I don't like it

The starter shampoo. It made my scalp really really dry and flaky. I need to really look into what products I can use to help with that itch and flakiness. I read in many places stuff I can use, but I have to research it again....urgh...

Any ideas?

Over 30 hours ...

And its finally finished. Started on the 18th of December and finished on the 28th. Man it has really been a long long journey...but I am so glad that it is completed (installation that is).

I counted, like the others, out of pure curousity and found that I have 419 sister locks. I think that is good. I love them already and can't wait to continue the journey!!!!

My winter storm frustration

Urgh is all I have to say. I was hell bent on getting my hair completed this weekend. But, nooooo, mother nature wanted nothing more than to spoil my plan. I am on the east coast and of course we would get hit with a MASSIVE snow storm on the weekend that I so waited for....for weeks on end I waited. Nothing would or could stop me from getting my hair done. Not even a trip to the ER the night before my appointment. Never thought that snow would be the cause.

My consultant called me that morning (Friday) and asked if we wanted to reschedule because of the storm. At that point, I had not heard of the magnitude of the storm, nor did I care. But she left it up to me and of course I still went. The storm wasn't supposed to start until later that night and since I was scheduled to get there by 5, then we could proceed before the weather cut us off.

Well I got there on time and we got started (or she got started), but by 10 the snow had started and man it wasn't looking good. She kept asking me if I wanted to go home now and I told her the plan was to go until 12 and we shall stick to it. Yes, I am a capricorn...and yes I am stubborn. So she proceeded on with her duty. When 12 hit, I was just not feeling like she was even close to be 1/3 of the way finished. But of course I knew what I was getting into. Besides that, I am not in denial about the size of my head. We left with the plans of seeing each other tomorrow, bright and early....

UMMMMM

That didn't happen. It snowed and snowed and snowed. We got 18 inches after the entire storm. Instead of sitting on my tail all day Saturday, I was in the driveway trying to get a headstart of the storm. Pointless in the end though. Long story short, no hair was locked on Saturday and instead of starting early Sunday morning, we didn't get started until 2pm. Thanks in part to the local government burying the car even more (no complaints though, the street was half way decent and we didnt get stuck).

So she got 6 hours done on Friday and 10 hours on Sunday. Looks like we will be going at it at least two more 6 hour days, if not more. URGH....aint that a bitch..but I will do it since this is something that I am committed to getting done....

Tomorrow it begins

Tomorrow is the day that my sister lock installation starts. Just wanted to take a before picture!!!!!! I am so ready

Sister Locks

I stumbled across a yahoo group that helped in a lot of ways. Shout out to all my LockItUp members!!!! After reading tons and tons of information from the Sister Lock website and from the group, I was set on getting them. But I had to find a consultant. Being a mom of six, I don't have 900 dollars readily available. But I was hell bent on getting them. I emailed and called many consultants, some certified, some trainees, and they were all asking 800 or more. I was shocked. My mother and cousin didn't pay nearly as much. Of course they had gotten their's done some years before.

Don't get me wrong, I know that a lot of work goes into this creation and I know that every penny is well deserved, but I just didn't expect the prices to be so high. I was seriously considering going back and getting the rest of my hair chopped off. But with my drive and eagerness to get this done, I found someone who was willing to work out a payment plan with me and who had great pictures of previous hair clients. I was in love....

I had my consultation on 11/24/2009 and I was in love with the four test locks that she put in my hair. I could not believe that I had to wait two weeks before I could get my whole head done. But if that is what it took, I will reluctantly wait. The appointment for the consultation was set for December 18-20th.

That weekend seemed to take forever to arrive......can you tell that I am not a patient person????!?!?!?!?

My journey began about 8 years ago when I decided I had had enough with the perms. I was never the one who enjoyed sitting around in anyone's salon for hours on end just to get my "do" done. In fact, I despised it with a passion, so I very rarely went. Instead, I rocked permed ponytails and homemade flat iron "do's". I was so very content. But it all changed.

I am not sure of when it happened or what motivated my change, but somewhere, somehow I just decided, NO MORE. No more chemicals, no more waiting....urgh...I was so done. But I didn't know what to do with my hair at the point. I was still not sure that I wanted traditional locks and I knew my head was just too big to cut it really low. So for almost two years, I kept braids and extensions in my hair. Just so that I would not be walking around with nappy roots and permed ends. I guess at that point I wasn't really truly accepting of my nappy roots.

On July 3, 2005, I took the plunged and started my journey with traditional locks. I cut off all of my permed hair, leaving me with about 3 or 4 inches of new growth! I was happy with them, especially as they grew. I didn't have to worry about getting up in the morning and pressing it, I could do simple styles that took just moments...and be out of the door. Awwwww I was content. But, as the locks grew, my issues with them grew as well. At some point, I decided that since I could not find a reliable person to do them and yet again I didn't want to sit in a salon, I would do them myself. That was fine for a few years but then I got tired. My arms hurt, I was being lazy, I just didn't want to be bothered. I also noticed that on the ends, I had considerable amounts of buildup. In the beginning, the lady who did my hair, used wax. Naive as I was, I didn't know that should not be used to do my hair. But I dealt with it by picking the built up out.

But shortly after that, another issue began and I was getting completely fed up with the whole process. In the front, around my edges, my hair was thinning. At first I thought it was from wearing a hat during the winter all day long (I work outside in the elements). Then someone told me that it could be from me pulling my hair back to too tight. Nonetheless, it was coming out. Once I noticed, I started treating it and keeping it moisturized. It started to grow back and yet another issues came about. Once the new growth starting coming in, I tried to work it back into the lock that it was closest to. No matter how hard I tried, it would not work and I still ended up losing at least one lock in the front and a few more that were looking to follow the leader.

Enough was enough and I started looking into other alternatives. My mother, cousin, and aunts all have Sister Locks. I had contemplated a while back at getting them but I didn't want to cut off my locks and start completely fresh. So even though I loved loved loved their hair, I pushed that idea out of my head, for now. But what was I going to do......After quite some time, I decided, to hell with it, I will just cut off the locks and start over fresh with the sister locks. But after doing some research and getting some information from a group, I found that I could pick out my locks and still have some hair left!!!! WHAT!!!!!

And that is what I did. After 16 hours and soaking and picking (of course not alone) I was free of my natural locks and soon to be headed on another locking journey.