Locked Up and Free: December 2012

Friday, December 21, 2012

No Products, just good ole' H20 seriously!

12/21/12

Last night, after walking the mall for a few hours, I was exhausted and decided that I was not going to do anything to my hair, but put it in a ponytail, cover it with my satin bonnet, and go to bed. I woke up this morning and spritzed it with water, and kept it moving. When my Sisterlocks consultant said that I would not need any products for the daily maintenance of my hair except for a water bottle to spritz it with, I really didn't think that that was at all possible. I mean after all, even in my naturalist state, I wet my hair everyday, detangled it with conditioner, and saturated it with leave in Cantu Shea Butter conditioner, every single day. I was skeptical, but today makes one week since Day 1 of my install, and I have not put anything in my hair except for water. Now, that's pretty low maintenance!
I know that my baby Sisterlocks have to transition and mature, and that what they look like now won't be what they look like a week, a month, or even a year from now. They will triple in size, and the ends will completely lock eventually... I hope. I guess the exciting part of this all is watching the transformation. I decided to begin this blog to truly capture the journey. Right now, I am on Christmas break from my work as a teacher, and the demands of being in school to become an esthetician (Skin Care Specialist) so I have a lot of time to blog about my hair and post pictures. I will not blog daily about my hair, because it is not changing that much from day to day, and let's face it, that would get pretty boring, like watching grass grow. I will definitely try to post at least once a week, but definitely once a month.
I am planning a few trips to the City of Brotherly Love and the Big Apple, maybe I will do a little shopping and actually post in my F7 blog (Fabulous Fashion Finds For Full Figured Females.) Yeap, looks like I am definitely going to have to go shopping. I just got super excited about this ROAD TRIP!

How I Arrived at Making Such a Permanent Decision

The Big Chop 5/28/06

Feeling Hair and Care Free 6/6/06

On May, 28, 2006, I did the "big chop," which means that I cut off all of my relaxed/chemically treated hair, to the new growth hair that was not chemically treated. New growth hair is hair that is in its natural state that has not been chemically treated to alter its texture, hence the the term "natural hair." After decades of over processing my once very healthy and very long hair, my hair would not grow. I realized that this lack of hair growth was probably because of the years of over manipulating and chemically treating my hair. From my first Jheri Curl at 8 years old, to boxed braids and microbraids, to clip on ponytails and partial wigs, to glued in weaves and sewed in weaves, my hair had been through it all. I remember the relief and freedom that I felt when I did the "big chop." I am not one to ever say the word "never," but when I "went natural" I knew that I would NEVER ever put a relaxer in my hair again. In 2006, I went natural with the desire to get Sisterlocks, but after talking to different people with both Sisterlocks and traditional locks about the process of getting and maintaining locks, I realized that I was not yet ready to make such a permanent decision. I was not ready to commit. Over the years, I learned to love my hair by embracing it in its most natural state. I experimented with different hair colors and different styles, but loved my hair most when it was in its most simple style... the fro! I eventually got to a point where doing anything more than washing and conditioning my hair, and lavishing it with Cantu Shea butter leave-in conditioner, was too much. When I got the point where I did not want to sit to have my hair blow dried, straightened, or styled, and all I desired was little to no maintenance, I knew that I was ready to begin my journey into the world of Sisterlocks.

11/16/08

11/24/08

8/9/09

Delta Girls 12/14/08

6/9/12 Hair freshly blown out,
but already reverting back to its curls at the roots.

9/21/12 Last Time I Blow Dried My Hair
Before Sisterlocks

9/21/12 Last Time Hubby Straightened My Hair
Before Sisterlocks

I Love My Fro 9/30/12

On Sept. 27, 2012, I went to my first Sisterlocks consultation. I went to Sharon Turner, who is 1 of only 5 certified Sisterlocks Consultants in the Raleigh/Durham, NC area. During this meeting, we discussed Sisterlocks, I watched the Sisterlocks official video explaining the Sisterlocks transformation, and Ms.Sharon clarified any remaining questions that I still had about Sisterlocks. After watching the video and talking with Ms. Sharon, it truly was confirmed in my spirit that I was ready to begin my journey.

On Oct. 2, 2012, I returned to Ms.Sharon's home for my second consultation. During this time, she we discussed the size of locks that I desired, and she installed a few "tester" locks in my hair. I was so excited about these little antennas that blended in so easily with all of my loose hair. Due to my crazy schedule with my full time job and being in school for my esthetician license 4 nights and all day on Saturdays, I had very limited availability, and ended up having to schedule my installation for a 2 and 1/2 months from my 2nd consultation.

10/2/12 Tester Sisterlocks

On the evening of Dec. 13, 2012, I began to prep myself for my sisterlocks installation. After almost seven years of wearing my hair natural (without a relaxer to straighten its texture), I was already prepared mentally and knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was ready to make the permanent lifestyle change of locking my hair. I had not been feeling well the previous week and still had a lingering cough and a hoarse throat. I was considering rescheduling my appointment, but had had this appointment scheduled for two months, and truly did not want to wait any longer. I washed my hair with the Sisterlocks Shampoo the night before. I did not expect for my hair to respond to the shampoo like it did. It was extremely tangled and felt really brittle. I had to resist the urge to load it down with some conditioner and detangle it with my wide tooth comb. I did detangle my hair void of any product, and put it in about 8 two strand twists so that it would not be too tangled in the morning. When you are getting Sisterlocks, it is done on freshly washed hair without any products in it. When I woke up on the morning of Dec. 14, 2012, I took out my twist, combed my hair out, put it in a ponytail, and put a hat on it. I was ready to roll!

The Morning of Day 1 of My Sisterlocks Install...
looks like a mug shot!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Installation of My Sisterlocks Day 1, 2, and 3

DAY 1- Dec. 14, 2012....I have a feeling that this may take awhile.

The installation of my sisterlocks began on Dec. 14, 2012 at 8:20 in the morning. I arrived at my Sisterlocks Consultant's house, Sharon Turner, with great anticipation of what was to come. Since, my initial consultation on Oct. 2, 2012, I had been counting down the days until this day, and I could not believe that it had finally come. After reviewing what size locks she would be installing, Sharon immediately went to work. During the first few hours of my installation, I was so excited. We talked and watched daytime television. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed, but was quickly interrupted by the catastrophic events of the day, the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Sharon and I were pretty intentional about not watching the news coverage that was taking place. We knew that what had taken place was pretty bad, but I guess we did not want to know how bad, so we watched movies on Netflix, stopping for lunch, and the occasional bathroom break.

1st completed row of Sisterlocks

Throughout the first day of the installation, I nodded here and there, only to wake up when I would feel my head quickly drop to the side or tilt backwards...lol! I was getting my power naps in as Sharon continued to work diligently on my hair. Sharon worked until she "hit a wall" and could not go any further. I really appreciated that she knew when she had reached that point. She did not push herself to go any further and risk compromising the quality of her installation. So on day 1, we finished around 8:00 pm ( I think). Initially, Sharon believed that this would be a 2 day process (Friday and Saturday) and possibly a few hours on Sunday. At the conclusion of Day 1, she informed me that we would go all day Saturday, and would need about 8 hours on Sunday. Being that I have a big head with lots of hair, and my hair is shoulder length, we knew the installation would take some time. We just were not sure of exactly how long it would take. Please know that if you are considering Sisterlocks, how long it takes for them to be installed depends on factors such as hair texture, length, thickness, the desired size of your locks, etc.

After Day 1, I was already loving my sisterlocks and could not wait until my head was completely covered with these baby locks! Although getting sisterlocks did not hurt at all, my head was pounding when we finished on the first day. Sharon explained that it could have simply been because my hair and scalp were being manipulated in a manner in which they had never been before. Despite the pounding headache, when I got home I could not wait to show off my babies, and my family could not wait to see them.

This is how many were installed on Day 1,
which took about 12 hours.

DAY 1- Look how small! Keep in mind that as my baby locks mature, they will triple in size.

Dec. 15, 2012, I arrived at Ms. Sharon's house around 8:15, and she went straight to working on my hair. I was much more rested on this day, so I did not catch myself nodding throughout the installation. This day was filled with wonderful conversation about God, spirituality, and religion. It confirmed for me what I sensed when I first meet Ms. Sharon in September, that she is a believer. It made for a very peaceful Day 2. Ms. Sharon talked about BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) with the same excitement that my sister who also attends BSF talks about it. If God willing, I will definitely attend BSF next year. Anyway, Ms. Sharon got a lot done on Day 2. She worked from 8:20 am to around 9:30 pm, stopping only for about 10 minutes to eat lunch, and use the restroom. At the conclusion of Day 2, Ms. Sharon informed me that she would need an additional 8 -10 hours to finish the installation on Day 3. Initially, Day 3 was scheduled just in case we need a little extra time to finish. We would definitely need additional time for my big head with lots of hair...lol!

Day 2

Day 2- This is how much Ms. Sharon finished on Day 2.
We decided on to install large Sisterlocks in the back
b/c have a big head and lots of hair...lol.

Day 2 is done...one more to go!

Day 3- Dec. 16, 2012... I arrived at Ms. Sharon's around 8:15 prepared to be there until at least 6 pm. She immediately began the last day of installing my Sisterlocks. We talked and watched television. Ms. Sharon worked diligently, not even stopping to eat lunch on Day 3. At this point, I think she was ready to just "get 'er done." And "get 'er done" she did! On Day 3 at around 3:30, Ms. Sharon finished installing my Sisterlocks. I was happy to be finished, but not as happy as Ms. Sharon I'm sure! After 10 years of being a certified Sisterlocks Consultant, Ms. Sharon completed her longest installation ever... my big head with lots of hair was completed in 32 hours over 3 days. Shout out to the hardest working lady in the Sisterlocks business.... Sharon Turner you rock!