Pictures taken during the Winter of 2009.

I must confess, guys, that I have seriously been considering getting a perm. SERIOUSLY. And, the issue is manageability. My hair is becoming increasingly more difficult to manage. I have ridden the wave though and decided against it - at least for the time being. But, I am definitely in another phase of this hair journey. The old ways are not working. I have to tweak my hair regimen and make this next phase easier to manage.

Peace and hair(grease) yawl!

increasingly more difficult to manage. I have ridden the wave though and decided against it - at least for the time being. But, I am definitely in another phase of this hair journey. The old ways are not working. I have to tweak my hair regimen and make this next phase easier to manage.

Peace and hair(grease) yawl!

Hello, ladies. I am back and so excited to be here! It has been over a year. Let me give you a quick update...

Let's start with Great Clips (a franchised hair nightmare!). I ran into one road block after another with this company and with an unsympathetic legal system who says, "it's just hair!" Well, I didn't give up. Here is what I decided to do instead. I took a break from the Great Clips battle and decided to focus more attention on building my business and website. Not only will this help me generate more income, but it will expand my reach. Currently, my personal website (business - not Fotki) achieves somewhere in the line of 3,000 hits per month. As the site grows, of course, so will those numbers.

There are various ads being designed to promote "the cause." They will be highly visible throughout my website. In the end, I decided it would be better to embarass them on a worldwide spectrum, rather than attempt to convince an unsympathetic court system just how detrimental this company's actions were to me.

Thanks for all of your support and kind words since all of this started, Ladies. You all will never know how much I have appreciated your support! Well, here is to a new chapter in my life and my hair book. We are approaching a new year with a new president. Things are going to get better. In honor of a fresh start, all of my old pictures have been retired. The good news is that my hair has grown considerably over the past several months. I'm going to do my best to get on top of picking up from here and capturing my hair journey in still photography, once again.

It's good to be back!

Nottylock :)

after another with this company and with an unsympathetic legal system who says, "it's just hair!" Well, I didn't give up. Here is what I decided to do instead. I took a break from the Great Clips battle and decided to focus more attention on building my business and website. Not only will this help me generate more income, but it will expand my reach. Currently, my personal website (business - not Fotki) achieves somewhere in the line of 3,000 hits per month. As the site grows, of course, so will those numbers.

There are various ads being designed to promote "the cause." They will be highly visible throughout my website. In the end, I decided it would be better to embarass them on a worldwide spectrum, rather than attempt to convince an unsympathetic court system just how detrimental this company's actions were to me.

Thanks for all of your support and kind words since all of this started, Ladies. You all will never know how much I have appreciated your support! Well, here is to a new chapter in my life and my hair book. We are approaching a new year with a new president. Things are going to get better. In honor of a fresh start, all of my old pictures have been retired. The good news is that my hair has grown considerably over the past several months. I'm going to do my best to get on top of picking up from here and capturing my hair journey in still photography, once again.

It's good to be back!

Nottylock :)

Hairstyles and experiments for July through September 2005.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007 (UPDATE)
I will only be providing very basic updates from now on. It is likely that the company has learned of my hair website and I do not want them to be privy to too much information. I am still on the case and still getting the word out. My car dons a before and after picture of my hair. I get many questions and responses. I WILL see this through to the end, Ladies. For the nappy cause!

March 29, 2007
Yawl, it happens to the best of us, but I thought that I was taking the necessary precautions to prevent it from happening to me. So, what happened?...I went in to Great Clips for a light DUSTING of the ends and came out with a cut.

My GREAT CLIPS SAGA journal is being maintained online: http://journals.fotki.com/NottyLock/the-great-clips-saga/

To help, please consider doing one of the following:
1) Signing my guest book clearly indicating your support of me in the fight against a corporation which thinks it can ignore "the small people".
2) Sharing your own Great Clips story on my page for the entire community to see.
3) Sharing a banner ad on your own page (coming soon).
4) Sharing my story with others and ask them to visit my Fotki page.
5) Sharing knowledge of my story on any hairboards that you belong to and asking sisters to visit my Fotki page.
6) Leaving a *written* comment via the www.greatclips.com website. **Please, no telephone calls** Written messages are less likely to be misquoted and/or ignored by the company.
---------------------------------------------------------
It is the same old familiar story of someone going in for a trim and coming out with a cut. But this story is a little different because I will not accept someone else's mishandling of my hair without a fight. When I walked into Great Clips I explained to the employee that I wanted my ends lightly dusted. I fully explained to her that I had been in the facility just 8 weeks ago for a trim and that this was just a follow up visit; that a true trim was really not even necessary. Again, I told her to not even take off enough for a real trim. Just lightly DUST the ends. I had also informed her that my hair was natural and that it needed to be blow dried, since it had started to curl back up. No blow dryer. Instead, she picked up a small-toothed comb and proceeded to drag it through my huge hair. Not section by section, but she tried to comb my huge hair all the way through - from the top of my hair, down to my scalp to get my hair straightened out. Then she proceeded to cut.

She cut off several inches of my hair. Not acceptable. She is going to pay for her actions. She picked the wrong one to blatantly mishandle.

My hair and I have been through too much to take this one lying down. For the first several years that I attempted to go natural, I suffered ridicule, laughs, stares, pointed fingers, mocking comments. My own mother told me several times that I could not be seen with her in public because my natural hair was such an embarassment to her. My pastor taunted me with names like Chia Pet. I have cried many nights out of frustration over my natural hair - trying to learn what to do with it. Learning to not only accept my hair but absolutely fall in love with it has been a nearly life long process. Thousands of dollars, thousands of hours, and thousands of tears have gone into helping me come to terms with my crown of glory. And, finally, three years ago, I fell in love with my hair and learned how to manage it. I vowed never to cut my hair again.

But, two days ago someone else took my hair into their own hands, cut it, and responded to me increduously, "It is NOT even that much."

Not acceptable. The heffa must pay.

information. I am still on the case and still getting the word out. My car dons a before and after picture of my hair. I get many questions and responses. I WILL see this through to the end, Ladies. For the nappy cause!

March 29, 2007
Yawl, it happens to the best of us, but I thought that I was taking the necessary precautions to prevent it from happening to me. So, what happened?...I went in to Great Clips for a light DUSTING of the ends and came out with a cut.

My GREAT CLIPS SAGA journal is being maintained online: http://journals.fotki.com/NottyLock/the-great-clips-saga/

To help, please consider doing one of the following:
1) Signing my guest book clearly indicating your support of me in the fight against a corporation which thinks it can ignore "the small people".
2) Sharing your own Great Clips story on my page for the entire community to see.
3) Sharing a banner ad on your own page (coming soon).
4) Sharing my story with others and ask them to visit my Fotki page.
5) Sharing knowledge of my story on any hairboards that you belong to and asking sisters to visit my Fotki page.
6) Leaving a *written* comment via the www.greatclips.com website. **Please, no telephone calls** Written messages are less likely to be misquoted and/or ignored by the company.
---------------------------------------------------------
It is the same old familiar story of someone going in for a trim and coming out with a cut. But this story is a little different because I will not accept someone else's mishandling of my hair without a fight. When I walked into Great Clips I explained to the employee that I wanted my ends lightly dusted. I fully explained to her that I had been in the facility just 8 weeks ago for a trim and that this was just a follow up visit; that a true trim was really not even necessary. Again, I told her to not even take off enough for a real trim. Just lightly DUST the ends. I had also informed her that my hair was natural and that it needed to be blow dried, since it had started to curl back up. No blow dryer. Instead, she picked up a small-toothed comb and proceeded to drag it through my huge hair. Not section by section, but she tried to comb my huge hair all the way through - from the top of my hair, down to my scalp to get my hair straightened out. Then she proceeded to cut.

She cut off several inches of my hair. Not acceptable. She is going to pay for her actions. She picked the wrong one to blatantly mishandle.

My hair and I have been through too much to take this one lying down. For the first several years that I attempted to go natural, I suffered ridicule, laughs, stares, pointed fingers, mocking comments. My own mother told me several times that I could not be seen with her in public because my natural hair was such an embarassment to her. My pastor taunted me with names like Chia Pet. I have cried many nights out of frustration over my natural hair - trying to learn what to do with it. Learning to not only accept my hair but absolutely fall in love with it has been a nearly life long process. Thousands of dollars, thousands of hours, and thousands of tears have gone into helping me come to terms with my crown of glory. And, finally, three years ago, I fell in love with my hair and learned how to manage it. I vowed never to cut my hair again.

But, two days ago someone else took my hair into their own hands, cut it, and responded to me increduously, "It is NOT even that much."

Not acceptable. The heffa must pay.

Hairstyles for January through March of 2007.

Hairstyles and experiments for October-December 2006.

NOVEMBER 2006 - HAPPY 7th NAPPIVERSARY TO ME!!!

Hairstyles and experiments for April through September 2006.

A few women have asked me about my regimen. So, I am adding this information to my album. This is not what I have done over the past 6 years, as my habits have changed significantly since I initially went natural. As a matter of fact they have changed over the past 2 weeks. I am excited about the new changes and my hair is responding very well. So, here is my most recent regimen...

And for your viewing pleasure, my favorite hair pics from over the past 2 years are featured in this album :)

SEE 1ST PHOTO FOR REGIMEN. Photos, starting from #2 are in chronological order, beginning with 2004.
------------------------------
My Official Website
Miracle's Haven, Inc
www.miracleshaven.com

I am working on my debut album and have song samples available. Let me know what you think :)

went natural. As a matter of fact they have changed over the past 2 weeks. I am excited about the new changes and my hair is responding very well. So, here is my most recent regimen...

And for your viewing pleasure, my favorite hair pics from over the past 2 years are featured in this album :)

SEE 1ST PHOTO FOR REGIMEN. Photos, starting from #2 are in chronological order, beginning with 2004.
------------------------------
My Official Website
Miracle's Haven, Inc
www.miracleshaven.com

I am working on my debut album and have song samples available. Let me know what you think :)

A list of products that I am currently using.

A recovering PJ (Product Junkie), I am pleased to announce that the products that I am currently using are few in number.

-----------------------------
7/21/06 - The Product Junkie strikes again! Let me tell you who is to blame: Shatani and Redhotlala. Between Shatani's beautiful natural hair and Red's amazing length, I felt trapped...there was nothing I could do but...GO SHOPPING!

number.

-----------------------------
7/21/06 - The Product Junkie strikes again! Let me tell you who is to blame: Shatani and Redhotlala. Between Shatani's beautiful natural hair and Red's amazing length, I felt trapped...there was nothing I could do but...GO SHOPPING!

Hairstyles and experiments for January through March 2006.

I have begun to implement healthier practices in managing and caring for my hair. The difference is very noticeable.

Hairstyles and experiments for October through December 2005

Hairstyles and experiments for January through June 2005.

I have been natural for over five (5) years, and have always intended on documenting my journey. After viewing the portfolios of so many women at nappturality.com, I decided to finally get started. You are invited to join me on my journey.

These are random pictures of my hair from earlier in 2004.

You are invited to join me on my journey.

These are random pictures of my hair from earlier in 2004.