Thailand Holiday

Hi there I have been missing in action. So where have I been? I went to Thailand to an island named Koh Samui. I flew via Thai Airways who offered exceptional service.  The flight was around 13 hours to Bangkok, then another 1 1/2 hours to Koh Samui, then 15 minutes to the Hotel.  Average temperatures were 40 degrees which was a blessed relief after all the cold winds and rain of England lol

I needed some real sun and vitamin D on my bones...  and boy did I get it. There was no difference in day and night temperatures, with little wind and the humidity was very very high.


This is me on the balcony of my hotel getting ready to go down for breakfast then the beach.



On the beach getting some vitamin D. It was 40 degrees in the shade, lovely.



We stayed at the Centara Grand Beach Resort in Samui, this is an area of the lobby. see here for more information http://www.centarahotelsresorts.com

On a bed and breakfast basis. This Hotel is on a quieter part of Chaweng beach but outside the hotel there are many shops, banks, bars and restaurants.

All the rooms in the Hotel are beach facing ours was a deluxe with balcony and 2 chair beds with lovely white foam cushions.

This is the series of fresh water pools which were always clean. and refreshed nightly.  There is a bar  and an outside Jacuzzi. 

This is another part of the entrance. apparently the Hotel had suffered major floods the year before but you could not tell at all.  Staff were always washing, cleaning and painting to ensure the upkeep of the Hotel.

Everywhere on the road side are these shrines to God to protect travellers on their journeys.  people put candles, food, drink, money and lights on them and they are never defaced. Drivers hoot their horns when passing as they can not take their hands off the steering wheel to pray.

This is me on an island tour at Viewpoint which had these large rocks.  This was the first time I can say I got some breeze during my stay and it was wonderful!

This Monk died and was some how naturally, perfectly preserved, he even had RayBans on lol

This is the entrance to the Temple of the mummified Monk.

Koh Samui has 2 Waterfalls, this is me in front of the smallest. They also did Elephant riding here.

This day like every day was blazing sun.  If I remember correctly I walked up 161 stairs to get to this statue which is called Big Buddha.

How was my hair? This was the first holiday where I can say my hair did not fair too well, especially if I left it out during the day.  I realised quickly that the humidity was too much for my locks, they seemed to swell, puff and open therefore got damaged easily.  So I wore my hair up in a variety of updos, when swimming in the sea and also on rinsing.  At night I might leave some hair up and some down just to keep me cool as there was no difference in the day and night temperatures.  It was hot hot hot! I can empathise with those of you with locks and who reside in humid countries.

I love sea food especially Lobster yum yum

Of course no meal is complete without a drink and here I am, this wine came after the Campari aperitif and before the Champagne lol

I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday to Thailand Koh Samui and if time permits, as you know my holiday list is long, I would love to go again and I would stay in the same hotel.

Hope you enjoyed this post and don't forget to let me know that you are there and comment.

Kittylocks x

Client Feature, LupinTraditional Locks

Hi all I was blessed to meet up with an old friend who asked me to maintain her traditional locks. She travels a lot to sunny climates and swims a lot so there was much regrowth lucky her..

I shall call her Lupin.

 This back view shows her below shoulder length, red traditional locks

 The time passed so quickly as we were catching up with one another.  Here the side view shows her parts are visible again.

Another happy client.

Hope you liked this

Until next time, happy hair.

Kittylocks x

Day of the Goddess 2012

Well it was that time of year again when it was the Summer equinox so I attended The Day of the Goddess 2012 held at the Unity Centre. See here for more details http://www.dayofthegoddess.co.uk/ It was a women only, no men, no children event. A day for celebrating the Goddess within ourselves.  Organised by Redhed Qi above, a poet, performer, singer, designer and much more...and entailed inspirational speakers, workshops, poetry, singing performances and an indoor market selling traditional clothing, jewelry, bags, food, skin and hair care products, books, tapes and the list goes on. Here are some but not all of the Goddesses present. The moto of the day was "I am present, I am enough"

Above is Aama Sade co organiser, and is qualified to conduct celebrations and wore this beautiful outfit and compered the event. She also designed 4 sets of Vision Affirmation cards for Transformation, Self Reallignment, Unionship and Feelgood. 

This picture shows Redhed Qi presented with flowers in the middle with Aama Sade, to her right and Sister Doctor Sandra Richards phd on the left in gold and black.

 Sister Doctor Sandra Richards describes herself as a "Sister in service" and has authored books such as "The Journey" which is a self development work book, "The Way We See it" which examines the educational experience from an African perspective.  She and her Sister closed the day with an inspirational talk that struck a cord in both tears and laughter.

This is Yvonne Douglas and she is a life coach and counselor and authored her personal memoires of her life story  and struggle entitled. " Hungry for Love" and available from Amazon.  She was asked to read a random passage from her book which was very thought provoking. 

She was supported by her beautiful Daughter. Yvonne made both of their outfits too.  I have already placed my order for her book.

This drumming group got the house shaking and dancing.

 They put their heart and soul into the drumming.   It was really good to witness their skill and enjoyment.
Their drumming inspired a fantastic impromptu, cultural dance from a performer.

Below is Sister E from http://www.thecalabashhub.com/ in a

 traditional outfit and seller of natural skin care products such as Shea butter and garments and bags from Ghana.  She wore this outfit with pride wow.

 Ebele shook the house with laughter in her workshop with her performance. "One yam for a star" will be forever etched in my memory.  I am laughing just thinking about this poem now lol

 Lacey Indigo Adigwu sang so beautifully that I ran out immediately to purchase her ear rings and her CD entitled "Love is Where You Are".  She had a lovely, clear, earthy voice and is a great guitar player.  Her spirit shone through her performance.  

Bashiyra The -Voice is a singer and performer and she rang out a song that got down to my bones, this is the only way I can describe it.  Find her at http://www.bashiyra.com/ She is performing in her production "You Haven't Seen Nothing Yet" on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd April at the Broadway Theatre in Catford. This is also a fundraiser event for the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust http://www.aclt.co.uk/

This is Solariss she is a dance instructor and she can be found at http://www.bellydanceuk.com/ she had us shaking our stuff in a belly dance that spoke to my spirit as well as my body, so much that I started sweating and have emailed her to include me when she starts her belly dance classes.

I hope I have given you a taste of Day of the Goddess 2012, no disrespect to any one not captured here, I was having such a good time that I forgot to take pictures lol.  Don't miss out on Day of the Goddess 2013.

In the words of Day of the Goddess " I am present, I am enough"

Until next time

Kittylocks
x

52 Months

Hi all my sisterlocks (TM) are now 52 months old. This picture was taken after I used a clarifying shampoo to remove all products and before I used a leave in conditioner.

I washed my hair in large braids which I took out after 1 day when my locks were dry.

My locks have condensed a lot and they continue to grow still in layers but I am learning to be grateful for what has been given to me.

I hope you like this length check.

Kittylocks x

Client Feature CK (Unlocked Hair)

Hi all I love all things to do with hair so here is CK. She has below shoulder length natural hair (30 years). No relaxer or weave has ever been used.  Up to 1 year ago she wore wigs and braids. She has not had a trim or cut in many years as she is not an advocate of scissors!

Every 6-8 weeks I wash, deep condition and blow out her hair.

The above picture was taken in October 2011.

Here you can see her length on starting to blow out her hair. I used a medium heat, ionic hair dryer with a pik attachment (not bone straight.)

3 months later, January 2012 after washing, deep conditioning and separating her hair ready for blow drying.  There are no products in her hair yet but you can see just how shiny and luscious her hair is.

I used a special product to blow out her hair (more on that later) ...wow her hair has really grown. 

It needs a trim, maybe 2 inches but I wont do this until the summer (if we have one) as hair tends to grow quicker in the summer.

 Side and top views of her cain rowed hair style.

The back of her hair shows her sweeping design. I used cain rows going across at the nape of her neck and across her temples to protect her hair line and where there was previous damage.

I wonder if she will come over to Sisterlocks(TM)?

I hope you enjoyed these.

Kittylocks x 

New Years Eve Hair Style 2011

Happy New Year.  I wanted to share my New Years Eve hair style with you. This is me about to attend a Ball.  Excuse the boots I was driving and could not drive in my heels.

Of course no Princess is complete without her shoes so here they are with real fur and see through heels.  I managed to dance in them for a couple of hours before I had to change into a lower pair lol

My locks were freshly washed and braided in large loose braids the night before to give the crinkly look.  After undoing, I did 4 large twists at the back taking the hair up to the crown and securing each twist with locks as I find pins uncomfortable as they either scratch my scalp or my hair pushes them out.

The front of the hair was wrapped back and tucked under leaving a side fringe.

I am still loving my hair and look forward to creating even more styles in 2012. Hope you enjoyed these. 

Kittylocks x 

4 Years

I am celebrating because it is 4 years since the birth of my Sisterlocks(TM) If only I knew then what I know now. Just how easy it is to have long hair that I know how to care for myself instead of being a prisoner of the latest hair dresser who promises so much but lets me down every time. The wasted hours spent sitting in a chair whilst a few people put their hands in my hair not knowing who if anyone was qualified to do so and finally leaving either with a style that looked lovely until I slept on it and could not re create it or going home to get the scissors out to start cutting and shaping my style into something I felt comfortable going outside in. Anyway all that is behind me now and back to the present I am celebrating 4 years of total freedom.

As usual I am trying out some new styles. Below are freshly washed locks left straight, sides and front pinned back using long hair pins and leaving a side fringe.

Back of the same style. I know there is a name for this but cant remember it now. Hair was taken from each side to make a large braid to the nape and fastened with elastic. Next time I will use something more fancy.
I have settled into a routine of tightening the front of my hair every 4 weeks as my hair has a loose curl it stays neater if I keep to this routine, then tighten the whole head every 8 weeks.

In terms of washing, during the summer I wash weekly and during the winter if it is cold then I wash monthly yes you heard me right I am back to my old habits lol If it is not too cold then I wash fortnightly.

I never use a hair dryer on my hair.

I am still using Aiken shampoo, conditioner and hair mask for coloured hair as I like the way they make my locks feel.

Below is my favourite, sides loosely pinned up on freshly washed and curly locks.  I braided my locks when damp the night before.

Back view showing the diamante pins used to hold back my locks.  These pins are too short now and my locks tend to push them out.  I need to investigate some longer ones or I just might make my own.

Now I am into year 4 I don't know if it is my imagination but my locks went through a phase where they retracted and seemed slim and now they appear to be swelling again. I think this is unusual as we are in winter here in England but it is very mild so this might have something to do with it.

Any way I am ready with the wraps and hats for when the weather becomes colder. I wont get caught out like last year when we had the worst snow in over 100 years.  This cost me some breakage to my locks. Its funny I can never find the pieces when they break, I wonder where they go?

I hope that year 4 continues to bring lots and lots of healthy hair and more growth.

I would also like to thank you all for visiting and for your support and comments, long may it continue.

Until next time Kittylocks x