11 months in...

The pictures here and above are today, June 14, 2009.

This is from April 2009.

It's been a while...Hmmm, what have my experiences been like? They've been GREAT!!

LOC JOURNEY:

First of all I'm changing the name of this blog from Sisterlocks to Loc Journey. My locs are taking their own shape and personality. The biggest thing I'm dealing with right now is that I am combining many locs, so I think I'll have a combination of Sisterlock-head and traditional lock head. In reality, there is no "cut and dry" when it comes to locks. Just different methods, and each person has to find what works for them. I am sooooo very happy I stuck with the Sisterlock routine, philosophy, and consultant for the 6 months before taking the class. I think it was very important for me to have this foundation. Now, I'm "on my own" and I have to make choices based on my hair. Here's why:

RETIGHTENING:

It takes me a couple of hours per day for about 10-12 days, to do a retightening. Yes, you read correctly. This is just soooooooooooooo time consuming that I've diligently and patiently combined a whole bunch of locs, mostly in the back. I just counted today and I now have 379 locs. That means I went from 463 to 379 locs. I will leave it like this for another 6 months or so and see how my retighenings go. I retighten once per month. So I'm basically "2 weeks off" and then "2 weeks on" for retightenings, since by the time I finish retightening it's already been 2 weeks and the ones I had retightened first are GRRROWWWWWINGGGG. I think the front/top grows a little bit slower - maybe because the front/top is what is more exposed to the elements...

I suppose I'll have 2-headed dragons having combined these locs, but I am ok with this.

BULBS:

I don't like the white bulbs but hey, what are you going to do? I can't cut off every white bulb on my entire head...

WASHING:

I have started using Dr. Bronner's castile soap for shampooing. So far so good, but I think I'll still use a clarifying shampoo maybe once a month or so since some people say Dr. Bronner's leaves a reside. My goal was to wash my hair every 4 days, but this usually got extended to 5-6 days, and now I'm going to try to stick to every 3 days. I have a lot of natural oils in my hair and by the 3rd day I'm usually just feeling ready to wash. I have also used apple cider vinegar a few times. I think I'll try once x month. I spritz it on diluted in some water, then rinse and then shampoo.

PRODUCTS:

I use nothing on my hair...no moisturiziers, creams, nothing. Just spritz it with water in the morning. I tried the Sisterlocks moisturizing spritzer, but it totally left a filmy sticky feeling on my locks. I never used it again...

I'm sure some products are good for some people. It's just that for me, less has worked better.

SISTERLOCKS VS. NAPPYLOCKS:

I got a Nappylocks tool and I really like it. For me, it is easier to use than the Sisterlocks tool, though I keep them both together and I do switch on and off between one and the other once in a while. Most of my locs (even the regular, non-combined ones) are too thick at the bottom now to even fit into the Sisterlocks clip tool. I'm using a medium Nappylocks tool and I'm sure I'll have to get large maybe in another 8-12 months, since I know my locs are going to get thicker.

STYLING:

I am trying to think of styling options, but my hair is so dense that they are not easy. I cannot loop my middle finger and thumb around my hair. In other words, creating a simple ponytail takes strength and endurance because my hair just wants to spring out!!! It feels best freestyle, able to go any which way. I am interested in getting more headwraps though. They look beautiful on everyone.

MATURITY:

I'd say that most of my locs have locked for about a 1/2 inch to 1 inch at the ends, and are slowly locing upwards.