Last time I combed by hair

It's been 1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks and 6 days since I last combed my hair. That's just crazy and I absolutely love it! I think it sunk in this weekend. I was very busy doing chores, running errands for both myself and my Mom. It was just one of those busy weekends and at one point I passed a mirror, stepped back and looked in. I paused just for a moment and thought my locks looked just fine. I think that was the first time all day I'd looked at my hair. So finally in this journey, I can really say I am not my hair. It was a very liberating feeling.

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Me!!!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year already since my Sisterlocks were installed.  So much has changed but I have to start out saying I love my hair.  We are finally at peace with each other.  50 years of battle is over. :-)

I took the re-tightening class at the end of May and did my own hair for the first time.  Yeah me!  Let me tell you, I do not like the tool they gave me at the re-tightening class. It's hard to use, hurts my fingers and constantly gets caught in my hair. Sorry to say it, but I gave up and ordered  the Nappylocs tool.  After it came, I sailed through my hair.  It had taken me over a week to do half my head with  the Sisterlocks tool.  I finished the other half in one day with the Nappylocs tool. I'm sure there are plenty of who manage just fine with the Sisterlocks tools.  I'm just not one of them.

More and more people give me positive comments on my hair.  Most of them saying they'd like to grow locks too.  I actually had one lady ask me if they were Sisterlocks.  That was a first, usually I'm telling them they're Sisterlocks.  She said she wanted them but didn't like the price.  I said that was a personal choice but in my book they're worth every penny.

Sometimes I look in the mirror and think they haven't grown all that much.  But just when I say that, the ones in the back get caught in the zipper of my dress or they tickle my neck.  Or even better, I'm walking down the street and feel them bouncing around.  That always makes me laugh.  Of course when I look back at this picture, the difference is obvious.  I love my Sisterlocks.  They really are the best thing decision I ever made.  Happy Anniversary to me!

Compliments from a Stranger

This woman in line at Walgreens completely made my day on Wednesday.  She said she really liked my locks.  She asked how long I'd been growing them and I  told her.  Its been 7 1/2 months and its amazing how my locks keep changing. 

She said she's tried twice to grow locks but got frustrated both times and took them down.  I told her that the one thing you have to have with locks is patience.  Lord knows there will be days when you'll look in the mirror and scare yourself.  But that's what scarves and headbands are for.  I've definitely learned patience if nothing else.  I get way more negative comments (mostly from family) than positive ones but I just hang in there anyway.

I really do love my hair and I know my hair loves being locked.  To have some random stranger tell me she liked my hair and wished hers looked that way, was really the best thing for me that day.  It more than makes up for the other things people say.

I came home, looked in the mirror and said, yes, she's right.  I do have nice locks.  So I took a picture to update my album. :-)

5 Months Update

I can't believe it's been 5 months already. In a few weeks (Jan 1, 2009), it will actually be 6 months. It seems like just yesterday when my Sisterlocks were born. I can see they've come a long way and my new consultant is really great. I've been fighting with myself trying to be patient. I want to use conditioner. I want them to be longer. I want to not worry about slippage. She just keeps telling me to be patient and I know she's right.

We had a get together of the Chicago Sisterlocks group 'Locked down in Chi-town". It was a great success. I met 12 of my new closest friends. :-) We actually plan on getting together again before Christmas. It was amazing to see so many different kinds of Sisterlocks. Knowing we all started the same way but seeing how everyone turned out different was really inspiring. I hope we will all keep in touch. It really helps to personally know other people on the same journey. There's so much we can learn from each other.

I've posted new pictures in my Fotki of the get together as well as my 5 month old locks. Take a look and see you next update.

New Sisterlock Consultant

My visit with the new consultant was a big success. I didn't experience any soreness or headaches at all. Not the day of or the day after. I was there about 3.5 hours as I had quite a bit of new growth. She gave me some great tips for taking care of my locks and said they were coming along fine. She was great and the atmosphere of the salon was very upbeat and lots of fun. I'll post some pictures as soon as I unpack my camera. I went to see my family right from the salon and spent the weekend with them. Life is good!

Week 8 Update - August 24, 2008

I had a re-tightening session last week. It was technically my 2nd since I saw my consultant week 2 right after I did my first wash and she re-tightened some that had slipped. But this was the first full re-tightening session and it took about 3 hours. The locks in the back around the edges had to be re-done as they had completely came loose. There were also some around the edges in the front that came loose but these were all very small locks to begin with.

I asked her not to make those ‘tight’ because the last time I saw her, she re-did them tight. I had a headache at work that day and my head was tender to the touch where those small braids were for a few days after. I am concerned because they are so small and because they were so tight they were curled up into little balls. She told me to take some Tylenol. I didn’t really appreciate that suggestions and again asked her not to braid them tight. So this time they weren’t as tight but later that day, my head did feel tender around those particular braids again.

So now I have a dilemma. On the one hand, I like the work she does and the atmosphere of her studio. She’s very personable and provides a lot of information. On the other hand, I don’t want someone who’s going to dismiss my concerns about the tight locs. I already know what will happen in the long run and a pain pill won’t change that. I know that I’m tender headed, I accept that but these locks are thin to begin with and the stress of having them braided too tight will only make then fragile and break off in the end. Aside from that, I don’t ordinarily get headaches unless I’m sick or my allergies are flaring up. I prefer not to take pills so if I can avoid a headache by not having tight braids, that’s my choice. I don’t want my consultant deciding that I will suffer the headaches because she wants to force these small locs to stay braided.

Her studio is very convenient but sometime over the next 6 weeks, I think I’ll have to find a new Sisterlock consultant. I hate to have to do that but I don’t see any other alternative.

4 weeks Sisterlocks - July 28, 2008

So it’s been 4 weeks and I’m loving every minute. I have some good hair days and some bad ones but I feel like my hair is really responding well to Sisterlocks. I’ve done some rollersets and it turns out very well. My hair curls so easily that it surprises me but it looks very neat for work. I still get stares from people, mostly I think trying to figure out how I got so many braids in my hair. When I do get comments, that’s the first thing they ask.

I have some slippage in the back around the edges. My loctician told me to expect that but I saw her a couple weeks ago and she said everything looks good. I have a re-tightening appointment in mid August so we’ll see how things are then. I don’t know if it’s grown so or just filled out but it definitely looks fuller than it did the first week. But my hair seems to look different from week to week anyway. I really like my Sisterlocks. Its the best decision I’ve ever made. :-)

I have pictures in my photo album. I just have to organize them and then I’ll post a link here.

Here’s the link. I joined the ranks of Fokti: http://public.fotki.com/dollhouse9/

Family Picnic - July 6, 2008

Well I survived the family outing with mixed reactions. My brother and his wife actually asked me a ton of questions. I found out that she’s been chemical free for 3 years. I just never noticed because she’s always worn weaves. They both are interested in locks but didn’t know how to go about it. They were both surprised at how many options there are for locking your hair. So that was a very good discussion.

On the other hand, my mother and sister kept huddling off to the side, looking over at me and huddling some more. I know I was the subject and my sister was definitely not into my hair but I wasn’t surprised at how easily my mother changed positions. Like I said before, she’s been my severest critic especially when she’s with my sister. Whatever, this is still my journey and I’m glad to be on it.

Hello World! - July 4, 2008

This is day 3 of being sisterlocked and I have my first surprise. My mother of all people said she should do the same to her hair. She has been my worst critic these 8 months of being natural. I couldn't believe she actually said that. She also told me she knows another resident in her complex (it's a Senior building) that has locks and she loves touching them. She didn't know that my Sisterlocks was a way of starting them. My mouth is still hanging. :-)

Well, we're having a family cookout today so the rest of the clan will get their first look. This should be interesting.

Moved Blog and Came Back Again!

On July 4th, 2008 I moved my blog and the pictures to Wordpress.

Ok so after 2 months (Sep 20, 2008), I've decided to move back to blogger. It seems that Wordpress has so many conditions on what can be on their pages that they're not as flexible as I thought. I only wanted to add a playlist and a couple badges. You would have thought I was trying to spam the world with all the trouble I had. Oh well, I'm back.

Day after Sisterlocks

Yeah! I had Sisterlocks installed yesterday. It took about 12 hours. I'm astounded at how many there are (we estimated over 400) but I haven't actually counted them yet. A few of the front ones are a little tight but I'm tender headed so basically a total wuss. I am surprised that for the most part, this was really pain free.

She put some rods on the relaxed ends and they're very tightly curled but I really like it. I'm glad she told me not to cut the relaxed ends off because I can only imagine how it would have look without them. It's all so curled and coiled but I'm really excited. I was worried about how it would look and whether I'd want to go out in public but it's all good. :-)

I'm posting more pictures as soon as I figure out how. I don't think I need a separate photo album but we'll see.

Day before Sisterlocks

Ok, tomorrow is the day. I'm so excited!!! I loaded my before picture. Actually I should have waited until morning but that would probaby be too scary. Tomorrow will also be the last day I use a comb or brush. Wow! That is scary. :-)