Steam Therapy for Locs

Winter can be brutal on the skin as well as the hair. When my Sisterlocks look distressed, I pull out my distilled water and my pro facial steamer. 

The steam opens up the cuticles and hydrates. It is a great way to revitalize the hair without a full shampoo service. Sometimes an event can come up too fast,  and you just don't have the full 3 or 4 days for a shampoo service and allowing the natural hair to resettle. The steam therapy  allows you to have a good hair day until you can do a full shampoo reset.

Below is before and after steam therapy.

 

Certain Hair Types can Break Easy

I remember hearing a hairstylist say that some hair just doesn't grow.  After nine years of hairstyling, I can definitely say "This statement is NOT true;" however,  I do believe that some hair types have a hard time gaining length.  Remember "gaining length" and "growing" are two different things.

Everyone can see hair growth from the root/scalp area, but if the ends are continuously breaking and are being continuously trimmed,  then no, you will not see any significant gains in length.

After completing a consultation with a local loctician, she explained to me that she recommends the hair steamer to condition traditional locks, but not interlocks/sisterlocks.  She felt the hair steamer would interfere with the interlocks/sisterlocks from locking properly by loosening them up. She did mention that traditional locks can break at the ends if they do not stay hydrated.  I was amazed that withOUT any chemical in the hair, some hair textures will just naturally dry out and break.  Wow!

I also remember my first Sisterlocks consultant mentioning that she had two daughters.  Both went natural, but only one decided to get Sisterlocks.  She noticed that the daughter with the natural free flowing hair did NOT gain length as quickly as the daughter with Sisterlocks.

In addition, I have an associate of mine that has worn her hair free flowing and natural for three years, and I have not seen any real change in hair length over the years.  I mentioned to her that straightening her hair in order to trim it is probably damaging it.  She did discontinue the full straightening process, and it looks healthier and has gain some more length, but overall, no mind-blowing gains in length at all.

Apparently, the interlocking/sisterlocking provides "strength in numbers" by the hairs supporting each other.  This is another reason why I decided not to transition into traditional locks.  I also decided to focus on making sure my hair get some sort of moisture misting for routine maintenance.

It is just so amazing that without any relaxer nor haircolor, my highly textured hair can be prone to break according to the loctician.  Luckily, it is still growing and gaining length.  I am due for my next retightening soon with my third consultant. We have hashed out our expectations; so I anticipate that she is going to be a good fit.  I will update everyone soon!

DVD Review: Fire and Ice Volume 3 by Stars Weaving and Replacements

First of all, the model in this dvd has type 3c to type 4a hair. The model is overcurly, but her curl pattern reminds me of a texturized 4c curl pattern. So the model is kinky, but not overly kinky.

Now, that we have this information out of the way, "Fire and Ice: The Transformation of Natural Tresses Volume 3 featuring Tajuana A. Hughes" dvd was overall a good investment. However, it is not the answer for those trying to straighten virgin type 4c curl patterns.

It was a good refresh on using the hair steamer as well as pressing/silkening of the hair as a separate step from curling/styling of the hair.

I am no longer a fan of the flat irons so the use of the flat irons through the silkening phase as well as the styling phase was overkill for me.

As for as the blow-dry phase, it was a good instructional video on using the Denman brush.

So overall, "Fire and Ice Vol. 3" was a great video and worth my investment.