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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Product Review: Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Gel

It's finally spring break over here at SUNY Purchase, but I can't leave you guys without a post this week now can I? I have a million things going on this week, so I thought I give you guys a quick review of one of my favorite locking agents that I've used (so far).

The product of the day is Jamaican Mango & Lime Resistant Formula Locking Gel. (great for hair that doesn't like to lock).

Before we get into the review of this particular product let me just say, I am a HUGE advocate of Jamaican Mango & Lime products. If you are unfamiliar with their line of products, then we can't be friends. Just kidding...but actually.

The most notable thing about Jamaican Mango & Lime's Locking Gel, like most of their other products, is the AMAZING smell. Their products emit a very sweet perfume smell. It reminds me of candy whenever I open the container. Honestly if they made a candy, or pastry, or even a drink that taste the way this stuff smells, I'd be hooked. Okay, maybe not a drink, but you get the point.

The product itself is very VERY light weight, as opposed to many other heavier gels and waxes out there. It also isn't very sticky on the fingers. The gel is water based, which is a very good thing. When twisting hair, you want to use a product that is as close to the consistency of water as possible. Another great thing about this particular product is the lack of petroleum.

"But Jae, I thought petroleum was good for my hair." FALSE. A lot of people think petroleum is a moisturizer when in fact, it has no moisturizing qualities of its own. What it is, is a barrier. What ever moisture you may have on your scalp (as well as any dirt, oils, etc) gets trapped underneath the petroleum when you apply it. That's typically why you find yourself re-applying the jelly in smaller and smaller intervals after the moisture has dried out, in this sense the petroleum is actually pretty ineffective. It also clogs your pores, smothering your scalp so it can't breathe. If you're pores cant breathe then they cannot dump out toxins.  In the long run you're doing nothing but damage your hair and skin.

For my particular hair texture (coarse and kinky), this gel seems to have a very strong hold. I frequent the gym. I'm there typically five days a week, so naturally I sweat a lot. Even after five, almost consecutive, days of sweating, my freshly twisted locs will still look nice and tight. I won't lie and say it looks perfectly the same, but it still looks neat.  If you're looking for a long lasting hold (which chances are, if you have locks, that's sort of the point for many of us), then Jamaican Mango & Lime is a good option.

The only negative thing I've discovered while using this locking agent, is the residue. To clarify I don't mean residue in terms of build up. It isn't like a wax that leaves flakes and things behind after it dries. The particular gel I use is white. After letting my hair air dry, I find that some of my locks have a very light white coating to them. It typically goes away by the second or third day. Honestly I think that may be due to the amount of gel my locitician uses. Either way it's a VERY small set back to having healthy, breathing hair with a long lasting hold, and a great smell.

Probably my favorite thing about this locking agent is it's cheap and readily available. It runs anywhere between 4 and 5 dollars, and can be found in almost any beauty supply store, as well as wal-mart, rite aid, and pretty much any store with a beauty supply section.  Go try it out!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Maintenance : How to Re-twist Your Locs

I had a chance to get my locs re-twisted over the weekend, so I thought to myself, what a perfect time to do a maintenance blog post.

Instead of boring you to death with a bunch of technical terms, and confusing instructions...HERE'S A VIDEO!




On a side note, I've had a lot of people asking me, after my last blog post, if I really wear a sleep cap , so for your amusement, I give you sleep cap Jared:









 Oh the things I do for you people.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Do's and Don'ts Part I




As my locs are growing and maturing, I am learning more and more about hair, and the do's and don'ts of hair care. Before I started my dreadlocks I did a ton of research on them. Even with that said, there are still new things that I am learning about them everyday. Some of these things I REALLY wish I had known from the get go. That being said, allow me to bestow upon you some of the tips that I've picked up along the way.

1. KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT YA D*** HEAD!!

This is what some dread heads refer to as "hands in head syndrome." When you're sitting in class listening to your professor talk about, god knows what, and you have your hands in your head twisting your locs, STOP IT. When you're sitting in your living room watching reruns of the Cosby Show, with your hands in your head, twisting your locs, STOP IT! Stop it? STOP IT! How about when you're out with your friends, just eating some lunch, with your hands in your head, twisting your locs? Okay seriously ewwwwww, stop all that noise because that's just unsanitary, and your friends probably think you're gross for doing that one.

In all seriousness though, I cannot stress this point enough. Twisting your hair too much (especially if you aren't keeping your hair moisturized, and strong) will lead to thinning of the hair at the roots, as well as breakage. If this gets bad enough your locs CAN and WILL break off. You don't want that.

This particular lesson I learned the hard way. I was constantly twisting my locs to the point where I ended up having to combine some of my thinner ones for fear of them popping off. I have a handful of double tongued dragons on my head. They look something like this:
Double Tongued Dragon!
Oddly enough that one is my favorite loc...


1B. KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT YA D*** HEAD!! (re-twisting)
When it comes to getting your whole head re-twisted because you have some new growth, or you just want to keep your hair looking fresh, I personally wouldn't advise getting it retwisted too often. Other than having the aforementioned issues with thinning/breakage, you will slow the process on your dreadlocks locking as well as maturing.

2. Moisturize Your Locs
When I first started my locs I was DEATHLY afraid of getting them wet. I would carry an umbrella everywhere, wear hats just because it was cloudy, triple bag my head with shower caps whenever I went to wash myself. I really didn't want to have them undo, and have to start from scratch (yeeaaaaaahhhhhh...foolishness?)


In actuality, moisturizing your dreadlocks on a daily or semi-daily basis is actually a lot better for them. This is especially important in the summer, when it gets really hot. Other than avoiding a nasty dry hair look, moisturizing your locs will keep the hairs strong. Breakage won't be a problem if you are moisturizing often. Along with moisturizing your hair, you will be taking care of your scalp. This will stop your head from itching. You don't want to constantly scratch your head, effectively producing flakes, as well as undoing your locs (especially if you started/maintain your locs by twisting them). We've all seen that girl slapping the mess out of her head because she just got her hair done and doesn't want to scratch it. Don't be that girl. It's not a good look.

I advise buying a little spray bottle and filling it with water and some oils of your choice. Vitamin E, olive oil, peppermint oil (only a few drops or you could do damage to your scalp), rosemary, jojoba oil, tea tree oil, coconut oil, these are all good choices. You can use one, or a combination of them. Use your discretion. You want to have more water in the bottle than oil otherwise it won't squirt out of the bottle, and/or your hair will be over oiled and dripping. Again, not a good look. Spray your hair sometime during the morning, and go about your business. DON'T SATURATE YOUR HAIR. A couple of sprays here and there is all it takes.

3. Never Re-Twist Locs When They Are Dry For the same reasons you shouldn't idly sit and constantly twist your locs, you should never re-twist them when they are dry. This causes thinning and breakage.

If you don't like to wash your hair right before re-twisting it, have your spray bottle handy, and wet your hair section by section as you re-twist.



4. Sleep Caps Work Better Than Durags

(sleep cap) I know it looks girlie, fellas, but bare with me here.

Especially when you have really short locs. Even if you aren't tying the durag too tightly it will still leave an unsightly crease in the back of your head making your dreads there look sort of awkward. If you tie the durag too tightly than you will end up pulling the hair at the nape of your neck. This will thin your hair in that area. If you tie it too loosely, then you risk it falling off over night, then you wake up with a head full of frizzy dreads, and possibly have some lint in there. Having a sleeping cap makes those problems go away. You just place the cap over your head, and rest easy. If you really want to, you can just buy a satin/silk pillow case to sleep on as well. Then the sleep cap won't even be necessary.

5. Hair Ties and Rubber Bands
Avoid the use of rubber bands in your hair, just as a general rule. Rubber bands will pull the hair straight out of the nape of your neck as well as your hairline in the front of your head. Be aware of how tight your head bands or hair ties are when you put them on. As your locks get longer, you're going to want to get them out of your face. The first thing you'll reach for is a head band or hair tie, completely unaware of how tight it might be against your head. Wearing a head band or hair tie that is too tight will give you the same issues a rubber band will give you.



6. WASH YOUR LOCS
It is a wild misconception that people with dreadlocks cannot wash their hair. We can in fact wash our hair. Maybe not as often as people with other hair styles, but we can wash our hair. In the early stages of dreadlocks it's very common that people will go at least a month or longer without washing their hair in order to get it to start locking. There is nothing wrong with that. Keep it properly moisturized and that won't be such a big deal. 

However, as your locs start to mature, washing the more frequently is more than okay. It's good to clean your dreads and let them breathe rather than clog them up with dirt, locking agent residue, and lint.

Be very gentle about washing and rinsing your hair. Maybe you want to lower the pressure when you do it. This is especially important if you have twisted hair, as opposed to braidlocs, two strand twists, or latched hair. Saturating the hair, and roughly washing it can make your dreadlocks untwist. If you want to be especially careful, you can put something like your sleep cap, or cut pantyhose over your locks, and wash them through that (still very gently). They do make specific clarifying shampoos/conditioners for locs, but honestly you can use whatever you want more or less.

You don't want to end up like this guy:
ewwwwwwwww
or maybe you do? To each their own.


Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Alfalfa the rogue dread


I thought I'd take a quick break from the nuts and bolts of dreadlocks today and talk about my own dreadlocks. One lock in particular that I've named Alfalfa.



I have over 100 dreadlocks on my head. Out of these 100+ dreads I have one in the front of my head that just doesn't like to act right. He's a rebellious little trouble maker and I hate him (okay that's not true, I love him dearly, but he needs to get it together. This is a dictatorship damnit). I knew from my baby dreadlock stages that he was gonna be trouble.

Back when my hair was still really short, but long enough to move if the wind blew hard enough, this little dread use to cause me so much grief. I would wake up in the morning, take my durag off, and see this one dread waving good morning to me. I'd stare in the mirror at this little dread thinking, "uhm, excuse you, sir. Who do you think you are? You better lay down like the rest of them. Fall in line. You aren't special.", but try as I might, this dreadlock wasn't having it, and thus Alfalfa was born.

Alfalfa is RESILIENT. Apparently he thinks he runs s***. I use to fight with him for a good 10-15 minutes before saying screw it. Those would be the days I was stuck wearing a hat even when I wanted to show my little dreadlets (baby dreads) off. If I wasn't wearing a hat, and it happened to be a windy day out, forget about it. Alfalfa would be standing at attention telling me AND the wind that he did what he wanted. He be sitting there looking like a stale french fry in a box of curly fries, acting like everything is alright. No, sir, that is NOT what I ordered. He just be ruining my self esteem in all sorts of ways. Just kidding..................but actually.

I'll never forget the morning I woke up, took my durag off, looked in the mirror, and before my eyes, all over my head were dreadlets sticking up! It was like Alfalfa had staged a full blown rebellion! I was putting all kinds of clips in my head trying to get them to lay down. I tried dampening them. I tried applying extra wax to them so they'd be heavier and just fall. Nothing was working. I eventually just laid back down and restarted my day. Went back to the mirror when I got up and instead of sticking up, this time they were just contorted, pointing in all kinds of directions. Needless to say, a hat was worn that day.

Nowadays, now that my dreads are longer, Alfalfa sticking up isn't as much of an issue. No, nowadays when I try to pull my hair back he just flips forward and sags in front of my face. I swear, he's mocking me.

The moral of the story here is, as you go through the different stages of your lock journey, your dreadlocks are going to annoy you sometimes. Have patience. Love them. They'll act right.
 If you get a lock like Alfalfa CUT HIM OFF! Just kidding..................but actually.


    
   







 




Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Getting Started: Ways to start your dreadlocks

There are tons of different locking methods one can use to start their dreadlocks. When I first had my set started I didn't really know what the loctician was going to do to my head. I figured well, she knows what she's doing right? She wouldn't have a job here if people didn't want her near their head. In retrospect I lucked out. The loctician started my locks in exactly the way I would have wanted had I known about all the different methods.

Why is it important to know the different methods to starting locks? Don't they all give you the same results? Not quite. The way you start your dreadlocks will (in most cases) determine their overall look. The method you use to start will effect the size, look, and uniformity of your locks. It's good to know, walking in, what type of dreadlocks you want to have. Do you want all of your dreads to be around the same size? Do you want slim dreads or fat dreads? Do you want to have an immediate dreadlock look, or do you want to grow into them? It is also important to know the type of hair you have. Certain methods work better on specific types of hair. Is your hair wavy, curly, or straight?

Most locking methods require at least 3-4+ inches of hair to start. I personally wouldn't recommend starting shorter than that.
When choosing a product to START locking your hair, it is most common to use a heavier wax. The wax helps it to hold longer. As your locks start to mature, you'll want to move to something much lighter. 


Lets start with the most common method of locking your hair. The comb twist/finger twist method.

The Comb Twist/ Finger Twist Method:

What you will need
  • comb (preferably a rat tailed comb)
  • clips/rubber bands for sectioning hair
  • holding product (wax, gel, styling gum, etc...)
When starting dreadlocks with this method you want to begin by taking the comb and parting the hair into squares. 1 to 2 inches squares work well, but it really depends on how big you want your locks to be. Don't worry, squares will make round locks. Some people choose to make very straight, clear cut sections, others don't. Really the choice is yours. Making really clean, precise, even sections will make your locks a little easier to style in the future, and will make it easier to group your locks in an even section when re-twisting, but it really isn't that hard to do if your locks aren't in precise, even sections either.

After creating the squares you will want to start from the back and move up the head. Apply your desired product to the sectioned off square saturating the strand. Wrap the strand of hair around the butt end of the comb and twist until it creates a tight little coil. Place a rubber band or hair clip on it so it holds while it dries. Proceed until you've twisted all of the squares.

If you are hand twisting the strand, saturate the it with your desired product, then, starting from the root of the strand twist the hair clockwise until it creates a tight little coil. Place a rubber band or hair clip just as you would with a comb twist. Proceed until you've twisted all of the squares.

It is very important that you twist all of your locks the same direction. It is easier to keep track of them when you go to re-twist them. You don't want to end up playing guessing games, and possibly undoing all the work you've already done. It's not fun. I assure you. 

The outcome will look something like this: 
 

Free-Forming/The Neglect Method

The neglect method pretty much speaks for itself.
This is the easiest locking method there is. You literally do nothing except wash your hair from time to time. No tools or products required. The idea behind this is to simply stop brushing/combing your hair. Once you stop that, you're hair will begin to knot and eventually form dreadlocks.

Although this is the easiest method to starting dreadlocks, it also has the most disadvantages. For one, your hair has to be somewhere around 10 inches long to start knotting. It'll take somewhere around 3 years or so before your hair really looks like dreadlocks. The time up until your knotted hair looks like dreadlocks isn't to appealing. It more or less just looks unsanitary. The biggest disadvantage (in my opinion of course) to this method is the lack of control you have over the size of your locks. Some will come out skinny and round, others may come out really bulky. Some may look really flat. Sometimes they'll start to combine and look like a tree trunk of hair (you can rip them apart, but that doesn't sound to wonderful to me). 

The outcome will look like any variation of this:
love ya bob

but you can also make them look like this:
Valerie June (i have my suspicions that they weren't STARTED free form)  




Two Strand Twist


The Two Strand Twist method is another very common way of starting dreadlocks. Thanks to the beauty that is YouTube, I've found a pretty simple tutorial on this method is done.

Along with this method, if you really want to have longer dreadlocks sooner, people have been known to add synthetic hair, and twist it in with their own.



Back Combing Method



The last common method of starting dreadlocks is called the back combing method. This tutorial also brought to you thanks to YouTube (and the same people that are in the above video...hurray!)

As the professional in this video states, back combing is a very nice technique to use to start dreadlocks. It gives the hair an immediate dreadlock type appearance, in conjunction with allowing the lock to mature quicker. This method can be used on all types of hair.

These are the four most common methods of starting your dreadlocks. Here are a few more methods, along with instructions on how to do them. This site also goes into clearer detail on the advantages and disadvantages of some of the aforementioned locking methods.

I hope these lock tutorials help. Choose the best locking method for your hair, and let the lock journey begin!