I’m late with this update, but I also made a video, so I hope you enjoy it!
Grid|New-Growth|Before 11th Retie
In case you missed it, yesterday (Wednesday) was my 11 month anniversary of having sisterlocks. Here is a visual of how my locs look right now.
New growth
I circled in red my new growth. It just stands up and out proudly, lol! It feels like a birds nest underneath my locs. I can no longer run my fingers through my locs because they get stuck in the new growth. I don’t know why my hair is growing so much, but I’m also not complaining! At my last retie, my loctician didn’t retie all the way down to the root like she normally does. It was ok because we both were pressed for time as I had to go pick up my son and she had two other customers waiting. I didn’t know that my new growth would be this much and this wild. It looks like I’m two months behind with my reties!
Hair growing outside of the grid
Hair growing outside of the grid is something I’ll have to deal with as long as I have sisterlocks. This month that hair growth is looking extra bushy! I’m so happy my retie appointment is tomorrow because my grid and locs are in need of some special attention. I sent my loctician a text letting her know what she’s in for when I see her tomorrow and that she can take her time taming my grid and locs! I suppose the plus side to all of this is the volume that all of my new growth gives my locs. However…I’m ready for this retie. I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a retie this much since having sisterlocks.
I’ve decided that I’m going to ask my loctician about dying my locs now that I’m almost at my one year mark She’s also a colorist, and coloring locs is something she’s passionate about so I’ll definitely let her color my locs. I’m ready to jazz things up with my locs and my look. I haven’t colored my hair in well over 20 years and I finally feel ready to try something different. I’m excited actually! I want a copper, golden brown color if that makes any sense. I know the color I want when I see it. Something like this…
Isn’t that a pretty color? And I feel it’s perfect for fall! I live in the midwest, so I LOVE fall colors. I’ll keep you guys posted. Do any of you plan on coloring your hair for the fall or winter? Chime in and let me know!
11 Months Sisterlocked. What’s Next?
Since having my moment of honesty in my last blog posts, I find myself asking myself “What’s next?” My journey isn’t over. I’m almost at my one year mark (today is my eleven month anniversary) in my sisterlocks journey, and I’ve overcome some obstacles and have come to terms with my need for perfect locs and how that manifested itself in different ways. In a way I feel like I’ve closed one chapter and am finally ready to start a new one. You can call the first chapter Year One With Sisterlocks. Chapter Two can be titled The Journey Continues.
CHapter two
I don’t know what chapter two will consist of. I enjoy my locs and wearing them down the majority of the time. Tracking their growth continues to amaze me. I’ve learned so much more about my hair and the locking process. For instance, when you have locs that means you’re no longer combing your hair. When you no longer comb your hair, any pulling or tension on your hair and scalp tend to hurt! I was never tender headed before I got locs. My mom and my sisters made sure I wasn’t tender headed! This is especially true if you don’t style your hair regularly, which I don’t.
I’m still on the fence about coloring my locs, but a part of me really want to dye my hair a pretty copper, golden brown color. We’ll see. Other than that, I have no goals other than having healthy locs that continue to grow and flourish. Blogging about my loc journey has helped me immensely. It’s opened my eyes to areas where I need to improve, and not just in how I care for my locs, but why I feel the way I do.
Judge not
I found myself judging others for choosing different pathways on their loc journey, and I realized how wrong I was to do so. No one knows what led them to take a different path. I certainly didn’t know all of their stories, so it was wrong of me to judge or assume.
My sincerest apologies.
I’m typically a ‘by the book’ person. There are rules and regulations for a reason is how I view things. I’m also a very routine oriented type of person. I need order and a routine. Chaos and disorder drive me crazy. Since I have that kind of personality, I was determined to do things “the sisterlocks way.” I wanted my locs to grow and be healthy and long like all the other women I’ve seen with sisterlocks. Little did I know that many who have long, healthy sisterlocks didn’t necessarily follow the sisterlocks way. But here’s me thinking that if I follow the rules by the book I will reap the benefits that Dr. JoAnne Cornwell, the creator of the Sisterlocks brand, claims you’ll have.
Going forward
At this very moment, my hair feels like there’s a birds nest of loose hair under my locs. Remember, my locs grow outside of my grid, and I have a ton of new growth. But that isn’t the only issue. At my last retie, my loctician didn’t retie all the way down to the root like she normally does. One reason was because we were both pressed for time. Well here I am today with wild new-growth happening everywhere! This Friday I go for my retie and I truly cannot wait! I can’t run my fingers through my locs because my nails and fingers get caught in the new-growth. Who has time for that? Not me!
The horrible itching has stopped, thank goodness. I believe washing once a week and adding a little oil on the problem spots are doing the trick. Other than that, I don’t have any other issues or concerns. I feel making it to the one year mark is huge. It’s such an accomplishment because I’ve persevered. I’ve endured. More importantly, I’ve learned. Cheers to being 11 months sisterlocked!
Is It Really Just Hair? |Sisterlocks Edition|
I promise this isn’t a random question. Recently, I realized that I let my fear of ruining my locs keep me from doing what was best for my scalp. In my last blog I talked about how dry, itchy scalp has really been an issue for me lately and I feel oiling my scalp with light oils will take care of the issue. I’m already using the sisterlocks dandruff shampoo, which helps a lot, but it isn’t enough. If you’re still confused, stay with me. I’ll explain.
My Loc Fears
Since having sisterlocks I’ve continued to research and ask questions and seek out answers for everything relating to sisterlocks. I know just about all the do’s and don’ts when it comes to having sisterlocks, and I became so focused on not doing all the bad things that it somehow turned into a serious fear. Fear of having buildup in my locs. Fear of more slippage or losing locs, or hair breakage. I reasoned with myself that if I did everything by the sisterlocks book that there’s no way I’d ruin my locs. So that’s what I did for eleven months. I did everything by the book. I put nothing on my hair other than the sisterlocks shampoo. I didn’t sprtiz my locs or scalp with any oils, water or product of any kind. I listened and followed the advice of my loctician. I was the perfect A+ student.
I wanted and expected perfection
I blogged about this and made a video for YouTube about it recently. It just hit me how much my locs mean to me and how much I want to have perfect locs. I never said this out loud before, let alone admitted to it. But it’s true. How perfect I want my locs to be, I’m really not sure. I think perfect in the sense of being healthy, long, and look nice. I had a vision in my head of how I wanted my locs to look: full and luscious. I’m going to be very honest, y’all, finding out that I only have 367 locs was a blow to my vision. When I look at my locs I don’t see the fullness that I was hoping for, and I’ll be one year locked next month. At the same time, I know my locs aren’t done maturing. They are going to swell more over time. Knowing this and trying to reconcile this with my patience, or lack thereof, is what I find to be quite difficult.
I feel it’s taking my hair a long time to loc, and it makes me wonder if my washing routine played a part in it? My fear of slippage had such a hold on me that I may have possibly hindered the locking process of my hair by not washing my hair often enough. (washing your hair helps with the locking process.) Or is it simply my hair type (4B, 4C) that is making it loc slowly? This is why I ask is it just hair? Because clearly it’s not just hair for me. The things I’m worrying about with my locs may not worry the next person, and I feel there’s a level of denial that I managed to hide or suppress up until now. Now that I’m a month and some change away from being locked for a year, a lot of my fears and worries are coming to the surface. My hair is growing, but my locs don’t seem to be maturing.
Hair obsession
Do I have an unrealistic view of my locs and what I feel they should look like at this point in my journey? Yes, to some degree. What I didn’t expect was to become so obsessed with my locs. Now that I think about it, when I big chopped and went natural, there was a level of obsession I had with that whole journey. I became absorbed in all things related to natural hair, hence this blog (although I feel this blog is a good thing, not a negative thing). For some reason, I need to continually hear that my fears are unfounded, that my locs are progressing as they should. As if I’m not being told this at every retie by my loctician. I know that everyone’s locs progress at different rates. I know this yet I’m still anxious and insecure. What is wrong with me?
The short answer is I’m subconsciously comparing my locs to others. (The very thing I preach over and over that we shouldn’t do.) What I envisioned for my locs isn’t what I see, nor is it what I have. All of this goes back to lack of patience and remembering what I asked for at my consultation. I wanted the largest size loc on the sisterlocks sizing scale because I wanted a fuller look. I have to give myself more time to see the results of what I asked for. I need to stop obsessing and stop being impatient.
It’s Not just hair
I know there are more important things in life than hair. Getting sisterlocks is the third biggest hair decision I’ve ever made in my life. I could chalk up my worry and obsession about my locs to getting older, hormones, or even the fear of the unknown. But it goes deeper than all of those things.
I need my patience to be on a full tank. That’s it. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s an area that I need to work on diligently. That is my goal.
I Tried.
It took a very itchy scalp 10 1/2 months into my sisterlocks journey for me to realize that I cannot follow the sisterlocks way to the letter of the law. I tried you guys, I really did. I tried my best to follow all the rules of the Sisterlocks way to insure that I have and maintain healthy locs. I tried my best to avoid slippage, bunching, and all the other woes that can happen to you if you don’t follow some of the main sisterlocks rules. Let’s talk about how I got to this point.
Slippage
Slippage was my biggest fear and one of my biggest issues. I didn’t have issues with an itchy scalp until recently. The itchiness had gotten so bad that I would have my 15 year old daughter scratch my scalp in the itchy areas for relief. I believe I’ve scratched so much in the same areas that I made my scalp bleed a little. I have dry itchy patches, the same as I did when I was a loose natural. When I was a loose natural, I would promptly oil my scalp with a light oil with tea tree, peppermint or rosemary essential oil added for soothing relief. Since having sisterlocks, I’ve been afraid of adding any oils to my scalp for fear of slippage. Now, I’ve reached the point that I feel something has to give. I can’t keep enduring this.
I’ve purchased the sisterlocks dandruff shampoo from my loctician and have been using that. It is very soothing and has a tingling sensation on my scalp, and it smells really nice. It has peppermint and tea tree oils in it which are known to help your scalp’s itchiness and dandruff. I love the way my scalp feels after washing with this shampoo. If you’ve read my previous posts, you know I spoke about washing my hair more regularly to try to combat my dandruff issues. I think I may have to change from washing my hair once every two weeks to once a week.
This is my journey
I say this a lot. No two journey’s are alike. This is my journey. We can’t all follow the same cookie cutter pattern. While I appreciate the sisterlocks system and the purpose it serves, I’ve finally realized that I can’t possibly do everything by the book. I know that the point of the sisterlocks system is to give you the most healthy, beautiful locs you could hope to achieve. However, as someone who has always struggled with dandruff, I can’t continue in my sisterlocks journey not addressing this. I know sisterlocks has products specifically for dandruff, and I may or may not purchase them. However, I’d rather use what I know works for me. Things that I know how to make myself. Also, I think going almost a full year without putting oil on my scalp is pretty darn good considering my scalp issues!
The one time youtube helped me
Okay, I’m being petty. YouTube has helped me many times. But this particular time I was watching some videos, and I happened to catch a video made by one of my favorite sisterlocks vloggers Tunisia Ali. This particular video addressed dry itchy scalp and what you can do to address it when you have sisterlocks. One thing she said that resonated with me was that we don’t have to suffer nor should we suffer if dandruff is an issue for you. We all have different needs and issues when it comes to our hair and scalp. She also admitted that she’s been using oils on her scalp since she got her sisterlocks and her locs have been fine. Then there’s me, trying to be obedient and follow the sisterlocks way while my scalp is telling me, begging me, to treat the dryness and itchiness!
I still believe in the sisterlocks way when it comes to certain things. I believe that there are certain things you shouldn’t do or should be very careful about doing when you first start your sisterlocks journey. Spritzing newly established locs every day with water or rose water. Why? What is the purpose? Basically, be careful or avoid doing anything that can cause slippage or buildup in your locs too soon in your journey.
I think for me, I had to see for myself how much following the sisterlocks way would actually help me. I wanted my locs to loc and I wanted to avoid slippage or breakage of any kind, so I avoided all the things that would cause those things to happen. I listened to my loctician and sought her advice when I had questions or problems. At my next retie, I will bring up my dry itchy scalp issues and what I can do to address it. I already have a remedy in mind, but I’ll still hear her out.
The Moral of my story
The moral of my story is to listen to your scalp. When I first embarked on this journey, I watched a lot of videos of people with sisterlocks who were being rebels for the sake of being a rebel. They wanted the look of sisterlocks, they wanted to be able to say or brag that they paid all this money to have sisterlocks, but when it came to following the sisterlocks way, that’s where they drew the line. They wanted to go against the sisterlocks way and do what they wanted to do to their hair, often with bad results. Then there were other sisterlocks YouTubers who bucked the sisterlocks system because they saw that their scalp or hair was suffering for whatever reason. They took action to correct it, even if it meant going against “the sisterlocks way.” I can respect that.
My biggest fear is damaging my locs or having buildup because of oils. Now that my locs have settled, I think using a water based blend of oils will be best for my scalp and locs. I’ll keep you posted. If you have locs or sisterlocks, is there something you do that goes against the rules? If so, what is it? Leave a comment!
Going Back to my Natural Roots 