2018 In Review – My Natural Hair Journey

2018 is coming to a close with a lot of lessons learned and major changes when it comes to my natural hair journey. I started the year still wearing braids even though I was getting tired of them. Around the end of spring and the beginning of summer, I decided to stop wearing braids as a protective style and just rock my afro. After doing that for the entire summer, I realized I needed a change.

Discovering sisterlocks

On Pinterest, my eyes were always drawn to locs, and not just the faux locs, but the permanent ones. That’s when I realized that the change I was seeking was a permanent change, something that offered me hair freedom and versatility. That’s when  I discovered Sisterlocks. After a few months of research and serious thought and financial planning (lol!) because sisterlocks are truly an investment, I had a consultation in September and had them installed in November. The rest, as they say, is history. Click on the link to check out my Natural Hair and Locs Pinterest page.

If you would have asked me in 2017 if I’d ever get locs, let alone Sisterlocks, I probably would have said: “I don’t know.” A year ago I was content with getting braids over and over and then complaining about bald spots and breakage in my blog. 😉 With age comes enlightenment, and it came for me in 2018. I got tired of  stressing about how I was going to wear my hair and what I needed to do to prepare it the night before (i.e. twist it, braid it, plaits, stretching or banding, etc.) In 2018, I came to the conclusion that I needed ease and convenience when it comes to my natural hair – not anxiety and stress.

A new Journey and YouTube

A new chapter in my ever-evolving natural hair journey began, and I had the same familiar feeling of excitement, fear, nervousness, and boldness as I did when I big chopped six years ago. It takes just as much courage to get locs as it does going natural. It’s a total lifestyle change. It’s hair freedom. But it also has it’s bumpy parts for some in the beginning stages. I went through it myself, and thankfully, it was short-lived.

My sisterlocks journey also made me rethink vlogging on YouTube. I decided to start my own channel and document my sisterlocks journey from deciding to get them, my consultation, and installation until now. My videos are simple with no bells or whistles. I keep saying that one day I’m going to get more up to speed with editing and making “cuter” videos. It hasn’t happened, and I hope that doesn’t stop you from checking out my videos! I’m sharing some good stuff, y’all! Click on the link to check out my YouTube channel.

2018 – the year of change

2018 was a good year, if not one of my best years in my natural hair journey. Don’t get me wrong, I loved and enjoyed my loose natural hair. But I’m also a woman whose needs to continue to change as I age. I’m also a woman of action, and when I feel a need for change, I act. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. If something no longer works for you or doesn’t feel right, do something about it. Make a change. Continue to evolve – don’t become stagnant. Your change doesn’t have to be major. It can be minor but have a huge impact. DO SOMETHING.

Today, I feel empowered. I feel strong. I feel free of the constant worry and stress I had as a loose natural. It took me over five years to finally go natural. When I finally did it, I hated that I waited so long to do it! It took me less than three months to decide to get sisterlocks. Again, I wish I had done it sooner. I’m not saying that you should make big decisions hastily, but if you wait too long, you may never do it. I’ll never regret going natural, and I’ll never regret getting locs. Natural hair is beautiful in all its forms.

Bring on 2019

For 2019 I look forward to healthier hair and learning more about my hair as it progresses and goes through the locking process. May 2019 bring us all the clarity we need to make the necessary changes in our lives. And may all of us attain healthy, beautiful natural hair no matter how we decide to wear it.

Thank you to all of my followers, old and new. Thank you for riding with me in my journey. I appreciate you all so much!

Sisterlocks: One Month Into My Loc Journey

Hey, y’all!

I must admit, I’ve been having fun making quick YouTube videos documenting my sisterlocks journey for the first month. I shared the good, the bad, and the funny! My videos aren’t edited with cool graphics or music. It’s just me talking. Sometimes I have high energy, but most times I’m just chill (and that’s mostly because I make my videos in the evening after working 8 hours!). I’m just being me.

Rebel no more

In the beginning I had the rebel attitude of “Do you boo! Do what works best for you and your locs and/or scalp!” With time comes wisdom, and I’ve come to learn that for best results, it’s best to follow the sisterlocks way until you are at least six months in, but preferably when you are fully locked. Getting to the fully locked stage can take a year or more, and I’m finding that those who stray from doing things the sisterlocks way are the ones whose locs take longer to fully loc. What I mean by the sisterlocks way is braiding and banding when washing your locs, not using oils or any type of product in your hair until you are at least six months or a year into your journey. And if you must use oils because of dry scalp issues, you should do so sparingly.

With my last wash, I experienced more slippage, and I know for a fact it’s because of me washing my hair in the shower. The water pressure is too intense for my locs, so the next time I wash my hair (which will before my next retie at the end of this month), it will not be in the shower.

Live and learn

Basically what I’ve come to learn is the same as what I had to come to learn during my loose natural hair days – you live and learn through your own journey. Yes, it’s nice to hear tips and tricks from other loc’d sisters, but you truly won’t know what your experience will be like until you’re going through it. It’s easy to say what you will and will not do when you haven’t gone through something yet, and I’ve made this mistake many times and have had to come back and correct myself and admit my error in judgment. It happens, but experience is the best teacher.

What’s next

I’m going to slow down with making YouTube videos and wait until I start seeing more growth and maturity with my locs. My next retie should give me some indication into my growth, and I’m kind of excited about it! Enjoy your journey. Embrace it. Try to stay positive, and when you don’t feel pretty, do something to change that feeling. Put on some makeup, wear a bold lipstick, wear your locs in a different style. Wrap them up in a pretty scarf, put on a jazzy hat. Whatever it takes to make you feel good about yourself, do it. There will be better days.

One month in, a lifetime to go.

xoxo

It’s My One Month Sisterlocks Anniversary!!

YAYYY me!! I made a YouTube video about it, so check it out here!!

My First Follow-up and Retie

Yesterday was my first retie or “retightening” for my three week old sisterlocks. At first I thought three weeks was too soon for a retightening. Silly me. My consultant also laughed at me. I got myself all worked up reading the Sisterlocks information packet she gave me after my consultation which says that your follow-up appointment should be 4-6 weeks after your install, and you should have washed your hair at least twice. I had only washed my hair once, and it was going into my 3rd week. When I washed my hair y’all, the shrinkage was real as was the fuzzies.

What happened at my retie

At my appointment, my consultant looked at my hair and said “You only washed your hair once?” I said “Yup.” I knew where she was going. This is what 4c hair does, yall! So here are the takeaways from my visit:

• It was decided that I should be on a every 4 weeks (once a month) retie schedule
• Because my hair frizzed up so fast and I got so much new growth after one wash, my consultant said I should try to go as long as possible without washing my hair – unless I have issues with dandruff and just can’t take it. I told her I do have a problem with dandruff but I’ll try to keep a handle on it and wash as less as possible.
• Because of my hair type and how it grows, she’s noticed that my hair grows outside of my grid which in the long run can cause tangling and locs binding together. So she encouraged me to go through my locs one by one and make sure they stay separated.
• I asked her about styling my locs and told her that I haven’t really been styling them. She said I can style them however I want, just make sure there isn’t a lot of tension, and if I use bobby pins to make sure the bobby pins aren’t puncturing through my locs.
• I also asked her about introducing oils for my dry scalp and she didn’t say yes or no, but did not recommend heavy oils (I wasn’t going to use any heavy oils anyway) and suggested her special moisturizer that she has for sale in her shop that has just a little oil in it. I told her I’d think about it. In the mean time, I’m going to keep monitoring my scalp and listen to it and if I have to use a little oil, it’ll be a light one.

So far so good

Overall, my consultant was happy with how my locs was looking, and my retightening appointment went really pretty fast. I wasn’t even there for an hour which was nice because my appointment was after work. So far so good! I didn’t expect to see this amount of new growth so soon, but I look forward to continued growth. I’m all in with the sisterlocks method and I’m going to try to follow the plan as closely as I can or at least until my hair and scalp tell me otherwise. Three weeks in and I’m still excited!!