A lot has transpired since the last time I posted a blog. The main thing being the coronavirus or COVID19. Before the pandemic hit, I was trying to figure out my next moves business-wise with my cookies, planning graduation outings, dinners, etc. for my oldest daughter, and trying to figure out what we were going to do for this years spring break stay-cation.
Then the coronavirus hit.
social distancing
We’ve been encouraged to stay at least six feet away from people, to stay home if we’re sick, keep our children home if they are sick, stop shaking hands, hugging and kissing each other in greeting. During this time my retie was still happening as scheduled. But as the days and weeks went by, things quickly changed.
Businesses began to shut down. My job decided two weeks ago to shut down. The spread of coronavirus is happening fast all across the U.S. Now I’m second guessing having my retie. Local, midlevel and top government officials have been stressing social distancing. States began to shut down barber shops, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, beauty salons and nail salons. Even though my cousin works out of her home, I still felt the rules applied to her as well seeing how she has other outside customers other than myself.
the fear of being a carrier
Being a carrier weighed heavily on my mind. Not only did I worry about me being a carrier, but also my cousin or her other customers. My kids could be carriers. We simply don’t know. That thought and possibility is what made me ultimately cancel my retie appointment. The last thing I want is to be a carrier and be responsible for others getting sick, or my cousin being a carrier and I bring home germs to my family. Especially when my husband has a compromised immune system, as does my mother in law.
I know for a fact there are many women out there still getting their hair done or looking for someone to do their hair despite the warning to stay home. That concerns me, and honestly it angers me. Just like seeing hoards of spring breakers on the beaches of Florida and California. WHY? Why put yourself and others at risk like that?
what does this mean for me?
Well, I’m due for retie but I’m not in dire straits at the moment. My new growth is manageable. Learning how to do my own reties would have come in handy right about now, but it is what it is. What this means for me is patience, and lots of it. My cousin told me to let her know when I’m ready. I’m going err on the side of caution and listen to the health officials in my area and continue to quarantine in my home with my family. I honestly don’t know when it’ll be safe to be around others again. I’m going to keep praying that everyone uses sound judgement and do everything in their power to be clean and be mindful of others, especially those with compromised immune systems. This is bigger than hair.
I’ve been vlogging about this on YouTube, but I’m going to get into it here as well. I have documented my journey to locs and deciding on sisterlocks for a long time now. I went into this journey excited and trusting my loctician and the sisterlocks way implicitly. Y’all remember how gung-ho I was about following all the rules and listening and following what my consultant told me because – what did I know? I trusted that she’d steer me in the right direction. Well, let’s go back a little bit.
The Initial consultation
Before my initial consultation, I thought I did all the research needed, thorough research on sisterlocks. There isn’t much out there, but I went to their website and read everything they had there and watched the outdated videos. I did my due diligence. When I decided to make an appointment with my consultant, I went prepared with questions, and she answered them all and was very detailed. Most of what she told me I already knew, and she expounded on that information just a smidge bit. One of her selling points to me was how fast she was with installation and reties. Fast? That’s music to my ears! The last thing I wanted was a repeat of my creamy crack days spending an entire Saturday in the shop waiting to get my hair done or getting my hair done. Little did I know that ‘fast’ is a HUGE red flag.
FYI: When you take the sisterlocks retie class and when you take the course to learn how to install sisterlocks so that you can become a trainee and eventually a consultant, you are taught that reties should take three to five hours. And this is dependent on the persons head size, amount of hair (hair density), and hair length. During this time, corrections should be taking place for slippage (when your loc comes down), bunching (when you get big ugly lumps in your locs because slippage wasn’t corrected), or simply cleaning up the grid if it needs it. I just learned this recently. This information is not readily available to those of us with sisterlocks or those considering sisterlocks and that is a huge problem. Anyway, I went with this consultant and she got my locs established and did my reties for a year. She would do my reties in an hour or an hour and a half. I truly thought she was just that fast. Just a whiz. But when I’d tell people how fast she did my reties, they were amazed. Now I know why. Reties shouldn’t be that fast.
Something ain’t right
Over time I felt like something wasn’t right, but let me back up a bit again. At my consultation I let her know that I wasn’t interested in the tiny sisterlocks. I wanted a fuller look, so getting the largest size sisterlocks was what I wanted. That’s what she gave me. I also told her after I started getting reties that I wasn’t interested in having a meticulously well kept grid. I just wanted my hair to look good. Hang on to those last two sentences.
In the beginning I had issues with slippage. She’d point it out to me, and showed me what to look for. It wasn’t until a year into my journey when she gave me the okay not to braid and band that I got bunching that I realized why I had the bunching. Bunching occurs when slippage isn’t fixed. So while she would point out my slippage, she wasn’t correcting it. My consultant of a year was not doing any maintenance on my hair. None. On top of that, my reties never looked good. My locs still looked fuzzy and frizzy. My hair still felt thick at the root in some places. But over time I thought that was normal. It wasn’t. The bunching angered me, and her informing me that I’d have to schedule a separate “maintenance” appointment for her to deal with my slippage and bunching – that was the last straw for me.
She actually wanted me to pay MORE for something that should be included in my retie appointments anyway! My locs and grid never looked nice. They never looked clean. She took my words that I didn’t care about a meticulous grid literally to mean I didn’t want her to do anything to my locs other than retie them. Well heck, I can do my own reties if that’s all you’re gonna do!
I reached out to my sisterlocks community and vented my anger and frustration and many reached out to me offering help, offering to do my reties and to teach me how to do them myself. I was overwhelmed and very touched by the amount of love and support I received. I also reached out to my cousin who is a sisterlocks trainee and told her I wanted her to do my upcoming retie. This is where things got even more interesting.
Whole sections of my head not being retied
Yup, you read that right. I was at my cousin’s house for six hours for my retie this past Sunday, and what she discovered was mind blowing. First, I had anywhere between 1-3 1/2 inches of new growth in various parts of my head. She said the only way that can happen is my consultant was skipping locs during my reties. As she examined my hair and did my retie, she quickly realized it wasn’t just a loc here or there that was missed. It was entire sections. My consultant was so “fast” because she wasn’t retying every single loc on my head. Another nugget I discovered is I actually have 400 locs. My daughters miscounted. I know I have a big head and a lot of hair. I’ve been told this my entire life and it doesn’t bother me because it’s the truth. How this woman claims she was doing my entire head in such a short period time is laughable. She’s a con artist and a fraud.
I didn’t even get the bare minimum of service from her – and I tipped her at every visit! She was not gathering all my loose hairs during my reties. She would be distracted, on business calls, calls with her kids, etc. Oh, and my back was always toward the mirror, so I could never see what she was doing. I could never witness her skipping entire sections of my hair. And she had the nerve to brag about how many transfer clients she had from other people as if she’s so good. But let’s talk about how many of your clients have left you because of your con artist ways? Charging all this money while not providing even the minimum work! Highway robbery.
Your services are no longer needed
Two weeks before I went to my cousin for my retie, I sent my former consultant a text letting her know that I was cancelling my upcoming appointment with her and that going forward I was going to someone else. After my retie with my cousin, I was very tempted to confront my old consultant with what she didn’t do for me. How she flat out stole money from me. But I’m so happy to be in a better place because I have already moved forward and I don’t feel she’s worth the energy.
I’m particularly disappointed that this is a black woman taking advantage of other black women, preying on their ignorance when it comes to sisterlocks. Preying on the fact that the average person who wants sisterlocks barely knows the basics about sisterlocks even after doing their research. This is a huge lesson learned for me, but a serious indictment on sisterlocks the corporation.
The sisterlocks secret society
The secret society that surrounds sisterlocks needs to stop. Their secrets need to be exposed, but few will speak on what is really going on because all who take any sisterlocks courses are required to sign non-disclosure agreement documents. Speaking out after signing those legal documents would result in being sued aggressively immediately. But where does that leave the consumer? It leaves us getting suckered by frauds and those who practice bad business. It leaves us to start support groups on social media and YouTube in search of answers and help. Yet, sisterlocks consultants and brand ambassadors get angry over the misinformation that’s all over the internet and social media. Well guess what? If everything wasn’t so darn secretive and sisterlocks provided more information and guidance for the consumer, maybe you wouldn’t have so much “misinformation” floating around and rogue consultants!
And let’s be real – a lot of the information isn’t bad information. It’s a lot of women telling their sisterlocks journey and giving tips and tricks that may help someone else. The sisterlocks way simply doesn’t work for everyone. We all have different hair needs, scalp issues, etc. Some of us need to use oil. I found this out for myself the hard way.
Sisterlocks is a beautiful form of locs. It’s a great alternative to traditional locs or microlocs. There is a science to the grid, the precise spacing and sizing of each loc. Where sisterlocks fails is not providing the consumer with more knowledge about reties, how long they should be, what is done, what should be looked at and corrected. Instead, sisterlocks is nothing more than a way to make a ton of money if you are a consultant. The consumer is at the mercy of the consultants because there is so much that we don’t know. They can charge whatever they want. Their secrecy is what makes them money, and it’s wrong.
Going forward
I almost made the decision to get rid of my sisterlocks and combine them to have microlocs instead. I’m so glad that talking through my issues and concerns with others in the sisterlocks and loc community changed my mind. I was letting a bad experience with ONE consultant turn me off when that shouldn’t be the case. I needed to drop that bad habit and move on to a better, more positive experience in my journey. And that’s exactly what I did. So far I have not named my consultant in my YouTube videos, but I will continue to expose her shady practices so others out there will know what to look out for.
I am committed to making “beware” videos to protect and prevent others from being scammed. I will keep providing the tools and information needed to navigate finding a consultant, choosing the right one, and what you should know and expect from your installation and your reties. I WISH I had known a year ago what I know now. The only thing I had to rely on was the sisterlocks website that is very sparse and only provides basic information. It will never sit well with me that we as consumers have to depend solely on our loctician/consultant for information that should be readily available to us. It will never sit well with me that consultants and trainees bank on our ignorance and cash in on it hand over fist. It’s not right.
So while my new mission is to educate and do all I can to prevent others from the pitfalls of scam artists and frauds in the sisterlocks community, I will continue to promote sisterlocks as being a great alternative to loose natural hair. I don’t regret locking my hair at all. This past year of hair freedom has been amazing. It’s everything I was looking for and more… except for being scammed of course.
Around mid-December my loctician gave me the okay to wash my locs without braiding and banding. So far I’ve washed my hair twice and I’ve noticed some bunching in the back of my head. At first I thought this was just the natural locking process with my locs swelling and shrinking up. By the second wash, I saw that this was not natural at all. It was bunching. And it’s ugly.
What is bunching?
Some of my locs that have bunching
Upon further research, I’ve learned that bunching is caused by uncorrected slippage and excess water on hair that isn’t fully locked. Excess water can include washing your locs too often, sweating in your head, or not braiding and banding when your locs aren’t ready. One YouTuber made a great point: Slippage and bunching isn’t your (the customer’s fault) when it’s the loctician’s responsibility to keep an eye on those things, correct the slippage when they see it, and advise you on what to do to combat it. If you’ve done all that the loctician told you to do and you still have these problems, it is not your fault.
This makes me wonder how much time my loctician is using to correct my problem locs versus rushing to get through my retie. There have been times where I was pressed for time or she was pressed for time, and she was rushing to get my retie done. I’m going to have to talk to her before my next retie appointment and let her know that we need to concentrate on maintenance instead of rushing to get my retie done.
More revelations
Another revelation I’ve had is that I wonder if my loc size was too big hence my hair growing outside of the grid? To be fair, my loctician noticed that my hair grew outside of my grid when she put in my tester locs during my consultation and I came back for my install a month later. I don’t know. I’m thinking out loud and trying to look at all possibilities. To be completely honest, I’m really frustrated at the loose hair that I feel at my roots (the new growth) and I think it’s something I’m going to have to deal with going forward because that’s just how my hair grows. But I also can’t help thinking “what if”…
Fixing the problem
The only solution I’ve come up with on how to fix this problem with bunching is to go back to braiding and banding. As much as I LOVED washing my locs freely, I do not like the look of bunching. Bunching is UGLY and it stands out. I will not ruin my locs just so I don’t have to braid and band.
I’ve also reached out to my fellow locked queens and I’ve received some wonderful advice and offers of help to fix my bunching. I’ve also had friends offer to teach me how to do my own reties. I’m definitely interested in learning how to do my own reties despite my laziness. 😉 I can’t help thinking that we don’t know what will happen today or tomorrow and what our employment or financial situation will be. If the time comes where I can no longer afford paying for my reties, I need to know how to do them myself. My friends advice keeps echoing in my head “Learn how to do your own reties, Sonya. Save your money, and it’ll help you if you’re ever in a bind and can’t afford to pay for them.” She’s so right!
Youtube
I’ve been making videos and posting them to YouTube pretty regularly regarding my sisterlocks journey and all the issues and questions I’ve had along the way. If you want to stay up to date on what’s been going on with me and my sisterlocks, please check out my channel. (<— Click that hyper link) I guess you can say I’ve come to like vlogging after all! 😉 I’ve found that when I have thoughts running through my head, it’s been helpful to just make a video and talk it out and share it with the world. The comments I receive and the advice has been awesome, and it’s helped me put things into perspective. So that’s the game plan, folks! Chime in and let me know how you deal with bunching and if it’s ever been an issue for you. 🙂
It wasn’t that long ago that I was wishing my sisterlocks would hurry up and mature, that I’d hurry up and reach my one year mark. Well here we are. November 16th I hit my one year of having sisterlocks. This month I was given the okay by my loctician to stop braiding and banding. I’ve experienced a lot of growth and maturing with my locs. So what have I learned in 2019?
What I’ve learned in 2019
First, if you blink, time will pass you by. What I mean by that is while you’re wasting time wishing and hoping for things to hurry up and happen, you can miss them actually happening. I wished for hair growth and didn’t think it was happening when it was. I wished for my hair to mature, and it was already happening. When I washed my hair for the first time without braiding and banding, the change I saw in my locs was instant. They swelled so much that they seemed to shrink. Eventually my locs fell again to show their length, but it was amazing to see.
Patience. Patience is still and will always be key. Having locs requires patience, especially the first two years. Once you hit the adult phase, you have nothing to look forward to but continued growth. I’ve also learned to listen to my own hair and scalp. Before I hit my one year mark, I came to that realization that trying to do things by the sisterlocks book wasn’t working for me. You may come to that conclusion earlier or later in your journey, but don’t be afraid to do what is best for you and your hair.
Always ask questions. When something is bothering you about your hair or if you have questions or concerns, talk to your loctician. If you’re on social media, join some sisterlocks or loc groups and ask questions there as well. The more you know, the better. BUT…be careful of the information or suggestions given in those social media groups. There is a lot of bad info floating around, so be sure to do your research so you can decipher what will or will not work for you.
Don’t be afraid to change locticians. Sometimes you vibe well in the beginning with your loctician, and something changes along the way and you no longer see eye to eye. Always have a backup loctician(s) on deck or a trainee. Anything can happen and you never want to be caught in a bind because you don’t have another person to go to. If you think you can do your own reties, go ahead and learn! There’s nothing wrong with saving your coins by caring for your own hair. I have several friends who have locs or sisterlocks and do their own reties. Some took the class, others simply watched YouTube tutorials and taught themselves. Most did it for financial reasons and because they want to be in charge of their own hair. Whatever your reasons may be, self retying your hair can be done.
Never compare your journey to someone else’s. This is a constant reminder for myself. There’s nothing wrong with learning from or admiring another person’s journey or locs, but please don’t think your journey will or should be like someone else’s. That’s not how it works, and you’ll be very disappointed when your locs don’t look or behave like the next person’s. Remember, no two heads of hair are alike. Hair density, hair type, and many other factors go into how each individual head of hair reacts to having locs. Also, how we care for our hair, how often we wash, retie, etc. will factor into how our locs behave and look. Learn to embrace your journey and love your locs at every stage.
Continue to document your journey through photos. This is so important because you will go through stages of feeling like your locs aren’t progressing or aren’t growing or maturing. Pictures always tell the story. Try to take photos of your locs every month to compare and measure your growth. I guarantee you will see a difference. And when your hair hits that crazy growth stage, it’ll blow your mind and give you hope for the future.
Going forward
Right now I’m almost 14 months sisterlocked and I’ve now washed my hair twice without braiding and banding. With this second wash I’ve noticed what looks like bunching on a lot of my locs. I’m trying my best not to freak out too much about it because I could be wrong. For all I know, this can be part of the locking process. But if it is bunching, all I want to know is can it be corrected? If it can be corrected then I won’t worry about it too much. I see my loctician in a few weeks and she’ll let me know if this change in my locs is normal or if it’s bunching and should go back to braiding and banding.
I love my locs. I’m enjoying this journey, and having my sisterlocks for a full year has been an eyeopening experience. There is much to be said about hair freedom. Locs truly are hair freedom. I wake up every morning not having to do anything to my hair unless I feel like it. My hair routine consists of taking them out of the braids or plaits I’ve had them in overnight, running my fingers through them, spritzing them with a daily moisturizing spritz and go. That’s it. There’s nothing more freeing than that! One year locked and forever to go. Bring on 2020!
This past Saturday I celebrated my one year of having sisterlocks. I also spent the day with my daughter at a friend’s house while my daughter got her hair braided. During this time we had great conversations about everything under the sun, but mostly about hair. My friend asked me how I was enjoying my sisterlocks and how the journey was going for me. I told her, without hesitation, that if I had to do it all over again, I probably would have gone the traditional locs or micro locs route. She was surprised to hear that response from me, but it felt good saying it because it’s the truth. My moment of transparency was not a moment of regret. Far from it. I love this hair freedom that I have! But as with any journey, there are things you wish you had known sooner or things you wish you could do over once you’re in the journey.
Why Traditional locs?
Neat Traditional Locs
To be completely honest, I like the thickness of traditional locs. I like the fact that you can make them whatever size you want them to be, and part them however neat or messy you want. They are also one of the cheapest options, especially if you start them yourself. The only thing I’m not too keen on is the palm rolling and the use of gel. I’m anti-products, and I prefer the interlocking method. Also, you can go as long as you want in between touch-ups. Reties/interlocking/palm rolling too often can cause stress and tension on your hair follicles which can result in hair loss. For that reason, I’m all for going as long as possible before having to manipulate my hair again. Also, traditional locs, depending on how many you decide to have, can be self-maintained by you instead of spending money to let someone else do it. I think if I didn’t have sisterlocks, I would be more interested in maintaining my own locs. Having so many tiny locs just seems so overwhelming to maintain for me.
Why micro locs?
Micro Locs
Microlocs give you the same look and feel of sisterlocks, they are just a little bigger. Once again, you wouldn’t have to worry about a super detailed trade-marked grid. How many locs you choose to have, how you part your hair, and if you start them with two strand twists or plaits are all up to you. They are equally as beautiful as sisterlocks in my opinion, and a much cheaper option. Being in the loc community I’ve had the chance to see all versions of locs besides sisterlocks and how beautiful they are in their different shapes and sizes. I like fullness, and I know my locs are still maturing and have not gotten to their full mature size yet. I need to give my locs time and be patient.
combining my sisterlocks
My friend suggested combining my locs when I expressed to her that I wish my locs were thicker. I told her that idea has crossed my mind several times, but I will wait until my locs have fully matured before I do anything. Who knows, I may still combine them to get the look that I want. At this point almost everything is a possibility for me. Sisterlocks have given me hair freedom, but I’m also looking at self-maintenance very seriously. What if something happens to me and my family financially where I can no longer afford my reties? What if something happens to me physically? You just never know what tomorrow will bring because tomorrow is promised to no one. I’ve had several of my loc’d friends stress to me learning how to maintain my own locs, and I’m starting to see the wisdom of their words. It’s always good to know how to do your own hair no matter how you wear it.
Stay tuned!
My loc journey continues you guys, so stay tuned! It’s not over, it’s just beginning. I’ve gotten through my first year of having sisterlocks and it’s been amazing. But there are things that I want to do or explore like coloring my locs, possibly combining them for a fuller look, and self-maintaining them. As much as I love my loctician, the idea of saving my coins and taking care of my locs myself is starting to appeal to me and make sense for many reasons. Just as life evolves and keeps moving, so does your hair and how you choose to wear it and maintain it. I’ve gone from getting relaxers to going natural, and having locs. Each required me to take care of my hair differently, and I’m okay with that. Have you combined your sisterlocks or locs? Were you happy with the results? Chime in!!
Although my one-year mark isn’t until Saturday, I wanted to post something now while I have all these thoughts and emotions coursing through me. I seriously thought I’d never get to my one year mark, especially after my sisterlocks were installed. While I was super excited about having my sisterlocks, I also had nervous butterflies in my stomach. But I forged ahead because I was loc’d and loaded – literally. There was no turning back. I invested (mightily) in myself, and I’m worth every penny and more!
In the beginning
Installation day 11-16-2018
Consultation September, 2018
Installation day at the shop 11-16-18
One month
Various styles I attempted during first month
Various stages from installation till five months
In the beginning, I was unsure of so many things: When to wash my locs, how to style them, how to make the stringy look go away. Eventually I figured some things out like washing your locs is the key to them not looking stringy. Washing your locs is also key in your locs swelling. But I quickly realized that I wasn’t one who could wash her locs too often because slippage was a huge problem for me.
Months 7-8
Having locs also didn’t stop me from being a lazy natural. If anything it encouraged my laziness, lol! I love not having to wash my hair so often. I love getting up and going. I love not putting anything in my hair. I dread wash day because braiding and banding is such a pain, but also a necessary evil. I watched in amazement as my hair began to transform before my very eyes. Over time, my locs became fuller, and they grew and flourished. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I also felt that this was all due to me following the sisterlocks rules to the “t”. I wasn’t bucking the system like so many others. Then I had a rude awakening.
Girl, what is wrong with you?
I became so obsessed with doing everything the right way when it came to my locs that I literally lost myself. I became drunk off the sisterlocks kool-aid. And that’s not to say that the sisterlocks way is wrong. I’m not saying that at all. However, what I had to learn, and it took me almost a year to learn this, was that you have to cater your sisterlocks journey to you. The suggestions and rules that are in place may work for some, but it won’t work for everyone. My wake up call came when I began to have horrible itching and dandruff around my 10th month. That’s when I knew that trying to do everything by the sisterlocks book was doing more harm than good to my scalp. Once I had that realization, everything came full circle for me. I stopped obsessing and I began to relax. I appreciated my journey more. I stopped being so afraid of ruining my locs.
There were some other minor bumps in the road along the way, but I managed to get through them with the help of other sisterlocked sistas via YouTube or Facebook. Support groups are so important to your sisterlocks journey. I can’t stress this enough. Sharing ideas, experiences, frustrations, and getting answers to your questions is essential. Yes, you should first ask your consultant if you see one regularly. But oftentimes it’s good to talk to others with sisterlocks and hear their experiences, tips and tricks. Not all advice is good advice, but be sure you know how to sift through the information and take what you need from it.
What this year has taught me
Having sisterlocks for an entire year has taught me many things. As with being a loose natural, patience is key. You have to be patient. Looking at pictures of those with long, mature locs is not going to help you. If anything, it’ll make you impatient and have unrealistic expectations. This year has also taught me the beauty of embracing new journeys and everything that comes with them. You’re going to have your good days and bad days, unwanted comments and suggestions from family, friends and even strangers. Keep powering through it all.
More importantly, I think this year with sisterlocks has taught me the strength of my confidence. No matter what anyone had to say, it never made me second guess my decision to loc my hair. I embraced my locs and wore them with confidence from day one. Having sisterlocks have made me super aware of other women with sisterlocks or locs in general, and seeing how they rock their locs with the same confidence is everything. It reaffirms everything positive that I already feel about having sisterlocks. I used to think that rocking loose natural hair took a lot of confidence. It does. However…rocking locs of any kind takes a lot of confidence and courage. Let’s not mention the stigmas and sterotypes associated with having locs. It’s enough to make anyone think twice about getting them!
Hair freedom
Photo taken 11/13/2019
Length check in the mirror
Bantu Knot Curls
Photo taken 11/13/2019
Lightly Flat ironed sisterlocks
Bantu Knot curls
Photo taken 11/13/2019
Months 11 and 12 sisterlocked.
I’ve never experienced this kind of hair freedom before, and I love it. At this point in my journey, there isn’t anything that could make me get rid of my locs. With sisterlocks, I’ve found the hair freedom I’ve been looking for and it’s only bolstered my confidence and enhanced my appreciation for locs. More importantly, sisterlocks have taught me patience all over again. I had to let go of the idea of controlling what my hair does and trust the locking and growth process. Growth will come and your hair will loc. Trust me. Letting go is hard for many to do, but once you do, you’ll be amazed at how your hair flourishes when it’s left alone to do what it do. Document your journey with pictures. Seeing how much your hair has grown when you think it isn’t growing, and seeing how much your locs have matured over time will blow your mind.
Now that I’m one full year into my sisterlocks journey, I cannot wait to see what year two, three and beyond will bring. I’m excited, I’m humbled, and I’m thankful. Thankful that all of my experiences as a loose natural led me to seek something more permanent, sisterlocks.
Yes, I’ve been M.I.A. for a short minute, but for a very good reason. I’ve been busy BAKING COOKIES! I’ve started back baking cookies and trying to get my side gig off the ground. (If you’re confused, keep reading and then click on the link for my cookie blog to get all caught up.) For the past month I’ve been baking every Saturday, filling orders and shipping them. It’s been fun, busy, and very, very exciting. It’s been my dream for so long and I’ve finally taken the final leap of just DOING IT. I’ve started and stopped so many times over the years that I’ve finally gotten to the point of realizing that if not now, when? If you want to see for yourself what I’ve been up to, check out my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SonyaSweetSomethings/. I’ve also started a blog about baking cookies and you can follow it here https://sonyassweetsomethings.wordpress.com/
What about my sisterlocks?
As far as my sisterlocks go, I’ve been doing some experimenting! Lately, I’ve been thinking about flat ironing my locs. Don’t ask me why, but I’ve been intrigued by it ever since I saw the cheesy sisterlocks video on the sisterlocks website almost a year ago. Now that I have some length and I’m just a week away from my one year loc anniversary, I figured ‘why not?’ So a day after washing my hair, I got the flat iron, put it on 370 temperature (my flat iron goes to 410) and went through my locs once. I made a video about it. Check it out!
They looked stringy, but it made me happy to see the length! So after an hour of enjoying the length, I quickly realized that I couldn’t walk around with stringy locs. Plus I had some place to be the next day, so I needed to do something. Curls. I wanted some curls and some volume. But I hate sleeping in rollers. Years ago I wouldn’t think twice about putting rollers in my hair. Now, I can’t do it.
Bantu knots to the rescue!
One of the quickest ways to get curls as a loose natural was always bantu knots for me. So I took small sections of my locs and spritzed them with a water and oil mixture, two strand twisted them and then put them in bantu knots all over my head. When I went to bed that night, they didn’t hurt my head when I slept nor did they come down. The next morning when I took them down, I had a head full of glorious curls! I also made a quick video to show you the results.
There are a lot of people who don’t like straight locs and prefer to have curls in them. I’m not one of them. But I must say that I loved how my locs looked after doing bantu knots. I did the bantu knots Saturday evening. Today is now Thursday and my hair is still holding curls. Many swear by curl formers and other loc curlers, but I swear by bantu knots!
hows my dry itchy scalp?
Funny you should ask! First off, the temperature where I live is currently 13 degrees. That wasn’t a typo. It’s 13 degrees outside and we got more snow yesterday. Yes, more. We got 5+ inches of snow on Halloween. Gotta love Wisconsin weather! So since we’ve completely skipped over fall and jumped head first into winter, my dry itchy scalp is only going to get worse, which means I need to be more diligent about keeping my scalp happy. This means washing more often, and oiling my scalp with a water based oil concoction that I’ve created. They are all light oils that are great for the scalp and help the scalp combat dandruff while promoting hair growth: vitamin E oil, sweet almond oil, peppermint essential oil, tea tree essential oil, and a dash of castor oil.
Also, I add peppermint essential oil OR tea tree essential oil to my sisterlocks dandruff shampoo. It’s soooo soothing and provides instant relief to my very itchy scalp. After I dry all the excess water out of my hair, I spritz my scalp with my concoction and I either let my hair air dry (if I know I’m not leaving the house anymore) or I’ll blow dry it on low heat. So far this has been working pretty well for me and my scalp. My deathly fear of having build up in my locs due to using oils is a thing of the past. I don’t use oils daily, only after a wash, and even still I’m going to play it by ear as we get deeper into the cold winter months. I may need to use oils more often.
Welp, that’s it y’all. That’s what I’ve been up to. How about you? How are your locs or loose natural hair doing? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you! ❤
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.
Photo taken 10/16/2019
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…
The hair color I want for my locs
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!
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!
Going Back to my Natural Roots 