One Month Locked Up!

So it's been one month since I got my sisterlocks. I didn't blog on my one month lociversary because I was out of town but here are the pics I took on the 19th:


(Left - Day 1, Right - Month 1)This was after I washed my hair and did nothing to it. You can see the texture has changed some since my installation.


(Left - Day 1, Right - Month 1)

Right now I'm pretty much just wearing a freestyle although the front of my hair was twisted in this pic. I can feel a difference, and I think the starter shampoo is really helping my hair along. I have some balls forming at the ends already. I have a pic of that but it's hard to see, I may post it if I can clean it up some.

I am getting retightened in another week and then I'll be on my four week schedule. I still have some slippage in the back and the front in the really short spots, and going to the beach didn't help. I didn't submerge my head in the water but the back did get wet. I may just two strand twist those areas for now until my retightening...I'll just have to remember to take them out :-) All in all I'm still enjoying the journey and watching the change my hair is going through.

First Retightening

I had my first retightening this past weekend and I am glad to report my consultant said my locks are progressing nicely so far and they look really good. I was glad to hear this because after two shampoos I had some slippage, but nothing out of the ordinary. I don't have any pre-retightening pics after I shampooed my hair for the 2nd time, but here are some post-retightening pics:

I've Been Tagged!

I was tagged by Journeii

The rules:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes my six random things...don't judge me :-) . . .

1) I have been addicted to CNN for months. The political primary season turned into the best reality show I've seen in a while. Unfortunately now that it's all over, I am going through withdrawal.

2) I think myspace is trying too hard to be like facebook and that annoys me for some reason. Anyone who used myspace last year knows I'm telling the truth.

3) I have never worn, and never will wear, capris. I think that is a fancy name for highwaters and when I was growing up that was not a good look. It's amazing to me that people purposefully pay for a look that could be achieved free through hand-me-downs or simply buying regular pants in petite/short.

4) I have devloped the dry habit of listening to NPR shows over the past few years. I admit that I feel like a bit of a nerd, but I can't help but love NYC's Radio Lab and Science Friday on Talk of the Nation. I also hate any Tavis Smiley show for reasons that require a post of their own. Did I just revoke my Black card? I also listen to News & Notes with Farai Chideya and Tell Me More with Michele Martin so that should put me in good standing.

5) I don't think bikers should drive in the street unless there is a bike lane. I absolutely despise grown people with helmets on 10-speed bikes in the middle of the street during rush hour traffic. If I had the power I would pass a law requiring them to be on the sidewalk. I secretly want to hit them but I know that's wrong, so I just complain relentlessly until they turn or I pass them.

6) I love my Sisterlocks! I think I debated way too long over getting them and should have done it a long time ago. I know that sounds cliche but not that I have them I can say it because it's true. Locking requires patience and if I would have started earlier I feel that I would have been further along by now, but I'm happy I finally did it!

I am tagging. . .

• Sisterlock Adoration
• Ebony Girl
• Kalia Dewdrop
• Blaq Kofi
• Sisterlocks Convert
• Locked with Patience

Curls!

I curled my hair with soft spikes curlers, sprayed a little water on my hair, and left them in over night and the next day...





...curls! I was afraid the curls wouldn't work that well since my hair is pretty short, but I like the result. I think my hair looks fuller with the curls. I will definitely be using these more often.

First Shampoo

OK, so I was finally brave enough to shampoo my hair. I did an ACV rinse as well to help cleanse my scalp. Here is how (crazy) I looked after braiding and banding and spraying my hair with my ACV/water mixture:

It didn't take that long. I had to experiment with some different bands. The first ones I bought were too big (I never planned on using the rubber bands in the SL starter kit). I found some that were small but worked ok, although a few slipped off while I was shampooing. I used the SL starter shampoo and the knotty boy shampoo because of my dry scalp. After reading stories about the starter shampoo drying out your scalp I didn't want to chance using just that and going another week before shampooing my hair.

As you can see from the shots below, I had some slippage around the front where my hair is really short, and the scalpy look has gone away. I don't think you can even tell my hair is locked in the front after flat twisting it now.

flat twists before shampoo

flat twists after shampoo

I have some slippage in the back of my hair too in a few areas where my hair had broken off really bad before I got my SLs, so it was really short. My follow up visit is next week so hopefully my consultant will fix the front of my hair and my report won't be too bad after my shampoo attempt.