Monday, August 13, 2012

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.

8 comments:

Samantha Sophia said...

Please do a guest post about this for my site! Sisterlocked . com

Audrey's Pleasure said...

Glad to. How do I do this, simply copy and paste? If not, please let me know how Sophia.

JUST Euphoria said...

I too decided to take down my locks vs. cutting them off, funny all the reasons you decided it was time to say goodbye to your locks were my reasons too! & the surprising end results you are experiencing was my thoughts exactly, it was a VERY time consuming project it took me a month & a half & with 4o left to go I got fed up & just chopped them off, I lost a LOT of hair with the end result being severely thin damaged ends that will have to be cut, even though I didn't get the results that I drummed up in my head, all in all I am having no regrets & I can now monitor how well cared for my hair really is & buy something well deserved with the $120 a session I just saved my self! So I applaud you & cant wait to see the end results

CaribSun said...

Very best wishes to you in this new phase of your hair journey. I look forward to following your comments on this process of unlocking.

Audrey's Pleasure said...

Euphoria's Sisterlocks,
thanks for sharing that. it encourages me. in that month and a half how did you keep the hair from knotting up? i can't understand why the hair can be so severely thin with damaged ends in a protective style as locks? was this a result of the take down or locking over the years? how many years have you had your locks? congratulations...i can't wait to get unlocked.

z said...

Audrey! Hello beautiful! I am so glad to see your updates and read about your new journey from being loc'd to becoming loose again. I am surprised that you are taking down your locs at this stage, but I totally support you on your journey. Last week I was contemplating whether to take mine down or cut them into a short bob. I felt a moment of weakness and luckily there were no scissors in sight when this happened, lol! I said to myself, 'let me sleep on this and make my decision in the morning'. Low and behold, nothing changed and I still have my locs. Drama, I know! It's funny what we put ourselves through sometimes. :-)

I am happy for you. What is your youtube channel so that I can follow your transition? If you plan to take down your SLs, all I can say is take your time and prepare for a serious upper body workout, lol!

JUST Euphoria said...

Hey Audrey!I had my SL's for 4 years & my locks were not nearly as long as yours & I would either two strand twist them out of the way or cornrow them down! I don't know if the damaged ends was due to me coloring my hair or from me using a pushpin to take my locks down, or just not taking care of my locks as best as I thought I was because I ALWAYS conditioned my locks,I was trying to be very gentle in the take down process, but my hair is so mad at me right now that I cant even get a hairstyle out of it with out looking like hommie the clown!! LOL If you collect all the shedding hair that comes off the lock you would be amazed at how much hair you actually lost I had a gallon sized zip lock bag full! Again I applaud you to take down 1 lock is an hour to two hour process in it's self.

Audrey's Pleasure said...

Hi Dewdrop,
thank you for your support. it's very encouraging too. you have no idea how much i've visited the, 'i want to cut my locks' conversation over the years (especially when i needed a retightening) and never had the courage to. after watching tons of natural hair vlogs on youtube, i was sold. i knew i wanted my hair opened again. i look forward to taking much better care of my hair than i've ever done before as i understand it more now. i will be giving it quite the moisture it needs, protective styling, very little combing, gentle washing and simple products. i was very inspired by youtubers: fusionofcultures, whoissugar, kimmaytube to name a few. so i can't wait to get started.