Locks 4 Life - Atlanta Styling and Profiling

Hey Blog Fam!

I have a new client Ms J with beautiful traditional locks. I washed, retwisted and styled her locks. Here is what I came up with. I love the curls on her hair.

So I changed up a bit

Hey Blog Fam!

During the summer months I have been a bit lazy and I free styled my hair almost the entire summer. With the ATL heat who wouldn't? So last night I decide to rod my hair with my soft spikes and just hit work like. Wrong! I took the soft spikes out and I finger combed it to ride to work. Then I got irritated by the curls in my face and I half way braided the front out of my face. Then when I got home and was preparing to go see the nutritionist I just say forget it and came up with this. Yall know I love me some flowers in my hair so don't ride my back too hard about always putting a flower in my hair trying to look like a fly Mamacita..Fuego (Like T Pain says).

Speaking of Nutritionist I must tell you guys about my transition. I just joined Lifetime Fitness (which I love) and I am doing a total make over. I have 35 pounds to lose. You may say where but please believe it is all in my hips. The nutritionist even said that she couldn't believe how much much my body fat was and that I carried it well. If that is supposed to be a compliment... no thanks I don't want it. I discovered that I wasn't eating enough calories (Thanks Weight Watches). My body at rest is burning 1,683 calories and by the WW standard I was only eating 1,200. My body was in starvation mode so no matter how much exercise or how many days in the gym I was spending I wasn't losing anything. I am now on a 1,900 calorie plan eating 7 small meals a day with 2 strength training days and the rest cardio. I invested in a heart rate monitor and a new attitude :) I have to do so something to get this extra weight off of me. We had a little too much fun in St. Kitts. I brought back a nice tan and an extra 5 to 7 pounds. Dammit!

I also purchased a new compact powder. For those who don't know I have had the hardest time finding a compact powder to compliment my complex skin tone. In the summer my red tones are more pronounce but the golds and yellows are still a factor. Any other time my red tones are a little less pronounce. I was in Toronto and went into Sears ( I know I tripped out too. Buying makeup in Sears) and the lady referred to Iman. I tried this Luminous powder number 4....Baby let me tell you, that I love it! It gave me a nice glow without that bronzer look. It is great!! I was in the salon in Lifetime fitness and the lady behind the counter was like you skin is beautiful. Thank you!! Now you know it is good when the ladies at the Spa compliment your skin. Thanks Iman. Here are some before Iman and after Iman shots.

Guess what I got.....

Hey Blog Fam!

After washing a client's hair who had major build up in her locks in my kitchen sink I said NO MORE. I went out and got this baby....

That's right...Locks 4 Life-Atlanta will be offering shampoo and conditioning services as well as styling so come and get you some. Notice the extra wide bowl for those with long hair and short hair alike. I have my contractor scheduled for Sept 6th. I can't wait!! I will not wash anyone's hair in my sink EVER AGAIN. The build up that I saw last week was TOO MUCH to handle.

On to another topic...after all of that fun in the sun and salt water I had to come home and get busy conditioning my locks. I noticed my locks were a little dry from the sun so I did a deep conditioner on my locks and they feel much better. I also noticed I have some bunched ends that I will be snipping today. Check it out....Yall like my tan?? I am also trying to work on my retightening but I am so busy...

I still have the grays in the front and I don't think I am going to mess with them for a little bit. The rinse only lasts maybe 3 weeks but since I was in the salt water I am guessing maybe 2 weeks at the most. Did you guys notice I still have some two headed dragons that I haven't snipped yet?

I also purchased some new art for my studio. This guy by the name of David Patterson created some wonderful works of art. They are exactly what I needed! One is called evolution and the other nubian locs.

I'M BAAACKKK

Hey Blog Fam!

I know I have been ghost for a moment but now I am back. My hubby and I spent out 7 year wedding anniversary in St. Kitts (my father's birthplace). It was a very relaxing 7 days. I needed that!! I have been working so hard that I almost forgot how to relax. I just switched jobs and I have been working my business Locks 4 Life-Atlanta so I haven't had much time for relaxing. Check us out in St. Kitts!

My Salon Visit

Hey Blog Fam!

I have been craving some what of a change with my hair for a little while now. I even contemplated whacking at my locks and starting over with comb coils. I get like this every couble of years so I had to think of something quick before I chopped at my hair. So I thought I would treat myself to a salon visit for Demi color and style right. Demi is a semi permanent hair color that covers gray and provides a nice rich coating right. So I called this morning and surprisingly enough the receptionist says that the loctician has a 3:30 PM availability. Wow this must be faith especially with a opening on a Saturday at such short notice. Okay so I get there and I am in the parking lot talking to my hubby.

Me - Ah hell this is a regular permie salon. I am so hoping she is not going to have me waiting.

Hubby - Well just go in and see what the deal is and I will wait.

Me - You know I am not down for waiting on a stylist especially when I have an appointment.

Hubby - Well babe just go and see what's up

Me - Ok

So I go in and I speak with the receptionist. Who is unaware of who I am and my appointment and she quickly calls another stylist who comes up walking like yeah you are the 3:30 PM for so and so. Yes I am, I replied. They ask me to take a seat and I wave my husband to leave because I assume my stylist will be right out since I had the attention of the receptionist and another stylist. So the loctician comes and greets me and we chat about what I am looking for. I tell her I don't want to lift my hair color because my hair has become so soft that I am so sure it will unravel at the slightest sign of chemical. She agrees and we decide on a semi permanent hair color. She then says today has been kind of crazy so if you don't mind waiting I will be with you in a second. Then she says if you want to go and get you something to drink or eat from the restaurants down the walk you are more than welcome to do so. COME ON NOW!! That is the secret shop code for girl you better find something to do until I finish this head. Why in the hell did I look at her chair and she was just blow drying this woman out with a brush?? Ah Helll! Then I start reading a magazine and mind you this is 3:50 PM my appointment was at 3:30 PM. I look up again at 4:00 and she was just pulling out some flat irons and straighting the lady. Now we all know that is about another hour on her head until she gets to me. At this point I am furious. I am not accustomed to waiting in anyone's salon and I am a loctician myself so I expect MORE. So what did I kindly do?? I texted my husband and told him the deal. Then I politely got up and walked out. That's right! I walked my behind down the walk like I was going for something to drink and phoned my husband and told him to pick me up. He arrived about 7 minutes later and I was out of that bad boy. I didn't tell her anything. Nothing! Her site states that she is professional and that she expects a call if you will be more than 20 minutes late. Well hell what about me? I am sitting in your salon waiting area for more than 30 minutes and you don't even have me in the chair yet. I don't think so. I can't stand that type of service. That is why my clients can expect to get right in my chair as soon as they cross my threshold. I bring them to the chair and I ask them if they would like anything to drink. I fulfill their drink order and I get started. No if ands buts about it.

So what did I decide to do? Well I high tailed it to one of the neighboring beauty supply stores. I purchased some gloves, some plastic caps, and some semi permanent hair color. Here is the bottle.

I got home and washed my hair and proceeded to put the semi permanent color in myself. Yup that is right I am under the dryer as I type this post. I just don't have patience for the typical salon experience anymore. I really wanted to treat myself but hey I expect to be serviced upon my appointment time not an hour later. That is one of the reasons I decided to go natural anyway.

Barack Obama's Message to our Black Fathers

Hey Blog Fam!

I usually don't get into politics too much because that can be a messy subject at times. I couldn't help but smile this morning after reading Barack Obama addressing our absent black fathers. Get em Barack!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/15/obama.fathers.day.ap/index.html

This message was right on time as my nephews are currently suffering at the hands of absentee fathers. One father is off in Iraqi fighting a idiotic war. The other's father just doesn't care and lives in the same city but never calls, visits, or supports. I sure hope Obama's message was received. It is time for our families to heal.

Braid, Band, Separate

Braid, band, and separate! Braid, band, and separate! Everyone say it with me BRAID, BAND, and Separate! Every good consultant / trainee preaches this to their clients. We even show that old 20 year Sisterlock™ video that demonstrates the technique. This simple routine during every wash could save you a bundle in cash and in time. If you have relaxed ends it is even more important for you to take extra care and braid, band and separate. Why is it so important for my relaxed end sistas? Well for one with relaxed ends the pattern is more susceptible to slip down the hair strands due to the relaxed nature on the ends thus you have SLIPPAGE. With slippage and your new growth your roots will be plentiful which allows room for matting at the roots. . Matting is what hair wants to do anyway so if you don’t separate you will have a matted mess with locks on the ends. I have a client I will call her Mrs. Cool Runnings with lots of relaxed ends. Don’t worry she knows that I am using her as an educational example for my blog community. Mrs. Runnings’ hair strands are thicker than most that I have experienced plus they have a S curl pattern. Well Mrs. Runnings needed a retightening after 4 weeks. Now mind you I checked her for her two weeks follow up and she was doing awesome just like I expected. What I saw at the retightening was this which is the pic on the side

At first glance you would say oh the back is not that bad just normal growth right. Check out this middle section. Now Mrs. Runnings has a very different hair texture in the middle of her head and her hair there grows SUPER fast. LAWD HAVE MERCY! Lookie here……

Once I examined the individual locks more closely the pattern appeared to be working it’s way down the hair strands but tangling while doing so. So my diagnosis is a combination of slippage and fast hair growth. You would say great for the hair growth right? I would too but what I experienced to get to her scalp was stressful for her hair and scalp. MATTING!! Yes! Mrs. Runnings insisted that she separated after every wash.

I made sure to be extra careful when separating but I was stressed because I didn’t want to harm Mrs. Runnings by pulling out strands of her hair at a time. My goodness it sounded like Velcro. I was so scared that I would harm her…I just pulled out my scissors and clipped the single strands that were remaining once I ripped the locks from each other. While I was retightening those sections there were still hairs hanging out with each other which caught on my tool and caused her to yelp a couple of times. Well the otherwise 4.5 hour retightening took me 6.5 hours due to me separating and snipping frequently. With those types of hours here where they charge by the hour anywhere from $25 to $30 that can add up. So my sistas save yourselves some time and money Braid, band and separate! Don't worry I charge a flat fee so Mrs. Runnings is all good now...check her out...

I love my client Mrs. Runnings, her hair is allowing me to learn and grow as a consultant and a loctician. So thank you Mrs. Runnings for allowing me to use this information and your photos to help other consultants / trainees and clients.