Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

What a difference a month makes! Changes have been made, y’all. As you know, life changes all the time, and it’s no different with your relationship with your hair or the person caring for your hair.

I found a new loctician. Here’s why.

Why I Switched it Up

I wasn’t comfortable with the constant pulling and tugging taking place on my hair. To me that showed her lack of experience. There shouldn’t be any pulling or tugging taking place, and one should know when to use a larger loc tool for larger locs or when to stop trying to do rotations. There is a such thing as too tight reties and too many rotations! I also wasn’t comfortable with the fact that masks were optional for her clients, and she didn’t wear one either. And she’s an essential worker at her day job. Lastly, I don’t like feeling fleeced when your prices go up $15 out of the blue. Two things about me: I’m loyal, and I will pay whatever you charge as long as it’s reasonable, and I tip! I no longer have sisterlocks, but I understand why the price for a retie with sisterlocks costs so much. Time and labor. I get it. But make it clear to your customers what your price differences are between sisterlocks, traditional locs, or microlocs.

At the end of the day, my safety and the care of my hair were my main motivating factors for seeking out someone else. I urge anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable for any reason to do the same. I will always preach this. Anyhoo, I took action, asked for recommendations and I contacted two out of the three and one called me back, asked me to come in for a FREE consultation (you don’t find free consultations these days, y’all!) and scheduled an appointment for my first retie that same week.

The New Loctician

My new loctician has been doing locs since she was 19. She is now 41. She started out doing sisterlocks but can install and maintain any type of locs. Experience is huge to me. We vibed very well when we messaged each other, when I met her during my consultation, and during my first appointment with her. She is also the first loctician that I’ve been to who offers a shampoo and style with her services. Another huge plus.

But one of the main things I was impressed with was her methods and techniques. For instance, as soon as I walked into the shop, I was asked to wash my hands. (Because…COVID) As soon as I was done with that, she took me to the shampoo bowl and washed my hair. After shampooing my locs twice she wrapped a towl around my hair took me to her chair and she began to retie my hair. My hair was not dripping wet, but it was wet. I’ve heard from other locticians that reties should not be done on dry hair because of the breakage it can cause. It makes total sense. The other thing I was pleasantly surprised to see was she used a crochet hook instead of the usual loc tools. I asked her why and she said she hated those tools and liked the crochet hook better. She worked seamlessly with it and there was no pulling or tugging happening with my hair. I loved it!

Overall I was very pleased with my visit. She was done with my hair in under two hours. (Side note: The night before I had my oldest daughter count my locs in sets of 10. I would plait up those 10 locs and when she was done we counted them. Since combining my locs I now have 177 locs. So I went from 376 – give or take – to 177 (I never had 400 locs y’all). When I combine them again, which will be further down the road, I want to have 87 or 88 locs.) When she was done with my retie she asked if I use oils on my scalp, to which I answered ‘yes’, and then she asked if I minded if she added a little oil to my scalp. I told her I didn’t mind at all and she massaged a little oil on my scalp. Another extra step that I never got from any of my past locticians.

Do What You Have to Do

At the end of the day you have to do what’s best for you. I made a huge change and I’m glad I did because I was truly afraid of damage being done to my hair with all the pulling and tugging and too tight reties. Prior to this change, I asked my old loctician straight out what her fees were for me now that I no longer have sisterlocks. Her response was “You do still have sisterlocks, they are just a little bigger.” Y’all should have seen my face. I said “No…I no longer have sisterlocks and I definitely no longer have the sisterlocks grid. I have microlocs or regular locs now that I have combined my sisterlocks.” That’s when I realized that she needed a reason to justify her continuing to charge me sisterlocks rates when she knew I no longer had sisterlocks. That really disappointed me. Especially when you constantly say that you do all locs and you’ve told me before that your prices are different for traditional locs.

Not everyone will have your best interest at heart, even during a pandemic. Many are worried about money, jobs, and are hustling to keep some type of income coming into their home. I get it. But don’t do it at the expense of others. All I want is someone to help take care of and maintain my locs. That’s it. Do right by me and my hair. Help it thrive and grow, and most importantly stay healthy. I don’t think that’s asking for too much especially when I pay what you ask and provide a tip. In the end I know I made the right decision and I feel very good about the change I made.