Be You
There it stood in front of me, one of my favorite trees in our back yard. It was summer and this particular morning I had on my obligatory denim cut off jean and my brand new red gingham blouse. I loved that tree back then; …
Current
On My Soap Box
There is nothing like driving a stick or manual for some of you. I get an absolute rush listening to that engine rev up as your body becomes one; manipulating that metal beast with four wheels. Then the deep guttural noises and at that perfect …
Getting ready for summer
One thing that you might notice after a couple years is that your ends can start to lighten from being in the sun. I know ombre is the trend, but I would like to keep my hair dark. For just a quick change in pace I went and picked some temporary color. I used Clairol Beautiful Collection Moisturizing Color in the past with good results, so I went to Sally’s and purchased three bottles.
Locs tend to soak up the color, so buy a little extra. I followed the directions on the bottle, and voila. I only use semi permanent color. I would definitely see a professional stylist if I wanted to go lighter or wanted another color, or highlights. What are you doing to your hair as the weather gets warmer?
I sprayed my hair with Dew and put it in bantu knots before bed to get a little body in the after picture 🙂
We are pleased to announce!
Starting today in the store we have a new promotion. For a limited time only we are giving away one free 1 ounce shampoo bottle with any purchase. Just choose which one you’d like to try and add it to your basket. This is a …
Natural and Back
Today I want to talk about the big chop. Not the one where you cut your relaxer off, the other one. When you decide you like your locs, but after a while (for me it was 8 years), you decide you want a different style. …
Just Checking In
Hi All!
We’ve been so busy around here it sort of slipped under the radar but we are going to take a little time to talk about it in today’s post. For some of you this is old news but for the newbies we just wanted to briefly touch on a few things.
We wanted to highlight painful retightnings-ouch! A long time ago before we created the Nappylocs Tool TM, I dreaded having my locs retightened. My edges were on fire and I could feel my loctician try and force her tool to try and complete that rotation. Furthermore, sometimes my scalp itched afterwards. Bad News, your scalp should never itch or be sore after a retightening regardless of the tool you are using. If you are forcing a tool that is wider than the area to be tightened up you may weaken or distort the strands of hair and possibly place undue pressure on the hair follicles themselves.
The Nappylocs Tool TM is thin and comes in multiple sizes to accommodate the multiple part and loc sizes. The correct sized tool is always smaller than your part size but large enough to hold the loc. You can even squeeze the pinch for a tighter hold and on occasion we do customize them for larger hands, work specific designs, etc. However for most people- including myself- the standard tool works fine.
The other item we’d like to briefly address is the importance of keeping those locs moisturized. We prefer to tighten slightly damp hair either after shampooing or spritzing with the DEW when hair is dry. The DEW has extra softening ingredients along with essential oils that help to keep the hair fresh, moisturize as well as seal. Water alone can’t compete. DEW is also great for a quick cold set and blow dry for anyone with natural hair.
So tighten up, but do it painlessly.
Mo’ Hair Gro’ Hair
From our founder: This morning my mind wandered a bit… I was sitting in the back of a small car as we, with our faces plastered against the windows, drove through town. I probably looked like a small town country girl on her first visit …
You Choose
Here at Nappylocs, we feel that being able to do your own hair is freedom. I can retighten my hair whenever and wherever I feel like it. I also don’t have to budget to go and get my hair done. So we started thinking, what …
My Kili Trip
We set up the blog to provide tips about what we do with our hair and our products but it can become quite boring for you to read and for us to write if that’s all we discuss. So please bear with us as we attempt to move beyond the hairstyle and encourage you as well as ourselves to embrace our natural beauty while enjoying life. A member of our family recently had the chance to go to Mount Kilimanjaro, and this is what he told us about it.
They said that the best way to prepare for Kili was for me to go hiking; pack my backpack full, strap on my boots and hit the trail. I tried to go somewhere new every weekend, but a hard bike ride or a long run were good substitutes when I didn’t have much time.
There were 11 of us in total; most of us were a few years out of college, but there was a couple in their 50s, often times leading the charge up the mountain. We took lots of breaks to snack on some clif bars, drink water and bust out the jolly ranchers if things got really rough.
During the breaks, some of the porters would try and talk to me in Swahili. I smiled and shook my head, in which they often replied “You speak English? Ahhh Rasta! Peace and love man”.
We were walking excruciatingly slow and I was still out of breath, it was extremely cold at night, and I had altitude headaches most evenings. But the biggest hurdle was on summit day, after walking for several hours I realized still had miles and miles to go. The peak still looked like a tiny speck in the distance. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done (and possibly ever will do), but the view of the sunrise at the top, and finally reaching the sign at the roof of Africa made it all worth it.
Samurai Bun
We want to start documenting more quick dreadlock styles that we wear as we are out and about. Owner and founder, Debra is always picking up supplies and shipping orders, but when the weather is nice you can always find her at the local park, …