I've been debating about taking down my
loc's and starting them over for sometime now. I've been asking others there thought about me taking down my
loc's and I receive mixed responses. My
loc's were started 2.5 years ago with comb coils. As my hair begin to
loc, I realized they were too fat ) especially on the top and the middle of my head). I wanted skinner, more uniformed
loc's. I've received so many "opinions" about width, size, etc. Ultimately I decided I had to be the decision maker and I needed to do what would make me happy in the long run. With that being said- Let's start operation
loc take down.
Day 1- July 11Washed
locs, and heavily laid on Mane N' Tail conditioner with a heat cap. I left the cap on 30 minutes before I started the take down. I pulled one
loc out from under the cap, and begun to pick with a rat tail comb. it took 1 hour for me to take down 1
loc!!!!!! F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-N-G!!!! I had a spray bottle with conditioner and water - I sprayed every second.. gosh ... IT HURT. After 5 hours, I'd only taken down 12
locs!!!! at this rate I'll be doing this 3 months *sigh*
Day 2-July 12thAll day at work, I was thinking " how can I speed up the take down process?".
Detangler!!! Maybe
detangler would help.. I went to lunch and purchased a large bottle of Mane and Til
detangler. I came home, ate dinner and spritzed my
loc's heavily with the
detangler and the conditioner/water mix. I began to pick away.... *
le sigh* lets just say Day 2 I only removed 3
locs!!!! The process wasn't any faster and i was only more annoyed. enough for today.. will resume business tomorrow :C
Day 3-July 13thOk, Day 3 is here. I would have thought that after 3 days I would see more progress- NOT! I emailed my friend
Kellee, who had taken down her
loc's. I inquired about her technique, and products to use. She advised that I was doing it correctly- and that its a very long process. It took her about 8 days to remove her
loc's. So I found some shows to watch on TV, laid out all my tools and got to work.. wet
loc's with water.. spritz with
detangler.. spritz with conditioner/water mix... massage everything in.. snip the ends off.. pick..pick..pick.. after 3 hours I'd taken down 5
loc's. Ive now made 5 my goal for each evening. too many more after 5 makes me very frustrated and my head start to hurt ( I'm tender headed).
Day 4th-July 14thI was a wet mess last night with the double spritzing.. so I decided to put the
detangler in to the conditioner/water mix.. *shrug shoulder*, couldn't hurt, and I'm trying to reduce time. Man, I started with the really fat
loc's..
JESUZ!!!!! they took an hour to work through. whew.. I almost stopped at 4, but then I felt bad that I didn't meet my target, so I did one more and I completed 5 ( YEAH ME!!). I see right now.. the fat ones are going to be difficult ( and they are all in the middle of my head and on top of my head).
Day 5-July 15th
I visited my local grocery store during lunch and noticed that the VO5 conditioner was on sale for $1. I began to browse though the assorted varieties- and came upon " Tea Therapy" The chamomile is suppose to have a calming effect. So I jumped on it ( I'd started having anxiety attacks over the process.. it was getting to me- in a bad way). After work, I went straight home, ate dinner, got relaxed, and went to work on the next set of loc's. This time, I told myself I wouldn't count ( although I did) and I would take my time. Well I wet the loc's and sprayed them one at a time with the VO5 conditioner/water mix.. Baby.. I was working em out!!! I worked from 7p-11p and had taken out 9 loc's. Almost all of the front were taken down. I love the VO5 conditioner. its a little thicker than the Mane and Tail, and for this process- I think I rather use the least expensive of the two. Not sure if the Chamomile in the conditioner did its job with the calming effects- but I was calm.. and I found my rhythm. **Doing the cabbage patch**
Day 6- July 18th
OK.. today wasn't so great- its the day AFTER the wine fest and I was nursing a MAJOR hangover. *Note to self* taste the wine- don't DRINK IT...I washed my entire head- It was hot, I was sweating and I had been spraying conditioner in it all week so I figured I would wash my hair, and do as many as I could with a hangover. I worked from 2p-8p and I completed 8- the entire front is loose!!!!! I did 2 big twist on the loose hair and sealed the ends with Crisco ( yes, the blue can- CRISCO). I looked like Shirley Temple with the ringlets hanging from my face. My daughter came in and said " mommy.. your almost finished!!" All I have left is the back.. MAKING PROGRESS !!!!!!
Day 7- July 20thI've missed two days and I feel like I need to get this OVER AND DONE WITH. I came straight home, ate a quick meal- and got to working. I worked for 5 hours and had removed 6
loc's. The back is allot harder to take down- actually they are murderous. They are wound so tight and they are smaller.
Aggggghhhh.. I'm never gonna be finished ( *insert sad face*)
Day 8-July 21stI came to work feeling good and looking better. Until it was implied that my
loc's project a bad image. You can tell that my
loc's are gone in the front- I've been wearing my hair in a pony tail. One of my co workers noticed and lets just say- I found out what she really thought of me
rockin loc's (
click here to read what happen). I came home, hotter than Satan and immediately began to work on the remaining
loc's. I think I was so angry that I channeled that energy intro completing the take down. I didn't track how many I took down, I just worked until I was tired and out of energy.
Day 9 - July 23rdI have a few errands to run and I'm ready to get home and finish working on my hair. Its the start of the weekend and I'm determined- I WILL NOT GO TO WORK ON MONDAY WITH 2 HAIR STYLES (
locs in the back and a pony tail on the front- NOT GOING TO DO IT). I'm down to the final 15
loc's. I worked until 2am Sat morning- ( I swear if I'd started with the back- I would have chopped them all off- there is NO way I could have done too many more of these skinner, tightly coiled
loc's)..
Day 10- July 24thWe spent most of the day at the water park to beat the 110 degree weather. While at the water park- I noticed every
loc wearer- and there were plenty to look at.
OMG- I cant wait to re
loc. I'm starting to feel out of the circle-but its
ok- I'm out BUT NOT FOR LONG. I washed my hair- and two strand twisted the "loose hair", and sealed the ends with Crisco. I'm down to the final 9
loc's ( yeah!!!!!). I can see the finish line..
Day 11- July 25thI woke up with a mission.. Today is the day I will complete my
loc take down. I cooked breakfast and dinner at the same time. Doubled up on ice cold drinks turned the TV to First 48 and began to work on the final 4. The final 4 were stubborn- OH BABY! they weren't trying to go!!!! I realized after hours of tugging.. and picking that the last two rows in
the back were the ones I latched- That's why they are so
friggin tight!!!!
Anyhoo- It took me 6.5 hours to take down the final 4! Whew I got to the last one- I almost cried- I knew that once that last one was out- I would temporarily be out of the
loc wearer circle ( sad face). I almost kept it, then I was going to cut the whole
loc off as a memory- then I decided to just take it down. I called my daughter in the room and told her I was on my last
loc. She asked, "now that you don't have
loc's will you still make products?"- We'll of course I will- she smiled, and clapped and I begun to pick..pick..pick..pick.... ( fast forward 52 minutes) and it gone.. I no longer rock
loc's- I marveled at my hair.. Now I'm here with this big head of hair and suddenly, I'm confused.. I've been natural off/on since 1995- but I always kept it short. I plaited my hair and trimmed the ends, took the plaits out- moisturized and two strand twisted all the hair. Now what?? My friend
Kellee, and I exchanged 22 email over the last 11 days. She asked me " what will you wear for your debut" * shrug shoulder* I don't know- maybe a twist out- This day seemed so far away- but now its here- what am I going to do???
Debut New Hair Day!!!- July 26th 
Its Monday- I whipped out my new dress to go with my new hair. I'm feeling something sexy and fancy. I
un twisted the two strand twist I had did last night- and
errrrr.. ME NO
LIKEY.. I didn't look like the girls on You tube.. I didn't like it.. nope.. can rock like this.. So I took my water bottle filled with Coconut milk, water, and Aloe Juice and spritzed my hair.. Rubbed some Orange
Marmalade Hair Butter on each section... a little Aloe Vera Gel... Shuck.. finger fluffed- D-O-N-E.... I got big hair ( which is what I wanted) * doing the cabbage patch* I LOVE IT!!!!! I put on my hoop earrings to complete my style and a s
ista is looking and feeling like a million bucks ( **singing Uh You fancy huh?**):!!!!!!!!
