But I know I'm a minority in the department because there are a lot of brown girls that don't know how to swim and ain't tryna learn. AND a lot of them (cough, my friends) live in Florida. Living in Florida and not knowing how to swim is such an oxymoron to me. But anyway....
I plan to swim a lot more this summer since I've semi-joined (aka using my co-worker's visitor pass) a YMCA. I love running but sometimes I want to get my work-out in via swimming and so that means coming up with a swim hair regimen. When I jump out of the pool, here is how the locs look:
Nasty, uh? It's a whole bunch of build-up. And don't ask me what from because I don't know!! The good news is, these two products have been zapping the build-up beautifully.
Yes!! I LOVE baking soda. I mix it with a bit of castile soap and it really eliminates the build-up quickly and thoroughly. It's 10x better than apple cider vinegar because it don't stank!
I also received a sample of this...
I'm going to do a formal review of it on Clumps of Mascara but I really like it. It doesn't leave my hair as streaky clean as the castile soap and sometimes that's a good thing. Castile soap can cleanse a little TOO well.
After shampooing, I run olive oil through the locs and then seal the moisture with a bit of Oyin Handmade's Greg Juice. Greg Juice has some glycerin in it and helps to lock that moisture in.
I'll re-twist the front row of locs with aloe vera gel and let the rest air dry. And that's it!! I can't believe how easy it is. I'm sure when the locs are even more mature, I won't even have to re-twist the front row. I just do it because they look a little too rough for work the next morning.
So yes! Swimming with locs is surprisingly simple. The bad news is, if I'm going to be swimming a lot more, that means I can't get a summer color like I wanted.
Let's see...
Colored locs OR burning a good 500 cals swimming laps for an hour?
I'll take the swimming for $200, Alex. ;)
17 comments:
ya swimming would be what i chose. Also your front locs dont look like they need a retwist, im almost at 10 months and cant wait til i dont have to retwist when my hair touches water
Thanks for this post! I’m currently natural and I have been contemplating getting locs, but I was waiting until I finished my triathlon in August before I started the journey. I figured training in the pool two to three times a week was not a good time to start locs. I will definitely refer back to this post once I start my locs and want to continue swimming.
I absolutely love swimming more now that I'm loced! I don't have to sit on the side of pool and just put my feet in for fear of one droplet of water getting into relaxed hair.
yay! another avid swimmer! ;-) I too have been swimming since I was a kid, on the swim team etc! I do my morning swims at the gym and do the afternoon swims outside so I can get a nice even tan too, ha! I've just been using the tresemme deep cleansing shampoo with vitamin c to wash and it's working fab!
GoHard---> You might be right. I think I'm re-twisting out of habit. I'm going to not re-twist next time.
LC---> Awww, yaaaay! I would love to do a triathlon. The swimming part would kill me though. I am forever out of breath. HA!! Please check in and let us know when you start loc'ing up!
LL---> Loves iiiit!
Goldilocs---> Alriiiight, you're a super swimmer. Holla!
another pro for having locks! Thank God for locks and thanks for sharing, now i have some ideas on what to do when i go swimming. lol, i get the joke :)
Girl, we have the same tattoo in the exact same place!!! I have a small ankh on my shoulder blade (I know yours is in the middle). You better not have a butterfly on your ankle!!
Anyway, I love to swim too but I don't do it as often as I would like. I enjoy water aerobic classes when I can get to the gym and I love not having to worry about getting my hair wet. A swim cap is so not cute! My husband loves water parks so we go to one every year.
Ijele---> Muah!
Mrs. Honey Dip---> Dang!! Tattoo twins! I have a star on my ankle and 3 other random tattoos. I need to just stop.
OMG saved from the apple cider vinegar!
Enjoy the water.
I grew up around water, and I love swimming. My locs are almost a year old and, unfortunately, I didn't get to swim at all last year. I'm correcting that this year, though, so thank you very much for the hair care tips!
I came from the beach yesterday. I have long locs and my hair texture is really soft..so after all the water and sun. my hair was crazy in the front needless to say I had to do some major washing with Dr. Bronners peppermint soap retwisting (shea butter). Thanx for hair care tip I never used baking soda in my hair I will try that the next time.
Thank you for your post. I appreciate the information. It is very helpful especially since I am a Florida girl too. Your info will give me a more of a reason to go swimming with my children more b/c I too have dreadlocks (10 years and going). Thank you again.
Love this article - I'm natural, not loced yet (not ready, but love locs on others), and I think this might help me as well.
Used to swim all the time - worked summers as a lifeguard from mid-way through high school all the way through college and beyond. I miss swimming - no pool in my community anymore due to budget cuts.
Great article!
Thank you for the tip, but how do you mix it? How much baking soda and the soap stuff? I am having some build up issues now and I gotta work on it. It would be great to be able to use something other than apple cider vinegar.
What do I do my sista?
Coletha---> I'll do a post on it but I simply add a bit of castile soap in the palm of my hand and follow it up with bakin soda. I always have more baking soda t han castile soap.
i've been struggling with this. i used to be a swimmer in highschool (yep, only black girl on the team. but i was a beast!). id have braids or rock braids sets during swim season and just deal with the dryness somehow. i started locking in college and stopped swimming altogether - i was too nervous about what the chlorine would do to my locs! fast forward 8 years and i have long, thick healthy locs that ive cared for myself consistently. i miss swimming SO much and know that going back to it would address recent weight issues cause its my favorite exercise. i twist every other weekend so maybe i can start swimming once a week, do this rinse (thanks!) and see what happens??? you've inspired me!
thanks darling for the information! admittedly, i'm one of the many sistas who don't know how to swim (gasp!)...but i just signed up for my first swim lessons and am stoked! funny, i never even thought how my locs would be after actually putting my head under the water (gasp. shriek.) i just assumed that these lovelies would be just as fabulous after and they were before. thanks for the baking soda tip...i'll add that to the shopping list with the new swim suit (eek.)
Post a Comment