Four Years Sisterlocks Anniversary Notes

Yes, my Four years Loc-versary is here! Many have asked me questions over the months about my locs - I think that I have some better answers.

Tip #1:  Adding oils while the locs are wet will not weigh them down, but it may slow drying time.

Tip #2: Allow four days after shampooing for the locs to fluff back up.  I see a lot more volume days after my shampoos. I mainly shampoo when too many people start asking me about my loc maintenance schedule.  That is usually my sign that the sweat and pollutants from the air have started to weigh it down.

Tip #3:  Over the years, I have doubled locs that have thinned out so I have what I consider tree branching in my locs.  I have not lost any locs.  I simply combine locs that need combining.  I try not to make a habit of it.  Most of my tree branches are around the hairline along with my temperamental patch of hair in the back of my head. I believe the tree branching is what makes the longer Sisterlocks look so full at the bottom versus their roots.

On a separate note, I am seeing more and more gray hair at my roots, but I am very hesitant to color my locs.  Many people enter into the haircoloring decision so easily, but I know that my hair is different from  most people so I really want to determine if that is a good idea or not for me surrounding the health of my locs. Although, some still mistake some of my gray hair for lint, I just don't worry about it anymore.

My 15 months Microlocks Check-in

I hope you all love my curls!  I had to perm rod it wet and then pin curl/bundle overnight without the rods.  I used the Jamaican Mango and Lime Lock and Set Styling Lotion for hold.  I sat under the dryer for an hour and a half and my ends were not dry from the perm rods.  So I am now convinced that my hair is too long to  perm rod set on small rods and actually expect them to dry in any reasonable amount of time.

I used the "Lily of the Desert" 99% aloe vera Gelly for my 3.5 retightening session this go around.  It is thicker than the Trader Joes' 99% pure Aloe vera Gel.  So far, I think I like it better because of the thicker consistency.  Both are moisturizing.

I have learned a few more lock lessons this month.

1) MicroLocks will double up on their own if they start to thin, so a loctician should NOT need to double my locks up intentionally.

2) Freshly twisted locks can be bundled up before swimming or any other wet recreational activities.

It is true that if the locks are interlocked then the bundling may not be necessary for mature locks, but I am still really content with not interlocking.

I also love my hair clips to give more volume in my top!

Dreadlocks: Lessons Learned in 2013

 This is my August 2013 picture.  My last time having my hair "sisterlocked" was March 2013.  Five months Sisterlocks-free!  Same parting sizes.  Just new SELF-tightening technique!

Honey (as explained in my last article on this blog) is doing really well to keep my locks coiled.  Overall, they are not untwisting.  I did have a few instances where the honey made my neck sticky because I was sweating and the leftover honey on my scalp started sliding down. (What a visual? Right? LOL!)

Anyway, I just took a wet paper towel and wiped my perimeters and neck off.  Surprisingly, I have spoken with more and more people who use honey to avoid skin breakouts from other "lock products."  So those with sensitive skin will love honey for tightening their hair.

The honey works like a heavy moisturizer. I must admit my satin bonnet and pillow cases all look "greasy" but I have not attracted any ants nor bugs.  I will happily use the honey again and keep the wetness of my hair consistent before applying the honey if it starts to dry out as I am working my way through my hair.

Well, this picture is from January 2013.  I really suggest children start their dreadlocks between 10 and 12 years old.  Some people are born with "perfect shaped head and face" that they can look glamourous with a bald head.  And some of us, like me, need hair length to balance our distinguished features.  I found it difficult in my age 40's working in a corporate setting to start growing out Sisterlocks and/or dreadlocks.  I hated to feel forced to wear a wig to fit in with the workplace and also cause stress to my new $800.00 hairdo.  I really did not have a real support system.  People would say  "it looked great, but it was not for me. "  "My (their) husband would not go for it." Oh, "look at those little things.  Is that your hair?"

In hindsight,  I realized that I gained weight from the stress of coping with Sisterlocks and the "starter dreadlocks."  I even was laid off from my corporate hairdressing position within two weeks of initial Sisterlocks locking session.  My manager was African American, but obviously needed diversity training. I have a few other choice names to call this manager, but it would be inappropriate to post that here.  So I digress.

The founder of Sisterlocks' purpose was to empower women, but I found MY Sisterlocks journey to be a quick route through "hell" and back.  I made the best of it, and I am now back on track for happier days with my new approach to dreadlocks.  Thank God that I now see clearer skies, and I am on track to becoming more empowered as my locks gain length withOUT thinning out my hair density.  More on hair density later in this article.

Anyway, the younger you can start your little girls out with dreadlocks the better to cope with the peer pressure.  The dreadlocks or Sisterlocks need at least two years before they get to the length that most people start to really love them.  So starting at age 12 means by high school, the locks should be easy to style, and the girls should have some workable length.

This picture above shows the relaxed hair that is still hanging on my hair ends versus my matured lock.  My relaxed hair rolled up on the ends and formed knots while in the Sisterlocks' framework.  The Sisterlocks consultant really did me a disservice by locking my relaxed hair.  I honestly do not know if I had enough new growth to start Sisterlocks anyway. (Visit my July 2012 articles for my start of Sisterlocks.)

I had so much relaxed hair that I do not know if she really knew what she was looking at. My relaxed hair was never silky straight because of my natural texture. I digress again. ( I am trying to stay upbeat. Smile.)

Anyway, please do NOT pay to get your relaxed ends Sisterlocked.  They will either matte and lock on its own depending on your natural texture or NOT.  Either way, you will probably end up cutting them off at some point in time.

 Okay, my Sisterlocks consultant had started doubling up my locks within the first 3 months of getting Sisterlocks started.  She did not tell me.  I found this doubled up lock, and I was upset.  For those who do not understand the big picture, doubling up locks means your hair density is thinning.

For Christ's sake, if your hair is thinning out within months of starting locks, then something is NOT right.  Either your hair is the type that really does need some shea butter, olive oil or some sort of moisturizer  OR the interlock/Sisterlock technique is NOT a good fit for your hairtype.  It could be the Sisterlock technician's error in her interlocking technique.

Regardless, stop the madness!  If the doubled up strand is larger than the root area, then you are going to rip your hair out from the scalp trying to pass the "fat ends" through.  If you understand the interlocking process, then you know what I am explaining here.  If you do not understand the interlocking process, I encourage you to watch youtube tutorials on "interlocking dreadlocks."

By all means, watch your hair density.  In my December 2012 picture above, my second Sisterlocks consultant was twice as fast at tightening, but I believe that she was also causing me breakage and thinning.

Most of the length in this picture is still stemming from my relaxed ends that had not rolled up and knotted.   (i.e. my length above is from the relaxed hair that was put into Sisterlocks framework)

I kept asking the new consultant how is she sooo much faster than my last consultant.  Her answer was "age difference?"

No,  in hindsight, my hair was being ripped out.  The Sisterlocks consultants seem to like getting those Sisterlocks premium dollars, but they do not care if you are going bald in the process.  They just want to get paid without owning up to the fact that the interlocking technique or even the frequency of tightenings may not be working for you.  There are some exceptions . . . so yes, not all Sisterlock consultants are bad.  But definitely, do NOT trust that sisterlocks.com certified consultant list either as far as finding a caring, professional consultant.  I digress. (I swear - writing this article is taking me through an emotional roller coaster. It is amazing what I have been through on this lock journey.)

Also, if your Sisterlocks consultant is yanking your sisterlocks apart if they start to grow together, then I do not recommend this action.  Shears should be used to carefully cut the cross hair(s) if they can not be massaged apart.  Yanking on dreadlocks/Sisterlocks is what amateur locticians do; not professional locticians.  Yanking stresses the locks.

As you can see, I have learned a lot about dreadlocks over the year.  As for me and my dreadlocks, the best thing is for me was to do like so many other women with beautiful locks are doing - just do it myself and go to a loctician for updos, steam treatments, or other specialty options.  I do not want to risk too much lock doubling or combining.  I want to keep my locks as feminine as possible.

Thank God that I have found a loctician that I hope will work out. Our consultation went the best out of the three locticians I visited a few months ago.

I hope that this article helps others considering the lock journey for their children or for themselves.  Locks are a serious thing.  It's still hair and breakage still can happen.  Some sistahs with straight hair take sistahs with locked hair for granted.  I assure you that a sistah with long, beautiful locks are just as picky about her locks as any straight haired sistah is about her blow-out.  So don't get it twisted!

Learning about Locks: Dreadlocks

First of all, I am using the term "dreadlocks" because "locks" can be so broad of a term when it comes to hair.  Like Goldilocks, Locks of love, etc.  So "dreadlocks" is the best way to differentiate the type of hair that I am referring to.

In the picture above, my fellow Sisterlocks classmate, had some concerns about her recent Sisterlocks locking session that she had paid for and decided to become a Registered Trainee as well.  After class during the training period, the Master Sisterlocks instructor looked at her Sisterlocks because of her concern about how her Sisterlocks looked compared to others.  The Instructor corrected one of her Sisterlocks by sliding the loops down, adding tension, and adding additional loops into the Sisterlocks.  The corrected Sisterlock is the long one on the right.  The Sisterlock on the left is what it looked liked before "the Sisterlock correction."  Her hair doubled in length just by eliminating all the gaps that were left in the Sisterlock.

So now, imagine that her whole head of Sisterlocks may need to be corrected?  It is enough to make you cry?

 Of course, her Sisterlocks consultant may not have realized that their technique was not efficient or maybe they were going for "a less stringy" look?  Regardless, the client paying hundreds of dollars for the Sisterlocks service expects an expertise unless the client is paying a trainee.  Who is at fault?  The customer who is trusting the Sisterlocks professional, the Sisterlocks consultant, or Sisterlocks headquarters?

I do not have the answer to this question of responsibility, but this is what I do know:

1) Through my research, "interlocking" certain curl patterns is said to be damaging if done too often.  So Sisterlocks is an interlocking method, and it may not be the solution for all hair types.  I have met others that found their hair thinned out with Sisterlocks, and they had to come out of Sisterlocks into an afro.  "Stiff, coily, type 4 hair " should be aware of this possibility and monitor the thickness of their hair over the first seven months.  Sometimes it could be the Sisterlocks consultant's "tightening" technique.  Every consultant is an independent practitioner with different speeds and different approaches.

2) Some people have oily scalps; some people have normal scalp; some people have dry scalp. People with oily scalps will not need extra oil for their Sisterlocks.  Sisterlocks teaches that no one needs to add any oils or greases, but based on what I have seen, some of the stiff, coily, type 4 hair needs some extra help with moisture if their scalp does not naturally produce excessive oil.  However, I do NOT recommend grease or anything with buildup that will attract lint or dirt.  However, products like Jane Carter Solutions hair nourishing serum can be of assistance to certain hair types.  Careful with its usage, that particular Jane Carter Solutions product is not for the scalp- hair strand use only.

3) I also have learned that the interlocking methods such as Sisterlocks actually rotate the hair out of natural fall.  So if the hairtype is hard to lock, no one locking method is going to be the best fit.  What has worked for me is to combine two locking methods in order to make it hold then as the locks mature, one can start to narrow down one method.

4) Sisterlocks teaches only to use starter shampoo for the first six months or more depending on how long it takes for the Sisterlocks to settle in.  Those with normal to dry scalps and type 4 curl patterns may need some conditioning or moisturizing leave-in's.  Typically, type 4 curl patterns are not easy to unravel, but if anyone with a hair type that is easy to unravel, then they should stick with the starter shampoo to assist with speeding up the lock settling process.

5)  In addition, when choosing a loctician for any type of lock service remind the loctician that you do not want your locks doubled up at each service visit.  Also, ask the loctician to save any locks that might break off in order to mend them back.  Those with Type 3 curl patterns and oily scalps will less likely run into the breakage or mending of their locks unless there are a lot of gaps or holes in the locks themselves due to the locking technique.  Again, the lock on the left in the picture above, had a lot of gaps; therefore each gap can pose as a weak area within the lock for future breakage potential.


These are the philosophies of Loctician and Cosmetologist: Benita Blocker