Loc Rocker

The locs are still a rockin'

2012-02-24T09:30:00.000-05:00

Hi lovelies!

Just droppin' in to say "hello". The locs are still a rockin' and I've got a photo shoot coming up in a few days so that means recent pics. Yaaaay!

Have a wonderful weekend!

LocSpotlight: Larger Locs Love

2012-02-06T16:07:00.001-05:00

Hi! It's me. I know. Pretend like I haven't disappeared for a good month, okay? I still owe you a 3-year update and I promise that will be coming sooner rather than later.

I was strolling through Tumblr and came across a pic of these gorgeous locs.

Beautiful, right?

Satin hats: Perfect for Loc'd Ladies in Colder Climates

2012-01-04T15:34:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all! Happy New Year! I hope 2012 has been treating you well so far. I spent the Christmas holiday in Maryland with Esposo and the in laws. Most of you all know I'm a Florida girl, right? That means I complain when the temperature gets below 70 degrees. Such was the case during my visit. While I've been in much colder weather, I was cold enough to want to cover my head during most of the trip.

I am always getting questions about protecting the locs during the winter and this is one topic I can't speak much on simply because, uh....I live in Florida. Where winter doesn't exist. A few weeks ago I found this amaziiiiiing website that has satin lined hats and scarves.

Be still my heart.

I need these. I need all of them. For one, they have so many different adorable styles. And satin is so much better for our locs. Scarves and lint-y hats can result in the dreaded lint and we all know how much that sucks. The satin, however...locks moisture in and can prevent your locs from getting dry and brittle. Those with longer locs may struggle with trying to stuff their hair into these hats but still, protecting the crown from Jack Frost is better than nothing, uh? Must.get.these.

Hatsome has a sale going on too. You can snag most of these hats for $25. Not a bad price. Granted you could sew satin pieces in your own hats but I'm one of those "I'd rather pay someone else to do something I'm too lazy to do myself" kind of peeps.

How do you protect your locs during the winter months?

Oh, and speaking of winter. It was 30 degrees last night here in Orlando, y'all. 30.

*faints*

Guest Post: Loc rockin' for 5 years

2011-12-26T15:10:00.000-05:00

Say hi to Amelia from Wilmington, Delaware!

What Amelia says, "I've been natural for 6 years and locking my hair for five.

I usually experiment with a lot of different products, but my main staples are Carol's Daughter's loc butter and organic root stumulator olive oil shampoo, replenishing conditioner, and spray."

Such beautiful locs!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T15:25:00.000-05:00

I know the politically correct term these days is "Happy Holidays" and I use that too but for some reason, I felt inclined to say Merry Christmas! I'm in Maryland spending my first Christmas with the in-laws and I'm having an amazing time.

Lots of love to you and yours this holiday season!

Miriam's bangin' styles!

2011-12-24T13:14:00.000-05:00

My girl Miriam is back with some beautiful hairstyles done by her amazing loctician, Ebony.

Hotness!

And check out the beautiful curls....

Go Miriam go!

I brushed my locs!

2011-12-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

Okay...before I get started with this post, I don't want y'all to think I came up with the "brushing of the locs" idea. Several loc'ers do this and I just happen to be another one that is jumping on the bandwagon.

While I have found brushing my locs and scalp to be a heavenly experience, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Especially to those who are super anal about the lines in their scalps. Considering I'm a part-time freeformer who could care less about straight lines, brushing works GREAT for me. Although I've heard about the concept for awhile, I don't know what inspired me to actually purchase a brush. I was roaming around in Sally Beauty Supply one day and just scooped one up.

Speaking of brushes - do you know it's been over THREE years since I've felt one on my head? That's a long time yo. Long long time. That said, I forgot how wonderful a soft bristled brush can feel. Lawd. It's like heaven, y'all. Heaven. When I purchased said brush I made sure it wasn't too rough 'n tough. I didn't want to risk my locs snagging.

After washing the locs one morning, I brushed the scalp and gently brushed some locs.

It felt divine. It felt like a much needed scalp massage. So much so that I didn't want to stop. Brushing is the bomb dot com. Fo reals.

Pro's
-It feels amaziiiiiing on the scalp.
-It's a nice little treat for your locs.

Con's
-Can damage baby locs or those with looser textures. I wouldn't even consider this idea until your locs have completely matured.
-May disrupt loc lines on scalp.

I'm not sure what the benefits are brushing the locs. It's really the scalp that I like to focus on. I usually like to spray a bit of water on my scalp before brushing and get to it.

So yeah. That's that, y'all. Have you ever brushed your locs? Or would you?

Guest Post: 19-month old locs.

2011-12-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

Stacie from Houston did such a gorgeous curly look with her 19-month old locs.

She used perm rod rollers to complete this look and I am loving the addition of the red flower. Beautiful!

Want to submit your photo to LocRocker.com? Email it to me at Brittany@LocRocker.com.

Guest Post: Regina's fly locs

2011-12-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

Regina is from Dallas, Texas and she's been natural for 15 years and has been loc'ing her hair for 7 of those years.

According to her, she doesn't use a lot of products but sticks to olive oil and Organic Root Stimulator's Lock and Twist Gel.

Gorgeous queen. Gorgeous!

Want to submit your photo to LocRocker.com? Email it to me at Brittany@LocRocker.com.

Asha Mandela and her super long locs

2011-12-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

(source)

What say you? Think you'll let your locs grow that long?

Natural hair Barbie dolls. Sooo cuuuute!

2011-12-15T16:31:00.002-05:00

How adorable!

I'm not even going to front, y'all. I played with Barbie dolls up until I was in 6th grade. My sister was 5 years younger than me and while I ended up giving her all of my Babies, I would still get down on the floor and play with her. Aaaaand of course there were not any natural hair Barbies back then. I actually own one that does have an afro and I am so excited to see more hit the scene.

She's so fly, ain't she? Huffington Post reported that you can actually re-create the curly fro hairstyle by following this tutorial. If I'm lazy enough I just may sit down one afternoon and curl my straight-haired graduation Barbie's hair. Read more on what a natural hair group in Georgia plans on doing with some of these natural hair Barbies.

I love it. I just love it.

(image source)

Loc Spotlight: Thick 'n beautiful freeform locs

2011-12-14T10:15:00.002-05:00

A reader sent me an email saying that even though I'm not blogging as often anymore, she would love to see other loc rockers highlighted on the site. What a fantastic idea! The innanets are full of beautiful photos of loc rockers and I would love to highlight the ones that I come across. In addition to featuring some of you, I will also be doing my own searching and posting pictures of beautiful loc rockers; men, women, adults, kids, anyone....

Feel free to shoot me your photos or some of the photos that you've come across. Keep in mind that I will only post pictures if I can source it properly. If there isn't a watermark, link to the loc rocker's page, blog, website or profile, then I won't post it. Gotta give credit where credit is do.

That said, how gorgeous are her locs?

(source)

When I go for my second set of locs, I will highly consider the larger freeform look. These are gorgeous!

Long hair DO care

2011-12-12T15:55:00.002-05:00

The other day I posted the above picture on the Loc Rocker Facebook page and said that I was just itchin' to cut my locs off.

Folx went off and told me not to do it. I'm so dramatic. As annoying as these longer locs are, I doubt I would cut them all off. I never vowed to wear locs for the rest of my life, but I'm really not ready to cut them. But I'd be lyin' if I said having longer locs is fun.

Because it ain't. I SO miss my shorter locs. I really do. As a newbie loc'er, I spent a lot of time desiring and admiring longer locs. I couldn't WAIT until I got there. Now that I'm here, I feel like I should revisit the shorter locs.

Is that a bit insane or what? I know. I'm nuts. Truthfully though, I've never been a long hair lover. Some women are head over heels in love with loooooong hair and really, it does nothing for me. It's shorter hair that I find is chic, memorable and funky. Okay and let's face it - shorter hair always makes me look slimmer in the face. Yes, it's a vain illusion but I feel like my cheekbones do some serious poppin' when my hair is up. But when it's down....*yawn*

I'm not in the mood to do curls because I've been doing some sweaty workouts so the curls will just die in sweat. And as far as coloring, believe it or not, I'm not in the mood for that either. I hate that I'm in such a funk with my locs when tomorrow they celebrate THREE years.

Maybe I'll be a good blogger and actually do a video and take some pictures. Yep. I think I will.

Any other loc'ers going through that "My hair is longer but it's boring me" phase?

Hey y'all!

2011-11-27T20:47:00.001-05:00

Hiiii! I know. I totally dropped off of the face of the e-planet. Just on the Loc Rocker side though. My other blog Clumps of Mascara is still alive and swinging. Every few months I go through this "thing" where I stop finding inspiration to blog about my locs. And it's not because I don't like them but...I run out of things to say. Unlike a lot of loose naturals, I don't "play" in my hair much. I wash it, twist it (or not) and leave it alone. Sometimes I'll throw a style up but nothing that I thing warrants a formal post.

I find that I'm not the only loc blogger that has this "disappearance" problem. A lot of us just stop blogging because well...what else is there to say? I hope to grab onto some inspiration in the new year. My goal is to revamp Loc Rocker and make the navigation easier. That way, whether I blog daily, weekly, or monthly, if you're looking for a product review, or pictures of how my locs looked when they were 4 months old, you will be able to find it. Easily. I will also have contributing writers that are open to blogging about their experiences, styles, products, etc.

But who knows what could happen. I'm a dreamer and visionary and Loc Rocker can only get better. I won't let the site die but at the same time, I just don't see myself blogging regularly on it. But I am open to suggestions and ideas. I would love to let you know what I think.

I WILL definitely be blogging about my 3rd year anniversary which will be coming up in a few weeks.

Love y'all,
B
Brittany@LocRocker.com

Loc Rocker meetup at Central Florida Natural Hair & Beauty Expo!

2011-10-29T12:50:00.002-04:00

As I type this, the 2nd Annual Central Florida Natural Hair & Beauty show is in full swing. Those that won tickets have been contacted and while I won't be there on Saturday, I certainly hope to see some of you guys and gals at the Loc Rocker meet-up on Sunday at 2pm. Come hang out with me and fellow loc rockers, fans and supporters of LocRocker.com.

Can't wait to see y'all there!

Naturally Pretty video promo includes Loc Rocker!

2011-10-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Okay, ATL...if you didn't know about it, there is a HUGE natural hair event that Mae from NaturalChica.com and Mimi from MimiJOnline.com will be hosting. Considering it's a a beauty AND natural hair fusion, I am just a little more than jealous that I can't attend.

Buuuut, I'll be there in spirit. The planning team asked me to represent for the loc rockers in their promo video and I was happy to oblige.

The full version will be shown at the event and tickets will be available until Wednesday, October 26th. If you are in Atlanta, you HAVE to make it to this event. Details here.

Natural Connections-October 2011

2011-10-24T11:25:00.000-04:00

So yes, yours truly was one of the hosts for the inaugural Natural Connections event. I was contacted by the wonderful T.Gaines of T.Gaines Entertainment. Apparently he heard from others that I was the IT GIRL for natural hair in Orlando. Uh...I don't know 'bout all of that but I was honored that he asked me to be a part of what appeared to be a great idea.

How was Natural Connections going to differ from other natural hair events? Our vision was to have an event that combined a classy Girl's Night Out with an educational and interactive forum surrounding natural hair. I've been to several natural hair expos, meetups and educational seminars but never something as classy and fun as Natural Connections. And I'm not just saying that because I was a part of it. ;)

The event was held at Tavern on the Lake, a nice restaurant/night lounge here in Orlando. Vendors were selected and placed on the perimeter of the lounge. That way, no matter where you started circling the room, you were close to a vendor. Vendors included natural hair stylists (including my girl LaTonya at Estah Locs and my other girl Jill at Jill's Natural Hair Studio), jewelry designers, t-shirt businesses, natural hair products and Cake in the City, a fabulous brown owned bakery.

Each vendor at the opportunity to address the crowd and talk about their salons and businesses.

Hair hairstylists were showing off some of their work.

From there, guests networked, chit-chatted with each other, enjoyed bangin' music, devoured delicious cupcakes and enjoyed drinks at the bar.

Within an hour into the event, Ms. LaTonya and I acted as moderators for the Question and Answer segment.

That was hard for me. I much prefer to be behind the scenes. Am I good at public speaking? Sure. But do I like it? Uh...no. Especially not when wearing heels. A little known B fact is that I absolutely HATE wearing heels. The entire time I stood up there, questions kept plaguing my mind.

Do these bright lights make me look fat? Can anyone else notice that my overactive sweat glands are hard at work? How do I stand? My nose itches, should I scratch it? Can anyone else see that I'm wearing Spanx? How many calories are in those cupcakes? Am I talking too quickly? Why does my voice sound so whiny?

Y'all, my head was NOT in the game. But I pulled it off nonetheless and could not be happier to run off that stage and give it back to our comedic host, Devery.

Afterwards, I spent my time taking pictures and hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in awhile.

And meeting new ones.

And showing off the adorableness that is my mentee and bragging about my friend's fascinators.

I thought Natural Connections was extremely successful and I can't wait to link with T.Gaines Ent to do another one. My guess is that we had a good 200+ in the house. My numbers could be off, but we had a grand time!

*Special love to my mentee Mariah who took some of these pictures.
*More special love to LaTonya who gifted me with a present.

Loc Style: Reina

2011-10-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

I can't wait to revamp Loc Rocker. I'm ready to move on to WordPress and provide a secondary menu bar 'an everything. In a perfect blog world, on this secondary menu bar, I'd have a tab called "Styles".

In that tab, I'd list a ton of loc styles. Ones that I've done, submitted ones, styles for guys and styles for those with 2 month old locs to 10-year old locs. Ah yes...I can dream, can't I? Maybe we'll see a Loc Rocker revamp in 2012, uh?

Anywhoovers, the Natural Connections event was absolutely amazing. Thank you to those that came out and supported. I'll do a formal review of the event but I wanted to shoot y'all pics of my hair style that night. I wanted to take pics BEFORE I went out, but this was a good 4-hours after partyin'.

Yeah. It was definitely cuter and more put together before. I call this Reina, which in Spanish means "Queen". I'm not sure where I got the idea from. I was just staring in the mirror and it came to me. Or maybe I've seen it somewhere before. I don't know. Either way, I dug it.

Oh, my bra strap said "Wassup" ;)

Natural Hair Event: Richmond, VA

2011-10-18T10:03:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late in posting this but if you've got a free weekend and live in or around the Richmond, VA area, be sure to stroll by this event. It looks like they've got a lot planned and I know a great time will ensue. If you go, let us know!

Giveaway! Win tickets to Central Florida’s 2nd Annual Natural Hair and Beauty Expo

2011-10-17T11:06:00.000-04:00

Y'all knew this was coming, didn't you? What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't give away tickets to the largest natural hair event in Central Florida? If you remember, last year I went to and covered the event and had an amazing time. The organizers have been working extremely hard to make the event bigger and better. This year, the Expo will be spread across TWO days instead of just one. Yea mon!

If you are in the Central Florida area (or plan to travel) and would like to attend, I am giving away FIVE tickets to the Expo for Sunday, October 30th. If you won't be in the area but have friends or family members who WILL be, let them know about this giveaway.

Here's how you can win:

Simply leave a comment in the post saying "I want tickets!" OR email Brittany@LocRocker.com with the subject "I want tickets!"

For an extra entry, LIKE LocRocker on Facebook.

Additional Rules:

-One entry per person

-Contest ends Monday, October 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm EST

-Winner will be selected at random

-Family members/personal friends of B are not eligible

-In the event that a winner does not respond in 3 days, another person will be selected

-Click here for additional rules and regulations for giveaways hosted on LocRocker.com

If you have any questions, email me at Brittany@LocRocker.com. Good luck!

Product Review: Uncle Funky's Daughter Rich & Funky Moisturizing Cleanser

2011-10-12T12:47:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been in the play around with different products mood. Which is completely uncharacteristic of me. Despite being a beauty blogger, I am the opposite of a product junkie. I don't like to spend money on anything until I run out. However, that has been anything but the case with shampoos. I've been on the hunt to find some new and great ones!

First up is this guy...

This isn't my first run-in with Uncle Funky's Daughter. I've tried their Glossy before and have visited their super crowded booth each time I visited the World Natural Hair show. I've always had my eyes on their shampoo and when I was offered the opportunity to give it a whirl, I couldn't turn it down. Simply put, this shampoo is the bomb diggity! I usually have to wash with two kinds of shampoos. A clarifying shampoo and a moisturizing shampoo.

While some may argue that using a clarifying shampoo each wash may not be a good idea, my locs beg to differ. While I love how clarifying shampoos REALLY cleanse my scalp and locs, they usually leave my hair brittle and dry. That was the main reason why I stopped using castile soap. Rich & Funky Moisturizing Cleanser does a phenomenal job at putting that moisture back in my hair. Which, by the way, is a MUST for folx with color treated hair.

The shampoo has a light fragrance and lathers up nicely. Like everything from the Uncle Funky's Daughter line, it is free of parabens and sulfates.

It's a winner and is on my list for shampoo's that I love. I do, however, wish that UFD was sold in stores internationally. Unless you can find a salon that sells it or you manage to scoop it up from trade shows, your best bet is getting it online for $15.50 for an 8 oz bottle. Oh...and that's another thing. I so wish that the bottles were in larger sizes. An 8 oz bottle of shampoo may last 3 shampoos tops.

What do you think? Have y'all tried this shampoo yet?

Disclosure: I received this product to review. While I was not paid to present a positive review, I wanted to review it simply because...I liked it. For additional information, please visit my Disclosure Policy.

Orlando Natural Hair Event: Natural Connections mixer

2011-10-10T12:29:00.000-04:00

Yours truly has been working alongside a very talented event planner to bring about a unique natural hair event.

Natural Connections has the education and excitement of an expo with the setting and vibe of a grown and sexy-type joint. I'm super excited about this! I know if you all could attend, you would but if you have any natural lady (and guy) friends in the Orlando area, please oh please send them this info.

Also, if you are a natural hair blogger, editor or vlogger and would like to be placed on the VIP list, let me know.

Y'all pray for me. I'll be MC'ing for this event. And I don't even know how to do such a thing. Luckily, I'll be MC'ing alongside my loctician! I haven't seen her since January so I need to make sure the locs look extra nice so she doesn't shoot me any side-eye's. I want her to know that I am taking good care of the locs that she started off almost 3 years ago.

Stay tuned for pictures!

It's time to dye. Agaiiiin!

2011-10-07T14:38:00.003-04:00

Sooooo, I colored my hair again! Weeeee! It's been a few months since I've done some color. I think the last time I did a dye job was in April. That's almost 6 months ago. Wowsers!

So yeah...it was time.

I battled between doing it myself and going to my loctician but honestly, y'all...I save SO much money doing my own hair. And yeah, a loctician can do it better but whatev...I'm not that bad. Despite not distributing the color as well as I would have liked to, I still think this is by far the best color job I've done. My hair was left ridiculously soft and the color took better than I expected.

Here's what I used...
I went to Sally's and scooped up the following:
-Clairol's Permanente Deep Conditioning color in 8RN (light red-neutral brown)
-A hair dye brush for mixing and application
-Clairol's Developer in 40
-Proclaim Neutralizing Shampoo
-Clairol's Jazzing Sheer Hair color in Racing Wine
-Gloves
-Plastic shower cap

I spent less than $30 on everything. The entire process, however, took a good 2 hours. Don't think that this is something that you can do in an hour or so. You really need to take your time. In fact, I wish I would have taken MORE time when it came to application. Because I didn't, a few of my roots didn't get the color. Is is noticeable? Only if you're realllly up in my scalp. It doesn't bug me too much but I know that if I would have invested a few more minutes, I would have gotten everything.

Although that bleaching experience scarred me, I am kinda grateful for it. Because my hair is so light at the top, I can deposit color without any problem. Eventually the bleached locs will grow out but for now, I kinda dig 'em.

I did equal parts of the color and developer. I kinda just plopped it all over but I wish I would have been more meticulous with distribution. Kept the color on for a good 40 minutes, rinsed it out and washed with neutralizing shampoo a good 7-8 times.

The biggest hair crime you could ever make would be not rinsing all of the hair dye out. This is especially crucial for us loc rockers. Trapped hair dye can continue coloring/eating away the loc and you're left with damaged locs that eventually pop up off. And yep...I know this from experience. After 7-8 shampoos and rinsing, my locs were super crunchy. I've been testing (and loving) Uncle Funky's Daughter Rich and Funky moisturizing shampoo and used that to put some moisture back in the locs. This is one dynamic shampoo for color treated hair. It left my locs so soft that I didn't even feel the need to follow up with a conditioner. Also, I've been washing my locs with cold water. A veteran loc rocker told me to give this a try and my locs feel 10x softer than when I wash them with warm water. I followed up with Jane Carter's Leave-In Conditioner. Theeeeen I retwisted the roots without product, sat under the dryer for 30 minutes with heat and 10 minutes on cool and was done!

See how I've got one spot that's super brown and the other areas near my edges aren't AS brown? Poor color distribution. I'll do better the next time I color. I just had to DO something because the dark roots were driving me nuts. Oh! And as far as the faded pink locs...I only did that to a few of them. I always require some kind of pop and that Racing Wine gave me just that. I want to re-dye those locs again as I don't think I left the the dye in as long as I should have. The color should have taken a little better. I digs 'em nonetheless.

I've come along way with my dye jobs. I've learned a lot. Oh another note...I think I'm going to go back to semi-freeforming. I miss the afro roots. A lot. There was something special about these...

I want them back. Back they will come.

XOXO,
B

The Coil Review asks "Is shea butter okay for locs?"

2011-10-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

Do y'all read The Coil Review? Yours truly is a big fan and I was recently quoted in one of their articles. Head on over to check it out. In the meantime, I'd like to get some feedback from y'all...

Have you ever used shea butter on your locs or WOULD

you use shea butter on your locs?

My answer: Triple no. My locs takes any kind of thick butters and creamy conditioners and turn them into build-up. When it comes to moisture, I stick to water, light oils and leave-in conditioners.

What about you?

Upcoming Natural Hair Events!

2011-10-05T18:36:00.000-04:00

There are sooooo many natural hair events on the horizon. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I will share a link to Afrobella and Thank God I'm Natural's websites as they have a great list of all of the shows. If you are in one of the following cities, check here and here to find out about upcoming natural hair shows and expos.

-Tampa, Florida
-Orlando, Florida
-Atlanta
-National Harbor, Maryland
-Savannah, Georgia
-Hurst, Texas
-Frederick, Maryland
-Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
-Greenville, North Carolina
-Killeen, Texas
-Houston, Texas
-Las Vegas, Nevada
-Newark, New Jersey
-Kansas City, Missouri
-Chicago, Illinois

---I'll return with detailed info the events that I'll be co-hosting and doing meet-ups at. Woot!