One is lacquered. I still take it out, though. The other is just a piece of cedar branch that was hollowed out. I don't wear it that often, but if I do, I definitely make sure I don't wash with it. I did once, and it took over a day to dry, even when I took it off right after I washed.
I have glass beads. Never had a problem with them. But there was a member a little while ago that recommended taking a hammer to it if it got stuck there. They claimed that if you covered the lock in a plastic bag first, it would contain the shards of glass. Just sounds like an all in all bad idea to me. And as for the 1 wooden bead I have, I always take it out when I shower, and would recommend it to anyone else, for the same reason you said. Same goes for ceramic beads
They do tend to thicken up as they mature. But the thin ones form for a reason. if you only had thick ones, there'd a be a gap between locks back there. The thin ones fill in that space, and make your hair have more volume andgirth
Eagles right, though. Only one of them can be called thin. But even that one isn;t thin compared to ones I and Eagle have.
It all depends. My hair use to grow about 3-4 inches a year. Really slow. Once mine matured, they seem to grow outrageously fast. I think it has to do with how you took care of your locks before you started and how you do now. I never cared much for how healthy my hair was when it was straight. Now I pay more attention to it. Healthy hair grows faster.
But you will still go through periods where it slows down because the new growth at the roots will get sucked in a need to tangle. This will slow it down a bit for a few weeks or month or 2. But then they grow fast again. It's an ever changing process.
Your hair still grows at the same rate. But it may not always look that way because the new growth gets tangled before it looks like it's as long as it just grew
lol. I love the title. Yes, this is completely normal. Most people lose between 1/3 and 1/2 their original length. This is because your hair needs to knot and tangle to lock. if you took a string that was a foot long, and balled it up and matted it, it would shrink to just a few inches. The same thing is happening to your hair. But because there are hundreds, to thousands of hairs in each lock, it doesn't shrink as drastically. But it still shrinks. Don't worry about. As the wax comes out, you may gain some length, just cause the wax was preventing locking. So some hairs will come loose. But as they tighten again, you'll probably lose that length again.
Locks go through a few stages. First they start to shrink. Then they look like they aren't doing anything. No more shrinking, but not growing longer either. Then they explode with growth and just won't stop
Ok, cool. From the maps of hard water in the US, it looks like you've got some moderately hard to hard water.
There are easy ways to make your own distillery so you can remove the minerals from your water. All it takes is a big bottle, or 55 gallon drum (if you can get your hands on one), about 10 feet of hose or piping that you can coil, a smaller water container to catch the pure water, and some black and white paint.
Outside where you get the most and longest sun: Raise the bigger container about 3-4 inches off the ground, attach your tubing to a hole in the top, coil it to that it's only about 3 feet long, attach it to the smaller container on ground level. Paint the big container black to absorb heat, and the tubing and small container white to cool it down. Make sure the connections between the containers and tubing at tight and you're all set.
You could also buy distilled water. Not sure where to there. Not sure if natural spring water would work, but it might. Ask Eagle.
Or, to make life all the easier, you could just buy a soft water filter for your shower head
So, you can wash with BS any time you want. You could have straight hair with BS if you wanted. So start with your next wash.
But... If you have hard water, it can be a bit problematic. Sorry, I didn't check first. Where, abouts, are you at? Different areas have soft/hard/very hard water.
Hard water, if you don't already know, is water that contains undissolved minerals. This makes it hard for some soaps to dissolve completely. Dr. Bronners and BS are 2 that don't work well in it.
Get get yourself a container and mix 1/2 cup BS to every 5 cups of water. Then mix in whatever oils you like. I prefer to use a bottle because It's easier to shake and break up the BS. Your this on your already damp head. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Then rinse it off. For young locks mix about 1/2 a Tbls in the bottle of water. For mature locks, mix about 2 tbls, or so, in the water. Add your oils. Shake and pour. For baby locks rinse it off right away. For mature locks let it sit for 3-5 minutes then rinse.
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/index.php?AID=122110
This site has an excellent selection of oils. Most Whole Foods, should have a good election too. Trader Joe's has a few, but not many. Other natural foods/health stores may have some to look through.
For washing, Dr. Bronners is good, but doesn't rinse out well in hard water. And being from Jersey (Not sure what part, though), you might have some hard water issues. BS/ACV is always good, but again, doesn't rinse out or dissolve well in hard water. Bucks County Soap has a great selection of soaps in liquid and bar form. They are designed to mix and rinse out in any type of water. They're definitely worth looking at.
If you want to grow your hair a bit faster, Biotin supplements are good. It's a natural supplement that helps your hair grow faster and thicker. Talk to Heather for more info on it.
Ok. Back. So there are 2 Tbls per 1 liquid ounce (US). In my 8 ounce bottle, there are 16 Tbls of water. So there should be about .5 tbls of salt.
Well first... You don't want to spray your hair with sea salt unless you plan to wash it out within 2 hours. Salt dries out your hair and scalp, which is helpful, but too long an exposure and you can make your hair brittle, your scalp break out, and everything itch out of control. So wash, like you said, wash 2 times a week, but only use the salt those same 2 times a week. Spray it on. Let it sit for about an hour or 2 and then do your normal wash.
I have an 8 ounce spray bottle. I add a descent squirt of Jojoba oil, about 10 drops of Teatree, 10 or Rosemary, and a couple of peppermint. Then just a dash of salt. Fill the rest of the bottle up with water. And shake well before each use. Sea water is about 3.5% salt. So you want your spray to match that as close as possible. Eagle might know the exact measurement. I just tweaked mine till I found what worked best. When I have time, I'll do the math and figure out how much there should really be.
As for wanting locks that are roughly the same size, just separate them so they don't get too thick. They will naturally section themselves pretty evenly, but just keep on top of it. About 1-2 times a week is good once they start to actually tangle. Don't worry about it for the first little while. Just wash and relax
