5 Years Locked Up!!!

Today is my 5 year sisterlocversary!!

I have been locked up 5 years! As i said in my last post i have been completing my doctorate at the same time, and my locs have be kinda neglected; however i am trying to remedy this. As started previously some of my ends had been coming off. I have lost on average about 2 ins of some locs :( I must admit that some of them i pulled off as i didnt like the way they looked, they were weak. The picture below is a comparison of my locs from 4 years to 5 years. 

My hiar goal for this year is to focus on growing healthy locs. I still usually get my hair re-tightened but this last one i did it myself. It was the first time in about 3 years. It was a long process, but it enabled me to check out my locs. I actually found a 2HD that i didn't know i had. As i was doing them i was thinking that some of them were rather thin for my liking, so i was considering combining them. I do not know if I was just being overly negative, but i will see how it goes. I am searching for a new loc tool. I usually use the SL clip tool and i had always liked it; however i was finding that the clip kept getting caught and i dont want my strands to snap thereby weakening my roots and locs. I do have the nappylocs tool but i have never really been that keen on it. My friend told me about the loc-key, which i have ordered. I will keep you posted on how i find that one. 

 As i said previously i am looking for a new routine for my locs and i wanted to go 100% natural with my products making my own. My last wash, last week, i did a deep cleanse with bicarb of soda and ACV mix. I wasn't too sure how it was so i still did a shampoo on top of that. I then deep conditioned that i had made. I realised that the DC i used in my last post was more of a protein conditioner and i want a mositurising conditioner, so i did some more research about the best ingredients. I used a recipe that i had found online which consisted of: 1 avacodo, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and honey. All ot these ingredients are meant to be good for softening the hair. I blended all together, slathered on my locs, covered and left for 30 mins.

As can be seen  from the picture the mixture was not the creamy texture that i had expected. The experience turned into a nightmare!! I was left with, what i can only describe as avacado fibre strands in my locs. The pic below does not do justice to what i had in my hair, i could not believe it! I have circled some of them in red so you get an idea of what i was looking for.

I spent about 3 hours going through my locs and picking out the fibres. They were so small it was a nightmare, and i couldn't really see the back, so i wasnt sure if i got it all out. In fact i still found a few the next day. I do not know what the cause was. I had bought the avacado that morning and i picked the ripest one. Maybe it wasnt ripe enough, however i am not willing to try again.

I have also been trying to find a mosituring spray to keep my locs soft. I think this week i went a lil mad and tried too many different things. I now realise that i cannot just spritz with water i need to seal it so that the water doesn't evaporate and leave the hair dry. First i made a blend with distilled water, lavender eo, vegetable glycerin and JML cactus oil. I spritzed my hair and then sealed with my shea butter mix i mentioned previously. I am not sure about this blend and i think i just do not like shea butter on my locs. Another time i tried sealing with coconut oil. My hair still didn't feel as soft as i wanted. I kept researching and i head people say that aloe vera juice is meant to be really good. So i made a blend with aloe vera juice, distilled water, coconut oil, avacado oil, vegetable glycerian, lavender and tea tree eo. This is what i am using at the mo. I do not like the smell that much and after a week i feel that i want to wash my hair, which i never usually do (that could be because of the various experiementing i have done over the past week). I recognise that my hair will only get the softness that i want through deep conditioning so i am planning to focus on that. I am thinking over whether to make my own products. I really want to but i do not have the money to keep experimenting with different ingredients, although i know that it can also take time to find the right product. I am going to have to monitor it and really focus on my DC. 

I am not very good at styling my locs over the past few months i have tried out a few styles, which I have made into a lil video. I also did a loc bun for the first time on Saturday

Hope you are enjoying being locked up

Peace