Week 4

My one month'versary will be here on Wednesday! Yay!! This past week, I didn't do much to my hair but get up and go post-H20 spritz. Gotta love it! Someone in the elevator at work on Thursday said "you did something different to your hair! it's very curly". She went on to say, "what do you do, just wash and go?" :-)) I didn't bother going into the sisterlock conversation, but just smiled and replied, "Yes!" I enjoy the adoration, inquisitive minds, eagle eyes and rubberneckers who wonder "what's that, twists...extensions?" Oh, how I love thee sisterlocks :-)).

I washed my hair twice this week. I decided to purchase some small "ouchless(w/o metal)" bands. They are a little thicker than the tiny rubber bands we receive in the starter kits. The small rubber bands were just not so user friendly to me. I didn't like the hard time I had trying to pull them out of my hair after washing because they are so so tiny and whenever I did, I felt like they would snag my hair a little at the ends and make them more frizzy. Anyway, I decided to make that minor adjustment with the wider bands. Although I haven't used them yet for washing, I twisted and banded for a cardio workout and they worked GREAT. They were super easy and less time consuming to remove from my hair and no snagging!!

Yesterday, I went for a massage and had an "oh no you didn't moment" when the massage therapist started massaging my scalp unexpectedly. The quiet voice in my head was screaming "nooooo" and "don't massage too vigorously around my baby edges", LOL, and "no oil!!!". I tensed up everytime he got near the the nape of my neck. Fortunately, he wasn't using alot of oil and the times he was in my head or near my baby edges, the oil in his hands had already been absorbed in other areas prior. So, I didn't freak out and jump off the table or anything..LOL. Two things you don't mess with, MY FAMILY & MY HAIR

I had to reschedule my follow-up & first retightening session last week because I wasn't feeling well. I am over-due and looking forward to my appointment on Thursday. This head needs some work! I'm thinking every 5wks is going to be my schedule. I will see what my consultant thinks on Thursday. The area where I have experienced the most slippage is around the edges at the front(near the top) of my head. I'm looking forward to getting those babies re-locked. The spacey areas in the top are thickening!! 'Til I get tightened up...Peace, Joy & Sisterlocks Lovin'. ;-)

Bang Love

This week I rekindled my love with the bang. I haven't worn bangs since I was a kid, lol. I performed my 3rd wash today. I decided to go all out and wash in the shower and it went well. My hair is changing so much! The dense areas in the back already are showing early signs of closing! Back to the washing...I noticed that whenever I wash, I have dry skin that comes up from my scalp and leave white specks in my hair. I feel it's because the braiding and banding doesn't allow me to rinse the dandruff that comes up from my scalp and therefore gets trapped in my hair, especially at the base of the lock in the new growth. Once I let it dry, I am able to get it all out by brushing it out with my hands. I think once I'm able to wash without braiding and banding, that problem will be resolved. If anyone else has had this issue during the start-up phase, feel free to share your tips. Peace, Joy & SL-love.

Week 3 Begins!

Week 3 begins and looking at my week 1 shots, I'm happy to see that changes are evident! I am not sure, but I have a few in the back of my head that feel and look different in that the ends. It appears like they are trying to seal! Experienced lockers, let me know your thoughts. There is a pic of a loose end vs what appears to be a sealing end on the collage. I am definitely almost ready for my first follow-up and retightening. Today, I woke up and didn't spritz with water. I just scrunched my hair with my hands to wake it up and give a little volume. I pulled in up into a little ponytail (no pulling or tightness at all, I don't want to stress my hair and scalp one bit) on the top and called it a day. Of course, I will have my hands in my hair again before the end of the day, LOL. I think this week will be a pretty chill free-style hair week. I'll just continue to love, appreciate and nurture my babies while I continue to enjoy my freedom. Til next time, Peace, Joy & SL Love.

Week 2 Update

This has been another good week. Besides a few locks that have experienced some slippage, primarily around the front edge, and some frizzies, everything is looking good. Patience, patience, patience is a virtue :-) So this week I pretty much free-styled for the most part. I tried a little pin-up style just because and slept in soft spike curlers one night to see what kind of curl result I would get. The curls were tight and cute. I only kept them for the day before performing my second wash. For this wash, I followed the same recommended wash routine, braiding and banding and using Sisterlocks starter shampooo. I've noticed a few flakes in the front of my hair (dry scalp), mild, so I washed a little more vigorously this time around. I've yet to feel that "squeaky clean" that my consultant and others have said they feel after a wash. I still feel that I'm not getting my hair as clean as I could without the braiding and banding, but know it's important to go through this process of washing to prevent major slippage. I've also noticed that after I wash, small specks of flakes stuck at the base of my lock. I can pick them out easily, but it just makes me feel like I'm not getting my hair as clean as I could. Being careful not to be too vigorous at this stage is another factor I'm keeping in mind. I already cannot wait for the day I can just dive under the water and let it soak my hair and scrub my fingers into my scalp for a good 'ol fashioned washing without worrying about ending up with a head full of loose hair. Again, PATIENCE is a virtue.

I continue to get compliments and questions about my hair. At work, one guy actually touched one of my locks, without my permission y'all, lol..he's cool though and was curious if it was a twist. He was all up in my grill..lol. He said he really liked it and thought it looked nice. I had a brief conversation piece with someone in the restroom who walked in as I was fluffing my hair with my hands, you know that handinthehairitis, and she complimented me on my hair. She went on to say that her daughter had "those" in her hair, but was complaining now because they were so heavy. I asked her if she had Sisterlocks and she said yeah. Of course, I think most people don't know the difference. They think a lock is a lock is a dreadlock is a lock, lol. I feel it's my duty to raise awareness :-) Anyway, I asked her if her daughter uses alot of product on her hair and she said yes. I then responded that most likely she has traditional locks and the product build up is making them heavy. I also told her I only have to spritz with water and go!

In light of that conversation, I have noticed that some SLockers use different shampoos other than the Sisterlocks shampoo. Did you decided to wait until they started to move on from the baby lock stage or just use it from the start because of preference or problems with the SL shampoo. The Sisterlocks starter shampoo seems to be working fine for me right now and I will continue to use it as recommended. I have had very mild itching, but nothing that makes me feel like I need to switch over to another shampoo or add anything on my scalp. I will continue to keep an eye on my scalp and maintain my wash routine once a week for now with the sisterlocks starter shampoo because my consultant says it helps stimulate the locking process. I would so love to be able to use my AVEDA Brilliant shampoo again though..something that smells nice. I know that I will be able to switch over to one of the other scented sisterlocks shampoos at some point, so I will just wait. I know it will not be in vain. Peace & Sisterlocks Love ;-)

1st Braid-Out

Not much to report except that I am still loving my Sisterlocks :-)) I got up this morning and sprayed a little water mist on my hair and was on the go. I can't keep my hands out of my hair, so I decided to try a braid out this afternoon (see pics). I don't think it looks that much different than my freestyle look, although it may be a little crinklier. It did give it a little more volume than this morning when it was flatter. As you can see, my scalp is starting to fill in already! Anyway, that's all for now. I'll check back in later this week. Peace.

First Wash - Day 6

Day 6 I performed my first wash. I was sooooo nervous that I would end up with a head full of loose hair, but I braided/bundled and took a head dive under the faucet with my fingers crossed. I was really concerned about loosening the locks around my edges, but they all faired well! I put a bobby pin on the ends of a few of the small edge locks that were too short to bundle with other locks. My consultant suggested I clip them down to avoid slippage and it seemed to have made a difference. I plan to do a weekly wash, especially considering I will be sweating in my hair alot with my cardio workouts. I did notice a few small brown flakes in the front of my hair/scalp after the wash. I am thinking it was from the Sisterlocks shampoo? The shampoo has a brown tint. Other than that, so far, so good :-)). I am loving my sisterlocks freedom and looking forward to thickness and maturation!

Rockin' My Locks

Just stopping in for a quick blog note and pic post. This has been a great first week at work with Sisterlocks so far! I have received nothing but compliments and inquiries. I love running my hands through and fluffing my hair! I could not do this in its previous natural state. I will miss my puff days in a way. As you can see in the pics, I have areas of less density in the top, but I have no doubt that will change in due time. It actually is more visible in a camera shot than in person, so it doesn't bother me at all. I can already feel and see small changes in my hair since my install. Amazing. Yesterday I did cardio on my elliptical machine. I braided and banded for fear of sweat causing slippage. I had a talk with my consultant today, so glad we work for the same company because I have the luxury of getting a spot check from her daily if I want :-), and she determined that it's probably not necessary for me to braid and band and that just a pin up will do, unless my hair is getting drenched with sweat during my workouts. I was happy to hear that because the braid'n band was very time consuming. Taking them out was a little annoying as well because the bands are so tiny, but we are gonna work on that. My consultant said also that I should band larger sections of my hair in the future for washing as opposed to the smaller sections I did pre-workout. In the mornings, it has definitely been a get up and go WITH STYLE type of freedom. I wet my hands, run them through my hair, finger style, throw in an accessory clip, if that's what I'm feelin', and GO GIRL! Sisterlocks rock!!! Peace.