Wednesday, September 15, 2010

DYI'ing My Sisterlocks

I am not sure that I will be able to call my sisterlocks….sisterlocks after this weekend. Some sisterlock enthusiasts believe that if you don’t use the sisterlock tool and you are not using (or not) a certified sisterlock consultant then you don’t have sisterlocks.

I know this is what Dr. Jo and the home office promote, but I don’t necessarily agree. I know the purpose behind that thinking is brand driven, and money motivated. Get people to believe that they have a superior product and add a high price to it, and then viola people think they are in an exclusive club.

One of the reasons I was attracted to sisterlocks was because it allowed me to lock and still have a small amount of permed ends. It was never about the brand, it was more about the method. However, had I done the proper research I would have found out that braidlocs and nappylocks would have offered me the same results. If I had known that I may have went the cheaper route. Nevertheless, I do not regret getting sisterlocks, they are beautiful and very versatile.

Sisterlocks are one of the best things that ever happened to my hair. However, the cost of maintenance has really put a strain on my pocketbook. The point of going natural was to get in tune with my natural hair and to lessen the cost of hair maintenance. Honestly, I did not accomplish any of those goals. I was not in tune with my natural hair because I rarely paid attention to it. I left that up to my consultant, I felt she was getting paid to notice changes in my hair and solve any hair dilemmas I may have had. Any y’all already know how a feel about the cost.


Well this is about the third time my consultant has went MIA on me and quite frankly I am sick of it. I don’t feel like I should have to plead, search and wait to PAY someone to do my hair. I understand that things beyond our control happen, but can’t this be communicated? Leaving a message on the voice mail , stating that you are out of the office is simply good business….right. Well, whatever!


Yesterday I started the DYI process. I retighten (reti) about 9 locks. I had a little knotting and I found out I was looping through the same hole. I even to get a few knots out. But for the most part it went smoothly. I found that some locks have very thin roots. I know that some of my locks will be combined to strengthen the root bed. I was upset to find that my consultant continued to latch locks that had thinning roots. Some locks will be combined with purpose and I am positive some will be combined on accident. It is very hard to see what is going on in the back of your head. I will try my best to keep the locks separate. However, my locks are very close to one another and keeping the neighboring lock out of rotation can be hard at times. I am using the 4 point rotation. Hopefully I can finish my entire head this weekend. I will document the process and tell you how I did it, any mistakes I make and if it was all worth it in the end.


I will be using the nappylock tool as well as the latchhook. Keep me lifted up in prayers this weekend. I am determined to do this and be responsible for my own hair. Maybe once I figure it our I will take a reti class so I can offer my services to other sistahs who do not want to pay ridicules prices to have their hair maintained

Friday, September 10, 2010

Tired of Being Sick.. And Sick of Being Tired

I am feeling a bit frustrated right now. My loctian continues to go MIA, don’t return calls and rarely answers the phone. I drive pass the shop and its empty. My loctian lives in my neighborhood and lives on a main street, when I drive past her home her car is parked outside.

First let me start by saying there is only ONE sisterlock certified consultant in the ENTIRE city of St. Louis. My consultant used to be that one person. However she uses the crochet hook for the rt and the next thing I know her name had been removed from the SL web page as the certified consultant. Shortly thereafter another name was added and she is now the ONLY certified SL consultant. I am saying all this to say that this shortage of consultants is leaving me in a bind when it comes to getting my hair done.

Due to the shortage I have to get in when I can and most of the time it requires me to take personal time off my job. Not to mention the new consultant does fabulous SL but she works really slow and told me it would take 5 hours to rt my head. Now at 20.00 an hours that would be 100.00 . Then I found a loctian that uses the nappyloc tool but she charges 85.00 per hour and she says it will take about 1.5 hours and that will be 127.00. I feel so trapped when it comes to my hair.

Either it will take a great deal of money, or I have to catch my loctian when I can. I am so tired I thought going natural would be more economical. I hate the fact that I have no control over my hair. So I am just going to force myself to learn how to maintain my own head.

This is really my only option. It would finally give me more independence with it comes to my hair. I’ve tried it before and created a few knots in the locs. This time I am going to do research and use the nappyloc tool instead of a plastic crochet needle. I hate for my locs to look unkempt and I hate feeling like I am stalking someone to do my head! If anyone knows of any videos or good tutorials on DYI using the nappy tool let me know.

I am bound and determined to start doing my hair maintenance myself. The whole purpose of going natural was to break the bonds and get more in tune with my natural hair. I am sure there will be bumps and bruises along the way but I gotta take control of this situation.

The natural hair phenomenon has taken hold and have your loc maintained by a stylist can be very expensive. Everyone claims to be and “expert”. God forbid that you are new to natural hair, you will become prey to everything the so called experts say and they will break you financially with all the creams, potions, lotions and styling. Don’t get me wrong there are really some people out there that know their stuff when it comes to natural hair, but there also some vultures out there looking to feed on the natural hair frenzy. I just don’t understand how someone can say they charge 85.00 an hour to locs. That sounds ridiculous to me.


The sad part is I actually love my loctian. She is fair with her pricing, efficient; she is really knowledgeable about natural hair and a great person. I just don’t know why it’s so hard (lately) to get an appointment with her. Whatever that case, (in Tupac Voice) “ It’s just me against the world baby!