Interlock Retightening Guidelines for SisterLocks or MicroLocks

 New to Sisterlocks or any other interlocking technique?
A video link is embedded later in this blog article for a hair interlocking introduction.

 Wondering how often you should have your Sisterlocks or microlocks re-tightened? Well, here's a guideline that may assist you:

Eight weeks Range
If your density is low or you seem to remain "scalpy looking" past the first three months, then consider getting your retightening done about every 8 weeks.  This will allow for your new growth to volumize a little for a thicker look.  If your schedule gets hectic, then the six weeks period is the soonest  and the ten weeks period is the longest that I would push it.  If your hair is truly thin or less dense, the tightening time should not take any longer than any person with medium hair density.  Yes, the locitician will have to spend more time and check the tension on each lock, but you will probably have less locks to be serviced than a denser head of hair.

Four weeks range
If you have thick density, coarse hair, and can NOT stand too much volume or lift at the roots, then your retightenings should be every four weeks.  Your goal is to keep your roots as flat as possible to subdue any volume from your root area. You can consider three weeks as the soonest and five weeks as the longest timeframe in case your schedule gets hectic.  The technician should only need to do one rotation or looping cycle so the loctician should not have to worry about adding tension.

Six weeks range
If you have medium density and you do not mind  having a little volume or lift at the roots, then six weeks is a good timeframe for you to have your locks retightened.  If the loctician gives you really tight roots, then you can kindly ask the technician for future purposes to maintain moderate looping tension, and that you do not want the interlocking too tight to the scalp.  If they are doing two full looping cycles, then ask for one and half looping cycles.  Communication and partnering is key.

Scalp Tension?
Some people like their retightenings to the point that their scalp feels the tension.  For others and certain hair types, the extra tension may cause additional thinning or breakage.  If the loctician is not willing to help find a routine that works for your hair type and styling needs, then you may need to keep moving.

My personal Sisterlocks retightening Experience:
When I was getting Sisterlock retightenings, I had Sisterlocks certified consultants spend from 1.5 hrs to 4 hrs on my locks, and I was going every 4 to 6 weeks religiously.  It was amazing how different each Sisterlocks certified consultant can be. Self tightenings and/or finger twisting may be a good fall back option to learn your own locks.

A Sisterlocks Retightening Video Sample to show retightening speed when the Sisterlocks fall within the Sisterlocks sizing range-can be found at this link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEB6DgMFSgQ

In this video, the loctician is using her own locking pattern that works for her.  Ignore the Discoloration of the video, she probably added that special effect so that the average consumer would not understand her technique. Her locking rhythm is unique to her. Do not expect all locticians to follow the same pattern.  Yes, Sisterlocks training teaches their own locking patterns, but seasoned locticians may start from different positions that work for their practice.  I found this video extremely helpful.  Her youtube channel name can pull up interesting footage unrelated to her.  I am not sure how she came up with that name. LOL!  Anyway . . .

Were you wondering about my new Sisterlocks tool storage case above?

Well, I got it from the Dollar Tree store.  It is a "Color Loops" Storage case.  Only $1.00 USD. It is an empty case for those who are into the rubber band looming.  No tools or supplies included.  Just the case.  I love it!  It probably can double for jewelry storage too!  Perfect for my Sisterlocks tools.

Challenges in Retightening oversized Sisterlocks

I ran into another Sisterlock client with a head of locks similar to mine. She had some Sisterlocks that really were "too large" in size to fall into the "Sisterlocks" range.  The picture above are my Sisterlocks in the back of my head.  Compared to the Sisterlocks hook tool,  my locks pictured are almost too big for the Sisterlocks hook tool.  This is probably why in hindsight, I remember my originial consultant having to tighten some of my Sisterlocks with the Sisterlocks clip tool.  She had to have realized that my locks were oversized for the Sisterlocks hook tool; yet, neither she nor the Sisterlocks headquarters would resolve the matter without me filing a lawsuit.  Listening to others' stories similar to mine where "they didn't get what they asked for" really re-opened an old wound.

Pictured in the second picture above, is one of my locks that fall within the Sisterlocks range.  This Sisterlock compared to the Sisterlocks hook tool is reasonable for a "quick retightening."  When the locks are too big the roots literally swallow the Sisterlocks tools.

I found when tightening oversized Sisterlocks that it takes me longer to guide the Sisterlocks hook through the root of the lock and to grab the end of the oversized lock to bring it through without losing the end of the lock.

I also remember when the third Sisterlocks certified consultant retightened my back Sisterlocks with the Sisterlocks clip tool, she stated that it was hard for her to guide the clip tool through my roots.  This instance was when we really measured my back partings against the Sisterlocks parting card, and it clearly showed that my Sisterlocks were oversized.

Apparently, there are many people nationwide with the same issue - the Sisterlocks are oversized, but the technicians are still charging $400 and up.  It is frustrating to me as a Registered Sisterlocks Trainee who has to do the retightening as well as to Sisterlocks headquarters whose name has been attached to the hair service that falls out of spec.

The Sisterlocks headquarters have relocated to a different address in San Diego, and the Sisterlocks official website has a message from the founder Dr. Cornwell mentioning her continued dedication to Sisterlocks as well as the fact that she has made many mistakes.  I suspect many more changes are coming to Sisterlocks for the better.

The question regarding suing your Sisterlocks consultant for giving you oversized Sisterlocks has come up.  In my opinion, if you paid $400 or less, then it is NOT financially worth suing because it will probably cost you $200 in time, paperwork, and court fees upfront  and your maximum court award may be the original $400 that you  paid.  The technician deserves some payment unless you cut all the locks off.

So if you paid $600 for your Sisterlocks, a lawsuit may net you $100 and reimburse you $200 for the court fees, paperwork, time, etc.  So a $600 Sisterlocks service is borderline worth suing.  $100 or $200 settlement out of court would be ideal for oversized Sisterlocks.  This is just my opinion based on my own lawsuit filed.

If you paid over $600 for your Sisterlocks, then there is more room for a larger reward or refund. Settlement out of court is always preferred.  Hopefully, the Sisterlocks consultant is professional enough to resolve the matter without court involvement.

Sisterlocks headquarters is not guaranteed to be able to resolve the matter, but with upcoming Sisterlocks changes, they may be of more assistance for future cases.

Locks: From Interlocking to Twist Tightening

 I have about 10 to 12 weeks of new growth at the roots in the picture above.  I finger twisted the new growth in a clockwise direction in the picture below.  I believe the locks will mature just fine with the change in tightening methods.  I am keeping my original Sisterlocks partings until my case with my original Sisterlocks consultant is resolved.

Official 10 months Sisterlocks Update

So it took me 2 hours and 40 minutes to finger twist/tighten my entire head of locks with Aloe Vera Gel.  I perm rod set and dried my hair for another hour and a half.  Can you tell that I did NOT interlock at all?  Of course, the top picture is my favorite side of my head.  The consultant started out with the right size Sisterlocks in the front at the beginning, but as you can see in the picture below,  the other side of my head, the locks got larger.

So I still have a lopsided front, but curls hide a lot of imperfections! Also, in a nutshell, I like 25% of my locks, and the other 75%  of my locks I do not like because they are large and "too large."  However, as they get longer, I will hope that I will grow to love them more.

Now, for some more exciting news . . .  I heard from the Judge Mathis television show this past Friday.  They can not subpoena anyone, but if my original consultant agrees to allow Judge Mathis to hear our case, then we can finally move forward.

I kept all my original partings during this self-retightening. The aloe vera gel is natural and non-sticky.  I did not use any tools.  My original partings still look very much in tact as I was separating them.

 I sincerely hope that she agrees to settle this case with Judge Mathis!  I will keep you posted!

My 7 months SisterLocks Check-in

 The "So how's your hair doing?" question came up again . . .  so I knew it was time to check in again!  I just completed another retightening. Hopefully, you can tell that it's growing despite the fact that I have been awful about taking my biotin daily and my Viviscal.

My new Consultant (my third one) was the first to wear her Sisterlocks tank, and also, did some grooming of my locks as she went along.  Her philosophy is a little different in that she does not like those buds on the ends of locks so she removed some of them.  I must admit I am a little nervous about this but most of the knots on the ends stem from my leftover relaxer.  So I may start snipping them myself to save her time for the next retightening.  Now, for the not so good news . . .

She informed me that some of my back locks are too large.  Notice the Sisterlocks parting card compared to my partings.  She wants to split some of them. As she was retightening she felt that some of my locks felt like they were matted inside the lock as she pulled through which probably alerted her to the size of the locks.  Of course, I am thinking great - seven months and three certified consultants later . . . I am discovering that even my back locks are not in compliance with Sisterlocks suggested guidelines.  I was ready to scream and/or cry.  I just had to say a prayer and give my frustrations over to God. However, I did make a decision that my original consultant that started my Sisterlocks will need to find some resolution with me.  I paid top dollar, and my expectations were extremely high.  Please understand that I do not question her ability to deliver exceptional work, but my problem is that she did not deliver for me and my hairtype.  My new consultant has seen other clients completed by her, and she said that my head was definitely not her best work.  Judging by the larger sizes of my locks, she was surprised at who completed my locks.

Another picture of my back before retightening.  Some volume, but it is hard to style.  I do not know if this is the "bunching" that is described on the Sisterlocks parting card or maybe it is normal behavior at this length.  I do not know.

 Of course, my yarn unit makes all my woes go away.  It is simple and low maintenance.  I have been playing around with eye makeup too!

 This is a quick picture of my hair wet  to show more of the length before the retightening session. Please remember that part of my front hair still has relaxer in it which is why it looks so stringy.

Another quick picture of me trying to style it wet.  Well, I will check-in again in the next six weeks . . .

Six Months Sisterlocks Check-in

 I completed my fifth retightening which was my second visit with the new consultant.  She completed my head in half the time of my old consultant. But I just found out in my Sisterlocks refresher course that I attended this weekend that my Sisterlocks should be tightened in the same grid pattern that they were put in.  Neither Certified Sisterlocks consultant has done this.  In addition, I realized that the new consultant doubled up one of my sideburns areas.  It was on the same side that I corrected before trying to get a smaller hairline.  So I had to undo that lock area again.  I am getting sooooo frustrated.   Not enough to get rid of my Sisterlocks, but possibly enough to spend the time to work on my own head.  I really understand why some customers take the Sisterlocks retightening class to do their own hair.  The Charlotte area Sisterlocks service options are brutal. Another classmate was also saying the same thing because she was looking for someone professional and strict to follow the Sisterlocks way of doing things.  I may switch to one of the ladies in the class.  We will see.  In the meantime, as my Sisterlocks mature, I can clearly see where my stringy relaxed hair is still hanging on, and my thicker new growth is getting longer.  The line of demarcation is pretty clear in the picture below.

As far as the Sisterlocks refresher course, it is even better now that I am taking the four day course again.  Why?  Because there was so much to learn and grasp on the first go around.  Now, that I have been "around the block" a few times, I have better questions and everything is so much clearer.

Unfortunately, there is someone else going through the same thing that I went through . . .  paid a lot of money ($600) for a "much less than perfect" Sisterlocks experience with a different Sisterlocks representative.  She came to learn the truth about her new Sisterlocks.

In my opinion, any consultant charging over $400 per head should be in refresher training every year or two years religiously.  It is good to network and re-commit to Sisterlocks rules and regulations.  Customers really need to keep detailed notes and photos and feel more freely about submitting formal, professional complaints to Sisterlocks headquarters.  I would love to see Sisterlocks keep the Consultants in check more.  I believe it takes four or five complaints submitted  per consultant for any serious action to take place.

Things to report would be 1) failure to get a Sisterlocks starter kit (the official one to mail off for your Sisterlocks birth certificate);  2) failure to maintain your original Sisterlocks grid pattern;  3) any blatant inconsistencies in the work that was done; 4) Sisterlocks falling out or unexplained thinning.  Sisterlocks headquarters prefers for you to resolve any outstanding issues directly with the consultant but if it is not going well, they can help.

Sisterlocks: My Fourth Retightening Session

My new certified Sisterlocks consultant works out of a licensed salon, and she is a licensed cosmetologist as well.  Her hair texture seems similar to mine.  She is okay with clients using hairdressing in their hair.  Overall, I had a very pleasant experience.  No stress.  Whenever she had a question about something, she would ask and give me a choice.  For example:
1) For the Sisterlock that got doubled up, I asked her to make the two locks even with each other.
2) For the Sisterlocks that I had corrected, she tightened and recommended that I should have went for three Sisterlocks instead of the four that I created out of the two larger ones that were there.
3) She counted my rows on each side of my head similiar to what the previous consultant was trained to do. She and I agree that I am one row short on one side versus the other.  Luckily, I can live with the inconsistency.

Amazingly, she finished about an hour quicker than my previous consultant.  She went in a systematic order for retightening.  We discussed my relaxed ends.  We figured out that because they have rolled and doubled onto themselves forming a ball, this behavior prevented the relaxed ends from unravelling.  I showed her pictures of my initial installation because she thought the consultant put the knots on my ends.  No, according to my snapshots, my relaxed ends had no visible knots on the ends.  So we both learned something, some  textured, relaxed ends seem to maintain within the Sisterlocks framework so I may never have to cut the relaxed ends off unless I am trying to achieve a specific haircut or style.

Because of the Christmas Holiday, I elected to get this retightening completed at a four week point.  So I will see at my next six week interval, whether she is an hour faster again.  This consultant sounds like she has the speed of my Master Trainer from my class in Boston.  She said that she can do a full head of Sisterlocks in 8 to 10 hours if the client's hair is under 5 inches.  My Master Trainer did mention while I was in Boston that upon judging from a distance, my head of hair probably should have been completed in about an 8 to 10 hours timeframe.  Since I am tenderheaded and my relaxed ends were added to the framework, I would say add on another five or six hours.  The total hours still do not equal the 20 hours that I spent during my installation with my previous certified consultant, but that chapter of Sisterlocks is over, I am looking forward to the future with my new certified Sisterlocks consultant.  I feel like she is willing to partner with me on my hair.  She also inspired me to work toward my certification.  She gave me some ideas and goals to set.  Overall, I look forward to my next retightening session with her!  I am very pleased with her willingness to work with me, her professional business etiquette, and the comfort of her salon atmosphere.

SisterLocks: Reasons for Switching Consultants

 I had to say a prayer before writing this article because I really needed Divine guidance.  This is a sensitive topic, and I want to delicately deliver my message so that it will be helpful to my readers.

 First of all, I am thankful to God that I took pictures at EVERY step of the way on my SisterLocks journey.  I am thankful that I have my blog articles to document all of the changes that I have been going through with my SisterLocks journey.  My purpose is to educate; not to condemn.  With that said, let us begin . . .

Do you see some of the length on my Sisterlocks after the first day of Sisterlocks installation?  Well, a lot of that length is relaxed hair. My Last relaxer: 12/19/2011. Sisterlocks installation pictured: 7/23/2012.

Let's calculate: Seven months of new growth = 3.5 inches of virgin roots. Clearly, some of my Sisterlocks are extending 6 and 7 inches long.  Also, the picture above shows the right side of my head which was completed at the top of the first day. The picture below shows the left side of my head, and it was completed at the end of the first day.

 Locking my relaxed ends into the SisterLocks framework may have resulted in the consultant making more medium size partings where I had preferred to have small partings.  I have spent hours this week trying to make sense of the difference in partings between the two sides.

 I have concluded that my right side of my head has partings that resemble narrow vertical columns which deliver small size Sisterlocks. Whereas with my left side, the narrow vertical columns seemed to have gotten wider and became more square resembling medium to large Sisterlocks.

 I will be performing "lock correction" on at least two of my SisterLocks in my sideburns area with the intentions of forming four smaller locks out of the two that I undo.  As for the rest of the inconsistencies, I believe that I can live with them.

 As far as my consultant goes, I did not expect perfection, but I did expect professionalism.  She claims that she was taught to maintain an equal count of Sisterlocks on both sides, and she was pleased with what she delivered.  When asked if maybe the relaxed hair could have played a part in my more medium sized partings, she quickly and firmly told me that "I did not have that much relaxer left in my hair."  That comment was "Strike two."  I am a licensed cosmetologist in three states, salon owner, and a full time hair professional . . . and she felt that she was the expert on relaxed hair and my relaxed hair at that?  She is not even licensed in any state for hair. I was completely done with her.  Then on top of that, I discovered that she had combined one of my locks together.  She did not tell me that she had done this.  My Sisterlocks are only four months old, and she is already having to double them.   "What the HE##?"  If my Sisterlocks were about two years old, then maybe some combining of locks may seem reasonable, but not at a three months point, and I am going regularly for tightenings.

 The only thing that I could think of is that by her overlooking locks at my 6 weeks tightening sessions, they were getting weak.  I asked her at my first retightening session, "Why does she skip around on my head for retightenings?"  She stated that she jumps around as to not get bored, but she ends up missing some of my Sisterlocks at every session.

Since my last retightening, I found two Sisterlocks so far that she missed.  That means that those locks will be put in jeopardy because they were not being tightened on a  regular basis, but I am paying her to maintain every Sisterlock(s) on my head.

Well, this was "Strike Three." The business etiquette and customer service has been below my standards.  Our personalities are in conflict, and I no longer trust her as a "partner for my hair."  It is time to "chair hop."

The Sisterlocks Training team is coming through Charlotte, NC in January 2013.  I encourage others to consider taking the class to become a Registered Trainee.  We really need more choices in Charlotte.

My Second SisterLocks Retightening Session

My second retightening session took about 3.5 hours. It is like a "relaxer touch-up" without the chemical. SisterLocks is a natural hair management system.

My personal SisterLocks consultant tightened my roots with more rotations this time than she did the first retightening session. Apparently, I am becoming less tenderheaded. Maybe because I have not been wearing any protective styling for about 10 weeks straight? Yay!

This last picture is right before my retightening session. Notice that I have thicker roots. Right? In the picture above, I look more "scalpy" after the retightening session which was at a five week interval from the previous retightening session. My scalp should thicken up again in another week - give or take.

As a reminder, my SisterLocks were installed on July 24, 2012 with relaxed ends. They are about 2.5 months old. On a separate note, my hair texture is coarse so my relaxed ends are considered more texturized and similar to someone who actually may have started off with a looser curl pattern. One SisterLock consultant that I met with looked at my hair and could not tell that I had relaxed ends. So my hair texturized is equal to someone else's natural curl pattern. Amazing. So putting my relaxed ends into a SisterLocks framework was not as far fetched idea as what I was taught in my own SisterLocks class in Boston, MA.

Well, as you all can guess, I am still going to my original SisterLocks installer. As you all also know, I do not like "chair hopping." We have been partnering much better with my hair. I had to call other SisterLocks consultants to give me ideas on how to improve my styling ability since my personal consultant is not a hairstylist/cosmetologist. The SisterLocks tips worked, and my consultant was willing to make some rotation adjustments to ease my ability to style after retightening. It is working out! It is definitely a journey, but I am happy that I started it.