Reduced Shrinkage

I figured out a way to reduce some of the shrinkage that I was experiencing. I decided to roll my hair on bendable rod rollers. I dampened my hair and stretched it as I rolled it. I went to bed with the rollers in my hair and the next morning although my hair was curly I had regained a great deal of the length that I had lost due to shrinkage. Maybe this can help others as well. I got several compliments on my hair today as well. Notice the difference in these pictures and the pictures from "The Big Wash".

The Big Wash

I hope that I made enough braids. I looked at various blogs to see if I was doing it right. I think its right. Well here it goes. The top picture is my hair after the wash. I think it came out okay although it shrunk alot. I used the SL starter shampoo.


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Last Look Before Shrinkage

This is my hair right before my first wash. As I look into the mirror I know that this is the last time that my hair will ever look like this. I know that it must be done but I must admit I am sad to say goodbye to my little skinny looks. Here comes SHRINKAGE!!!

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First Day Out

Today I felt great going to my conference in Manhattan. I dampened my hair, braided it and then set it on bendable rods. I was pleased with the results. I think that this will be one of my favorite styles for now. The parts are filling in already and I have not as of yet done my first washing. So far I am loving my new baby locks.

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Sisterlocks

I have finally started the journey. I found my loctician on Doc Locs blog. Patricia is a Sisterlocks trainee looking to complete her certification. She was offering a free installation for the first four inches of hair. I could not believe what I was reading. This was a dream come true for me. Unsure as to how long the offer had been on the web I took a chance and sent her an email letting her know that I was definitely interested. I was nervous because I had reached out to get my hair done. I did not know that she was only offering it to the first three people who responded. As luck would have it I was the fourth person to respond. I was saddened and dissapointed. I thought that my journey would seriously have to wait. I broke the sad news to my husband. Patricia called me to let me know that she would still do my hair if I was interested at a reduced rate. Long story short it did not work out with the second person which moved me to the third spot!!!
I met with Patricia a few days later for my consultation and test locks. I had four strange looking strings in my hair that I just starred at when I got home. I was proud of my four test locks and found myself anxious for the first week to pass to see what would happen when they were washed. They got a little bigger and became very curly. Over the course of two weeks there was no way that I would have been able to remove those test locks!!
It took five consecutive days and thirty seven hours to install my 510+ locks. I was pleased with the end result. My vacation plans were destroyed but my locks were in.

Why sisterlocks?

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. I was enjoying the freedom of having my hair in the two strand twist style. They were a new way to express myself. I had purchased headbands in every color imaginable to co-ordinate with my outfits. I think my colleagues would drop by just to see what I had wrapped around my head for that day. One evening at my weekly bowling league one of the ladies whose hair is locked in beautiful long traditional locks said to me, "Oh you're getting sisterlocks?" I had no idea what she was talking about but she encouraged me not to give up. I had thought about locking my hair several times over the past ten years but always found myself falling into the vicious cycle of having my hair permed.
That evening I went googled "Sisterlocks". To my surprise I found myself fascinated with the google images that appeared. Over the course of the next month I must have spent 100 hours researching everything there was to know about Sisterlocks. I had read the entire block history of so many women who inspired me to step out and take the journey into the endless styling possibilities and beauty that Sisterlocks had to offer.
I also learned that this experience did come at a hefty price tag but I was used to pay over $275 for a custom wig or $2,000 for a hair system. Why not invest in growing my own hair so that if my hair was flowing down my back it would truly be my hair. I had been three years since my last relaxer. I had cut off all of the permed hair over the span of those three years. There was really nothing standing in my way. The sisterlocks community was so vast. Each blog I read, each story that I followed made me more and more excited about the prospect of locking my hair. After months of research I shared my desire with my husband. He was a little apprehensive because over the past eight years with him I have gone through many hair phases with the same zeal that I was expressing about the idea of getting sisterlocks. Being the supportive husband that he is he said that he would be happy with whatever I decided to do with my hair.

Let's Keep it Real

I decided at the close of 2008 that I would go natural. I had finally had enough of not really being true to myself. It was a very big decision to reveal the real me. I had hid my true identity for many years. At first I told myself that it was more convenient to wear extensions but then I felt strange when I did not have them in. I was my hair!! I felt incomplete without my hair".
Well, I decided to start off with two strand twists. I was very pleased with the results even if the parts weren't straight. My husband encouraged me to have my sister help me do the next set which she did. I must say that my first day back at work I was a bit nervous. I was unsure how my colleagues and my students would react. Would there be a lot of stares, comments or people wanting to touch my hair. I had all that and more. There was no turning back. I had crossed the bridge into the land of freedom and I have no regrets.
I can not get over the amount of potions, lotions, curling irons, flat irons, mousses, glazes and sprays that I no longer had any use for. For what it's worth I'm proud to say I am keepin' it real.