Bit of Loc Chat

Natch commented:

I am new to So Cal, I have Sisterlocks but I like what you said about how yours are larger and that you've combined some. Could I hear more about your locks, their maintenance and your consultant?

Sadly, I do not live in Southern California anymore. Since 2005, my sister and I have been in our hometown of Waco, Texas (yee-haw). Imani Nash-Bey installed our Sisterlocks in November (Maryee) and December (me) of 2003. Since the installation, my locs have matured well. Imani's new shop is called HairStory. Check out her myspace for cool updates.

There was a rough patch between 2005 and 2006 when my locs experienced the withdraws of not having Imani care for them. They just loved Imani. The closest consultant to Waco was located in the DFW area, and we were very under employed. Whereas Imani's fee was a flat rate of 60 USD to retighten, the DFW's consultant's fee was 45 USD per hour. Needless to say, maintenance on a regular basis suffered.

Early on in Waco, Maryee took a trip to Euless (DFW) to take the retightening class. She helped me a bit to maintain my locs. During the rough time, however, I would two strand twist to try to maintain form. I experienced some breakage at the crown and decided to sew in (graft) hair to prevent the breakage and to encourage growth. This worked well for me. Since my hair line has the tendency to sprout new hair and the locs at the crown of my head tend to recede, I just wait for enough new hair to appear, crate a baby loc and then sew in a loc I previously had combined.

Also, my hair is very strange. I have a few areas on the top of my head where tufts of hair appear out of nowhere it seems. I try to pull this random hair into an existing loc, but the hair always manages to slip right out after one wash. I have recently decided to just start a loc and sew a loc into this tuft of hair. It is the only thing that seems to work because this hair is "indy-loc/combine-loc" resistant.

I started off with around 500 locs, now I am under 300. I'd say I have between 270 and 280 because of adding and subtracting/combining and sewing in. I have a few locs that are smaller yet healthy and a few that are larger yet healthy. I am trying to beef up the smaller ones a bit when I find an opportunity to combine them. Certainly for me, a few factors must fall into place before I make the leap to merge. Loc proximity to the other, girth of loc, and my mood. See December 2005 post on sewing in locs.

At times there are concerns of weightiness for me and strength of root bed, but that is just a part of the struggle to maintain faith. I purpose myself to choose not to worry and that makes a big difference in my choices with my locs. I am sure that whatever we (my locs and me) have to face, we will be fine. If you look at my sister Maryee's locs and my locs, you can see the difference in width/diameter. She wanted the flexibility to roll and set or style, and I wanted the bolder, freer, and funkier look... That is one reason why I had them installed a bit larger and why I combined my locs,- the other... mistakes in re-tightening and living with the error.

Regarding shampoo, moisture treatment, dry scalp, or grooming...

I shampoo about twice a month (Sisterlock shampoo). Because of the slippage, I can not shampoo more frequently. Because I love to shampoo my hair often, but I choose not to, I am bummed about this slippage issue. If I have an opportunity to have a consultant again, I will sho'nuf shampoo more. I would hope the consultant would know best how to keep that little hair in its place.

I moisture treat and spray moisture treat more during dry scalp seasons (Sisterlock Moisture Treatment and Spray Moisture Treatment). The change in the weather creates a change in my internal make up, hence manifesting in dry skin, scalp, and flux in my cuticles. This is usually at the onset of Autumn and Spring... Ahh my favorite seasons, but itchy...

I generally groom my hair with sharp cuticle scissors about four times a year. I also suffer from the cuticle specks many other loc'd folk have. They are a pain, but such as life. I try to cut them out, but I more than likely need to be more careful not to pull at my roots too aggressively when re-tightening my locs. They tend to be isolated at the front of the head. There are no noticeable cuticles at the back of my head. And to add... I prefer the Sisterlock clip tool over the hook tool, and I purchased and tried the Nappy tool, but have no desire to use it at all.

Next year will be quite interesting. The locs will be heading into a new stage of growth and uniqueness. I am looking forward to it. I love my Sisterlocks. I hope you love yours as well.

Click here for earlier post my journey...

Be blessed~