I Miss My Hair!

[*~Poohbear~*]

I'm almost 5 weeks into my loc journey and I miss my hair. I do not think I have the patience for locs. Everything has been going just fine...I don't really care about the fuzzies and the "in-between" length, I'm just getting very very very bored. I'm also not looking forward to retwisting my new growth over and over in the future. Given that I'm a low maintenance kinda gal, I would be better off free-forming, but I don't like the look of freeform locs. I miss wearing my big afro puff which really fits my face and head shape the most. So I may take my hair down and wait later on to do locs if I want to. I don't know yet. I'm still thinking about it. :blush:

[triniempress]

hey jess, i been following your photo album for about 2 years now, lol! i LOVE your hair, it's so beautiful, both you and your napptural hair. i just read this post and i was really surprised to see that you even considered locing. you seemed to love your loose hair. but i totally understand you missing your hair and thinking maybe it's not for you right now. when i started this set last year, about 3 months into it i considered taking down my locs cuz i felt i did not enjoy my loose naps enough. obviously i decided against taking them down, even tho here and there i think about bc-ing again, but i think if you are having thoughts that you want to enjoy your loose naps more, then you should do so and wait until you feel totally ready...

[bluenude]

if you are having doubts so early in then i would definitely encourage you to wait until you're ready. that way you'll never regret your decision. locs aren't for everyone and that's perfectly ok

[*~Poohbear~*]

Okay, I just took a looooonnnnnggggg look at myself in the mirror and have decided to stick with locs. I started locs for a reason, and that was to get away from constant styling of my loose natural hair. I was tired of using a comb for my hair. Even though I liked seeing the different styles I did with my natural hair, I did not like doing them all the time. I began thinking about everything that I have done over the pass 2 years with my natural hair, and I have come to the conclusion that retwisting my newgrowth every 3-4 weeks is better for me and my lifestyle than styling my loose hair into 3-4 different styles every week! While I miss my big afro puff, I don't look forward to stretching my hair out with a comb only to see my afro shrink back down in a couple of days. I believe locs are for me... I just need some encouragement and I need to just stick with looking at pictures of locs for inspiration. I also need to just focus less and less on my hair and focus more and more on myself. Thank you ladies for your responses.

[100cacao]

Hang in there Jess if this is what you want to do. Remember that in time you will be able to do pretty much everything with locs that you would with loose hair (except maybe a loc-fro but get some small rods and that's possible too). I think of my locs as just thicker strands of hair and don't feel limited style wise.
Once you are into your journey for a while you may also change your mind about freeforming. I did not like the look (or what perceived to be the look) at first either but as my hair gets longer I love the fullness and fluffyness that having thicker loose roots gives my hair...and the roots are so soft and nice to touch giving you some of that hand in fro satisfaction back. I set a short free form challenge for myself and it has been great and I've gotten many complements on my hair. Just a thought....

[delleaux]

I'm almost 5 weeks into my loc journey and I miss my hair. I do not think I have the patience for locs. Everything has been going just fine...I don't really care about the fuzzies and the "in-between" length, I'm just getting very very very bored. I'm also not looking forward to retwisting my new growth over and over in the future. Given that I'm a low maintenance kinda gal, I would be better off free-forming, but I don't like the look of freeform locs. I miss wearing my big afro puff which really fits my face and head shape the most. So I may take my hair down and wait later on to do locs if I want to. I don't know yet. I'm still thinking about it. :blush:
[/b]

There is nothing wrong with what you are feeling. The important thing is doing what makes you feel good inside. Locks are not for everyone. Some jump right into it and there are others that take it slowly. No matter! It is your hair and it is a woman's right to change her mind if she wishes. :D

[KnottyAuthor]

yep, follow your instincts..you definitely have to be good and tired of loose hair/ damage or both or definitely commited to wanting locks...I was the former. Sounds like you are still in love with the feel of your hair! Atleast you had a great grow out challenge for almost 2 months! your hair should be singing!

[iggystar]

A newbie's 2 cents. I miss my locs! It took awhile to get used to them, but I grew to love the versatility and how long they got.

I find with women who are courageous in this society, we don't mind chopping it all off if we don't like a style anymore. That's what I did with mine (I had problems). But trust me, I've got the phone number for my loctician because I really want locs agaig (once it grows out enough).

[naturalcd]

Okay, I just took a looooonnnnnggggg look at myself in the mirror and have decided to stick with locs. I started locs for a reason, and that was to get away from constant styling of my loose natural hair. I was tired of using a comb for my hair. Even though I liked seeing the different styles I did with my natural hair, I did not like doing them all the time. I began thinking about everything that I have done over the pass 2 years with my natural hair, and I have come to the conclusion that retwisting my newgrowth every 3-4 weeks is better for me and my lifestyle than styling my loose hair into 3-4 different styles every week! While I miss my big afro puff, I don't look forward to stretching my hair out with a comb only to see my afro shrink back down in a couple of days. I believe locs are for me... I just need some encouragement and I need to just stick with looking at pictures of locs for inspiration. I also need to just focus less and less on my hair and focus more and more on myself. Thank you ladies for your responses.
[/b]


I really needed to hear that. I love my babies but sometimes I miss the loose hair but looking back....I don't miss the constant styling! lol

C

[*~Poohbear~*]

Well, I took my hair down around 4am this morning. I felt like I was throwing myself away with wearing the locs. I felt like I was trying to force myself to like how my hair looked. While I was taking my starter locs down, I was singing and crying at different moments. And you know what? I felt soooo free after taking my hair down. I couldn't stop smiling. I did retain a good amount of length from leaving my hair like this for 5 weeks. I now look forward to just taking better care of my hair instead of styling it over and over. I'm also going to take a break from looking at hair albums so I don't get tempted to do different styles all the time.

[winter1820]

i geuss you can look at it as a protection style instead of starter locks

[congobrava]

Hey poohbear, sorry to hear you’re having second thoughts about locking, and I’m glad you’ve decided to stick with it. A couple of things:

You don’t have to twist so often – as you already know, and you don’t have to freeform either. Not all freeform locks look the same, so I don’t know what ‘look’ you’re referring to.

Also, don’t be fooled to think that you don’t have as many styling options with dreads as you do with loose hair. There are plenty of options to do things to your hair if only a person has the patience and courage to experiment and make it work. Styling locks doesn’t (nor shouldn’t) begin when the get longer.

I do wish you the best in your journey and if you still decide this isn’t the time for you to lock, that’s ok too.

[*~Poohbear~*]

Hey poohbear, sorry to hear you’re having second thoughts about locking, and I’m glad you’ve decided to stick with it. A couple of things:

You don’t have to twist so often – as you already know, and you don’t have to freeform either. Not all freeform locks look the same, so I don’t know what ‘look’ you’re referring to. [/b]The thing with me is that I do not feel like going through the trouble of separating my roots each time I retwist. And I know if I wait longer than 3-4 weeks, it would be more of a pain for me. My hair is very very tightly coiled and wiry. Separating merging roots and combining stray hairs will be too much of a hassle for me.


Also, don’t be fooled to think that you don’t have as many styling options with dreads as you do with loose hair. There are plenty of options to do things to your hair if only a person has the patience and courage to experiment and make it work. Styling locks doesn’t (nor shouldn’t) begin when the get longer.

I do wish you the best in your journey and if you still decide this isn’t the time for you to lock, that’s ok too.
[/b]
No, I was not thinking this when I took down my starter locs. I know locs have many styling options. ;) I've seen too many loc albums and loc pictures to even think that locs don't have as many styling options as loose hair. So that wasn't my concern.

Thank you CongoBrava for your post.

[KimGrayer]

Your loose hair is so beautiful and it really brings out the beauty of your face. ITA with the other posts that locs are not for everyone. I appreciate you telling us how you feel about taking down your locs. It is great to know that we can always change our minds if we want. If ever you want locs again, you now know what you will have to deal with and you will know what to expect.

[Imperial Locs]

i'm about a yr in and i miss my loose hair. But such is life i love my locs.

[Natural Kinks]

Eventually they wouldn't have merged nearly as much as your hair matured. There is a significant difference for me now then there was when I first started. Sounds like you just weren't ready and that's okay.