Mature Longer Sisterlock Maintenance and Routines and Tips

Four Years and 5 months ... Another level ...

What has changed? Well, I used to wash my locks twice  a week because I loved to, then my lifestyle changed and I just couldn't manage it anymore, as they got longer, the drying time increased. 

There was also something else, my ends are loose again, and I'm not sure why, I know I'm not the only one. I have never been a conditioner girl, so couldn't understand the softening process that was clearly happening. it is still happening and currently I have no answers.

My product junkism has halted, as I have no time or inclination.  I still have a trailer load of goodies that I am working through.

However, I do have a brand new toy ... 

YES ... a traditional steamer ... I'm sooo happy, had my eyes on one of these for an absolute age, but they were too expensive. Then lovely Miss C came over and we had one of our usual lock loving convos, we decided to check out EBay and ... VOILA! I didn't waste a moment as the offer was too good. 

Routine.

My latest washing session consisted of:

1. Washed with Suave shampoo.
2. Melted a tablespoon of coconut oil (which, incidentally I have not used for at least 9 months!)
3. Applied oil to towel dried hair, fill and set steamer for 20 minutes.
4. Pile locks into a loose bundle on top of head.
5. Sat under steamer, locks UNcovered.
6. When time was up I rinsed with warm water.
7. Let locs dry naturally.

If you are familiar with my blog I used to get a decent steam at my gym.  That's no longer possible. 

I will let you know if the effects are just as good as the steam room after a while.

Challenges.
No real challenges at the moment, I put my locs up in a bun as a style or simply by instinct.  I take scrunchies and bands everywhere, even wear them absentmindedly on my wrists.
My mental challenge is avoiding filth during my daily commute, I travel for a total of 2 hours per day and I am O.C.DDeeee when I choose a seat and I do all that I can NOT to rest my head on the head rest thing ... yeah I guess I'm paranoid ... I can't lie!

Build Up.

Dare I say it? No signs of any increased build up of any kind, I MUST say, that around 6 to 9 months ago I purchased a new specialist hoover, with a HEPA filtration filter thingy ... it is excellent at dealing with dust (I don't have carpet so I am hoovering the wooden flooring etc).
As I think about it, since I purchased this model the 'build up' has decreased.

Loose ends.

My loose ends actually help me remove any dust particles that may attach themselves. I don't use creamy products so there is no product type build up. I consistently clarify every other wash alternating with a moisturising shampoo every so often

Styling.

I am currently a pipe cleaner convert until one night they kept sticking in my scalp as I slept ... so I braided out instead for a change. Love the result though.

More SisterLock Love!!!

I AM IN LOVE!!!  Yes !! I am besotted with this liberating journey, so amazing!

NEVER a bad hair day!

Doing my hair is a pleasure and joy, the freedom and versatility I have been longing and praying for has been made possible within the Sisterlock system and I really give thanks for it. In fact I give thanks, appreciation, love and respect for ALL natural and lock types, sister and otherwise! A thanks to all my fellow blogging sisters who provide a valuable resource for me, and not JUST topics about hair!

Personally Sisterlocks has been PERFECT in fulfilling my natural hair desires.

You see my choice of hair maintenance has gone hand in hand with the healing of my skin and in ALL of my years my complexion has only ever been THIS good, BEFORE I had ANY children.
I prayed for a LONG time about my hair care and skin problems, I took a long time realising the answer, but  I KNOW that I was not ready before now! No two ways about it, I was STUPID enough to care about the approval of fickle human beings! Thank God for maturity!

In The Mix


My Loc priority is to simply have a head full of build up free, healthy, strong locs.
Originally, colouring my locks was a high priority. I then recalled a time, as a loose natural for approximately 2 years, when I applied colour (professionally) It was the worst thing I could have done. It had a similar effect to a mild relaxer, without the straightening effect, but equally as damaging.

Most people know that I have spent/spend some hard cash on a variety of products, Yes, I get bored, but I also am on a mission to having very strong, healthy hair. As a result of my product junkism, I have finally discovered what I know my locs need!

Conditioning

A GOOD leave in conditioner, which on its own, does not exist, but is a mix of some of the best prods around, and watered down slightly.

Fundamentally, WATER! (moisturising)

.... Coconut oil and Glycerin love my hair and vise versa. The more I wash, the happier my hair. Simple.  Coconut  oil really does strengthen my hair and has to be applied when my hair is damp.

Steam.


I mix Giovanni's leave in, Luxtress by Nexus and melted Pure Coconut Oil to damp hair ... then covered with my steam cap.  I find the first two prods too thick so dilute to avoid build up. The heat from the steam cap helps melt the products. Do I need to state the obvious results? My locks feel lovely moist and well conditioned.

Another steam mix is Honeysuckle Rose by Aub. Orgs. and Coconut oil. Equally as effective. When dry, my hair is soft  and moisturised.

I mostly wear my locks in a braid/twist out. Today though, for the first time, I washed, steamed and twisted my hair before church, I tried at least, but hair was still damp, so ended up freestyle. Very grateful that today was warm and sunny, and locs dried naturally.

A Sisterlocked life


The locked life brings with it attention, almost all, of which is positive for me. There is a lot of love for natural and lock styles out there, and I find myself in the position of influence, directly and indirectly. A few friends are transitioning, and one lady is one month away from her Sisterlock birthday, she is very impatient. ;)
Another aspect is the steady compliments from many friends and associates, love is always good in all its guises!

Even yesterday, as my above mentioned friend Mrs C and I ventured to PAK in North London, Mrs C turned to me and gasped in wonder at the attention of a passing lady who unabashed, stared squarely at me/my locs. (I walk about oblivious tbh never paying attention) I guess she tried to figure what they were.


I know the Bible talks of a woman's hair as her crown and glory, I believe it, not to be worshipped, but I am so aware of how deeply important it is to a HUGE amount of all types of women. I am so thankful to have found a resting place in my natural, God given crown. No matter who says what, I know whom I have believed and found that He is ABLE to keep what I have commited to him, I trust him for even the very minor things that concern me, YES even the hair on my head, after all, He has numbered them!

I plan on updating this post with images of all the products (group photo) I have used and found effective recently. Check back if you can.

PS!

I miscalculted the month versary of my previous post, and missed my last one too! I am now half past 22 months Loc'd and am preparing for the big TWO year locversary, if God taries! lol!
Year 2 is an important milestone as I find this a significant stage, especially for my previously lock resistent, fine, loose curl hair.

Autumn, Training, Workouts and the excesses thereof ....

Oh Wow ...
I am hurting ... everywhere! It is more of an everywhere ache rather than one specific place. My tail bone is aching and I do not know why! I don't remember any direct impact on it.

As mentioned yesterday, I have finally discovered the joys of workout, my favorite activity is Body Pump.
Over the last 6 weeks I ventured along to Zumba and raved about it so much, Nita, my mate, drove all the way to join me in class. So that became our staple.
I loved it so much I began to go to both Zumba classes, I then fell into Ab attack, and was ecstatic and  amazed at how doing crunches killed pmt pains ... dead!
I enjoyed Ab attack (twice a week) and ended up staying for Body Blast, which led me to Body Pump and LBT's.
Well that, I think, was my down fall. The classes fall on separate days except BP and LBT which run consecutively. I went from one to the other ... and was downhill from there. I didn't feel pain as such, just sick, flu'ey type symptoms and then the asthma.
I think the big issue is that I am back to work and trying to continue my regime along with it. I have been unable to do ANYTHING all weekend .... errr I mean after B'pump yesterday ( which I performed terribly at, I had to reduce my weights, when, prior to this weekend, I had been increasing them steadily! )
Upper body strength development is part of my aim, But, I can already see a big change in my lower body and legs, I am naturally stronger here. But the erm biggest difference is the erm ... butt ...!
No one told me the glutes would get bigger, although I understand why ...! ... AND I am putting on more weight.
My legs are slimming, but muscle more defined. I am actually really surprised at all this because this really never was my sort of thing, seeing results so quickly is quite interesting.

However,  I am an addict. I like the buzz ... simple. Discovering another aspect of me. Had to call my trainer friend for advice because I was feeling so unwell this weekend. She reminded me that I would have done all of this years ago but  I was committed to raising the family so wouldn't get into it. Good friends are rare :)) She also warned me to REST, to allocate rest days  to allow my body to recoup. Wow, wanted to start pilates too tomorrow! ... hmm :P

My other problem is food, I have been starving most of this week, absolutely starved. But too tired to cook properly. ( or rather I am too fussy with my food) so didn't eat the right foods. I have been so bad I will not confess what I craved AND ate!

Ok finally about lovely LOC's ...

I love the fact I am loc'd and free. During the lessons I let them fly around (although this may not last long!) as they are falling into my eyes. I just shower and steam after the workout ... then dry naturally as I get on with the rest of my day.
My locs are getting firm and strong (not so soft and loose as before). I am no longer hunting products.
I already posses a grand selection. It is about maintenance at the moment. When I can remember, I use Vatika coconut oil on my locks and go directly in the steam room for about 25 mins, max. They look lovely healthy and strong  after a treatment. I still only wash once a week, It does not matter to me if my hair is "clean' or not when I steam.  The results are the same regardless. Actually my loc's never get 'dirty' really. I only use R and G water daily and occasionally (once or twice) Vatika or healing oil.
So as you can see, blogging is becoming a bit of a sideline now ... but to make up for it I might start posting ... FULL body pics ...  lol  IF you are lucky!!! ha ha

Have a blessed week all,  you can leave your opinion if you have one, feel free. :))

Some Loc Love and Appreciation ...

Hi lockers

Even though I was on summer break for a long while my blogging has slowed down. This was for 2 reasons.

Firstly, I personally feel that once I got through the initial locking phases and issues, there wasn't really that much left to write about.  I am 15 months locked now and am in teenage growth phase, I think!
I really know what my hair loves and hates product wise. and the product junkie in me is slowly but surely settling down.

My locs love and respond consistently to only ONE brand of Glycerin and Rose water, and I mean just ONE!  This brand is the one in the picture that I cannot locate anywhere else besides my local chemist, and believe me I have tried. So I was glad to get a call from them to say they had managed to get hold of a supply, so I ordered 4! I was down to 1.5 bottles, and using it sparingly!

My staple shampoo brand is still Aubrey Organics, although I may be tempted to relapse a little to Inecto Coconut shampoo. I still have and will try my Olive shampoo from Body shop AND I have another Faith in nature  CHOCOLATE shampoo and conditioner, those I looong to try ;).  I also confess to an interest in Alberto Balsam Orange and mandarin shampoo (only £1 or 3 for £2 in Superdrug :)) As you can tell I LOVE variety...

However, there is a down side. I notice that too much choice only brings confusion and thus can lead to ... the wrong choice ... hmm. Then I end up washing the substances out only a few days later ... mainly because I cannot stand the look or the feel of my locs after the process.

Secondly, I have been very busy ...
There is an old song that comes to mind when I think about my new thing  '... I found my thrill ... on blueberry hill ...'  one aspect of my extra curricular activities involves a steam room. I love them so much I am going to BUY one and have it installed ASAP!  No ... really ... I am serious ... I have been going for a steam at minimum, twice a week for the last 6 weeks.

My locs, my skin, my whole being loves the experience. My asthma is helped and has become more manageable too.

I use a generous amount of TW healing oil then go into the steamer for as long as I can stand. When they dry a little I quick spritz R and G ... The result is lovely. How do I know? ...

... Well this morning/afternoon as I walked out of Island Village, A lady stood staring at me from the bus stop. I walked up towards her, thinking that she was looking at me because I was smiling ... ( I am apparently guilty of always smiling, without  my knowledge!)

The lady spoke to me out loud "WOW! What beautiful hair!, Your dreads are beautiful, the best I have seen! I want dreads like that! WOW! (she kept on complimenting my Locs!).
I was gobsmacked, really surprised. We chatted for a bit, and I referred her to my blog, she is soo interested she wants to do them NOW! like next week! I suggested that she contact me, and I said I would give her a shout out. HI MARGARET :))).

It feels good when you graduate to being a  walking Sisterlocks advert.

HEY Bajan Lily !!! Welcome back ...  MWAAAAH xxx Missed you ;)))

Summer and loving this loc'd life.

I am a little bemused at my lack of blogging. I mean, I didn't  blog everyday anyway, but I have had no time and have just been enjoying my life on holiday with the children and my lovely people.

One of the things I have tried to do regularly is go to  steam at the local swimming pool.  I think I have been doing it bi-weekly for the last 3 weeks. It all began on the retreat weekend, at the Staverton. I woke up early and had the swimming pool Jacuzzi and steam room all to myself! I quickly observed the great effects it had on my skin (all over) but ESPECIALLY my lovely locs.  I had been researching fellow blogs for information, then  blogger Natacha wrote that she was investing in a portable one ...

Hand in tha hair!

While driving home today after church I found myself grabing my hair, from tiredness(?)  Groping a handful of healthy, strong and full loc'd hair. It felt good! I am so grateful for this method of loc'ing, the absolute FREEDOM and natural enhancing of what God has given me, my loc's are as unique as I am. Boy, do I LOVE that fact. As a woman of colour, I am utterly thankful for a system that allows me the freedom to be me, naturally, hence the name.  Yes, I know more about other products to help maintain unlocked hair, but I didn't know then.  This option has definitely turned out the best method for me.

Issues.


Ok, take a look, this, in my opinion, is not a healthy loc. It is thin and weak in some areas and thick in others ;( . What to do?
I don't manipulate my hair a lot. So I have to put it down to soft hair syndrome! (and the minor amount of braid outs I do!)

Yesterday I found 2 other loc's that were ultra fine and instantly married them! Well they needed each other! I two strand twisted them and retightened them as one. I did that before and can no longer identify them anywhere! Good!

I also am finding loose hair in various places and intend to follow Dewdrop's youtube video to guide me on how to fix the issue, think that may be done tomorrow! Lucky enough someone had the same problem on the LIU group and the instruction was to take a pin and push the hair down. Hmm. Again, maybe tomorrow.

Er ... Tomorrow is here (Monday) :)

Yes it has taken me 2 days to write this post, gosh I am loving my lack of focus, and especially the lack of needing to be!!! Yaay me! free to FAFF about! (faff = brainless, mindless, meandering meaninglessness)! Well that's my interpretation anyway.  If you don't like the word faff, Bimbo will suffice! ;)

My routine is simple ... steam room (if I can be asked to get up early enough) then spritz with rose water and glycerin ...  Currently loc washing once a week, but really tempted to do it bi-weekly, because I LOVE my Aubs Org shampers, it (they) smell(s) lush! I have never been a woman to oil my scalp, *cough* lazy * cough*! So quite happy to find I never really needed to. My loc journey didn't really have any scalp issues, apart from when I wanted\needed to wash it. (I was not permitted to wash more than once per month)

So as you can see my style is still free, wild, and unruly ... hmm ;)

Yes, I am very happy to be me!

I must admit though, my fringe may not exist by next retight,  I find I am constantly sweeping it out of my eyes. I found a diary extract the other day written on the 05/05/09 in it I wrote ... 'To loc or not to loc? That is the question! ..." the answer is before you!

Birthdays, Weddings, Loving locs and ZUMBA!!!!

HEYYYYY! Guess who's 42 today???!
Is'nt GOD good? NEVER would have made it without HIM!!!

First I can't believe i'm up soo flippin early, first week of the summer break and I acting like I gotta go to work! KMT! anyhoo ...
Where to start ... erm right, 14 months loc'd ... LOVING ITTTTTTT! Liz tightened me on Tuesday, and I must say I loved the result, I will post pics tomorrow as I have to get ready for the wedding in a bit.

Weekend ...

We went on retreat with my church, and they are a lovely group of people, never seen anything like it, yes people will always have issues, but finally I found a church more Philadelphia than any I have known. Thank God for Bishop and Pastor who are supporting me through the lowest time of my life, I never experienced so much love and care! MCCI!!!

Had a really great weekend, eat much?? YEAH!, swimming, steam room, sauna, JACUZZIIII! ... but all these things would mean nothing without the people I was with.

Talking of steam room and jacuzzi, locs love steam!! my hair looked great as a result! washed my hair when we arrived on friday because I'd left it for 2 weeks due to slippage at the front ... then went steam room next morning, then that afternoon had a water fight with Ashley in the jacuzzi, who by the way, insisted that I wear HIS VEST over my (modest) swim suit! Liberties! sooo washed it again! Oh well!
Locs mean having lovely hair EVEN (or especially) when WET! ha ha haaaa! Loooove iiiiit!

Thanks Ofo!

Aubrey organics (green tea) is the best, really good while I was away! Some of my sisters agree too, cos we had to share after the jokes we had in the pool!
Tuesday ...
One year and 2 months on, Liz my lovely consult, exasperates (cough) over my head, oh well, she murmers, theres always one! I am oblivious, as two pairs of hands are working systematically on my head, and at this sensitive time, only means pain! I catch up and ask her what she means ...
Well, I am the first of her hundred odd clients with hair like mine. She just does not get it. (LOL)
You see I have locks but at the first opportunity, they begin to ... UNloc!
I should have been doing it myself. The problem is that last week I counted 5 completely loose coiled strands of hair ... pouf ! just like that! from nowhere!
Sooo, she has decided that we should change my pattern 3 to a pattern 4. Someone remind me I gotta band and braid certain sections of my head! (kmt).
But my locks are looking great!
Wednesday ... 14 months loc'd

Thursday ... ZUMBA!!!
Well ... FINALLY I found something I can enjoy at a gym, my colleague Lemma kept telling me about this dance class then showed me a youtube vid, and I KNEW it was for me, at last, something I could do without effort LOOOOOL!
Wow what a class ... sweat much ? going again ...? duhhhh! ;)

Friday ... :)
Liz has given me some lock loops to prepare my hair, but after blogging for results i decided to keep it simple and braid after washing because I know the end result. Sooo midday we have to meet up wid da bridal party sooo here we go!

ZUMBA!!!!!