Doing it myself

One thing I want to add to my previous post. I really do enjoy doing my own retightenings. Hmm...enjoy is exaggerating a bit, I like doing my own retightenings. When I'm going thru my locks I can truly see the areas growing and if any of my locks are weak, which gives me total control of whats going on. I've tried so many consultants because I'm looking for that one I can use give or take 3 to 4 times a year just to check to ensure my locks are doing well. Or for that time when I need to get my retightening done all in one day for a special event, or just cause I don't feel like doing it myself. Either way, I'm not looking for that perfect one, but I'm looking for one I can rely on and be pleased when I get out the chair. But every time I try a new consultant it just reminds me that its so worth me doing it for myself. Thus far the only one I've been pleased with overall is my installation consultant because I can use her to tighten, wash, and style but I know that I have to use 6 hours of my day to get that done, and I better bring my wallet fully stacked!!!

Consultants Analysis

In my 19 months I have tried 4 consultants and I really cannot say I've been 100% satisfied with any of them. I decided to do an analysis of them all.

Installation Consultant
PROS
1. Professional
2. Clean Salon
3. Knowledgeable about SL's
4. Impeccable work

CONS
1. Did not have SL's
2. Slow
3. Expensive (hourly)
4. Far
5. Hard to get an appt

2nd Consultant
PROS
1. Professional
2. Had SL's
3. Cheap - flat fee
4. Ease of appointments

CONS
1. Dining room chair as salon chair
2. Did not wash or style
3. Slow
4. Missed locks in retightening
5. Far

3rd Consultant
PROS
1. Extra fast
2. Clean Salon
3. Styled but lazy

CONS
1. Did not have SL's
2. Unreliable
3. Hard to get an appt
4. Far

4th Consultant
PROS
1. Professional
2. Had SL's
3. Cheap - flat fee
4. Ease of appointments
5. Super close

CONS
1. Computer chair as salon chair
2. Did not wash or style
3. Slow
4. Missed sections in retightening

In looking at this list it basically comes down to wanting a professional, reliable, close, decently priced, fast consultant. I don't think that's asking too much since they are trained consultants. Basically, consultants who work in a salon I feel should be professional and reliable but they aren't. Yet those who work out of there home are super slow and they don't have a very comfortable seating which I was in for hours. Argh!! What makes a good consultant to you that keeps you going back?

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Retightening done by Strandz..

Memorial day is here and I decided that I didn't want to DIY for my retightening this time around because I was hosting a BBQ that was going to take the majority of my evenings. So I made an appt with a salon in NJ called Strandz, they have no website but I went on yelp.com and read only 2 reviews which weren't the best, but I heard from word of mouth that they do good work. I went on Friday and got my retightening done in less than 2.5 hours and I was shocked that she did it so quickly. The previous times the trainees did them they all took 4+ hours, needless to say I was pleased with that fact alone. I didn't get any styling because what was offered I knew I wouldn't like it. In any event, I had a new lock installed in the area that I lost one a while back and all the stray hairs I was mentionining before is actually not new hair growing apparently I have been doing my tightenings too tight and causing my hair to break. I'm glad I went so that I now know that I can correct it ASAP. I already scheduled my next retightening for the end of June because I'm going on a girls trip and I don't want to spend a week doing my hair at that point either. I'm feeling quite lazy with that these days, maybe because its summertime and I have better things to do then be stuck in the house retightening my hair in the evenings I want to be out and about enjoying the weather. My color is looking even better in the sun and I have no plans to color it anytime soon but I'm appreciating it more and more as it grows in, and the only styling I've been doing is bantu knots they haven't been lasting all that long but I like the looser curl which hangs a bit better ... from the senorita picture.

Lets See..

I had a fun filled weekend, of outdoor activities, and nighttime parties, but unfortunately without any pictures. When I pulled my camera out on Saturday night I was disappointed because my battery had no charge. So let me just tell you what I've been up to. I always notice my length after a retightening so over the weekend I wore my hair back in a ponytail and with a bit of a hump to give it some style. Lol!!! Tonight I'm going to try some bantu knots to see what look I can get out of that. If it doesn't work out, the ponytail will be back in the morning.

I have a little dilemma; actually not really a dilemma, but here goes. So you know I'm going to take my retightening class next week and it just so happens that it falls the day before I'm scheduled for my retightening with my consultant. Its obvious that I don't need her to retighten my hair. Should I let her know this week or wait to the weekend? And do you think I owe her a phone call or will text will suffice? I have been spoiled since getting a blackberry a few years back, because I actually love emails and texting rather than the phone. I like talking but I rather do it in person because you can communicate better by seeing the other persons body language...I digress. So the question is, do you think I should call her? I think I owe her that since I will not be going back. I doubt I will even go back for maintenance from her. If all goes well, I may begin using the master trainer who is giving the retightening class as my backup because she has a salon, styles, and is a master trainer? Need I say more. So what do you think, you know I'm still thinking back to the fact that she missed a few locks last time..lol!!!

Locks not Tightened

On Friday, as I was playing in my hair I found a lock that was missed during my retightening. First thought was, I pay my consultant to tighten my locks WTH?!? Quickly after I said to myself people aren't perfect. So opportunity presented itself and I pulled out my NL tool and got to tightening. This one lock was in the back left side of my head so I got my duck clips out and tightened the lock. I was unable to do a full rotation, so question for my more mature SL family, is this going to be a problem for the next retightening?



Today is now Sunday and I found three other locks in two different areas, 2 on the top in the crown and another in the back same side as the first one. Seriously now, yes I have a lot of hair but what's the point of going for a retightening if numerous locks are not done. What if I wasn't an aspiring DIY'er? What if my next appt isn't until 6 weeks? What if? Because of the what if's I'm now considering going to take the training class. I've already made the investment so why not pay the course price to learn from a trainer only problem is the next class coming up in my area I will be on vacation. Decisions, decisions. I don't want to fly anywhere for the course and I'm not going to continue going for retightenings when I'm doing maintenance at home. As it stands right now, I may cancel my next retightening....what you think?





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New Consultant

Ladies - I went to visit the recommended consultant yesterday and I am happy to say that I was very pleased with her. The drive was not bad at all, its about the same in distance from my first consultant but the traffic pattern is much better so I won't hit any traffic. Based on our conversation yesterday, she is what I'm looking for, she was open with information, pleasant, friendly, and knowledgeable. The first thing I noticed is that she had SL's herself; they were down her back and healthy. What better way to advertise your work than on yourself? I walk into the house and her mother also has SL's, through conversation I find out that her daughter, son, and sister-in-law all have them which were installed and now maintained by her. This speaks volumes to me because not only do you maintain them you believe in the them as well.

When she first saw mines she complimented them and said they looked really good. I respected that fact that she complimented the work that my first consultant did, because most won't comment on another persons work besides saying it was wrong. Since I was there and I did have two that slipped out she put them back in and tightened a few around my edges so I can see her work. She used the correct tool, and she was extremely particular about washing her hands before and after working in my head. Another good quality to have. She also mentioned that my locks are definitely on there way to locking and that they are not coming out and I have a full head of hair...yeah, yeah, and yeah!!!! I told her how I care for them (my spritz combo) three times a week, I wash every two weeks, and that's pretty much it. She said I'm doing everything correctly, the only thing she said is that I shouldn't go longer than 7 weeks for a re tightening. I was glad to hear that because my first consultant scheduled my second re tightening for 8 weeks out and I can feel my fingers getting caught in the new growth and its only been 5 weeks.

Needless to say I made an appointment for later this month. I must say I think I have a winner!!!!

Whats New!!

Tomorrow I have a consultation with a new consultant. I spoke with her over the phone and the conversation was definitely easy-wish me luck on that one. The prices whew....I'm not even going to say I can definitely work with it. The one thing that concerns me is that she doesn't actually have the certification but she has been doing SL's for 7 years. I can certainly understand not going for the certification if you don't want nor plan to do SL's F/T. Any thoughts from you ladies?

I plan to go to my appointment and if all goes well I'm going to schedule a retightening for next week with her. My retighening with my initial consultant is not until the 29th of this month. If this doesn't work out tomorrow I definitely have to call and bump it up a few weeks, because 2 have fully slipped out one in the back and one in the front and the growth on the others my fingers are getting stuck in when I try to style them. Thats hot for the growth but not the pulling on my scalp.

This week was a bad week for me, for two day I wore conrows, I will post that shortly and the other two days I wore a low ponytail which I mentioned earlier. Over the week none tickled my fancy. The wrap a loc that I mentioned in an earlier post I have not ordered yet. Although I love the curl look I'm in no rush for a new type of roller. So for now I am going to rock my freestyle.

Consultants

I've been debating maybe I should start looking for another consultant. Not that I'm unhappy with my current one but the travel is a bit of a nuisance. Due to my own schedule of taking my daughter to school and wanting to pick her up that only gives me about seven hours to play with. Sounds like a lot of time, but factor in 2 hrs travel time (no traffic) and 4 hrs re tightening it doesn't leave much room to play with for anything else. And on top of this I've taken the day off so its almost like a wasted vacation day spent mostly in my car.



With that said I'm feeling like I have tons of questions that haven't been answered just to throw out a few:



1. How long until my hair locks?

2. Actual timing of when I can color?

3. Is my hair doing what it should be?

4. How often should I was etc...



Those just on my mind today. I have these questions now, but when I went for my 2 week check up and then 1st retightening. I didn't ask them.



For my newbie SL sisters, what made you choose your consultant and actually made you decide on them for installation and now maintenance?



I'm interested in hearing from you. You can send a direct email to me at gigglz665@gmail.com if you don't want to leave a comment.





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