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| The Big Chop 5/28/06 |
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| 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.
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| 11/16/08 |
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| 6/9/12 Hair freshly blown out, but already reverting back to its curls at the roots. |
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| 9/21/12 Last Time I Blow Dried My Hair Before Sisterlocks |
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| 9/21/12 Last Time Hubby Straightened My Hair Before Sisterlocks |
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| 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.
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| 10/2/12 Tester Sisterlocks |
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| 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!
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The Morning of Day 1 of My Sisterlocks Install...
looks like a mug shot! |
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