From first pic: one month old SL, three months old, 19 months (this is the length that looked the best on me. I miss it. If yours is this length, enjoy it while you can), 24 months, 34 months, 34 months again, 37 months, 58 months, and 58 months.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Why I chose Sisterlocks, but wouldn't a second time.
I am not sure how I heard of Sisterlocks (SL). I think I stumbled on it. I think I had done a random Google search for "types of dreadlocks" (at the time, I still called them "dread" locks) and SL came up along with other types. Just to give you an idea of my history with locs, I should tell you this; I had always wanted locs. Okay, maybe not always.
I grew up believing that certain Black people were born with locs. What does that mean, you ask? It means that I believed that locs were not grown, but had. I believed that some folks' hair just could not stay separated. If you combed their hair now, it'd be matted and loc'd within 2 hours.
As a Yoruba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people), we believe(?d) that some people are just born to have locs. Whether or not that changes as they get older, I am not sure, but growing up in Nigeria, I did know folks who had locs and were believed to have been born with the locs.
At that time, I didn't desire locs. Then I grew up and while living in the Western world, got to know of inspiring loc'd Black folks. Lauryn Hill was my idol growing up. I loved and love Lauryn Hill. Her album titled The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the first album's lyrics I ever learnt by heart. I still know all the lyrics to all the songs and in which order the songs were in the album.
Moving on... Needless to say, Lauryn's lyrics moved me. She made sense AND she was cool as fire! Yes, I said "cool as fire". She moved me, that Lauryn. But enough about her lyrics. She was also very pretty! Layryn had lips that while most people's cupid's bow would have a dip, hers did not. I found that beautiful. Her skin tone was another. But neither one of these two could distract me well enough from her locs.
I loved Lauryn Hill's locs, and I wanted them.
It took me about 10 years, but I eventually decided to get locs. It took guts, and it oddly enough, also submission. I was tired of longing for locs. It was time. Lauryn's were traditional however (not freestyle, but traditional nonetheless), and although that would have cost way less, I didn't dare get traditional locs. I have scanty and soft hair but wanted to have the full-head look. I was afraid that with traditional locs, my hair would not appear full, as the locs would have to be cut in big chunks. With SLs, the locs are cut small, giving the appearance of a full head of hair. This is why I opted for SL.
I remember calling around to diferent SL consultants for a price quote. I made sure they were certified (checked for their names on sisterlocks.com ) and I got quoted as high as $850.00. I eventually went to a Loctitian who charged me $550.00 (or $500.00, not sure). I asked a lot of questions by phone, met with her and did a consult, paid a small fee and booked my appointment for my first installation. By that time, I had about 8 months of new growth.
The first installation took 11 hours. We did it overnight.
That was 5 years ago.
In 5 years, I have probably spent about $2,000 on retightening (tips included), zero dollars on conditioner, $100 on shampoo, and $500 - $550 on original installation. That is a total of $2,600, approximately.
Black hair is a billion (or is it million?) dollar industry because Black women fund it. I pay mine to other Black women (SL Loctitians). That makes me feel good, because most of the money in the industry, at least 95% of it, likely goes to non-Black folks and that bothers me.
So, let's make a list!
1. It takes me 3 seconds OR LESS to get my hair ready for the day. MOST TIMES it takes zero seconds.
2. My hair does not rule my schedule. I get up, and go. I don`t have to do anything to my hair the day before to get it to look a certain way the day after.
3. I do not use any conditioners. NONE AT ALL. If at all my locs are dry, I spray or splash water on them. Chikena (That's all it takes).
4. The amount of compliments I have received on my hair in the past five years are more than I had in the previous ten years. I deserve those compliments. I do see a lot of beauty in my hair.
5. Some White folks do think that my hair is in braids, and I think that because of this, they are less threatened. That works well for me in professional settings. For the wrong reasons, but what works works and I can live with that.
6. My hair is awesome because it is versatile. I leave it up, have it down, dye it, whatever, and it has never broken. It`s been 5 years and I have not lost a loc (my Loctitian did merge two locs into one once).
7. It costs farrrrr less than weave. (I used to spend $100 on two packs of human hair, spend $80 on a hairdresser to put them in, and $50 to relax my hair, and $50 on products for my hair. I would repeat this every few months. That would cost about $6,000 every five years, for hair that is uncomfortable and restricting to wear, damaging to my scalp and hairline, not to mention the demeaning Eurocentric ideology that it supports).
8. It supports Black business women. GBAM!
Sisterlocs does require that you spend money. I went through this process as a Full Time student. I was broke some of those times. I would have liked to retighten my own locs, but I couldn`t! Sure there is a way for me to have learnt how to reti (i.e `retighten`) my own locs (as a rule, if you have had your locs for over 6 months or however long, I forget...you can ask to take a retightening course so you can learn to retighten your own locs. You would still have to meet your Loctitian every 6 months so that they can monitor your locs for you) but with over 300 locs, it is daunting! Some folks even have up to 750 locs! It takes forever to reti your own SLs and like my girl Sweet Brown would say "I got school, work, and gravity working against my arm muscles, AINT NOBODY GOT TIME F'DAT!". So needless to say, I've only reti'd myself once in 5 years and I would give money to not have to do it again.
It aint pretty.
WHY I WOULD NOT GET SL THE SECOND TIME:
1. It's damn near impossible to reti on your own, thus, you will ALWAYS have to spend money on your hair. I believe in DIYing, and it bothers me that I have to be so dependent on a Loctitian (though I do have an awesome Loctitian. Ask me for her contact if you'd like it). I think Black women should be able to do their own hair. If I cannot reti my own hair because it is 300 plus locs, then maybe the 300 plus locs aren't worth it. Independence is a beautiful thing. When it comes to the hair that is growing out of your own hair, yo should be able to do it yourself.
2. If I had traditional locs and cut them off, I can reattach them someday, so I don't have to start from scratch. If this is news to you, don't let it stun you. You can reattach your traditional locs just as you can attach weaves. Only difference is, it is your own hair. This is in fact, a beautiful thing. Instead of covering your crown with a Malaysian woman's (who has no idea who you are) hair, you can just use your own. All you need to reattach, is just needle and thread, I believe. Hey! You know the 3Rs; Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle...or something like that.
3. I want an afro soooooo bad! I think afros are the best thing since tilapia-eggplant stirfry. Nuff said.
4. As much as it is nice to not have to condition, conditioning is pampering. I go through days where I want to cut an avocado, mix it with olive oil, add some raw eggs and use the mixture to condition my hair. With locs, you cant, not unless you want the mixture stuck your locs.
5. First, let me reiterate that I do LOVE SL. However, it hangs. There IS something about the look that does tell me that it is succumbing to that Eurocentric ideology of hair and beauty. SL hangs and flows. This is especially why it is appealing not only to Blacks, but to Whites. I get that, and it is somewhat bothersome. I want my 'fro. A 'fro confronts, and I like that. I want something that stands. I guess this pretty much means I want a 'fro. Yeah, this point is no different from #3 LOL.
So there you have it. It's been almost five years. I would absolutely do it again. It's quite the experience.
Here are some pictures (all the pictures are of my fourth year with SL);
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