1 Year...Do you know what today is....it's my lockaversary!!!

Hey all, I'm sooooo excited! As you can tell by the title of this post I've reached my 1 year mark...YAY!!!! I'm officially in my 2nd year of locking. You know in my last post I said that I'd seen changes and that you wouldn't be able to see them on camera. Well to put it simply, I lied! I didn't mean to though...lol. I didn't realize the changes were so noticeable until I saw the pictures for myself. I am so in love with my Sisterlocks and look forward to seeing what the next year brings. I've put together some comparison shots Day 1 vs 6 Months vs 1 Year. I'm sure you'll enjoy them as I have...hehehe.

My 2nd Installation

Hey all, I apologize for not updating sooner but working full time and trying to build a business gets a little hectic at times. Unfortunately, it causes me to fall behind on my blog posting. So here's a treat, my second installation. We'll call her "Amatullah", she's muslimah so I couldn't show her face. Not that you all are concerned with her face anyhow, it's her hair you wanna see right? Well here it is, I am very proud of how it turned out...yay me!!! She was/is estatic about her hair and her husband love love loves it. The first day I had only finished about a fourth of the front and already she was trying to swing her babies, loving it!!! Lol. I tell you I feel truly blessed to be able to provide a service that makes people feel soooo good. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

My hair has been coming along great. I see many changes that probably wouldn't show up on the pictures...lol. But guess what?! My one year anniversary is coming up on the 21st of this month. I have a retightening on the 17th of this month and yes I still go to my consultant because I enjoy being in and out in a couple of hours. Don't talk about me too bad... :o). Anywho, I will most definitely take pictures so you all can see my progress. Until the next time....

My First Installation :o)

I have to tell you that after this installation and a couple of retightening clients that I have a whole new respect for SL consultants. :o) This is Berne and she was the perfect first installation client. She was very patient, excited, and friendly. I enjoyed the time we spent together and let me tell you that it took a looooong time...lol. But I know I'll get faster so I'm not worried about it. She had a lot of balding and thinning but I think I compensated very well. I gave her more fullness in the back since I couldn't do it so much in the front. We're hoping that most of her hair will grow back in. I told her that I would add locks as it grew in. I explained everything to her as I went along and she was very understanding. The most exciting part was her reaction when I was finally done, she was sooooooo happy. She kept saying no more bad hair days! She gave me the biggest and warmest hug before she left. I can't tell you how great that made me feel :oD.

Introducing: Sereni-T Sisterlocks Consultant Trainee!

Yay me!!! I had a wonderful time with some beautiful ladies. Here are a few pics, enjoy...

Day 1 Sisterlocks Consultant Training

Hey all! I just got back from my first day of consultant training and I have had a great day :o). It was interesting at the beginning of the day to hear everyone's hair story. Some were very similiar to my own and some had completely different experience's. There was one woman who said her family makes fun of her calling her gorgeous, and they were thick and gawjus, sisterlocks a pick-a-ninny hairstyle. I was amazed that one they couldn't see the beauty in her hair and two that people even still use that term in 2009. We even had a woman in the class that traveled all the way from France to attend the consultant's training. She had just had her installation three weeks ago and had to travel to London to get them done.

The master trainer (MT) and the certified training assistant (CTA) were both very knowledgeable. The MT has had sisterlocks for about 9-10 years and the CTA has had sisterlocks for 16 years! Wow! Her hair was simply stunning. Our first lesson was towards the end of the day and these two ladies made sure we completely understood and learned the objectives before we were released for the day. They make a great team. I look forward to tomorrow.

I met some wonderful ladies that don't live far from me at all. I am too excited about that because in all the time I've been here I have yet to make any friends. So this was definitely a great day for me.

My hair is doing great, I'm in my 8th month and still loving my sisterlocks. I'll have to take some pictures and post them within the next couple of days. Everyone in the class today, except for one lady, had sisterlocks. I loved seeing all the different textures and lengths, I will definitely be taking some pictures and posting them. Anywho, just wanted to check in since its been a little while since I've posted anything. Let you guys know what's going on with Sereni-T. Until tomorrow....Caio!!

Day 1 vs. 6 Months

Ok now I've had time to sit down and get some comparison shots together. They all have day one on the left and 6months on the right.

6 MONTHS!!!!! I'm Baaaaaaaack!!

I've reached my 6 month mark and I am happy about it, wooohooo!! Actually it was on the 21st but close enough. I have a retightening scheduled for July 8, I'm going to have my consultant take a picture of the inside of my babies. I've been neglecting my poor little blog but no more I'm back on track and those few followers that I do have will be getting more updates. They probably won't all be about my hair since not much has changed, not visibly anyway. I'm still loving my sisterlocks and can't wait til I reach the one year mark. I'm not going to type too much, I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to start boarding. I just wanted to post a few pics of my progress. Enjoy....

Looky looky what Sereni-T did...

My first Sisterlock style!!! I said I was going to wait longer but I was getting bored with the freestyle look. So I was laying in bed early Sunday morning mad at my cat for waking me up so early and decided what the hay might as well try a style. On friday I was thinking about just curling it all and seeing how that turned out. By Sunday morning I wanted to be a bit more creative and this is the result. I love how it looks from every angle but the front. Don't know if I like the way the curls are just coming out of my head. But they are still pretty tight and we'll see how it looks over the next couple of days. All in all I thought pretty good for a first try.

Some of the pictures in the collage were taken at work...lol. I work overnight and sometimes I get bored, perfect for picture taking. Last night was reasonably slow and I was alone....click-click. :oP

At my last retightening my consultant got some sisterlock products and and gave me a bottle of the sisterlocks starter shampoo. I was a bit afraid after hearing so many bad reviews on it but washed my hair with it this weekend. I have to say it wasn't bad at all. I diluted it 1:1 in a spray bottle, banded my hair, and sprayed on as usual. It didn't sud as much as other shampoos but did provide some lather. I didn't mind it at all. Though not my favorite I plan to start using it until my hair settles in some more. It did dry my scalp out but I used my peppermint/rosemary eo spritz on my scalp while I was doing my hair. Worked wonders!!! My scalp feels pretty good so I'm satisfied.

I've also been experiencing a new phenomenon, people are recognizing that I have sisterlocks. It's starting to happen more and more. It has caught me off guard each time that it's happened. I'll be out somewhere not even thinking about my hair and someone will tell me they like my hair and ask if they're sisterlocks. Each time it has brought a huge smile to my face...lol. I just didn't expect people to know what they were so soon. I love my sisterlocks!!!

3 Month Retightening

So I had my 3month retightening last weekend and it went very well. It took about 3 1/2 hrs to complete. My consultant said it would have been less but it had been about 8 weeks since the front had been tightened. Everything is moving right along and my hair is doing great. I had one lock in the front that completely unraveled and some in the back with alot of slippage but everywhere else was perfect. I haven't noticed any earth shattering differences in my hair. The ones in the back are starting to open and expand a little but that's about it. I did speak with my consultant about combining the ones on the sides in the front because they are too small for my taste. She wants to wait to see how they do but I don't want to, I know that they are too small for me. So I'm going to talk to her before my next retightening and see how much it would cost to take them down and do them bigger.

When I discussed possibly combining some with my consultant she told me that the two would be combined at the based and then the weaker one cut eventually. I've thought about it and don't really want to do it that way. I figure if it's done that way then most of the lock will still be really small right? Only the base of the lock will be bigger if I'm thinking correctly. I'd prefer the entire lock be larger in size. I'm thinking if we do it now it will be alot easier since they are no where close to being mature. I realize that all of my babies will expand and will be larger than what they are now but those particular ones are not going to expand as much as I'd like. So why not just take care of it now.

I was talking to one of my coworkers about my hair and she was telling me that she thinks I'm being too picky. I've put the deposit down for the consultant's training class that's coming to Boston in August. (Yay me!!) She said that according to the laws of the universe that I'll get clients alot worse than myself. I didn't realize I was a difficult client. I thought that the relationship between the consultant and client is suppose to be an open one. In my opinion, any client should be able to share questions and concerns with their consultant. When I become a consultant I'd like my clients to feel that they can come to me with all questions and concerns. I don't feel that myself or any other client should just sit back with no say whatsoever in this process, but that's me. So I pose the question to those of you who keep up with my blog, do you think I'm being too picky?

Perfection...

Tuesday night I was at work and decided to browse the internet in search of pictures of sisterlocks. During my search I came across the website Cammalocks. This consultant has the ability to part the most perfect grids that I have seen on any locked head so far. When I viewed the images of the locks I got a serious case of loc envy. So much so that I've been thinking about and comparing my locs to the ones on that site for two days. I've even read something somewhere discussing differences between loc envy and loc admiration. There was no question in my mind that I had loc envy because I just kept going over in my mind how I wanted my grid to be that perfect. This is actually what I thought I was getting when I got sisterlocks but alas my beautiful babies didn't turn out this way. I like to think that God hides a lesson in every situation. Over the past couple of days I've tried to find the lesson in this particular one. So I ask that you bear with me as I explain how and why I came to the conclusion that I did.

My analysis took me back to childhood and some insecurities that I've carried since then. When I was growing up my family was the poor family living in the broken down house with a bunch of unruly children. I'm an only child but I grew up with six of my cousins in the house with me. Our house was roach and rat infested with no sink or running water in the kitchen. I was teased in grade school about my clothing and because I'd had a couple of embarassing incidents that proved just how poor we really were. Even from a young age I was determined to never live this way again. My solution was to strive for perfection, perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect friend, perfect girlfriend, etc... I figured if I were perfect there was no room for failure.

I knew that most of my circumstances at that time were out of my control. What I felt I could control was myself and how I was perceived. I felt that if I carried myself a certain way that people wouldn't be able to see all the things that were "wrong" with me. I became very opionated about everything and everyone, going as far as to pass judgement and give everyone my thoughts on any matter. I didn't care that what I said and how I said it hurt peoples feelings because I was just telling it like it was, you know, "keeping it real". All the while I secretly envied many of the people that I criticized. I was a horrible friend to some people that I truly loved and lost some because I was constantly judging and looking down on them. I would pick people apart that I felt had more or better than me, i.e. money, stable homelife, beautiful clothes, perfect hair. I had to find something wrong with them to make me feel better about myself. Because no matter how hard I tried or how much I'd accomplished I still felt like that same scared, poor, little imperfect girl. I also felt that having "things" would make me feel more worthy. I found that no matter how many material things I attained or how good I looked on the outside I still never felt I'd reached my goal of perfection. Whether it were the latest hairdo or fashion trends I always ended up with something less than perfect. I was utterly and completely miserable. I'd always hear the mantra about loving yourself and had convinced myself that I did. But how can you love yourself when you can't accept you for who you are?

It has taken years, some soul searching, and God to realize that I am perfect. I am the most perfect Sereni-T that I can be. There is no one else like me. I am unique and special in my very own way. I don't have to be perfect or anything other than Sereni-T to love me or to be loved by others. I feel the same way about my hair. While I didn't get the perfectly parted grid that I desired, my new babies will produce a beautiful head of sisterlocks. They are unique and special in they're very own way. There will be no other head of sisterlocks that look like mine. In my eyes they are and will forever be perfect.

ETA: I just wanted to clarify that my parts and grid are not bad. My consultant did a wonderful job on my hair. There are a few things here and there but nothing intolerable . They're just not as perfect as I had envisioned.

Patience.......WOOOOOSSAHHHHHHHH!!!

Ok, so am I the only one having trouble imagining that these little scraggly things will turn into beautiful sisterlocks. I know I know, you all are going to say be patient. I know that!!! :o) But I'm impatient daggomit. That's why I'm pretending to be Martin's character in Bad Boys II...WWWOOOOOSSSAAAHHHHHHH!!!! I've been a member of nappturality for years and loc'ers always say that if this journey doesn't teach you anything it will teach you patience. Well easier read than done...lol.

Ok on to more serious matters ;o). My hair is moving along quite nicely if I do say so myself. I've noticed a couple in the back starting to bud which makes me very excited. I've passed the two month mark and will be getting a retightening on my three month anniversary on the 21st of this month. Which incidentally is my birthday weekend...woop woop. I'm getting old ya'll, I'll be the ripe ole age of, drumroll please..........................34. Ok so I know that's not old but I just had to be a little dramatic, dag lighten up guys :oD. So the plan is to get my hair did and hit the streets doing something besides going to someone's club. Is that the only thing people know how to do nowdays?

Back to my hair, my routine is uber simple. I cover with my LockSock before bed, wake up shake and finger comb, and wash once a week. My bad case of itchies has subsided but I still am having issues with flakes. I'm definitely looking forward to the six month mark when I can start to put something on my scalp. I've promised myself that I would start with my wheatgrass smoothies, hair skin and nails supplement, and multivitamin again. I already drink plenty of water so I'm good on that front. As far as exercise, I'm slowly working my way into it. I took a class called 'Head to Toe' at my gym last week and wooohooo that joint had me massaging the outermost point of my butt cheek...lol. I definitely felt the burn all over my body so this class is a definite 'must do' on my road to health. My plan is to start doing Bikram Yoga this week, it's suppose to be very good for your health overall. For those that don't know Bikram Yoga is a style of yoga done in a room heated to 105 with 26 postures that are repeated twice over the course of an hour and a half. Sounds intense right? I tried it a couple of years ago and let me tell you I don't know if intense is a good enough word for it. Essentially my goal is an overall healthy lifestyle. So that's about it guys, I will keep you posted on all the haps in my world. Until the next time.....

Decisions, Decisions....

Hey all!!! I thought it may be time to update and let those of you that read my blog know what I decided to do. Well I contacted my consultant and told her that I had decided to find another consultant because of a couple of issues I was having, but mostly our scheduling conflicts. Well she was very understanding but did not want to lose me as a client so she came up with a couple of different options as to how we could make this work. Interestingly one of those options was for me to find a new consultant and she would help pay for any repairs that may be needed. I thought that was nice of her to offer but I had to decline. I don't know why but it made me feel bad about the whole situation and I just didn't feel right about her helping me pay another consultant. I'm sure others would have a different opinion on the matter but I just couldn't do it. So we had a long talk and decided to give it another go. There were some misunderstandings between us and once we discussed it we decided that it could be worked out. It seems that she has clients that prefer not to schedule appointments and just call when they are ready to get their hair done. Well I'm not that type of client, I like to have my appointments scheduled in advance. I understand that things happen and that sometimes appointments will have to be changed but I still like to have something scheduled instead of trying to get in where I fit in. Know what I mean Vern!

As far as my babies they are doing wonderfully. They are starting to "fall" and I'm loving it. This means that I'm making progress which is a good thing. The last time I washed my hair I didn't use the Fantasia IC 100% Tea Shampoo I decided to try Aveda Detoxify. After using the Aveda shampoo I have to say that I like the Fantasia brand a bit better. The Aveda shampoo did a good job but it just didn't get to my flake issue like the Fantasia brand did. Even though I like the Fantasia a little bit more I've decided to still use the Aveda shampoo because of my fear of the Fantasia brand causing slippage. But as soon as I feel my locks can handle it I will be going back to the Fantasia 100% Tea Shampoo. It has a glorious smell and it gets my hair squeaky clean without stripping it of all the necessary oils that we need.

Daily care so far has been fairly simple. Most of the time I put on a LockSock before bed and sleep on a satin pillowcase. Sometimes I skip the LockSock and just let my babies breath but still use the satin pillowcase. Some days I spray with water before I go to work and some days I don't. That's pretty much it. The only other thing I can think of is that when the itching and flaking get too bad I use a small tooth rattail comb and go part by part and scratch the flakes away. Then I just shake as much of the flakes out as possible. I've found, even before my journey with sisterlocks, that less is more when it comes to natural hair.

One last thing, how do you all like my new glasses? I think they are CAYUTE!!! Until next time...

DIY'er?

Ok so I'm considering becoming a DIY'er already. I've never been real good at waiting for someone else to do my hair. I've been a DIY'er for the past six years of this natural journey that I'm on. There are a couple of issues that I'm having with my sisterlocks. The first one is the amount of hair that is left on the end of each lock. I had felt that it might be too much but just kind of kept my mouth shut because I trust my consultant, well technically she's still a trainee. But now that a more experienced sisterlocker has commented about it I see that my concern was a valid one. Second, there were some parts in the front that were crooked so when I went back to my consultant she took some of them down and redid a section. The problem is that when she redid that section she made them smaller than the ones on the other side. So now I have more locks on one side than I do the other. Which would not be a big deal but I feel as if I paid for a system because that was what I wanted. Had I not paid the amount of money that I did I probably wouldn't care so much. Third, when she redid the section she went ahead and retightened the entire front of my head and ran out of time to do the back. Which would not be a problem except she hasn't been able to fit me in to finish the back. I work two jobs so my schedule is limited and she works full time on top of doing sisterlocks so her time is limited as well. So I decided to just wait until my first full retightening but we are still having scheduling conflicts and it looks as if our schedules won't open at the same time until march which would put the back at over 8 weeks for a retightening. Not good.

So my options would be to find another consultant or become a DIY'er. I realize that if I become a DIY'er at this point that there will be some that will not consider my locks sisterlocks anymore. Do I really care what they think or say? No. I just want locks. I have the number to a consultant but have not seen any of her work. She's listed on the sisterlocks website as a certified consultant and I met her cousin in Sally's and she told me that she'd been doing sisterlocks for years. So I will probably give her a call first and let her look and my locks and maybe give me a chance to look at her work. I'm really not afraid of becoming a DIY'er, because honestly the system doesn't look like its hard to do at all. I'm just not sure if I should take that leap or not.

Oh, one last thing I wanted to mention. I'm including this for those who may follow my blog in the future. I listed the Fantasia IC 100% Tea Shampoo as what I was using now. Well I've been informed that this shampoo will loosen the locks over time and is only recommended for locks that have already settled. So I wanted to include this so just in case someone in the future looks to my blog as a research tool. I don't want to recommend a shampoo that will cause more harm than good.

ITCHIES!!!

Okay fellow lockers, tell me what's up with all these itchies and flaking. How long does this last? I am welcoming all suggestions on how to combat this temporary problem. Do I do as they say when I was in the army and suck it up and drive on? Is an ACV rinse a good idea at this point? I have a spray bottle with some rosemary and peppermint eo that I have spritz my hair with a couple of times. I don't want to spritz with this too often for fear of causing any type of buildup or slippage. I spritz with plain ole water everyday which my hair seems to love. But I had been doing that for a long time before sisterlocks so I knew my hair would love it. What else can I do? Help pleez!!!

On a more positive note, I have completed my first month...yay!!! I am officially in my 2nd month of sisterlockdom (is that a word? lol) I saw my consultant about a week and a half ago for my follow up visit with her. She had to redo some in the front because some of the parts were not straight and some in the back because they had unraveled. She was very excited when she saw my hair saying that is had shrank and hardly had any slipping. I guess she was surprised because of the length that I'd started out with. I contribute it to the fact that I was natural for 6 years before I started this journey. Aside from the itchies, this has been a beautiful journey.


Washing seems to be going very well. Of course I braid and band because I don't want to take any chances and mess up what is progressing so well. I don't have any of the sisterlocks starter shampoo but my consultant did provide me with a very good clarifying shampoo that gets my hair sqeauky clean without drying it out too much. It's Fantasia IC 100% Tea Shampoo:



I've also noticed that they are starting to expand a bit which I'm very pleased with. So my hair feels a little more bulky. I'm curious to see where I am in another 5 months at my 6 month anniversary. With my texture I'm not sure I'll see much of a difference, I think its going to take awhile to see any real changes. But what do I know we'll just have to see.