Hey Are Those Sisterlocks?

Posted in Lockitup: 29995

Since my sister and I have relocated to the big city of WACO, we
anticipated having trouble with folks even understanding our hair.
Most of the folks just look and don't ask questions. But you can
see the curiosity in their eyes. We drove by a place called "Nappy
Roots" and just knew they specialized in natural hair. Well we go
in and there's this young guy cutting this 12 yr old boy's hair with
some chairs lined up (for folks waiting) and that was about it. He
was excited to see us, but admitted flatly that he couldn't help
us. He'd never even heard of Sisterlocks, so we allowed him to
examine our hair (touch it and all). He bout' came unglued when we
told him how much it cost as far as certification was concerned and
then what it cost us to get our hair locked and retightened. He
couldn't even imagine the potential expense. He thought it was
temporary until we told him it was permanent unless we cut it off.
He then understood a lil' better after that.

He then kindly called another lady up, who came to town from Seattle
Washington who we then went to go see. Her place was called A Head
of Time. She's not certified but does deal in natural hair. My
sister Jen wants to get a good shampoo because we don't have good
water pressure where we live. So we'll have to make a trip to
Dallas to see Elaine, when I get that scheduled. We have gotten
compliments, but folks really don't know what to say or think. I
say, Gurl, these are wonderful!! You should get cha some!

Thin Crown

Post from lockitup:

Maryee,

Thanks your photos helps me feel more patient toward this process. I was so
discouraged when I got up and looked in the mirror and saw a thinning lock. It
was depressing especially after slowly getting over the picked hen look. My hair
is about the length you had in picture 17 and almost as spacey.

Thanks again

Bella

"Maryee" wrote:
Congrats! You will be pleased. I had/have thinning hair on top from
14 years of braids on and off and perms and the whole nine. Although
I still have the "thin" spot on top, my entire Sisterlock look over
compensates for the thinness. It's a doggone shame cause I can get up
and leave out the house and never even look in the mirror to "check"
to make sure my hair is in place. The stage it is in (17 months)
allows me to pretty much shake my hair or run my fingers through it
and be out the door. Such liberation!

Month 14

Check out that new growth.

Importance of Check-ins

Post from Ve in lockitup:


Well I'm at it again. Pondering world peace and my beautiful
sisterlocks. It was Maryee's email a while back that solved an
issue I had with a few spindly looking locs. Turned out that over
styling via (braid-outs, twist-outs) was the culprit. I've been
free styingfor the past few months and all is well.

Now I've been back in the mirror examining my beautiful locs and
noticed "gaps" or "loops" in my locs. No real pattern per se, some
are close to the new growth and others are in the middle and some
are 3/4 down the length of the loc. I remembered a sister posting a
long time ago about this problem so I knew this was not a issue I
should shrug off.

I've taken the retightening class so I've been doing my own hair
since June last year. I see my consultant about every 8 weeks.
I had my consultant check out my hair on Friday during my
retightening session. It turns out that again (I) am making fatal
errors during the retightening rotation. I am following my loc
pattern (basic 4) but I have been inadvertently inserting the loc
tool in the same hole. My consultant showed me how avoid this
problem going forward. She's also repairing the problem locs and
showed me how to do it was well. I'm going to let her do the repair
because you really need to see the loop in order to fix it and it's
hard to do looking in a mirror. If I had not caught this error I
would undoubtedly have broken locs down the line. This is not a set-
back just another wrong turn on the journey. I am still enjoying
the love affair with my hair.

Just pointing out the importance of examining your locs and periodic
check-in's with your consultant.

Ve
SL 17 months

Hey Ve,

I have laid low on even touching my hair since I had those "thinning
strands" and all seems to be well. I'm in my "whitegirlitis" stage,
shaking my head and feeling my hair swish on the back of my neck and
ears. It's such a funny feeling. Having all this body and no perm
to give it it's fullness and beauty. It's really growing and I
ain't complainin'. I hope to take the retightening class this month
some time, so I'll keep the group posted on that as well. Checking
in with our consultant is very important. Keep us posted on
your "looping" findings. Take care!

Maryee

Can Children have Sisterlocks? Yes they can!

The following are pictures of my California consultant's daughter and niece who both have Sisterlocks. The youngest (her daughter) received her Sisterlocks on her 2nd birthday, shortly after Imani locked me. She just loves her Sisterlocks! Imani specializes in locking children. These pictures were taken a month before Jen and I headed back home to Texas.







If they were ever candidates for low self-esteem, not anymore!!!! These girls, rock their locks!

Posted in lockitup by Imani about her choice to lock her daughter's hair:

I decided to lock my daughters hair the day after her second
birthday. I got all the same negative comments about what if she gets
older and she doesn't want them and she will have to cut them off. I
tell them that if she wants to do that when she gets older fine but
while im doing her hair for the next 8-10 years she will have
sisterlocks. Not to mention once you have sisterlocks for a while and
your hair starts growing you realize that "its just hair" It will grow
back. Most kids who grow up with long hair usually want to do
something different with it when they grow up anyway. So if it is
long as a child they want it short later or vice versa. Either way my
daughter will grow up without some of the same hair horror stories i
had to endure. No sitting at the edge of the pool all summer because
she can't get her hair wet. No putting a towel on her head acting like
it's her long hair ( cause she'll have her own). No scalp burns, ear
burns. Long waits in the beauty salon. ECT, ECT, ECT.... I am very
happy with my decision despite what anyone else might think because 9
times out of 10 they don't even have locks or natural hair to begin
with so they are talking about something they dont understand anyway.
My niece also has sisterlocks. She was 8 when I first put them in.
Their is a picture of them in the files section under sisterlock
kids. One of the pictures is also two of my other child clients 8
years old and 10 years old.

Single's Valentine Day Banquet

We took these pictures at our church's single's banquet 2-12-05. Isn't Jen's hair just dazzling?

Sisterlocks 14 months

Thin locks Question (Thanks Everybody for your replies)

Posted in Lockitup:

Hey Luvi, Sandy, Jeri, Maranndme, Jennifer & Debbie,

Thanks for all your feedback. I really appreciate all that you
shared. I'll definitely have to check out the Wheatgrass. I've had
some before at good ole' Jamba Juice, but I'll head by Trader Joe's
to see what they have.

I do not eat beef or pork, so it may be protein that I am low on. I
drink plenty of liquids (mostly water) and don't drink soda and eat
junk. I mostly wear my hair "free-style" (with little fuss) and
when my consultant retightened my hair before Christmas she didn't
say the thinning was all that bad.

I was just wondering if anyone else had seen this kind of thinning.
It's only 2 strands, so it's not a whole head full of problems,
Thank God!!! Well, I'll keep ya posted. I'll send the pictures to
my consultant and see if she has any other feedback.


Q & A from a consultant:

Re: Thin locks Question (Alandria)

My answers are below Alandria's questions.

My name is Alandria Clarke and I am a Sisterlock Consultant in
Miami, Florida. After reviewing your locks, I thought that I should
respond to you. First, Questions and reasons for you to consider:

Q. Are you wearing a band across the front of your head?
Reason: Bands worn constantly may cause breakage at the scalp and in
the middle of the locks.

A. Nope, rarely if ever.


Q. Are you wearing your hair pulled back in ponytails?
Reason: Sometimes, unknowingly, the hair maybe strained and is
weakened which leads to breakage.

A. Nope, Not long enough yet.


Q. Are you wearing a cap during Showers and baths?
Reason: Constantly wetting your hair (like daily showers) will dry
your locks which lead to breakage.

A. Yes- That may be the culprit. I have/use the SL reconditioner,
but I have always had a "dry" head of hair. My consultant knows
about that.

Q. Are you maintaining your retightening schedule (i.e. not
missing or prolonging appointments)?
Reason: When you think that you are trying to save a few bucks by
trying to extend your appointments the new growth (baby) hair in the
front of your hair is not as thick as at the crown and therefore can
be strained which again will lead to breakage.

A. Yes, every 7-8 weeks.

These are just a few of the questions that should be asked. Discuss
your daily habits with your consultant and I am sure that together
you can rectify the problem.

I haven't heard back from my consultant yet, so hopefully I'll share
her feedback with the group. Thankfully it's only 2 strands, so I'm
not tripping. Before I had sisterlocks, I cut my hair down to a
fade, so losing hair or cutting off one stand ain't no big deal.

Also, don't stress... that doesn't help.


These are just a few of the questions that you should ask yourself
and discuss with your consultant.

Thanks Alandria!

12 1/2 months

This picture was taken at Imani's shop after a good retightening. I was now experiencing a lot of dryness from the dye. Some of my locks up front were getting weak, but I think that may have been actually from me perming the edges so often when I'd get my hair braided so my front roots wouldn't be so nappy and they'd match that "other people's hair". I am still suffering with my locks around the front to this day because of that. I think it was more from perm damage than dye, since I don't have that problem in any other part of my hair. Go figure.

Imani did put some really nice smelling Sisterlock conditioner all over my hair because I was whining about the dryness. I love her! You can still see the conditioner in my hair.
"Lockitup post"

Hey everybody! I wanted to wait until Jen made her year as well to post
pictures. Everything is going just fine for both of us. Jen's hair is really
thick and much longer than the pictures reveal. My hair has really grown, too.
I kind of like the two toned look. Imani, my consultant said my hair has
"dropped". Jen is jealous cause her locks have not yet. This group has been a
great help and support. For those of you waiting to get your Sisterlocks, I
wish you well! It is a wonderful thing!!!

I Need a Retightening

Believe it or not this picture was taken 10 days before my retightening session. I shampoo'd it and was checking out the length and new growth since I had my Sisterlocks one whole year!

11 1/2 months

These pictures were taken two weeks prior to my 1 year anniversary right after a nice braid and band shampoo. I loved the squiggly locks. You can see half new growth/half originally dyed hair.

11 Months Sisterlocks and Still Lovin' It!

Posted in Lockitup:

See, I am just loving this journey. What can I say, but thank you
Lord for Sisterlocks! Thank you Lord, for Dr. Cornwell, Pat Hunley's
website, and LockitUP! OH, and thank you Lord for Imani Nash-Bey, my
consultant! This has truly been a blessing learning so
much about my hair, myself, and meeting on line and in person so many
strong and beautiful women and men of color. You have been the
best!

I saw this lady at a church in Temecula, Ca last weekend who had
blondish color Sisterlocks and they were slammin'. She was dancing
and praising the Lord, with her locks mesmerizing all who looked on.
She said was in year number 2. I'm looking forward to coloring my hair,
but I have gotten used to the two-toned look. My sister Jen is
enjoying her locks as well. Take care!

Maryee

Should I color or lock my hair first?

Posted in Lockitup:

I got my hair colored 2 days before my locking session. My consultant
told me that if I wanted it colored, to get it done before. She also
told me that if I want to "re-color" it, I'd have to wait a year. I
guess it makes sense, seeing how it slows the locking process down.
I love my two-toned hair, but am looking forward to my "option" to re-
color it after next month (1year!!!) Hope this helps.