UPDATE & Lifestyle Changes

Hello All! I have been going through so many changes this past year. As I approach my 4 year locversary, and now that I am 27, I find myself wanting to make some real changes. I am still doing sisterlocks, but find that I am having trouble finding a qualifying head as a trainee. However, I will press forward because it wasn't as if the class was free. Last year this at this time I found myself laid off from my job with the State of Michigan and remained unemployed until I received an offer about a week ago. I am elated on this offer because after 34 interviews and finding myself severely depressed, I have a job that is beyond awesome and meets my needs. So where does this leave me. I am happy. That much I do know. However, since being laid off I haven't been very kind to my body. I have gained a good 20 pounds since being off and it wasn't like i was a size 2 when I became unemployed so you get my drift. I have decided to juice during the day, exercise, and have a small dinner before 7 p.m. I hope these changes not only helps my mood, but will be vital to the health of my hair as well. After coloring I find that my hair gets very dry. My hair also has a lot of buildup so I will start doing acv rinses, something I haven't done since I started. I hope to start new. And I hope these changes will put me on track to being good to myself and getting back to me. Until next time..

Guess What!

Yup I did it! I enrolled to take the Certified Sisterlocks Consultant training class! This feels so liberating!!

3 years in! My Locs at 38 months!

Hello All! I'm Busy busy busy busy!!!! But here is a quick update on my sisterlocks! I do not do too much with my babies lately. I am thinking of purchasing the wrap-a-loc set today, so once I get them in I will be sure to be more diligent about posting pics. I have had issues with my curls lasting. Now that my hair is getting a little bit longer, i think I need to set my hair for a little while longer. I have had my braid out one day and already it is beginning to fall. I am also thinking of coloring again but am afraid it will be too light...Plus I love my color...I will be perusing websites for some information on how to style my locs. Slowly but surely I am gaining versatility! See ya soon!

Long Time No See!!!!!!!

Okay, so I know it has been a while. :-) Needless to say going to school for your MSA, studying for the GMAT, and getting acclimated to a new job has been a bit much these past few months. Okay so its beeen more like 9 months...But you get my point. So enough of the cry baby story....How's my hair? FABULOUS lol. I will post better pictures, but in the meantime the pics you see are of me in more recent months. The first one is a braid out sometime around 28 months and the 2nd one is frestyling at about 33. Braidouts tend to be my choice lately as it is easy to accomplish after washing. Would you believe that I actually took the leap and colored my hair! *gasps* After all my worrying about breakage i decided to go ahead and do it anyway. I realy like it too, its not too edgy, just a lighter brown than my natural tone. I sat and I realized the other day that I will be locked for 3 years this August! I cannot believe how time flies. Weave free for three years? Who would have known.... See you soon!

Is It Hypocritical........?

........As a natural sistah to cut your son's hair because you are tired of dealing with it everyday? I have been at odds with this whole process of cutting my youngest child's hair. This doesn't mean I didn't love his extremely, extremely tightly coiled hair :) It just got to be a bit much to comb it at 6 a.m. And he surely didn't want to sit still for a detail session with his hair. Needless to say i was criticized for being loc'd and not "accepting" the "struggle" of combing the baby's hair everyday. I love his hair, but mommy is tired and he didn't want to sit for it.....I was stuck in between a rock and a hard place on this..... I cut it for both our sanity. The new haircut does make him seem a bit older. Looking at him many people think he is a year old when he is only 8 months. Yes. I couldn't hold out...If I had it my way he would have baby locs lol... What do you guys think?????????

2 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yayyyyyy! I have reached the 2 year mark on 8/25/11. Needless to say I am both elated and frustrated all at the same time. This past year has gone by really fast. Between having my second child, finishing my degree, dealing with my husband and changing professions.......I have been overly stressed. I haven't done many styles to my hair this past year, partially because of all the weakening and breakage I have experienced. I will say that I am partially to blame for this as I am not great at conditioning my hair, or tying it up at night. My silk pillowcase has been in the linen closet for the past year. That has been mainly due to the fact that I saw no need for it, I assumed my hair would grow regardless. Couple this with the stress, and lack of conditioning, and postpartum hair loss and BAM! there you have it...LOCK LOSS!

I can't begin to tell you how many locks I have lost. I have lost four in this week alone and i have a few that are hanging on by one strand for dear life. The loss has occur ed along my hairline only on the edges.One of the longest locks I have is about to break off. I wouldn't be so frustrated , if it didn't take so long for my hair to grow. Don't get me wrong, I am happy with my locks, the GOOD and THE BAD so please do not get the wrong impression. When you have put so much energy in to trying to grow it, it hurts when it falls out in the sink. Especially when you have been down this road as a permie before.

So instead of dwelling on the negative and being hurt, I have decided to take action. I will be using the organic root stimulator system to restore my edges. The fertilizing serum helped when I lost my hair in the past. I will change my diet, by eating more veggies and drinking more water, exercising (with the time I have), and taking hair supplements. I recognize my hair is brittle and fragile to begin with, so sleeping in a bonnet and conditioning my hair at least bi-weekly will be a start. I was on a routine of just washing and going and I believe this may have contributed to my loss.

What do I look forward to next? My hair gaining it's strength back. On Septemeber 24th I will be visiting my loctician so that we can fix my hair. I tend to overexaagerate these things, but this is serious to me. When your locks start snapping off something is WRONG!I would like for my locks around the edges to be combined, or the same size as the ones in the center and near the back because it is so fragile. To not compromise my locs any further, I hope we can agree on this. Of course....still after two years I am STILL HOPING FOR SOME LENGTH. And yes I am still contemplating extensions. I am simply tired of my hair not being healthy for one, and not feeling as confident about it.

I do want to continue with my natural hair, that was the whole purpose of my not getting extensions to begin with.My hair has grown, there is no denying that. pretty soon I will have the pony I want so badly. I will be taking a break from DIYing to go see my loctician. I hope to be able to color it sometime in the fall, but this is not a definite thing. After going to my loctician for a few months and getting back on track I am sure things will be fine... I look forward to my second year and I wonder what I have to look forward to next.....

22 months :)

On a more lighter note here is a cute updo I did last month right after a Reti with my loctician. It didn't take a lot of manuevering, just five hairpins, and wet hair, and a flat iron and pow here was the outcome.



Let me know what you guys think!

HELPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!

Okay I know a lot of peoples locks go through a lot of changes. But my hair around the edges is breaking off or thinng. I have lost locks on my edges ( about three within a weeks time) and there is one that is thinning at the base. WTD! I have only done one reti since I became a diyer, so I don't think that has much to do with it. I am at odds at what to do as I look down in my head and see more weak locks everyday.

Help Please,

Update @ 21 months

I know it has been a couple of months. usually I don't go this long without posting something, but it has been one thing after another.

I finally finished school!!!!!!!!1 After three long, hard, arduous years I finally have my Bachelor's degree in Human Resource Management! Never have I been more happy to be done with this chapter in my life.

However, I must tell you guys of some of the interviews I have been on the past few weeks.I won't name any names of companies, but I will elaborate on some of the things I have gone through in relation to my hair. I notice for over the past year that when I walk in to an interviewing session the first thing that people look at is my hair. This doesn't really bother me as I assume they are just looking me from head to toe anyway. I have been on numerous interviews the past year, even third and fourth interviews and not offered a position. After clearing up a minor issue on my background (I say minor because it never stopped me from getting a job) I got back in to the groove of applying to jobs again after the tax season. After looking back, I decided to test my theory. As an HR major, I understand that "looks" is not a protected class for discrmination. But, I wanted to see if it indeed goes on.

I applied with a payroll company, for two different positions. The first position I interviewed with my sisterlocks. The interview went fantastic! However, I was denied the position and not given a reason why. I did notice that the interviewer kept looking at my head throughout the interview. I just wrote it off as maybe she was trying to figure out what they were. Two weeks later I get a call from the same company asking to interview for another position. I decided at that time I would wear my little sisters wig cap to the interview, Just to see how far it would go. I went to the interview, with the wig on, a brand new suit, and high heels, minimal makeup and a fresh manicure (not to say I didn't have these things in the first interview only thing missing was the hair) the response I got from team members working there, and from the interviewer changed. There were compliments on both my hair and my appearance. Needless to say I was offered the position. What is funny to me is the second interview didn't go half as good as the first one and BOOM! There I was with an offer. Could it be because of my doll like appearance?

I would hope not. Because my qualifications speak for itself. But I can't help but wonder.... I have been on so many interviews it is not even funny. And here in Michigan you must do what it takes to secure your future. I know this may tick a few of you off, but I had to know that's why I wore the cap that day. I know many lock wearers out there have issue with covering your sisterlocks for whatever reason.

As for my sisterlocks. They are doing so so. I say so so because due to stress my hair has been coming out on the edges. I have yet to take the sisterlock re tightening class because of time constraints, but I am getting to it this weekend. I didn't know my consultant would turn out to be one of my best friends :) I am looking forward to it, because I need a reti like never before.

I am still a bit frustrated about length. But all I can do is be patient. Here is my hair last Sunday on Mother's Day. I want to try and color my locks soon, but not before getting approval from my consultant. I just need something different.

18 Months

I have been dog tired since the start of the new semester, and trying to take these last three classes. To top it off, my youngest son now two months old still isn't sleeping through the night. I am also working full time....Yes. I am exhausted to say the least.
Good thing is it will all be over in 7 weeks. And I will have my bachelor's degree. I can't wait.

I have good news. I am taking the retightening class with Paulette @ Locks For Life in April. I figure it is worth the $250 to learn how to do them on my own if need be. I notice that they don't teach you how to fix/repair locks, so for this I will be sure I continue to follow up with my consultant Ashlee when I do start to reti on my own.

I am so excited to be a diyer. I am ready for the freedom.

My hair is doing great. I have been getting so many compliments on it lately. Even from some very old "judgemental" older folk. lol. I havent done anything different. Here are a few pics from the other day...

Soft Spikes

I should have taken more pics of the soft spikes but, I had already been back to work when I finally decided to go ahead and get pics of my locs. I really, really like these curls. Unlike the pipe cleaners you see in the previous post, these locs seem like a lot more of a loose, soft type curl. Once again it is all about preference. In order to get the curl I wanted to achieve, which was basically a Pin curl type (I know it's old school but I had a style in mind since my hair is still relatively short); I just wet my hair and got to rolling. The way I rolled my hair on the pipe cleaners was the same concept as the pipe cleaners, except with the soft spike you pull through the hole at the end of the curler. Needless to say I looked like a spike haired fool lol and my firstborn child thought I looked like a spiked haired alien, but I loved the end result and my kid thought I looked pretty cool with the little swords in my hair :) You can tell I prefer these over the pipe cleaners. I will return to the pipe cleaners in a few months, maybe this spring or summer when my hair is slightly longer.
by the way speaking of longer I am noticing a lot of new growth!

So here we go again, here are my likes and dislikes...

Likes:
1. I really like how soft they are. They are a little bigger to allow for a more loose curl, but although they are larger I can still decide how tight the curl is by adding or subtracting a few locs from the curler.
2. It didn't take long to prep and curl my hair. Like I said with the pipe cleaners it takes a little bit of time.

Dislikes:
1. You still cannot sleep on the soft spikes, although soft...they are still uncomfortable.

Here are a few funny pics of the outcome







It may be a minute before I log back in to here, I will try to keep track of my progress best I can because if I don't I swear I won't see any progress. Plus I am sure there are some out there going through the same thing as I am, or those that have the same concerns as I do at this stage. This teen stage is an awkward kind of stage for me. My locs are neither really long or really short per se. They are just stuck. But hey, they are growing and that has been my number one complaint for over a year now.

I have taken the steps towards my own independence. I contacted a loctician that is able to teach the retightening class, she has yet to get back with me to say when exactly the class is, but I will contact her after my next retightening with my loctician ( assuming I am able to make it next week) like I said I am in the middle of a tax season). i have been tempted to try the nappyloc tool. I even bought one. But I am really trying to hold out to take the class. This is just getting crazy. I keep having to wait longer and longer in between reti to schedule appointments. And it is simply not working. I still want to continue to go to her to keep track of my progress but it is time to cut the umbilical cord. I am 17 months in, it is time I struck out on my own. :) In the meantime, I guess I will continue to try new things with my hair as it grows and I will update on my DIY journey this year.

17 Months & Pipe Cleaner Curls

Hi guys!
I am sooooooo exhausted with the new baby. It is weird how your life changes when there is a new little one in the house. I returned to work earlier this week due to high demand of everyone needing their taxes filed and the office being short staffed. So right before I went back I did what I promised I would do this year and that was take a step in the right direction and use some initiative to style my locs. Once again I had to postpone my appointment with my loctician for various reasons ie. scheduling, monies, the baby etc. So needless to say I have more than enough new growth. It looks like I have about a little more than 1/4 of an inch of new growth in my head. I notice that my hair is shedding a little bit after having the baby. I have seen people hair completely fall out and lose locs after having a child so a little shedding is the least of my concerns. The first thing I tried was the pipe cleaner curls. After researching on Youtube and looking at the various blogs on Google, I decided to make a run to Joann fabric out here in Canton, MI. Here are some of the things I liked and a few things I didn't like...

Likes:
1. Pipe cleaners create some of the tightest curls around. You can sleep on these curls for days, even live in a humid environment and these curls will STILL HANG ON TIGHT!
2. They are sooo cheap to put in. I only paid about 5 bucks for a pack of 100 chenille pipe cleaners. This definitely beats the $70 or $80 bucks I was about to spend on lock loops.
4. I can adjust the pipe cleaners how I saw fit. If I needed shorter ones I cut shorter ones for my edges. If I needed longer ones for the top and back of my hair, I didn't cut at all.

Dislikes:
1. They poke your head! Do not sleep with these things in your hair! Do not even lay down. My head is still a little tender from this.
2. Do not use these things if you are in desperate need of a retightening. They will snag your new growth and can compromise the base of your locs.
3. You must leave these in for a few hours. I can't really say that this is a dislike because if I curl my hair I usually do it on free time. But with the baby I need something fast.
4. Speaking of fast, be sure you set aside at least an hour to put these pipe cleaners in.
5. And lastly, I am not sure if I really like them on my short locs. Yes my hair is growing, but it is all about preference. I think they are cute, but a little wild on short hair.

Okay enough of that here is how they turned out.

He's Here!!!!!

Here is my new bundle of joy! Kaiden Amir Revels. I never thought I would be a mother of two. I am sooo blessed. Happy Holidays Everyone! And have a safe and happy New Year!





One year and four months in and I am loving my sisterlocks more everyday!

2 heads!!!!

Yes I have one two. lol I know you get the pun... I did lose two teeeny weeny starter locs on my edges this month, but they were too insignificant to even take a picture of and you can barely notice the loss. I think it was due to hormonal changes and even stress as I am just now stopping work at 9 months pregnant.Overall the progress of my hair is great. Due to my having a baby I have decided to hold off on learning how to do my sisterlocks myself until next year. Which is fine...i am sure I won't have time nor energy to do it. But this is new to me so I figured i would post it. I will be 2 years in in no time... My babies are finally growing & I see the difference.

15 months & New do!

I finally did something with my hair! no curling or anything, but please bare with me, I am 37 weeks pregnant so I try :) I can't wait to meet my new son soon. Here are a few things I did with my hair today...












Remember this.....






Here I am 15 months in!






Yes I luv luv luv my sisterlocks!!!!

After Much Research....

I finally understood what is meant by hair type. I know my hair was tightly coiled, but I didn't quite understand the concept. After visiing this website http://www.naturallycurly.com/pages/hairtypes/type4 and looking at kaila dewdrops blog, finally after about 14 months i know what my hair type is. After pulling out a strand I was amazed as just how curly it is. What shocked me even more was the way it popped back after my "stretching" it out. It is as long as my index finger but pops all the way back to my finger nail! LOL its no wonder why I have been tripping on length lately. I am very grateful I did this. And I hope this website helps others understand what it means to have a certain hair type. It definitely helped me.
Later!

14 Months!

Dangitt!!!! I was trying so hard to keep track of how far I am in my journey... I looked at the date today and realized I am 14 months into my journey. Yes! I was due for a reti tomorrow but due to other financial "conflicts" (yea that's what I call them, setbacks just sounds too bad lol), I have been forced to push it up another a week or two. Part of the reason I look forward to becoming a Diyer soon. But I luv my loctician sooo much!!!!! If you are in Detroit here is a link to their website http://locks4life.com ( I will put one on the side as well) Ashlee is the best.

I have noticed my hair is getting slightly longer in the back. Before I know it I will be reaching for that headband. Baby #2 is killing my back!!!!!! But thanks to him, ny new growth is soo very strong. I have been looking at those that have color, but I think I like my hair the way it is as far as color is concerned so I will leave well enough alone. All the pretty fall colors out here in Michigan have had me a little tempted. I need you guys help though. What can I use to keep my hair moistraized in this cool weather? I need ideas...Thanks.