retighten schedule

Changing my retightening schedule…again

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Here we go again but practice makes perfect right?!. Anyway, I finished re-tightening my hair last Tuesday after starting on the previous Thursday my entire head. Really though that “session” was the fastest one yet. I only did 2 rows the first day (I start from the back), Sunday and nothing at all on Monday. So that means the real progress was on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.

Well, remember I said that I was going to change and do the back, sides and up to the crown every 4 weeks and do the entire head on the 8 week mark? What the heck was I thinking!! It took longer to do the top than the back on this last re-ti. Granted it had been a bit longer than 8 weeks for the top but it was taking way too long to do each row since of course I had lots more new growth. So, I will go back to my 4 week schedule for the entire head.

However, I did implement the change and will stick with…for now( lol) doing the top portion utilizing the 2 point rotation. I did it this time and though there’s not much of it but I can feel the difference in the re-tightened portion that I just did compared to the portion done earlier with the 4 point rotation. It looks a bit fuller and is softer. I’m also gonna do 3 point on the remaining locs. The portion right above my ears in the back is the tightest and seemingly slowest growing portion so a lot of those were getting only 3 turns of the 4 point rotation anyway. That one last turn would really be too tight and make my scalp HURT. Been there done that with that section and let me tell you if I have not already done so it ain’t no joke. Like I said in my demonstration video there’s not point in having a sore head. If there is only a little bit of new growth left, leave it. This is where I have noticed where you tend to catch the hairs of the ajacent loc when you are really close to the scalp. That too is painful trying to release it and when trying to cut those few hairs, you run the risk of cutting the lock. Haven’t cut and entire loc yet thank goodness! So like I said it ain’t (yes I said ain’t..more than once) worth it.

Her’s a pic b4 & after retightening + 2 washes:

My Routine & Changes to previous routine postings

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I thought that I would post on my routine and what products I’m using.

My shampoo recipe:

1 TBS baking soda
2 cups water
2 dollups of Dr Bronner’s Lavender Castille Soap
a few drops of tea tree oil, rosemary oil, sage oil, eucalyptus EO’s
a few drops of jojoba oil
a few drops of almond oil
a few drops of orange oil for fragrance

I started using the baking soda mixture with the rosemary EO while I my hair was loose to help with my dandruff and itchy scalp. Commercial shampoos and conditioners I guess were leaving a film or something behind on my scalp because I had itchy, flaky scalp even in the summer. Co-washing was not helping either. Winter time was worse, enough to make my own ski slope. lol The baking soda mixture was helping a bit but I was only at that time shampooing every 2-4 weeks so I decided to try the tea tree oil in addtion to the rosemary oil. The sage oil & eucalyptus oils and Dr Bronner’s are recent additons at month 5. I put those in for growth, addtional scalp anticeptic properties and cleaning respectively. I wash weekly though sometimes it’s been 10-12 days between washings lately since it is winter and I keep my heat at no more than 69 degrees. Sometimes it gets a bit chilly walking around with a wet head. I’ve found that air drying helps to retain moisture. Gotta tell y’all my scalp feels a whole lot betta.

I decided to try the jojoba & almond oils for 1) I already had them, hate to waste stuff I’ve spent my hard earned money on and did not work at the time I purchased them, 2) My hair was looking a bit dry after a wash. Now I just tried this on the last wash on Friday and I like the results. My hair dried with a lot more sheen than with the addition of the Dr. Bronners and eucalyptus oil in month 5.

I’ve also decided to add a few drops of the jojoba oil to my spritz. I’m liking the results of that too. I just have to be careful that it is indeed only a few drops. Too much and as I mentioned b4, the locs will be feeling a bit stiff. Me no like stiff hair! Dealt with that long enough and I ain’t going back. I’m determined to have soft hair/locs even if that means it takes a while to lock. lol Though, I’ve got some that are actually locking, as you saw in the video/pics so that debunks that myth. Love it when a plan comes together and I do something that someone says can’t be done. Maybe that’s my Mars in Aries the 8th house inconjunct Uranus/Pluto in Virgo in the 1st house. Had to throw some astrology in there.

The last change that I’ve made is that I’m going to still retighten at 4 weeks starting in the new moon period but I’m only going to retighten the back and sides. The crown and top/front will be done every 8 weeks. These areas are a bit looser/thinner than the back and side areas of my head. They are still growing and this is the area of my head that grows the fastest so I’ll just have to make sure that I pop those locs after shampooing. Speaking of retightening if you are not sure how to do it I have a video of how I retighten my hair. It will be in the video bar.

Update: I am no longer using the Dr. Bronner’s as a shampoo just as a body wash. As of October 2009 I’m currently using Raw African Black Soap that I have made into a liquid. There will be a post on this.

Disclaimer: All of the products mentioned in this post have been purchased by me. I have no affiliation with the manufacturer or distributor of the product nor am I being paid to review the product. The opinions set forth in this post are solely my personal opinion.