”. I think that is the biggest load of BS I have ever heard. It saddens me and it angers me!! Why can’t these women see that they are beautiful? Why can’t they see that their curls, waves, and cottony kinks are beautiful and unique? Not something to be hidden and straightened!!!  The second thing or follow up is- where does she work?  Implying that there is no way I can work among corporate america- well I have news. I have a bachelors and Master’s degree in business and finance respectively- I am an account and my office is predominantly white. I have received only positive feedback. Now granted- I personally keep my styles conservative at work- but I still wear my hair in its ‘naptural’ state. And I will continue to do so. I am currently in the midst of going to school to pursue a career in medicine….I will wear my hair natural there too. I doubt I will have a problem doing so- but I am passionate enough that I am willing to fight (if need be) to wear my hair the way the good Lord saw it fit to be. Kinky, curly and yes at times even nappy. I will continue to groom my hair and make sure that it doesn’t look unkempt- but I will not straighten to conform (read I have nothing wrong with straightening if it is YOUR desire to do so…but when you are doing it to conform or hide what your hair really looks like? I have a problem with that). Okay- that is enough of a tangent for one night. It is late and I have to get up early in the morning…

Peace and blessings,

LMC

Hair dye and hair lyes

So I have been thinking…its time for something new so I am going to try to dye my hair…again. Yeah I attempted to do this like 3 weeks ago. I was going for a dark deep red and I got…nothing. My hair is black and obviously hard to dye. So I went to Sally’s Beauty and picked up some Dark and Lovely sun kissed brown. Hopefully it will lighten my hair to a pretty light reddish brown. It is processing on my head as we…er…type. Its looking browner…but I am not sure its going to lighten the way I want. Dah well.

On to another topic. I have decided I want to put together a slideshow- just showing how far I have come. I have the music I want to accompany the slideshow and everything. Problem is the computer that the pics are on my hubby spilled some liquid on and it uh..didn’t respond very well. So I will have to find a work around to pull my pictures that illustrate how I wore my hair while it was relaxed. Should be interesting. I want illustrate how we all fall victim to the lye. I know I did and you couldn’t tell me my hair was not cute and healthy.  Little did I know that this lye was not golden. In order for my hair to be truly STRONG and healthy I must let go of  the lye. Which I did. I am very proud of that and I am so happy to be on a journey to truly embracing myself, my heritage and the way God truly made me. If God thought that my hair was perfect for me and perfect on me- who am I to slap some chemical on my hair and scalp that is detrimental to my hair??? Who am I to chemically alter the perfection God has made. As my cousin Cornel West would say…”we need to straighten the kinks in our minds not our heads” I am paraphrasing..but he is absolutely right. There is something wrong with us when we think that we are not beautiful as we are. That our hair must be swinging for us to be beautiful. Don’t get me wrong- I am not bashing sistas who decide that they want to relax…do what makes YOU feel beautiful. But I had to question MY own motives. Why am I truly doing this? Why am I spending money and time hurting my hair and scalp because my “kinks” or “beedebees” are showing?? Why is that BAD??? Why am I not cute unless my hair is straight. The answer is..its all lies. I am beautiful the way I am. My hair is glorious in its natural state and I would do well to embrace and pamper it instead of hide it and abuse it.

Luvnmycurls- what is that about?

Greetings!

My name is Luvnmycurls. I happened upon this screenname in early 2008 when I decided I was interested in going natural. This was not my first time to the natural world- oh no- I had worn my hair natural (by choice) in high school and some in college. In high school I tended to straighten it most of the time. In college I wore an afro puff- all the time. I didn’t know what else to do with it. Which lead to boredom- which led to me relaxing my hair again. There were quite a few factors that led me to wanting to go natural- one of the most important was my mother. She had been having issues with alopecia for awhile – we were both convinced it was the relaxers causing it. She stopped relaxing and began wearing wigs. Soon she decided to big chop but was still not confident in wearing it out. I decided to start transitioning. I decided if I was going to do this I was going to do it right. So I started looking on line where I found Motowngirl and Fotki. I also browsed on countless other websites looking for guidance. I finally decided to start a profile on Fotki. I BC’d not too long after joining Fotki. And have been natural for 2.5 years .I love being natural. I love natural hair and natural hair care. I love reading about it, researching it, and discussing it.

My blog will be about natural hair and my musings and experiences about it. I invite comments, suggestions (if applicable) and for you to share your own story.

There is no format here but I have a lot of stuff I think about and muse about and I figured I would find a way to share it with others. What is done with the information, suggestion or knowledge is up to the readers…

Peace and blessings,

Luvnmycurls