either i need some patience or i'm ready for the big chop

today i washed my hair with conditioner.  as i was unraveling the 1 week old twists, i suddenly had a massive urge to put the scissor to my hair immediately .  i slicked it back with the conditioner and thought hmmm maybe a twa isn't so bad.  bottom line is, the style in which i want to cut my hair in, i can't until all the hair is unlocked.  i've ran out of patience .  also the 2 texture hair is very difficult to deal with.  the detangling is a bitch.  once i get it done, it will still need cutting because of the straggly ends.  i can hardly manage 1 lock a day if that much.  it is overwhelming and not fun.  you know how i feel about having fun or making things easy for living?  moreover, when i start working, i will never have time to unravel anything.  the most likely probability is that i would end up simply growing it out.  that i can definitely manage . but it will be a big 'ol ball of bongo natty each time i have to wash it .  and who can wait that long? so now how do i find someone to cut it without making it look masculine ? 

i would like to start over with my hair.  coming out of long hair for so many years, i would like a totally new, chic look.  i just want to be free of these sisterlocks pronto. 

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Natural Hair Care: Moisturized Hair: It Starts on Wash Day

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Natural Hair Care: Moisturized Hair: It Starts on Wash Day: by Shelli of Hairscapades When I’m in the guise of my alter ego, “Hairscapades”, I often receive or read cries for help that go s...

can't get enough of this info.

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Natural Hair Care: How To Steam Natural Hair Without a Steamer

Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Natural Hair Care: How To Steam Natural Hair Without a Steamer: via Nappy Naturally   By now we've all read about the benefits of using hair steamers for natural hair care. We've s...
WOW...I LOVE THIS!

Tips for Cleansing Coily Hair

Tips for Cleansing Coily Hair  I tempted to try the baking soda wash.

Top 5 Hair Moisturizer Ingredients

Top 5 Hair Moisturizer Ingredients  I love how shea butter feels in my hair but my goodness the ones i bought smells awful.  i tried mixing sweet smelling almond oil in it, then coconut oil, then castor oil, but the strong smell of the shea butter managed to power through them.  then i ended up mixing a whole bottle of conditioner in it, it still smells....geesh.

10 Tips for Transitioning to Natural Hair

10 Tips for Transitioning to Natural Hair  Great tips.

Apple Cider Vinegar as Hair Cleanser

Apple Cider Vinegar as Hair Cleanser  Great Ph information.

How to Moisturize Coily Hair

How to Moisturize Coily Hair I found this quite helpful.

Sisterlock Tool?

Hi CaribSun,

my Sisterloctitian never used the Sisterlock tool for any of my retightenings.  She's always used the Nappylocs Tool because she found it easier to use.  I bought it a 5 years ago from Nappylocs.  It costed $15 then. The owner was very nice and helpful.  I have a small and a large tool.  I used the small one more.  I think it would be better if you purchased it in America, because it would be faster than coming from Germany.  Also, my friend that i used to pay to retighten my hair, she started her own locks and her husband made a tool for her out of a paperclip.  I sent her all the youtube links about what to use to lock the hair.  can you believe that people even use safety pins, hair pins...quite creative.    good for them.  it's all on youtube.  so please check out www.nappylocs.com or email me at rocheste2000@yahoo.com if you're not able to get it from them for whatever reason.

Truth about going "Natural"

very, very interesting and really sound advice.  i think i'm gonna try this.  While my hair is growing out of locks, gonna try wetting it daily and see how my hair reacts, changes, etc until i have picked out or grown out my locks.  Which ever comes first (lol).

Answer to Dewdrop's comment re: Grooming

Hi Dewdrop, i'm thinking of answering comments as a new post.  Because some of things i share, others can benefit from the info.  So here goes. The first 5 years my locks were groomed (not near the root though) by a sisterloctitican every 6-8 WEEKS at my retightening sessions!  who knew what foolishness i was doing to my locks back then.  Funny thing is when i started taking care of my hair, my own retightenings i discovered a lot about my hair.  i never bothered with grooming it simply because it added more time to my sessions.  that just didn't make any sense to me.    i remember calling Dr. JoAnne Cornwell and asking her advice on how to manage my own hair since i was now living in Germany, how to remedy or fix the front of my hair that wouldn't lock for 5 years.  Her answer basically was that she couldn't help me and that that problem should have been taken care of by my Sisterlocktitician.  To me she was more concerned that my locktitician had separated from her.  I was really suprised and take aback that she wouldn't help a fellow human being.  I couldn't help but think, 'man, this is just a business for you.'  Through the phone lines from LA to Germany, there was no compassion, nothing like, 'let's see what we can do.'  more like, 'you're on your own kiddo.' After that i was no longer 'patriotic' to "Sisterlocks".  hair is hair and you shouldn't have to have a job or be working in order to care for your hair, have healthy, nicely styled, long, short, medium, voluminous hair.  What about the people who can't afford it?  Why can't i, if i learn how to do it, share this info with my MOTHER, or my SISTER, or help another person who isn't working.  why are we on this planet if not to help one another? No, i was not going to support her 'empire'.  Lots of women are sharing their knowledge for free on how to care for our hair on Youtube.  Thank God for them.  You are one of them Dewdrop.  Thank you.  I used to think that Sisterlocks was superior to other locks, that if it ain't Sisterlocks, it ain't all that.  boy was i stooopid!  As long as you wear your hair that makes you feel confident, beautiful, loved, who cares how you wear your hair or  what you wear on your head, be it natural, locks, weave, perm, braids, wig, wraps, you name it, etc.  Wear it with pride.

The Take Down

Here's a quick video on the start of the take down of my locks.

Farewell Sisterlocks

I flat ironed my locks in an attempt to make the unlocking process smoother, faster, easier. It was easier but still time consuming to unlock.

left side is flat ironed. My hair was so soft, sleek and had lots of movement. i loved it! i could run my fingers through with ease, like after a retightening. it surely was one way to manage the new growth and keep the hairs from joining each other.

flat ironed locks

Flat ironed locks

No Big Chop, just unlock...

goodbye Sisterlocks. So i've reached the end of my lock journey. i love my locks, love the length and i love the volume. I just want to grow my hair to those lengths again only unlocked. i will miss it tremendously. Specifically that i never had to worry about it getting wet, that it hangs, that it doesn't shrink, that i can wrap it around my head and tie it, yep i will miss it. But i'm tired of being dependent on someone to do my hair each time i move. i don't enjoy locking my hair myself as it takes too long, and i don't want to spend that much time and money on my hair anymore. also why i can't just cut it off yet: too much money and time invested in it. tired of the lint and the white bulbs that give it that sandy appearance. so i've started the take down process since April 2012 even though you can't really tell. i imagine if i unlock 2 locks a day, i should be done by year's end (lol). i'm not sure if it is even possible to go this route as the unlocked hair tangles so much. it is sooo dry from all these 11 years of not conditioning and moisturizing that it's taken on a new texture: frizzy. maybe somewhere in between now and the end of the year, i will lose patience and just chop it all off. as glorious as my locks looked, was it just a bunch of shedded hair (confused)? over time my locks become too heavy for the strand that it is on. my unlocked hair is half the length of my locked hair. which i find quite disappointing since i wasn't combing it for so many years. locks is a protective way of wearing the hair. so how come it's not longer than where i started after not combing it for 11 years. i expected some shedding but not half of it (surprised). all the pictures that i will be uploading are pictures of the past. i took them and never uploaded them. will be documenting this take down process via you tube and blog.

Be back in August 2012.