Certified & Cut!

Hello everyone! I am now a certified Sisterlock Consultant! I also cut my hair since it was all different lengths. It is still a little funny looking since some locks are mature and others still curl up.

Me & My Hair

The first photo is Aprilish 2008 and the last photo is today!

First Anniversary

My locks were completed on February 22, 2008. I wanted to do a video for it and that's how long it took for me to actually do the video.

MaraKay & Miss C

Foolish me I did not take pictures of Miss C's tester locks. The pictures are not needed for certification, but is nice to have for sharing purposes. I did get Mara K's though. Mara has some has near straight hair. I could not tell the relaxed portion from the new growth. You know how the new growth does a little bump and wave - if you look carefully you may be able to see that. For good measure I'm locking it all. She has tester locks in the crown, nape, and above the ear all done in one pattern ranging in sizes small to large.

As for me, I'm coming up on my six month. I just want to tell everyone that I really appreciate you for blogging and sharing your journeys. I use your blogs as materials.

Number Runners

A new member of the LockItUp group expressed that she was disappointed because only 78 locks were installed. I feel really sorry for her. I was not satistified with my first set, I understand her pain. I have to ponder if Sisterlocks are for her. 78 said her hair is thin. How thin is it? I need pictures. 78 even went to was certified Consultant. So what went wrong? Another member suggested that 78 may have step Sisterlocks, which upset her. Leading me to think 78 is probably highly ticked off by anything Sisterlocks. Good luck to you 78 and I hope you get to the bottom of your low number and will be able to sport natural hair in the near future.

This leads me to my own hair. I had them installed by a seasoned consultant. The set was all crooked and crazy. The set was lovely, but was taken down. I installed the front, Connie did the back. Now with life as it is - working 10 hours 4 days a week and sometimes 5 days, a dog, Lover, Tomoka's Twists, Sisterlocks - I cannot afford alot of locks to be on my head. I don't have enough time or patience for 400 locks on my head. I have the least amount of rows/columns possible. Some of them had to be redone even bigger because the slippage was crazy at the nape. In the end, I have about 250 locks.

What does 250 Sisterlocks look like? Now, remember I am the odd woman out. I have absolutely the worse type of hair for Sisterlocks. It's silky, stubborn, and loose. So, don't try this at home. Mine are perfect for me. If your consultant tries to usher you out the door with 250 Sisterlocks, um divide the price by 400 locks, then multiply that by the number of locks you have and pay that much. At some point count your locks before it's done. Count, the part from ear to center part. The other side is going to be that amount. And the back is going to be maybe three times that amount. So if you have 50 locks in that ear to center part area - you'll end up with about 250 locks. If you have 100 in that section then you'll end up with about 500 locks.

And my co-worker was so kind to paint my nails for me. They were comparible to Ciara's claws before the make-over.

Five months

Back to Terrence Trent D'Arby. Yes I have a fixation on him now. Sorry. I really like this video of Wishing Well. It's something about his skinny that does it for me. And the whole microphone dance won me over too. I've been told by many ladies that I won't have to worry about them stealing any man I date. Lover is not this thin, nor is he light, but he has a few quirky characteristics about him, not this feminine though. Look at how wide his mouth is and his lips curl. Slowly...Softly.

Here's an older video when he had braids - they look like Sisterlocks???

Rental Car Smells Like Sunshine

Connie and I tagged teamed my hair and retightened it to the root. Connie took me to a bead shop and I got some pink vintage lucite beads and some special vermeil beads. I will have my own goldTT.

I think the middle part is a bit hideous from a bird's eye view. The next time I will do them going straight back.

My co-workers are great. One warned me the my hair was going to fall out if I keep doing this. My African co-worker told me a secret. The African hair braiders go to school to learn how to braid - just like we go to class to learn Sisterlocks. I just thought they knew it as a tradition. Well doesn't that rental car smell like sunshine?

A month or so ago I couldn't move my tongue. Now I can do tricks with my tongue ring. I arched my eyebrows myself. They look really nice when I fill them in with brow make-up. It's 5am and I didn't think about that before taking the picture.
It's starting to lock. Not the ends are forming tight coils, instead of the loose spirals I had. Take a train to Happy Town.

I got off my manufacturing job at 1am. I came home and started on my jewelry job. I came up with three new TTs. Well one has been done before Toffee but it's redesigned and has become Toffee II. Then there is pLucite. P as in pink and Lucite as in vintage plastic.

We - Ciara, Lover, and I - are working on a name for the orange set. The bracelet unfortunately will not appear with the set. Boo. I am a self taught artist and will not read some silly manual to find out how to make bracelets. I'm using this magic stretchy string and it's like running after the Gingerbread Man. The more I knot it the more it pulls. Then I tried looping it - it came aloose too. I tried buring it and had to review my home owner's insurance. I might use wire and put a toggle on it. Making bracelets and necklaces is a bit hard. There's some rhythm to them that I haven't picked out, YET. Plus they look like Flinstone jewelry.

I am colorful.

Second Month?

I'm going to say my set started in February 22. I can remember that maybe. I've braided and banded once. I've been using tropical Zest and the Knotty Boy bar shampoo to shampoo. I've also been rinsing my hair whenever I get bead hair or it starts to look skimpy. My ends are doing whatever they like. We (me and Connie) started at the very ends and some have coiled in the pattern and some have unraveled. Bunching is in the future. Slippage happens, but nothing like the first set. I think my hair slips less than an 1/4 inch during shampooing. When I installed I never did use the tool so my hair was never to the scalp. Connie did the back to the scalp (thank you). I retighten with my fingers too. Why? My hair is already thin and I don't want the scalp look. Cheating? Big time. Don't try this at home.

Once again I would like to thank the ladies of Raleigh's Natural Hair Meetup group for your support. Thank you Locked Beauty.

The Other Side

I haven't taken pictures yet, but the other side is done. Now the back. Who's idea was this anyways? The things I get myself into.

I Did It My Way

I'm half-way done with the front. I'm not using the tool so my roots are not to the scalp. I'll cross that bridge latter. I gotta keep moving.

As soon as I think of a name. I'll list these.

Got Something to Say?

Say it with Tomoka's Twists Alphabet Line
http://tomokastwists.com

Someone wanted to know how my hair is looking now.

The Take Down - Eleven Left?

I think there are eleven locks left. They went to me on an interview. I wore a TT backwards. I hate interviews. I really don't like selling myself to people, but I do a decent job.

I told the woman that I do not do trouble shooting on HPLC/GC. "I would like to work for a company that makes enough money to buy the maintenance contract when they buy the equipment." You want me to tinker around with a $40K piece of equipment? They will mess around and have a Tomoka's Twists holding the thing together.

The Take Down - Some More

Sisterlocks really make your hair look fuller. I have about 70 more locks to go. April my dear Muslim friend who managed to sneak out of here without letting me take a picture with her... helped me take out a good bulk of the locks. Thank you!

We also got scissor happy and cut about three/four inches so I'm back to shoulder length. I'll probably pick the shortest length and have it botched into a circle layer cut. I really want to scream about this, but I have this hideous wound on my leg that is worse than this minor hair problem to worry about.

This would be a really good time to share pictures of my loose hair. I shampooed with Knotty Boy. The applied Rasta Lock & Twist Jamacian Mango & Lime Cactus Leave-In Moisturizer and also their Locking Creme Wax to my hair. These magical products keep my hair less frizzy. I then wrapped a few SLs around my hair to make a pitiful puff. This is the worst in my all my life.

The Take Down

I conditioned, rinsed, applied some grapeseed oil, and air dried. Then I started taking them down with a broach pin. This is good progress. I told guyfriend that I might mess around and not get SLs installed again. My hair loose hair is very strong and does what it wants to do. It's flyaway hair. This type of hair is best enjoyed short or in Sisterlocks.