Sisterlocked Almost Seven Months

Slowly but surely I'm starting to appreciate all steps of my journey regardless of how insignificant. The first two months, I hated how my hair looked wet due to the porcupine look. Now, I love how my hair looks wet and I can actually shake it from side to side. I learned from other lockers how the weight of the water shows more length. I'm getting use to my locks framing my face more. As far as the shrinking, I don't think I will ever get use to that. No braiding, no banding, no slippage. But I do separate my locks pretty much daily. Oh well, you can't have it all. Oh I really love my hair!!!!

Eyebrows Arched

My retight is on Saturday so I wanted to make sure I got my eyebrows arched before my appointment. I never knew how much an eyebrow arch could add so much to enhance the facial features. I go to Chris, owner of Untouchable Barbers. He really does a fabulous job. Chris is the one who introduced me to having my eyebrows done when he use to cut my hair for me back in '98. I've been so grateful ever since. Thank you Chris!

New Digital: More Photos

Well I finally have a new digital camera. Even though my hair is still wet from my washing and conditioning, I didn't let that stop me from going out to have a few drinks and take these photos.

Wash Regimen

Just like everyone else, I've settled in with washings every 7-10 days. Right now I'm using the Sisterlock family of hair products. At first I would wash with the Sisterlock Green Tea Botanical Shampoo and then a second time with the SL lock starter shampoo. Lately, I'm trying to wash with just the starter shampoo only. But I miss that tingling feeling on my scalp from the Green Tea. In addition, I use the Tonic for Dandruff recipe from LockItUp to help with the itching and flaking.

As I inspected my locks a few weeks ago, I was so overjoyed that I didn't see any split ends!! It's been over eight months since I've had a deep condition treatment and now 7 months into my journey, I feel I am long overdue. I chose to go with the Sisterlock Reconstructor. I probably won't be doing another conditioning treatment for about another 6 months. I believe in moderation.

One more note, I emailed Vickey a few months ago and she told me about mixing one tablespoon of the SL Moisturizer spray with 8 oz of water. I'm now ready to try the concoction for those midweek refresher treatments.

Despite the shrinking, I can now see some noticeable growth. Yeah baby!

Two Friends (Fwd from my Friend)

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped in the face got stuck in the mire and started drowning. But the friend saved him after he recovered from the near drowning. He wrote on a stone: Today my best friend saved my life.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it way. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in stone. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire life to forget them.

TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE! DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE!

MOM, MY FRIENDS, MY SISTERLOCK BUDDIES – I LOVE YA!!!!!

I Give Thanks

The Lord has truly been good to me and I am so thankful for it. In September, about a month after getting my Sisterlocks, I walked off of my job of 6 years. Call me crazy..I know. A month before that, my 3 year relationship ended. But everything does happen for a reason I believe. While no longer having a job and a man, I certainly had the utmost love and support from my family and friends. For this, I give thanks. To my new Sisterlock family who give such wonderful words of encouragement, advice and inspiration...I thank you. I now have a new job to look forward to, as well as the many people who are coming in and out of my life. To God Almighty - I give Thanks!

Two Precious Locked Heads

Last night I was out with a friend having some superb margaritas and appetizers at Lopez restaurant. I could not help but notice a locked head in front of me at a table over. When I saw the little one with the baby locks, I was swept away. A good blog opportunity was about to go to waste had it not been for my friend's camera phone. I boldly tapped on Nicki's shoulder and sparked up a conversation. She politely obliged my photograhing her and the little one's lovely locks. I find it is a lot easier to be so forthcoming with fellow locked heads. Very interesting indeed. Anyway, I think they are absolutely adorable.

Four Stages of Hairlocking

I. PRE-LOCK PHASE

The hair is in thin, tightly coiled spirals. Its appearance is along the lines of either ringlets or Shirley Temple curls. This is the infancy stage (baby locks).

II. BUDDING PHASE

During this phase a small bud (like a pea in a pod) begins to emerge about three quarters down the lock. The matted, interlocking imprint begins at the bud and then expands like a bubble because it is beginning to loosely mat. It is an enlarged microcosm of a lock. At this stage the lock is no longer tight and thin. It is rebellious, has a mind of its own and is discovering its own way (teen locks). It acts like a teenager in a sense.


III. SHOOTING PHASE

After the budding phase, the entire lock begins the process of interlocking and matting. The direction is downward from the bud to the end of the hair and back upwards toward the scalp (similar to how some plants develop). The hair closest to the scalp is not locked; this is where you have new growth. During this phase, the hair increases in density because it begins to replicate itself like DNA. Your hair remains in this phase for the longest period of time (adult locks).

IV. CONTRACTING PHASE

This is the final stage in which the hair becomes mature adult locks: an airtight interlocked, spiraling, network system. The locks become consistent, tight and fairly solid at this point. It will probably be fairly long in length at this point, as the hair will grow extraordinarily once the spiral form has been established. (elder locks).


I saw this original post on Brothers Locked and it is extremely helpful in understanding the various stages of hair locking. It could be easy for a newcomer to get deceived into thinking you will get Sisterlocks and have instant locks. As you can see, the hair does go through various stages before reaching maturity. For those stopping by for research, I hope this helps. Special thanks to Ree-C for allowing me to use her as a model for the shooting phase. Dr. Jo, even though I didn't get your permission for the last photo, I hope you don't mind.

Going to NYC!!

Oh my, it is official! I purchased Color Purple tickets today for my mother and I. I haven’t vacationed in over 2 years and I am long overdue for a trip. Thank you LaChanda and the rest of the ladies who are coordinating this effort. I can’t wait to meet my fellow Sisterlocked ladies in person.

My Sisterlock Consultant

Paulette, my Certified Sisterlocks Consultant is absolutely wonderful. After all, I do travel 3.5 hours for her to do my hair. If looks are deceiving, one would think she is sporting the creamy crack. Oh no, she's doing the old school press n curl natural. I don't have a problem with Paulette not having Sisterlocks. My priority was what kind of work would she do with my hair. I got the message very loud and clear. Feel free to visit Paulette's Locks4Life website if you are in need of a consultant in the Detroit area.

5 Months - Freshly Tightened

5 Months Locked

I'm now 5 months locked and freshly tightened today. The journey is going great. I have my likes and dislikes just like everyone else. Nobody promised it would be a perfect ride!!

Office Christmas Outing

My boss took our department to Pickwick & Frolic and Hilarities Comedy Club for the Christmas outing. I had a marvelous time. Dave Coulier, who was Joey on Full House was the feature act. Leighann told me she's done a performance here as well. I hope she comes back soon. I would love to see her in person.

3 Month Milestone

Yesterday I got my second retightening. This is now 3 months locked for me. Being locked is going far betther than I ever could have imagined. All I have to do is wrap a scarf on my head at night, fluff it in the morning and go. When I wash my hair, I don't even bother with braiding or banding. My goodnapps don't unravel at all. I've developed a love affair with my hair I never knew existed. My consultant told me she actually enjoys doing my hair over some of her other customers. That's the FIRST TIME I've ever had somebody tell me that! Thank you so much for Sisterlocks Dr. Jo!

THE POWERFUL SISTER

THE POWERFUL SISTER, by a Brotha Man

Times certainly have brought about a change
And to a few it might seem strange
Black women are soaring with ambition
No more barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen
And she’s not slaving like an ox
Have you seen her image on the pancake box?
Ha!
Purse full of credit cards, fancy car
And the girl ain’t even a movie star

Not long ago, I was on the bus
Eating fried chicken from “The Colonel”
Looking at a girlie magazine and full of lust
Sitting next to a sister reading a “Wall Street Journal”

I said, “Pardon me baby, where are you on your way?
I would like to know your name if that’s okay
Your perfume I surely adore-
I believe we met somewhere before!”

She says, I’m on my way downtown to City Hall
I must chair a council meeting and that’s not all
Then I’m off to the United Nations-
To advise on a classified situation

Sorry, but I fail to remember you-
Were you ever in Sudan or Istanbul?
Or perhaps it was Rome, England, or by chance-
It was Chad, Morocco or Paris, France

You see, I’m multi-lingual and travel a lot-
And the universe is my melting pot
But, once a month I take the bus-
Just my way of staying in touch
Nefertiti is my name,
and universal peace is my game

I attended Benedict College in South Carolina and
earned MY Bachelor Degree
Then I went to Fisk and received MY Masters in
Nashville, Tennessee
At Howard University in Washington, D.C.-
That’s where I earned MY Ph.D

I have offices in Dallas, Chicago, and Mexicana-
A penthouse in New York and a home in Atlanta
I play the harp-And pilot a jet-
Now tell me brother, where do you think we met?”

I rung the bell-Got up and left-
Aunt Jemima done got besides herself!

Tonic for Dandruff

That's it. I could not take the itching and dandruff anymore. I knew that oils are a no no. So for the first month or so after washing, I would do an apple cider vinegar soak for 30 minutes and then rinse it all out. I could tell it was helping, but the stinging on my scalp was insane. Finally, I went to the recipe page on Loc It Up and found a recipe I absolutely love. Because I'm still in the early stages of locing, I only use the tonic once or twice per retightening session. I get my hair tightened every 7-8 weeks. The tonic smells wonderful, softens my locs, and the itching and dandruff is diminishing.

Tonic for Dandruff

Essential oils can be used in a base of distilled water to
provide a hair tonic for various uses. Here is a tonic that
will help control dandruff if used several times a week.
You will need:

1 1/2 cups distilled water (or rosewater)
Witch hazel (available at most drugstores)
3 teaspoons of cider vinegar
Oil of Lavender
Oil of Rosemary
Oil of Tea Tree

Mix the water, 1/4 cup of the witch hazel, the cider
vinegar, six drops each of the lavender and rosemary oils,
and three drops of the tea tree oil in a glass bottle.
Shake this well and apply it to your wet or dry hair
several times a week. Massage the tonic into your scalp.
You do not have to rinse your hair afterward.

Day One Locks

Hooray hooray!! Today I got my Sisterlocks. It was a 12 hour session in one sitting. I cannot be more excited. No more chemical burns, no more hair falling out in droves. I’m on my way to great hair freedom. Finally, it feels really good to be a nappy head or should I say..tightly coiled.

Consultation #2

Well I’m on a new mission to find somebody to do my Sisterlocks. But so far no luck. Even my mother has joined the search party for me. She talked to a co-worker of hers who said she would do them for $40 or something like that. Thanks but no thanks! I told my mother she obviously has no idea what Sisterlocks involve to quote a ridiculous price like that and this is not the time for me to be a guinea pig. So I did another search on Google and came across a particular ad for Locks4Life. I clicked on the site and I was pretty impressed. The consultant had several photos of her clients. Her mission to showcase the meticulousness of her parting was stunning! I was sold. My gut told me I just found my hair savior. Oh, there’s one catch…she’s in Detroit. But her pricing couldn’t be beat. Hell, the price of my lock install and travel expenses was still way under $450. I made the call, scheduled my appointment and the rest is history.

Almost Sisterlocks

I took a half day off at work for my Sisterlocks installation. I was so excited that today was going to be the big day. Unfortunately, I was running a bit late leaving work and I had to stop at the bank first to get the money for my hair. Because I was running late, I locked my car keys inside of the car trying to hurry up. I didn’t realize this until after I made my withdrawal and was unable to find my car keys before leaving the bank. When I got to my car, sure enough, the keys were still in the ignition. Well I was really going to be late for my Sisterlock appointment now. So I called my consultant to let her know I was going to be late. She tells me that she is in the middle of installing somebody else’s locks and she would not be able to get to me until the next day. I couldn’t believe it. I made my appointment with her 2 weeks ago, took some time off work, and now locked my keys inside my car trying to make the appointment. Out of desperation I guess, I agreed to be postponed until the next day. Since my mother has my spare car key, I called her so she could bring it to the bank. Thank God she was at home. She’s been doing a lot of college preparation shopping for my sister.

So while I had to wait for my mother, the sun was really beating down on me. The more I waited in that hot sun, the madder I got about this entire situation. That consultant gave away my appointment. She tried to explain that she tried to call me earlier in the week but wrote down the wrong number. She was charging me $450 for 2 inches of hair and bumps my appointment!!! Enough is enough. At that moment, I decided I was not going to have her do my hair the next day. Desperate or not, this was too unprofessional for me. What goes around comes around – I didn’t even bother with a cancellation call.

PS – the next day she left me a message in the morning. She was running late for the appointment. God Help Me!

Consultation #1

I searched for a certified consultant in Cleveland on the official Sisterlocks site, but the only one listed said she wasn’t taking any new clients. What a bummer. Then I looked over the trainee page and wrote down a few names. I left a few messages but I didn’t get any responses. I made another call to a consultant and got a live voice. I asked various questions and she seemed pretty informative. We set a meeting date for a formal consultation a few days later.

I showed up for the consultation. She worked at a hair salon which I thought was cool. I was a bit uneasy about somebody working from out of his or her house. The salon was setup such that my consultant had a closed off room to do hair and be separated from the hating perm heads. Even though I thought $450 was a bit pricey for my hair length of 2-3 inches, I went on ahead and scheduled an official Sisterlock installation.