ReTi, 2 years and 7 months

Original Post written Wednesday 29 December 2011.

Consultant Reti Day was yesterday, my head still sore, nobodies fault, just my issue.  Loving this stage, even though it took 3 hours to reti me, I knew there was a LOT of regrowth, especially as I do not reti  'tight' when I DIY.

A drastic mistake ...

.... had to wash my locs on Tuesday in time for reti first thing Wednesday, BUT I had a few friends around and we stayed up until 3am, hair washed ok, but I still had conditioner in it, and could not face washing it out! (slaps head) so I went to bed, with a view to washing it out in the morning.
WELL, my locks were DRY, I had to shampoo the conditioner out, no time to check the head,  I rushed off for my 10am appointment.

Reti style looked lovely, but underneath I had horrid evidence of left in conditioner, where I had not over rinsed, SIGH! I was not gonna wash my whole head again. so gathered the top clear portion in a bun, and mixed my concoction of shampoo and bicarbonate, THEN added vinegar. It frothed up and I applied it direct. I rinsed it out over the bath section by section, not a smple task but do-able. It worked!

 




















Today 4/1/12.

I washed my locs last night, using I Love Juicy. As Antiphilitron is no longer available from LUSH, I am in need of a clarifier that I notice deep cleans AND leaves the locs fluffy and full. As these products are drying I have decided to first wash with clarifiers and second n third wash with a

hydrating/moisturising shampoo. I am rubbish at rinsing, so have decided to avoid conditioners for a while, or at least take Ofo's advise and water them down before applying!
I will try to add Bicarb soda to I Love Juicy to see if it is as effective as the Anti Phil on removing build up. I have posted previously recommending ILJ as a great loc shampoo because it leaves them looking lovely! So lovely that I have not been able to keep my hands out of my head!
I want to alternate Deep Cleanse Clarifying to every other wash, but I do it more consistently if I choose to use a conditioner.
Also, I need another type of head wrap to sleep in, my locs are getting long, I have had to put them up in a bun for baths and shower, and even a couple of times to go to sleep.

30 Months, Sisterlocks, My Way ... (Build Up Removal and Conditioning)

Me again!

I don't really consider myself as a product junkie,  just a woman who loves water and has a passion for great skin and hair care. For too many years I struggled using soap based products as I consistently had bad reactions.  Today greater choice exists, so now I have a lot of options.  I go the extra mile and buy quality products as I found that they consistently did/do not create or accelerate any allergic reaction. The best generally means sulphate, paraben and other crap, free.

The last 30 months have been the best in my Hairstory. Never a bad hair day, and even so, I would remedy the problem by simply shampooing! No drama!

I have said it many times, I love these locks, and they are worth all I put into them, they are a part of me. I have thought about coloring them, especially in the beginning. But I feel that bleaching them would only weaken them, and I dont want to do that. My locks are not very thick, my hair naturally is fine. Having 4 children was a contributing factor also. So I am concerned about drying them out too much while my routine still requires effort  and fine tuning during the colder months here in the UK.

My quest has fundamentally been to find a great moisturising shampoo, not necessarily a conditioner now, as I found that most do build up in my loc type. I have found a recipe though that helps to REALLY cleanse and remove build up. However I found out today that the main ingredient that works so well for me is no longer available, Antiphilitron by LUSH.

Build up.

Recipe;

1 dessertspoon Antiphilitron

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 

1 bottle of Cider Vinegar (ACV) prepped in a 100ml bottle

(this mix may work with any clarifying shampoo, the next similar brand in make up is I Love Juicy by LUSH.)

Method.

1. Mix ingredients in a plastic cup/beaker. Apply to wet hair focusing on problem area's. apply liberally and rinse thoroughly.

2. Liberally squirt ACV (undiluted) over wet hair squeezing through the locks. Leave in for a few minutes.

3. I used a squirt of Hydrating Shampoo, rinsed and then applied a liberal amount of Moisture Maniac (TIGI). I left this in for 30 minutes or maybe less. Rinsed well.

This REALLY worked well, as I had used Hair One, and this left spots of white all over my locks! It is difficult to get a good shot of build up. trust me though, I was not happy, it did not look good.

After Clarifying.

This recipe is a major winner for me. An added advantage is the condition my locks are in once I have clarified, they are fuller, kind of puffy and healthy shiny.They feel amazing! Really happy with the results. Think I might do this one each month. But will need to  experiment with I Love Juicy and Bicarb, as once Antiphilitron is done, its done!

Nai, Deep Cleansing and ACV rinses.

Hair! November 2011

No Hair! April 2007

Hello everyone, 

I finally managed to trawl through the hundreds (yes hundreds!) of emails from the Lockitup Group on Yahoo, that I managed to amass over the last few months.

One topic of interest was a recipe for deep cleaning locks, involving ACV and Baking Soda. Ingredients below. 

Baking Soda Deep Clean ingredients:
(note: these ingredients have been tweaked to balance the ph levels when combining ACV and Baking Soda)
Large bowl of warm water
1/4 cup of baking soda
2tsp of lemon juice
1tsp of sea salt
3/4 cup of acv
Stir until all is well dissolved

The 'how to' video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/chescalocs#p/u/15/ns3VXi-VsmE 

I tried it last Friday, however it was a bad plan as I had a very busy weekend ahead ... I soaked my head a bit too briefly I think, I should have left it on longer, then shampoo'd out. From what I remember  the result was ok, I just was not that focused on the task. 

However, last night, I noticed a bit of build up on the locks at the very nape of my neck,  I got me some ACV (or Cider Vinegar here in the UK) and soaked the offenders neat in the ACV, no dilution. Later on I saw that some still remained, so made up my mind to try again the next morning. 

And so I did, this time spraying the ACV directly on the locks and letting soak for about 45 minutes.

Last night I also took out my Antiphilitron by LUSH, a lemon based clarifier that is said to remove Silicone, oils etc, when I think about it now, going straight for this bottle would have been a better, less fussy, option. It IS very very good!

The result of the ACV rinse is good, very good, shiny clean loc's, yes shiny, there is a fullness too. 

I washed my locks out with BIG, the best shampoo choice in this instance. Altogether, great results, completed with Moisture Maniac. There is still a small element of build up still left there, my guess is that as those locks were not long enough for me to see before, but I will definately simply soak (spray) them in Cider Vinegar and then wash it out with BIG, then double moisturise. 

The pics above came about because I was trailing through images and that 2007 pic got my attention, in  4.5 years What a change! When I say I l LOVE my locks, I do so with humility, I am humbly and quietly grateful for the technique that has been developed and has proven to be perfect for me. You can see for yourself how bad my straightened hair was. And now ... This ...