One common reason for the big chop off of SisterLocks was because women wanted to see their natural texture without the locks. They said that they wanted the freedom of free flowing hair. However, one blogger realized after the big chop that her curl pattern was much tighter than she had thought. (i.e. this was not a good thing.)
With all of this said, I realized that being able to keep your relaxed hair while your SisterLocks grow out is both a blessing for some and a curse for others. For me it was a blessing because last summer, I tried dealing with my natural hair one last time. It beat my a$$- up and down, left and right, and downright wore me out. I got a full dose of my natural hair, and the pressing comb did not seem to be the answer. "Texturizing it" was not the answer. "Relaxer upkeep" was not the answer. So rest assured that I know where I came from, and I am SisterLocked for life as far as I am concerned right now.
Don't get me wrong, last summer, I learned a lot about all the curl care lines so I have been a Godsend for others regarding product recommendations. All of my trial and error (mostly error) is paying off now as far as curly hair recommendations go and as far as virgin relaxer services go. Yes! All of that wrestling with my natural hair is really paying off one year later.
So to see ladies cut off long, beautiful Sisterlocks to discover their natural curl pattern . . . when, their natural curl pattern was right in front of their eyes; yet, it was in a manageable state called Sisterlocks - is disturbing.
So for those who found it to be a curse going from relaxer to Sisterlocks because they felt like they missed out on an opportunity. I respect that. I am sorry that they felt deprived. However, while they were transitioning in order to prepare for SisterLocks, their natural hair was there at their roots if they really dug in to see it. It was probably not as manageable which was why Sisterlocks was probably eventually installed. I know that I am making it sound so simple, but if you run your hands along your new growth with your eyes closed. You can feel your natural texture more than trying to visualize what it could be.
On a separate note, some people said that their SisterLocks were thinning out or shedding so they cut them off. Now, almost all of them had used permanent color on their SisterLocks. I am not saying that the coloring was the problem, but to be on the safe side, I have no intentions of coloring my SisterLocks. My curl pattern and permanent haircolor are not friends. I am not willing to risk damaging my SisterLocks.
So my point of this article, if anyone is thinking about chopping off their long, beautiful Sisterlocks to experiment with a short afro . . . you will probably find yourself just as "bound" as when you had SisterLocks. If your Sisterlocks are too plentiful to stuff under a wig then so be it - cut it all off if you will, but there is a 50/50 chance that you are going to eventually end up with a relaxer again unless you never needed a relaxer nor SisterLocks in the first place.
I finally saw a few ladies out in the community as well as on youtube whose SisterLocks look like a "Lion's mane." They had huge volumious "afros of SisterLocks." I could actually see why they wanted to get rid of the SisterLocks. For these individuals, my thoughts are "why not have a cosmetologist strategically cut out some of the Sisterlocks in order to thin it out?" In theory, the results would be similar to going through thick hair with thinning/texturizing shears or razoring to thin out bulk. Let me be clear, do not razor or use thinning shears on locks. I am only mentioning this analogy to assist an individual in explaining the results that one wants to achieve.
ReplyDeleteIf someone has that many SisterLocks, one could avoid cutting locks in areas where the client would part their hair and avoid the crown area where a lot of exposure is focussed. It would be worth the try. Also, cutting out a small patch of Sisterlocks to play around with their natural texture first would be more beneficial than cutting off the whole head of SisterLocks and discovering how much maintenance a whole head of natural loose hair is. Just food for thought.