I think I get the I LOVE MY SISTERLOCKS thing now!

Oh, happy day! Seriously. I really challenged my locks this week. I exercised pretty heavily. I cleaned the entire house. It has been in the high 80, low 90s outside. And I still look kinda cute without doing ANYTHING! I'm so used to my twists looking pretty starting to fuzz up about now --even after only three or four days -- the heat and exercise usually takes them down. Because of the heat, I've had my SLs in a pony in back. It's nice I have a little length, even with the shrinkage.

Shrinkage

Yesterday

This Morning

I worked out for the first time with my SLs and the inevitable happened...shrinkage. You can see the difference just in one day. I knew with the heat and my sweat there was no way I could avoid it. Last night, I had wrapped my hair in a satin scarf but woke up this morning with a bad case of flat bed head and my do had lost a few inches. A few spritz of water sprays here and there and I'm good now. It was a stark change from wearing a hat everyday. The last few months, I had just given up and wore the same hat every single day. I did wash it and comb it occassionally, but that was it. My hair was so hard for me to manage I didn't know what to do. Oddly, a woman in the salon had shared that she also wore a hat for like 6 months before deciding to get sisterlocks. I guess we all do travel along the same roads sometimes. My previous stylist had a baby and when I went to another one -- who was recommended -- my hair still came out a complete mess. From there, I went into a hair depression, you know, that mood where you're only so far from chopping it all off because you just can't deal with it anymore. I'd get the braids or twists, but I always knew I only had so much time before I had have to sit again for a re-do. This morning I woke up, looked at my hair and smiled because I knew that as long as maintained my locks every 5 weeks, I'm good. I've heard outrageous quotes for retightening, but my loctitician charges $70 for the first two hours and says she does almost everyone in two hours. She said the only reason she'd go over is if you let it go too long before coming in or you're late to your appointment. I guess the clock starts as soon as your appointment time, if there isn't another head in the chair.

On a side note...

My scalp is killing me. I mean it really hurts. Had to take an Alleve. I'm familiar with the pain though. Happens a lot right after I get braids.

The Journey Begins!

It took 9 hours for 8-9 inches of hair. Thank goodness we started at 8:30 a.m. I'm happy, relieved, and wondering why I didn't do this years ago. Mine don't look like my friend's hair. Hers was much straighter. Mine is pretty curly. In fact, doubtful anyone would think these are locs. Looks like I just got one of those braid weaves where the hair is loose on the end. Escaped the plucked chicken look for the most part (no pun intended), with the exception of the front/top of my head, which definitely is looking rather plucky.

I'm officially sisterlocked!

All Braided Up!

Okay, so I was pleasantly surprised. My hair was oddly easy to brush. I have 12 braids. Now truthfully, a few days ago, I gave it a strong deep conditioning with Miss Jessie's deep conditioner. But still...it only took me around 30 minutes to braid it up.

I lost one of my test locks though. So sad. I couldn't believe it was gone.

The Night Before...

Okay, so it's the night before I get my sisterlocks. I just washed my hair with the starter shampoo. I'm preparing to braid right now. My consultant asked me to braid it and band it before coming. I have that dire feeling like I used to get right before my mom used to comb out my hair after a wash. I've been spoiled by Miss Jessie's conditioners, which make my hair virtually tangle-free when it's wet. Now I'm about to dive into a web of naps with no conditioner to ease the pain. Well, here goes!

I almost at a euphoria stage!

They are sooooo tiny! I was expecting small, but I was really surprised at how tiny they were when my consultant did a few today at my initial consultation. I decided to go with the consultant near my home and not venture out to the other one, who is about an hour away. They both were wonderful, but she needed me to come after work hours and on the weekend. While I was perfectly fine with that, my husband was not. Particularly since we have two small children. I was looking at three days. And she wasn't available until June 17. The consultant near me came personally recommended, was less expensive, could do it in one day, and is only 10 minutes away. That pretty much sealed the deal.

My first SL consultant appointment

I have been looking forward to tomorrow all week. At the end of the day I have an appointment with a SL consultant. She's actually a trainee, but I'm excited nonetheless. I've been natural for awhile. I'm like most sistah's out there. I've had every hairstyle available...I've even locked my hair before. The locks didn't turn out so well because I didn't do my research. I impulsively chose someone who didn't really have an interest in my hair type or working with me long term. She started me with gel twists. They actually looked okay after a year and a half, but never had that funky Kool look I craved. There was no shape to them and they were too large for me to do much styling. So, I cut them off and went through the cycle again of perms, twa, twists, braids, weaves, etc. The natural revolution was not really a natural one for me. I was the kid who had a perm at age 5 because my hair was so thick and challenging to control. Perms were just a part of my life...an expected necessity. When I entered college, something inside me craved to know what my hair was really like naturally. I didn't really know. So, I did the big chop. Back in the early '90s it wasn't exactly the kool thing to do. I went to a large campus and it was really huge deal. I was the talk of the school. People openly talked about me and said very unkind things. Even my family was less than encouraging. Not knowing much about natural haircare, I ended up struggling, frustrated, and eventually permed it again. And that cycle of perm, big chop, natural hair, braids...repeat...perm, big chop, natural hair, braids...repeat, has been my life for so many years. Until now. I'm very excited about sisterlocks and I'm hoping this is a final, permanent solution for me. I think it will give me the flexibility and funkiness I crave without the styling hassle I don't have time for. I'm going to try two consultants, both of which seem very talented. It really comes down to my personal choice and time constraints. I'm logging this journey because, well, it just feels so good to write down all that I'm feeling inside. And I must admit, for me to post a photo with my natural hair so vibrant and healthy, is somewhat liberating.