Hello and welcome to the blog!
Today I’m going to discuss my journey from loose natural to traditional locs to Sisterlocks.
This is my second set of Sisterlocks and this time around I’ve noticed three things that are different.
But first, let’s talk about locs in general.
As you probably know there are many types of locs out there – from free-form to maintained traditional locs, through to microlocks and Sisterlocks, and everything in between.
And all of our locs – whichever ones we have – are as beautiful and as individual as we are.
With Sisterlocks, the main distinguishing features are
- the grid
- the large number of locs (around 400 plus)
- the point rotation
- and the overall volume and fullness that can be achieved when you have so many small locs, especially when they mature.
All of this got me thinking about my own journey, and what has led me to be with you here today discussing Sisterlocks.
My Loc Journey
As a child, I used to have my hair in two bunches and then my mum used to do my hair in small plaits every week. In my twenties, I had relaxers, followed by a wet look – the wet look didn’t last long.
Then there were extensions of every kind until I grew tired of the maintenance involved in all those hairstyles – and of being frantic beyond reason if I couldn’t get to the hairdresser to have my braids re-done or my relaxer re-touched.
And so I thought, “Let me try locs.”
I started with the more traditional locs back in 2000.
They were started as comb curls, using a fine-toothed comb on wet hair to form curls following the natural curl of the hair. They eventually formed locs and grew well, and I used to go to the salon to have them palm-rolled and then another salon where they comb rolled my locs with oil.
When they got to around mid-back length, I cut them and when they grew back, I cut them again and eventually – after 12 years – I had grown tired of the weight of them.
So I took them out – and I was loose natural for a year.
I had heard about Sisterlocks before, and in 2014 I found a Sisterlocks consultant and had my first set of Sisterlocks installed.
I loved my new look once it settled in, but I didn’t do very much with my hair and after 3 years I became scissor-happy again and decided to have an undercut.
A few months after the undercut, I went the whole hog and unpicked the rest of the Sisterlocks.
I was once again loose natural, and kept my hair like that for about a year – but started to regret undoing my Sisterlocks and shaving them off.
I went back to Sisterlocks as soon as I could.
My Second Set of Sisterlocks
So here I am
It’s been 16 months since I had my second set of Sisterlocks installed (by the same consultant who installed my first set of Sisterlocks), and I am loving this journey.
And this time around, I’m making sure I take better care of my Sisterlocks.
So that was my journey – in brief.
BUT
I’ve now noticed, at this time of life, at this age, that there are new challenges that I hadn’t appreciated before.
And those challenges are:
- Thinning hair
- Lack of volume
- Grey hair
Now before I go on, I must say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with grey hair. I’ve seen lots of beautiful Sisterlocks and other hairstyles on grey hair. As with most things in life, it’s all about personal preference – and at this stage, I’d like to keep the grey hair at bay. And that’s what works for me right now.
And if you’re a lady of a certain age, the thinning, lack of volume and/or grey hair may be things that you’ve noticed with your Sisterlocks too – and you may want to do something about those things.
That volume we took for granted and didn’t notice when we were younger – that thick hair that we had with the dark strands all the way from root to tip.
We may not have noticed what we had then, but we miss them, now that they are no longer with us.
All of that has led me to think of ways we can address the above issues because these are things that aren’t necessarily talked about much generally or even here on YouTube.
And I thought it would be good to have that conversation and to look at the ways we can address these things – as more of us age and want to look after our Sisterlocks as they grow.
So how do we address these things?
Well there are a few ways.
Firstly, there are many off-the-shelf products that we can find in the shops.
I myself have used many of them – oils, sprays and more.
Secondly, there are alternatives to those ready-made beauty store products.
Aromatherapy Oils
For example, about a year ago, I discovered a YouTuber, who, among other things, uses aromatherapy oils in her oil blends for her Sisterlocks.
As I have used aromatherapy oils for a number of years, she immediately grabbed my attention because I’d not thought of using aromatherapy oils in my hair until that point.
And, not only did she discuss some of the well-known oils, she also mentioned some of the lesser-known oils.
I’ve since tweaked those ideas, and come up with some ideas of my own to help maintain the health of my scalp and care for my Sisterlocks.
Through this channel, I’ll be sharing what I do – as well as sharing my Sisterlocks journey.
This is spring 2020, and worldwide these are challenging times.
If like me, you go to your Sisterlocks consultant for your re-tightenings (I go every 7 weeks), and if – like me – you couldn’t go to your last re-tightening due to the lockdown, you may be thinking: “How am I going to keep my hair going until my next re-tightening appointment?”
The UK Lockdown
Here in the UK, it looks like we have another 3 weeks of lockdown.
So what can we do?
While waiting for that next re-tightening (whenever it will be), I’ll be talking about some of the ways you can care for your hair.
In the meantime, I’ve been checking my scalp regularly and separating any rogue strands that are trying to merge with other locks, to stop them marrying up.
To summarise, I have talked generally about looking after and loving those Sisterlocks, and I’ve mentioned the 3 things I’ve noticed that tend to face those of us who are of a certain age. They are: thinning, lack of volume, greys.
In the blog posts that will follow, I’ll be addressing each of these areas, and much more.
