Welcome back to the present day here on Dirty Pretty Thangs! Hope you all enjoyed my throwback/hiatus week. I had a bunch of stuff to handle in preparation for the very first day back to school for Ike n’ Tina. Got most of that done, and anything not done will get done. I’m not about to stress over it.

One thing I started while I was on my blogging break was taking my locs out.

Yep, you read right. I’m taking on the arduous, labor-intensive, ridiculous task of combing all my locs out. At the very first mention I made of letting go of my locs, my friends everywhere mad a collective gasp heard across the Innanets. All I could do was laugh. They’re all acting like the world is ending and I’m thinking to myself “It’s just hair”. I mean, because it is just hair. My hair became a “community event”, as my friend Curtis so aptly put it.

Then came the questions. I got tired of answering them because there were so many! A lot of repeats, too! I decided to answer some of them here on the blog for posterity.

1.) Why did you decide to take your locs down?
The only true way I can answer that is “because I wanted to”. That’s it. I’ve had my locs for five years. I just want to do something different now. I was going to wait until my next big birthday (2013) and do it, but I feel like I’m in a place of profound transition right at this moment, so I’m doing it now.

2.) Can you really comb them out? I thought you had to cut them all off.
I’ve done a lot of research online about this “comb-out” method of letting go of locs. Some people say “no, you can’t comb them out” and other say “yes you can” and there are even videos of the process. Click here and here to check out two that I found helpful. I decided to give the comb-out method a try. I figure if I muck it up too badly, I can always cut them all off and start fresh. Again, it is just hair. But I would prefer to have some hair. I want to try different loose natural styles. Besides, the cold months will be here before you know it. That’s not exactly the time of year I want to be rocking a baldy.

3.) How long will it take to comb them all out?
I have no idea! I read one blog post where it took a lady 2 weeks. I imagine mine will take much longer. I have what seems to be a gazillion locs on my head, as mine started out kind of skinny, but got thicker with the locking process. So far, it’s taken up to 45 minutes to pick one loc apart. And yes, it’s only “picking” it apart. There is no way you can comb through a loc. That just ain’t happening. I’ve been using the end of a very cheap pair of rat tail combs. I broke one already, so I’m sure the other doesn’t have much mileage left in it. They hurt my fingers and chip my nail polish, which I hate! I ordered some dental/sculpting tools to use instead:

Hopefully I don't impale myself.

4.) How will you wear your hair during the comb out process?
I’m not sure. So far, I’ve put the combed out sections in two-strand twists and left them there with the other locs covering them. I guess I will have to get more creative as I get more hair loosened. If anybody has any suggestions for camouflage hair styles for me to rock, send them to me!

This is all I've done so far.

5.) Are you going to stay natural?
Of course I am! I have absolutely NO desire to straighten my hair. I’m not even thinking about a flat iron or a pressing comb, let alone some hideous relaxer (no offense to my Relaxed Lovelies). That’s not even in my game plan. I was natural for a year before I started my locs because I was completely done with the 20 years of chemical straighteners and burning my scalp and hair. I definitely plan on staying that way. I will say that hair dye is not completely off the table, considering the rate at which my gray hairs are popping up.

6.) Did you lose a lot of hair during the comb-out?
I don’t think I did. I mean, not anymore than I would shed on any other day. My hair has been locked into itself for five years. Any hair I lost was probably dead anyway. I’m happy with the way it’s going. I have plenty of length left.

Not too bad. It feels strong and healthy. 4A Curl Pattern on deck.

There’s always the possibility that I will loc again. I’m certain I won’t make them as small as they are now. I love(d) my locs. I’m just ready for a change. Luvvie says I should make a video showing ya’ll how I comb them out. If YouTube weren’t so damn uncooperative with me, I totally would. If I ever resolve my issues with YouTube, I promise to make a short clip for curiosity’s sake. In the mean time, I’ll be taking pictures!

If you have any questions of your own, feel free to drop them in the comments. I promise to answer.

Thanks for reading and wish me luck!