I just realized something...

I am almost at the 2 year mark with my locs...my babies are growing up *tear* In three months it will be 2 years since I started this incredible journey! My hair has come such a long way...

Here are some recent photos of me...I will post better ones soon.

Why I don't blog as much as I used to...

I think I am not as amazed by my hair as I used to be. It's not new anymore. I still love it, but I have gotten used to it. I guess you could say that the honeymoon phase is over and my hair and I have become comfortable with one another. What's crazy is, it seems like the less I notice my hair, the more other people pay attention to it. It has been a year and 5 months since I started my locs...they have progressed so much! I will have to post photos sometime soon. Other than that, school and belly dance have taken over my life. I have a few more weeks until graduation, so I have to really get focused and crank out these last assignments (one of which is a 15-17 page paper). I have been overtaken by senioritis, so this last month seems like it is taking forever, and I feel liek I have a mountain of work to do. In the midst of school stress and job hunting, belly dance has been keeping me sane. If you want to know more about my belly dance experiences, you should check out my other blog. I JUST started it so I only have one post, but I will be posting on there more regularly than here for the next few weeks. The blog is called Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Girl and I am quite excited about it! http://shimmyshimmycocoagirl.blogspot.com I guess that is all for now. I just finished a paper and turned it in...I have more work to do though. Check out my other blog :)

Long time, no blog...

LIFE HAS TAKEN OVER! Gosh, I haven't blogged in forever. I am currently in my last semester of undergrad and that along with other stuff is keeping me quite busy. Here is a quick update... * I applied for Teach For America. I have my final interview on March 17th. Wish me luck! * I started taking belly dance classes on January 2. I have been taking then basically once a week (with the exception of a couple weeks when my classes overlapped; I took two classes a week). I am in love with belly dance. I swear, I'm both addicted and obsessed. * My hair has grown! I'm now at 1 year and 4 months. Other than that I don't have much going on. I have been submerged in school and belly dance as well as photography and poetry. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! I need a vacation desperately!

5 months later...

I finally decided to return to my iHome. I haven't blogged in quite some time. Life has taken over. I miss my blog though so I am making an effort to get back into it. It has been almost 9 months since I started this loc journey and I am enjoying it. I can't say that I've loved every minute of it, but overall it has been rewarding. At this point in my journey I'm ok with my hair...for the most part. I don't like the COLOR. When I first colored my hair I honestly wasn't in love with it, but these days I really don't like it. It's dull and boring. (Surprisingly, it's quite photogenic because it looks good in pictures...but that's the only time it looks good in my opinion.)So, it's time for me to go back to basics...I'm going back to my natural color. (Well, as close as I can get to it.) Stay tuned...I am making an effort to post more often, especially since I actually have followers (you all are awesome by the way). Thanks for reading!!! *Scissor free, comb free.*

1 month loc update!

Dreadlock Chronicles III

More photos by Tamara Madden

I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM!!! OK, I will try to calm down. I LOVE THEM! Tamara has skills, do you hear me???! This shoot came just in time. I was feeling a certain kinda way about my body, but this is a reminder that even though I am not at my ideal weight, I am still beautiful and my weight should not stop me from modeling. Thanks Tamara! It was a pleasure working with such a talented artist! Check me out in the Garden...Pangeas Garden Project http://thepangaeasgardenproject.blogspot.com/2009/11/jhavia-exotic.html

Photos by Tamara Natalie Madden

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE. I can't wait to see more of these lovely photos. Natural hair is versatile as hell. For this shoot, I four strand twisted my hair then bantu knotted the twists. It resulted in tight coils that I LOVE. I like how it looks, so I have been wearing my hair like this since the shoot. I think I will lock my hair using this method, because the coils look a lot like starter locks. Anyway, I don't have a bunch of pictures yet, so I will post more as I get them. Stay tuned!

Oldies but goodies

(Click to see full images) These are old pictures, but I thought I would post them anyway. This was taken in the beginning of 08. I have pretty much maintained the same length since 2006. Now I am ready to grow it out. My only issue is my edges. They are quite thin. They've always been a little thin, but micros took it to another level. So I am trying to grow my edges in thicker and overall grow my hair out. I am in the process of making lifestyle changes not for the sake of my hair, but for all of me, inside and out.

Bantu knot out

Since twist outs haven't been agreeing with me lately I figured I would do this instead. This was one of my favorite styles growing up. I like how it came out.
I just wish it were a little fuller- shrinkage aint no joke! It's all good though. It's my hair, and I love it.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

First co-wash and ACV rinse

Here are my thoughts: *i loved the co wash! I liked that my hair didn't go through this stripping and conditioning routine. My scalp and hair still feel clean, and I really enjoyed washing my hair with just conditioner. I will make this a part of my routine. *I'm not so sure how I feel about the ACV rinse. I don't necessarily notice a difference in my hair. I think I may have used too much vinegar. I used about 1/4 cup of vinegar in a little more than 3 cups of water. It seemed to me that the smell lingered after my hair dried. Its not noticeable unless you're all up in my head(is anyone besides my boo is that close they need to back up anyway!). I think that the smell may have stuck a bit cause I treated my hair with Glovers before I co washed.It's probably a combination of Glovers and vinegar. I'm so glad it isn't strong, cause that would be horrible! I won't give up on it yet though. I will try it again. I think it will be particularly good when I put my afro twists back in. *Speaking of afro twists, I read in Naturally Leslie's blog that she had them before. I thought I was the only one who called them afro twists! Lol silly me. I have been wearing them off and on for about 5 years- basically since I went natural. I love them. They are my signature style. *I have decided to try the Crown and Glory technique with my afro twists. I will probably retwist my hair this weekend. My plan was to wear my hair out, but I don't have time to style it every day and I would like to have it in a protective style. Maybe I will just wear it out during holiday breaks. *I tried to post pictures on my blog today but photobucket would not cooperate. So I will try again, probably tomorrow. *I have become a NHJ- natural hair junkie. Its an addiction now. I read about and look at pictures of natural hair all day. That's all for now.

My trusty twist outs can't be trusted anymore

I haven't been happy with my twist outs lately. In the past, I would blow my hair out and then twist it, but since I have been attempting to take better care of my hair I haven't used heat on it. I hate blow drying my hair anyway. Anyway, I decided to do a bantu knot out instead. I will see how I like it when I take it down. I am trying hard to be patient with my hair. Almost every day I think about locking it, but I know that deep down I really want to accomplish this super fro mission. I do still see myself with locs down to my waist one day though. Meghan wants to take me to the barbershop to get a shape up. I'm not opposed to that; actually I kinds want to do that cause I feel like my hair doesn't make a statement and I would really like for it to have a nice shape. But I'm picky about my hair. I'm the only person who does my hair. Plus, I would have to blow out my hair to ensure that it gets cut into the shape I want, but I don't wanna put heat on my hair. We shall see what happens.

The Fro Chronicles-

I haven't been happy with my twist outs lately. In the past, I would blow my hair out and then twist it, but since I have been attempting to take better care of my hair I haven't used heat on it. I hate blow drying my hair anyway. Anyway, I decided to do a bantu knot out instead. I will see how I like it when I take it down. I am trying hard to be patient with my hair. Almost every day I think about locking it, but I know that deep down I really want to accomplish this super fro mission. I do still see myself with locs down to my waist one day though. Meghan wants to take me to the barbershop to get a shape up. I'm not opposed to that; actually I kinds want to do that cause I feel like my hair doesn't make a statement and I would really like for it to have a nice shape. But I'm picky about my hair. I'm the only person who does my hair. Plus, I would have to blow out my hair to ensure that it gets cut into the shape I want, but I don't wanna put heat on my hair. We shall see what happens.

i dont know what to do

My hair is in this weird in between length. I don't know exactly how long it is, but I don't have a TWA. My hair damn sure isn't long, so I don't know what to do. I trimmed it yesterday. It was long overdue. I hadn't had a trim since Feb. 08. Pitiful, I know. Right now my hair is in two strand twists. I don't like wearing my hair out like that cause I have a big head and I feel like I need big and/or full hair to be proportionate to my head. Also, my hair is thicker in the crown and softer and thinner in the back, so I try to keep that in mind when I choose styles. I am trying to keep from putting weave in my hair for a while. As long as I have been natural I never really took out the time to get to know my hair. I haven't worn it out for more than a week in 5 years. I usually keep it braided up, especially since I can do my own hair. I love that my hair is natural. It is WAY more interesting than straight permed hair. I have like 2 or 3 textures on one head. When I wash it, it shrinks so much that no one would know how much hair I have. It has personality. I am going to try to stay positive through this in between stage, I'm going to see what kind of progress my hair makes by Thanksgiving or Christmas break. If I am pleased, I will continue on my quest for the super fro. If I'm not pleased, I will loc it. We shall see what happens. As of now, the quest for the superfro is still on.

Fro Chronicles 2 and other shit

So I finally got the Glovers but I haven't used it yet. I also have Burt's Bees shampoo and conditioner, Dr. Miracle's deep conditioning treatment, and Shea butter. I don't know if I have ever been this excited about washing my hair! I am looking forward to wearing it out on a much more regular basis. I spent about $30 on hair care products. That's a lot for me considering the fact that I only bought 3 or 4 products. *You wanna know what really grinds my gears? It costs more money to have less stuff in my product. Say for instance if I order a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. It costs extra to add stuff to it but if I say I don't want the sausage do you think they will lower the price? Hell no! In terms of my hair, I can get moisturizer with Shea butter for $2, but pure Shea butter is $7! * Anyway, I will keep you guys posted on my hair progress. Today, all I did was put Shea butter, coconut oil and glycerin on it. Which leads me to my next post...

it's the 'Fro Chronicles

I want an obnoxiously large 'fro. Like block people's view at the movie theatre large. So I am on a mission to make my hair grow. My edges have been damaged since I had micros a couple years ago, and my mom recommended that I use Glover's mange to get my hair to grow. She warned me that it stinks. At this point I really don't care about that. I just want my hair to be healthy. So my plan is to buy some and use it on my hair and scalp at least once a week, then grease my scalp with Sulfur 8. I am hoping that this will help my hair to grow as well as combat my dry scalp and dandruff. As soon as I get the stuff, I'm gonna take me twists out and put the Glover's on my hair at least 1 hour before I wash it. I've read reviews on it and supposedly it works. My mom used it before and highly recommends it, so I am gonna take her word for it. Stay tuned. I may even dare to post pictures.