Soft Spikes

I should have taken more pics of the soft spikes but, I had already been back to work when I finally decided to go ahead and get pics of my locs. I really, really like these curls. Unlike the pipe cleaners you see in the previous post, these locs seem like a lot more of a loose, soft type curl. Once again it is all about preference. In order to get the curl I wanted to achieve, which was basically a Pin curl type (I know it's old school but I had a style in mind since my hair is still relatively short); I just wet my hair and got to rolling. The way I rolled my hair on the pipe cleaners was the same concept as the pipe cleaners, except with the soft spike you pull through the hole at the end of the curler. Needless to say I looked like a spike haired fool lol and my firstborn child thought I looked like a spiked haired alien, but I loved the end result and my kid thought I looked pretty cool with the little swords in my hair :) You can tell I prefer these over the pipe cleaners. I will return to the pipe cleaners in a few months, maybe this spring or summer when my hair is slightly longer.
by the way speaking of longer I am noticing a lot of new growth!

So here we go again, here are my likes and dislikes...

Likes:
1. I really like how soft they are. They are a little bigger to allow for a more loose curl, but although they are larger I can still decide how tight the curl is by adding or subtracting a few locs from the curler.
2. It didn't take long to prep and curl my hair. Like I said with the pipe cleaners it takes a little bit of time.

Dislikes:
1. You still cannot sleep on the soft spikes, although soft...they are still uncomfortable.

Here are a few funny pics of the outcome







It may be a minute before I log back in to here, I will try to keep track of my progress best I can because if I don't I swear I won't see any progress. Plus I am sure there are some out there going through the same thing as I am, or those that have the same concerns as I do at this stage. This teen stage is an awkward kind of stage for me. My locs are neither really long or really short per se. They are just stuck. But hey, they are growing and that has been my number one complaint for over a year now.

I have taken the steps towards my own independence. I contacted a loctician that is able to teach the retightening class, she has yet to get back with me to say when exactly the class is, but I will contact her after my next retightening with my loctician ( assuming I am able to make it next week) like I said I am in the middle of a tax season). i have been tempted to try the nappyloc tool. I even bought one. But I am really trying to hold out to take the class. This is just getting crazy. I keep having to wait longer and longer in between reti to schedule appointments. And it is simply not working. I still want to continue to go to her to keep track of my progress but it is time to cut the umbilical cord. I am 17 months in, it is time I struck out on my own. :) In the meantime, I guess I will continue to try new things with my hair as it grows and I will update on my DIY journey this year.

17 Months & Pipe Cleaner Curls

Hi guys!
I am sooooooo exhausted with the new baby. It is weird how your life changes when there is a new little one in the house. I returned to work earlier this week due to high demand of everyone needing their taxes filed and the office being short staffed. So right before I went back I did what I promised I would do this year and that was take a step in the right direction and use some initiative to style my locs. Once again I had to postpone my appointment with my loctician for various reasons ie. scheduling, monies, the baby etc. So needless to say I have more than enough new growth. It looks like I have about a little more than 1/4 of an inch of new growth in my head. I notice that my hair is shedding a little bit after having the baby. I have seen people hair completely fall out and lose locs after having a child so a little shedding is the least of my concerns. The first thing I tried was the pipe cleaner curls. After researching on Youtube and looking at the various blogs on Google, I decided to make a run to Joann fabric out here in Canton, MI. Here are some of the things I liked and a few things I didn't like...

Likes:
1. Pipe cleaners create some of the tightest curls around. You can sleep on these curls for days, even live in a humid environment and these curls will STILL HANG ON TIGHT!
2. They are sooo cheap to put in. I only paid about 5 bucks for a pack of 100 chenille pipe cleaners. This definitely beats the $70 or $80 bucks I was about to spend on lock loops.
4. I can adjust the pipe cleaners how I saw fit. If I needed shorter ones I cut shorter ones for my edges. If I needed longer ones for the top and back of my hair, I didn't cut at all.

Dislikes:
1. They poke your head! Do not sleep with these things in your hair! Do not even lay down. My head is still a little tender from this.
2. Do not use these things if you are in desperate need of a retightening. They will snag your new growth and can compromise the base of your locs.
3. You must leave these in for a few hours. I can't really say that this is a dislike because if I curl my hair I usually do it on free time. But with the baby I need something fast.
4. Speaking of fast, be sure you set aside at least an hour to put these pipe cleaners in.
5. And lastly, I am not sure if I really like them on my short locs. Yes my hair is growing, but it is all about preference. I think they are cute, but a little wild on short hair.

Okay enough of that here is how they turned out.