(This post is companion to a YouTube video posted in June 2026.
Watch the video here)
Six months ago, I stopped retightening my Sisterlocks.
It was a decision I had been thinking about for some time. After seven and a half years with Sisterlocks, I had started to question whether continuing with regular retightenings was still right for my hair.
The photograph that prompted the decision showed me something I could no longer ignore: my crown was looking thinner. As well as that, I was experiencing scalp pain during and after each retightening session.
So I decided to stop – and this marked the beginning of an experiment.
I wanted to see what would happen if I gave my hair a rest, reduced the tension and paid attention to what it was telling me.
Six months on, and this is what I’m seeing.
My crown
The crown was one of the main reasons I decided to make a change.
When I look at it now, I can see a difference. The area doesn’t look as pulled as it did before, and I’m particularly aware of how different it feels when I touch the roots.
The hair feels less stressed and the fact that I’m seeing more coverage is encouraging.
But by far the biggest change is actually how it feels.
I no longer have the same scalp pain that I experienced around my retightening appointments.
That alone has made a huge difference.
What I’ve done instead
I’ve started experimenting with combining my Sisterlocks at the roots.
I’ve used a few different approaches.
I had already combined some of my hairline locs, in particular the very thin hairline locs that looked as though they might break as they grew longer. In other areas I’ve plaited the regrowth of two or three Sisterlocks together, allowing them to grow out as a thicker unit.
I’ve also experimented with plaiting three entire Sisterlocks together.
Over time, I’ve realised that combining the regrowth is the approach that feels most appropriate for me. It allows me to bring the hair together without creating the same same tension on the scalp that I was trying to move away from.
The root combining method works for me in many ways but I feel it works best because it allows the hair to grow together more naturally.
The grid is changing too
One of the things I had to let go of was my attachment to the Sisterlocks grid.
For years, the grid was simply part of having Sisterlocks. But I eventually realised that I wasn’t particularly attached to it.
In fact, I had become much more uncomfortable with seeing increasing amounts of scalp along the lines of the grid.
I’d rather have hair that looks a little messy at the roots but gives me more coverage than a perfectly maintained grid that reveals more of my scalp over time.
So I’m letting the grid go.
It is still visible in places, but gradually it is becoming less defined, and I’m happy with that.
How does this affect the locs themselves?
The actual locs still look very much like they did before.
The biggest difference is at the roots.
There are individual locs, pairs, threes and some larger groupings. Some areas are still completely untouched, and there are a few stragglers that I’ll probably combine once there is enough regrowth to do it without putting unnecessary tension on the roots.
This isn’t a perfect or perfectly planned system.
In fact, a lot of my combining happened while I was sitting watching television. I would feel the locs with my fingers, without the aid of a mirror, and decide which ones seemed to belong together.
At the time, I wasn’t thinking about it as a particular philosophy or method.
I was simply experimenting.
Six months without retightenings
The most significant thing I’ve learned so far is that I really like not having my Sisterlocks retightened.
There is something liberating about not having that appointment approaching every few weeks.
I used to experience scalp pain after retightenings and would simply accept it as part of the process.
Now I don’t.
My scalp feels much more comfortable, and I can feel more coverage developing around some of the roots.
I don’t know exactly where this journey will take me.
That’s rather the point.
I’m observing, experimenting and giving my hair time to show me what will happen next.
And six months on, I’m very glad I decided to listen to what my hair and scalp were telling me.
Six months without retightenings.
Six months of watching, feeling and learning.
This is still very much a work in progress.
I’ve been documenting this journey on my YouTube channel.
Come and follow along over there: Love Those Locs on YouTube 💜