Beyond Locs

It has been blazing hot here so I have been looking for scarves and stepping up my hair protection. I am really looking forward to when my hair reaches a length where I can pull it up into a ponytail because having hair on my neck in this heat makes me want to reach for the scissors and take off a few inches. 

I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post.

I have been pretty lax with my hairwashing and maintenance practices lately due to a busy schedule. So I broke all of my rules and was rewarded with a ton of buildup and lint on the back of my head. 

Over the last month or so, I have noticed a change in my hair color. At first I thought that maybe my locs were getting duller due to buildup. But with regular baking soda washes and vinegar rinses, I ended up with squeaky clean, build up free locs that were starting to turn brown.

Now I have seen lovely brown locs. My mom's have slowly lightened over time and look great. But I am kind of attached to having black hair. So this seemed like as good of a time as any to try my first home dye job.

I have used henna at home before and ended up with great feeling hair and no discernable change in color. As much as I like the way henna makes my hair feel (and I do have some henna to dye hair black already) the lengthy messy process with a disappointing end result wasn't what I wanted this time. So I went to Sally's to investigate hair dye.

I only looked at semi-permanent and temporary dyes - I'm just trying enhance my natural color and I'm going darker so no need for the havey artillery. I ended up getting Ion Color Brilliance semi-permanent dye. It seemed easy to use and came in it's own applicator bottle. I picked up a brush to distribute the dye and I was all set.

Although the process was less messy than henna (especially the rinsing part) the application stage was still a little tough. Fortunately, I managed not to stain anything. 2d minutes with a shower cap and a rinse later and I had lovel get black locs.

I don't think that I rinsed my hair enough so I ended up washing it the next day. My hair does feel a little drier now but not excessively so. And I had the added bonus of the dye covering the lint. I'm planning to use temporary hair dye rinses to maintain the color from her out since my major concern is about my ends rather than the roots.

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There should be a picture here, but I haven't gotten around to it. Things I have learned about my locs:

I really should be asleep, but it isn't happening. But my head is full of random loc thoughts and now is as good of a time for a brain dump as any.

My locs are just long enough that they are getting in my eyes, so I have abandoned the part and latched my hair straight back. After going two months without latching (just separating between washings), I had a lot of growth to tend to. I'm looking forward to being able to style my hair a bit - as much as I like the ease of short hair, I miss having the styling options that I had with my loose natural hair.

My hair is really growing now! I'm happy with the growth but I've had to pull out my headbands and hair clips to keep my hair out of my eyes. I've been alternating ACV rinses and baking soda rinses each week and my hair feels great. 

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