Wet Loc Length Check-in at 35 months

I will be approaching 35 months in about three days. Some of my roots are puffy because of new growth so excuse my uneven parting. I usually tighten around my parts when my hair is dry.

I am finally at "celebrity short" length.  I have seen a lot of celebrities rock this length.

My length is well past my shoulders.  I am going to focus less on rolling them, but more on braidouts.

My Liquid Chalk haircolor is hanging in there.  I did not even refresh it this wash period.

June 2015 Honorable Mentions: Sensitive Shelf Life

I purchased some more Bee Mine products this year.  I could have sworn the Curly Butter in Coconut Cream scent was the same color as the Luscious moisturizer in the same scent when it was shipped, but now, my Bee Mine Curly Butter looks "chocolate."  Anyone else experienced this?  It does not have a batch code on the bottom.  I will probably open it for personal use and hope that it still has some life left in it.

 On a separate note, the Bee Mine products website mentions a 3 to 4 months shelf life for the curly butter.  I will have to discontinue ordering because I do not have a strong enough demand to keep fresh product on hand.  I was wondering why one of my local natural beauty supply stores stopped carrying Bee Mine products. Their sensitive shelf life would probably be why.  I prefer for products to have at least 3 years of shelf life from the time that they are manufactured.  Anything less seems to be a waste especially when people are rotating through different product lines anyway.

I also had a Design Essentials edge gel manufactured in 2014 to dry out on me.  I keep the lid on the product when not in use, but I do not know how it dried out within a year or less.

I will start keeping this extra covering over it to see if the next jar stays fresh longer.

The batch codes are on the bottoms.

I like the Design Essentials Natural Honey and Shea Edge Tamer.

Gaining Length While Losing Weight

Well, I am back down to my weight when I first got my Sisterlocks installed, and I was headed to Boston, MA to take my first Sisterlocks training.  It was August 2012.  I had been laid off from my corporate hairdresser position with Carolinas Healthcare System.  I suppose some people don't understand that you do not grow "long locs" overnight.  It takes time, and I was not going to pay another $1000 to get microlock extensions added nor was I going to spend another two days having anyone do anything else to my hair.

Some people have absolutely no idea what others go through in regards to controlling and grooming their hair.  I digress.  Anyway, I did not need a seat belt extension flying into Boston in August 2012, but this past January 2015 when I was headed to California, I had to ask for a seat belt extension.  I needed another inch or less of belt, and there was no more squeeze left in me so I had no choice, but to ask the flight attendant for a seatbelt extender.  I obviously could blame the airline for making the seats smaller, but somehow, I decided to suck up my pride. I had to admit to myself that I had slowly but surely gained a significant amount of weight in the last two years.  I don't even want to remind myself that I maintained a size 6 figure in my 20's so in the last couple of decades, I have experienced a lot of weight gain.

But I am regaining focus on getting all of that weight off.  I think that my hair had been a burden for so long because it is so different from the average head of hair.  Sometimes I question whether or not a "hair blog" even makes since anymore because unless someone truly has hair like mine - what worked for me may not work for another.  However, I am dedicated to the beauty industry, and I am excited about staying on the forefront of the hair industry.  

My locs will be 35 months old in another week and a half.  My mom seems to be noticing my length more and more.  She even asked if all of that was my hair to make sure that I had not added any.  I had to laugh.

Let's see what the next year holds.

The HerbaLife Weight Loss Challenge is on!

Successful Mediation regarding Sisterlocks

I had a reader to reach out to me regarding her Sisterlocks.  She was trying desperately to get in touch with her Sisterlocks consultant, and she had really just given up.  She needed a listening ear.  Initially, I gave her general advice that I would give to anyone displeased with their Sisterlocks experience; however, when she gave me the name of the consultant, I went into shock!  I knew this Sisterlocks consultant from one of my many Sisterlocks training classes.  I immediately went into mediation mode because I just was in disbelief that this particular Sisterlocks consultant (not naming any names here) was not up to par with superior customer service.  So I called the consultant, and I left her a message.  She returned my call.  I reminded her who I was in relation to our Sisterlocks training class.  She remembered me which set the tone for mediation.  I explained to her that one of her customers was frustrated enough to reach out to me for a Sisterlocks referral for her area.  I told her that my heart sunk to discover that the name of the consultant that was failing to return her phone calls was indeed a name that I held in high regard in the Sisterlocks world.  The consultant thanked me for bringing the misunderstanding to her attention, and she assured me that she was committed to providing this young lady with the customer service that we all expect from Sisterlocks consultants.  I emphasized to the consultant that this was not a question about her technical skills.  It was a customer service issue.  A young woman was so frustrated with her hair that she was searching abroad for answers.  Not a good look in the name of Sisterlocks, but obviously, this type of complaint is not new in Sisterlocks World.  Anyway, the young lady did hear from the consultant and wrote me this "thank you" note:

"Thanks for helping.  She did call me after I got your email.  We spoke and hopefully everything will work out.  I really appreciate your help.  Hopefully this was just an unfortunate misunderstanding.  But again thanks for helping me get in contact with her!  I know this might have been extreme just for hair, but I really appreciate it.  Thank you again."

I am so happy that this mediation went so well.  I wish that Sisterlocks headquarters was as dedicated to mediating complaints.  I can only assume that they get too many complaints to even invest the time to help consumers who are desperately seeking help for something so personal as their hair that they spent their hard earned money to get Sisterlocked.

So how much did I charge for this successful Sisterlocks mediation?   Zero dollars. It was indeed my pleasure and my passion to build and foster good Sisterlocks communications.  The "thank you's" from both sides was payment enough.

Balayage Plus Highlighting on Locs

Haircolor by Benita Blocker

I performed a Balayage technique in the bang area by 3 strand twisting and surface stroking the top of the locs. She plans her own retightenings.  I am just her colorist.

Hair color by Benita Blocker

I also highlighted 24 locs that my client can use semi permanent color to play around with.  I also performed gray coverage at her roots.  She wanted a summer splash of color . . .  I enjoyed doing it!!!!