Val & Nadine Merchandise

The very first time I saw the Val & Nadine comic strip, I was beyond impressed. Me being quite the product junkie I am, I just had to have some of the merchandise. I ordered a tee shirt and two coffee mugs. It was nothing short of an impeccable buying experience. Cafepress.com was very easy to navigate, offers excellent customer service, and good quality products. Ms. Diego2Memphis did her homework when she chose this vendor to distribute her goods and services. I am in awe of this kind of creativity, talent, and entrepreneurship.

Do I Look Like Me??

After our initial afternoon stroll around Times Square, my mother's feet got the best of her because she thought a low heel would be sufficient enough for walking. Not so! So off we were on a mission to find my mother some comfortable walking shoes. She settled on a pair of plastic black clogs and claimed they did the trick. I was happy I didn't have to hear her complaining about her feet anymore.

During our shoe shopping mission, I get an offer to have my picture drawn for five bucks. For that price I couldn't pass it up. So I sit down and let my lady drawer go to work. Next thing I know, folks are stopping to take a peak and formed a small crowd. Now I'm wondering to myself, "What is this woman drawing of me?" To top it off, my mother bursts out laughing. I was really paronoid at that point. A lady watching the drawing assured me that I would be pleased. Well when I saw the finished drawing, I was very pleased indeed. Can you figure out what made my mother start laughing?

NY Sistah Love Gathering

I went to New York over the weekend with the beautiful ladies of GRITS from Dallas. I was accompanied by my mother. I absolutely loved the Broadway Color Purple Musical and especially enjoyed meeting my fellow Sisterlock Divas live and in the flesh. It was simply marvelous.

The other day I was back on Mia Simone's site going over some items I ordered but haven't received yet. Imagine my surprise when what did I see...my blog. I couldn't believe it. For a split second, I felt like a movie star. Oh yeah, from the looks of this photo, I think my hair is having a mini Brunsli phase. But since I love volume, bring it on!

Hair Clips Anyone

A little bit of length feels oh so good. So I bought some hair clips and a few headbands to celebrate. I also ordered a bottle of Khoret Amen Herbal Shampoo with Sea Moss by Carols Daughter. I'm hoping it will help with the dryness. Otherwise, I'm still in love with my
locks. I can't think of any other hairstyle where the older it gets, the better it looks. Oh yeah, I'm getting very excited about the Color Purple trip.

Virginia - New SL Convert

Hey folks. Virginia is my latest Sisterlock convert. She's been at the company I work at for about 6 years. She told me she was considering Sisterlocks a year ago but chickened out. Since Virginia was already half way over the fence, of course
I gave her that extra push into hair freedom that she needed. The rest is history now!

Evolution to Me Phase I

31 this Year - Cheers to another Amazing Year in Lockdom

My Birthday: April 22

You tend to be understated and under appreciated. You have a hidden force to do amazing things, doing them your own way. People may see you as strange and shy, but they know little. Your unconventional ways have more power than they (and even you) know. Your strength: Standing up for what you know is true Your weakness: You tend to be picky and rigid Your power color: Silver Your power symbol: Square Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

7 Months Compared to 7 Days

I just washed my hair tonight and I wanted to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me. So it was time for a progress report. On the right, about 7 days of locks and on the left, 7 Months. I couldn't be more thrilled with the results so far. Gosh I love these locks!

B vs B Part II

My BULLSHIT
Shrinkage, shrinkage and more shrinkage
Lint Patrol
People want to touch my hair
Locks matte together

My BENEFITS
No more relaxer and associated chemical burns
No globs of hair in the trash after I wash it
No need to use a comb
No more breaking combs
Hair can grow to my waistline or ankles if I choose
Compliments on my hair in its natural state
I LOVE MY HAIR
No crooks in my neck trying to keep up a hairstyle
People are fascinated with my hair
Sisterlock hair buddies
Hats aren’t just for bad hair days
In fact, no more bad hair days
Freestyle looks good in sun, wind, rain and snow
Oh yeah, I LOVE MY HAIR

I suspect everyone's list would slightly differ. But hopefully the benefits outweigh the bullshit.

Bullshit vs Benefits

Fellow Sisterlocker Pnk-e caused quite a response when she made the post on LockItUp that she has been locked for 2 years and is still extremely dissatisfied with her hair. The responses came pouring in one after another with suggestions that included:

Trying new products
Finding a new salon
Retightening/Styling her own hair
Cutting her locks off
Starting a Blog

I just want to know where does such extreme dissatisfaction come from? I guess an individual would have to answer this question for him or herself. But I have some theories one should consider before, during and after locking to help alleviate some of the dissatisfaction.

Mental Preparation – The decision to go natural or wear locks has to be a decision you are making for yourself. At the end of the day and you look in the mirror, you have to be happy with you. Usually the number one force of outside negativity comes from family and friends. Once you’ve got your mental armour all set to deal with them, putting Joe Blow and Suzy Q from the street in their place becomes a piece of cake. Sometimes family and friends come around and be supportive and sometimes they don’t. But if you don’t have the inner strength to deal with criticism and negativity from the decision to lock…then you probably shouldn’t lock.

Realistic Expectations – Locks are not a zero, hassle and maintenance free hairstyle. This realization alone is half the battle when it comes to locking. In fact, they take a hell of a lot of patience and for some, more work than the perm. You have to weigh the pros and cons of locks in comparison to other hairstyles. You have to know what it is you intend to get out of locking and how that relates to your hair texture and density.

Research, Research, Research – Talk to other lockers, look over websites and blogs, read books and magazines, join a chat group.

Flexibility and Patience – Unless you take the sew in route, beautiful locks don’t happen overnight. It’s a long journey with some good days and some bad days. If the above three items have been done, the good days should outnumber the bad days. The benefits should ALWAYS outweigh the bullshit. Otherwise, why bother?

Twists - My first hairstyle

Since I am several months away from braidouts, spike curler sets and fancy updos - I will take what I can get. While flat twists are nothing new, it didn't occur to me to try them as a loc hairstyle until I saw pictures of Charm sporting her twists. Toss in some loc jewelery and voila. I love it, love it, love it. Since I'm not the DIY type, I went to my most recent hair stylist I had during the last of the perm era. She got to know first hand about my hair woes and was extremely supportive and encouraging with my decision to lock. In one hour, my hair was washed, styled and set under the dryer. Since I budgeted 2 hours, that left plenty of time for photo taking and an eyebrow touch-up.

A Sisterlocks Love

A Sisterlocks Love by Soft Spoken

I think I’m having a love affair
With these gorgeous Sisterlocks in my hair
I ease them down on my pillow at night
And let them glisten from the moonlight
I awake in the morning to caress them gently
While the Sunshine showers them oh so plenty
I run my fingers through their vines so fine
Knowing that their beauty is mine all mine
Loving them true and nurturing their need
So that they can continue to spiritually feed
My heart, my body, my soul and my mind
Knowing a truer love I will never find
I think I’m having a love affair
With these gorgeous Sisterlocks in my hair

While surfing the net the other night in an attempt to quench my insatiable knowledge of Sisterlocks, I stumbled upon this beautiful poem. I love it when people have that gift to communicate exactly what you are feeling. Feel free to check out Femme Horizon for other beautiful works of art.

Mia Simone Hair Jewelry

Starting with a TWA (teeny weeny afro) definitely has its pluses and minuses. On one hand, you get to experience your locking journey at various lengths which is quite exciting. But in the meantime, it gets very boring waiting for your hair to grow. As a way to spice up my hair a bit, I ordered some hair jewelry from Mia Simone's Boutique. I ordered 3 pairs of jewelry and I get compliments each time I wear them.

My order arrived within a week and I was pleasantly surprised I got some free gifts as well. The gifts included a small box to keep the jewelry in and a courtesy copy of Naturally You! magazine. Now that's service! Thank you so much Mia. I love the jewelry.

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!