one step forward...

900 bazillion steps back. I am freaking out. The original title of this post was going to be "LOC EMERGENCY!!!!"

{big sigh.} So. I had planned to wash my hair today. You already know how apprehensive I was about doing that since my hair gets so frizzy and it is now so short. But I was ready for it, so I decided to do it today. No big deal.

Then, I saw something... I can't even remember exactly what I saw or where I saw it. I guess I have blacked out from the trauma. I can probably claim temporary insanity. So. That something was the "towel rub method". I've heard of it before and never really paid it any attention. Until today. I watched videos and read their comments and threads. I looked up and read articles. It seemed pretty awesome for a couple of reasons. One- dries your hair faster :) And two, it tightens your locs up super fast and super tight. The videos looked simple, and showed that the method worked, so... I mean, I was going to wash my head anyway, right?

{Another big sigh.}

Oh my gosh, I could cry. I HATED this experience. First, I started rubbing the wrong direction. :'( I don't think there's any going back after that, though I did try. In the video where I got the most information about this method, the guy rubbed his locs in the shower with the shampoo in it, and again when he stepped out. My hair felt so weird after I rubbed it in the shower. Kinda crunchy, and definitely thick! I conditioned it, which may be one of the reasons my hair... well, we'll get to that.

So I started rubbing the opposite direction, hoping I could still pull it off. I looked down at the shower floor for the hair that the guy warned would be everywhere, but was not prepared for it. Aside from random strands, there were little balls of hair, small knots and clumps... all over the shower and the towel. Some were clinging to their brothers and sisters, but their grip was slipping...It was so sad to see. I mean, the whole point of locking hair is to keep it all together, right?? Hence the LOCK part. Anyway.

So I stepped out of the shower and looked in the mirror and was shocked at the havoc I had wreaked on my hair. There was a whole patch in the front of my head that the locks had come out! COME OUT! un-twisted and unlocked. I just had a little puffy fro! Right in the middle of my head. And yes, as anticipated the frizz was a mess. More so than I could have imagined. The rubbing had caused the beds to creep... {Big sigh again} If I were to leave it alone, oh, I don't know. I'm so bummed devastated. I tried to seperate that little fro into a couple of twists, but I don't know if there were only two locs there, or if there were more. And the fact that they are going to have to start from scratch again upsets me so much! {deep breath. Keep breathing...} Oh well... Not much I can do about it. I don't see April again for another 3-4 weeks, and I am not making an emergency visit. The hair, itself, might be able to be pulled off as some kind of semi loced, natural hair thing. It could be cute, I'm sure, I just don't have the eyes to see it right now.

:( I guess this is where the patience part comes in, but I'm so sad!

Here is a glimpse, after I tried to salvage what I could.

 

So, the back and sides don't look so bad from the pictures. I guess cuz I had been seperating the beds and twisting what I could. But I don't have any clips, so I didn't really retwist. And I can probably handle the front some, so maybe my initial reaction was a bit much... Hmmm. Things are looking up already, lol. Guess I will have that organic look for a while, whether I want it or not!