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!!!

Whats your reason?

As I get close to my loc-a-versary I started thinking back over my past year I asked myself why did I become a DIY'er.  It started out as I didn't think that I should pay $200 for a retightening that took 4 hours. It was just way too many hours; the shop I had to travel an hour to get to and the shop didn't allow children.  So for me that meant taking a day off, or "working from home" and traveling with my laptop! NO FUN!!! Getting my hair done was supposed to be relaxing and to me it wasn't relaxing driving thru rush hour traffic to get into/out of NYC.  That was step one. 

Then I found another consultant she too took 4 hours or more.  So the timing was good, my travel time was 35 minutes, but I sat in a kitchen table chair listening to her daughter and my daughter playing and making all types of racket.  NO FUN, and not relaxing, and not for 4 hours!  Step 2.  I love my baby, but after 4 hours of squealing, I'm done!!!  

Now please don't get me wrong, I have/had no problem with paying for quality.  Trust me, I paid for my SL's.  The original trainee was good, but with all the extra's it took to get to her, not worth it.  The second wasn't bad, but if I'm going to be in someone's home I can be in my own. Step 3, was more mentail because a part of me felt in the dark about sisterlocks and my own hair, which I had been in the dark with for so long between the weaves, braids, perms, cuts, color and all.  I was always relying on someone to "hook it up" for me.  I didn't know how to treat my hair and I was still relying on someone else to tell me how to care for it.  Enough was enough, SL's is about freedom and self enlightment so I took control and become a DIY'er and I haven't looked back. 

With all that said, for you DIY'ers out there what led you to the decision?  Or for newbies are you looking towards becoming a DIY'er?

Retightening Tools...Try the Latch Hook

I've been swamped with work because its year end. Anyone in the financial industry understands that means the closing of the books, audits, financials, and tax work and I'm responsible for it all.  Needless to say the busy season has started and with a bang.  With all that going on my blogging has definitely suffered from the holiday season and now busy season so let me try and catch you up on some things.  Over the holidays I got curious, yeah I know whats new!!! Hehe!  I went to the local arts & crafts store and purchased the latch hook that so many DIY'ers talk about.  Before I give you my review on it recall that I purchased the NL tool about two weeks before taking the official sisterlock retightening class.  I then took the retightening class and received the official SL tool, at that point I fell in love with the official tool and ever since the class I've been only using it.  Now 4 months later I have purchased the latch hook.

See my pros/cons of the SL tool to the NL tool here.  Now that I have the latch hook here is my review:

HATED IT!!!!

I can't even do a review, seriously it is so cumbersome and doesn't exactly make retightening small locks easy.  Mind you I only tried one on my hairline and it was just really hard to manuever in comparision to the SL tool.  My clip wasn't flipping up and although it made my lock tighten closer to the root than the SL tool I actually see that as a con, because I could overtighten and weaken the root.  I will be leaving this tool in the drawer, hoping it will be easier to use down the line when my locks are longer.  I doubt it but I'm going to remain optimistic.

Disclaimer:  This is my opinion on the latch hook and I know many DIY'er swear by this.  I don't knock there opinion but for me this is a no go.

Getting Faster

I have yet to wash my hair, put some braids in, use some rollers (lock loops or sponge rollers).  Lazy is not the word, but I did complete my retightening.   I started on Monday and I finished about an hour or so ago.  I'm down to completing it in 3 days.  Now 3 days is about 9 hours still, because I'm working 3 hours more/less a day.  However, I definitely feel more comfortable moving around and I don't have to use as many clips to hold locks out the way, I can literally feel the lock and even what direction I need to go in from the feel.  Yes, yes, yes this is coming along great!!   Here are some pics of what my hair is looking like now (nothing special), I'm going to do some quick cornrows to hold me over for the remainder of the work week.

Another One Bites the Dust...

I decided to approach my retightening a little different this go around and I sectioned my hair off in four (lower half of the back, crown, right side, left side).  So I started on Monday and completed a section each night, I really didn't check how many hours it took because I was stopping for anything and everything.  I just wanted to finish off a section every night.  This go around my index finger isn't throbbing from the tool, and I didn't intertwine as many locks as my last retightening, learning my lesson :-).  It is definitely getting easier and I'm also getting more proficient in it, I can tell which rotation I left off on just by feeling the lock and I don't need a mirror or as many clips to keep the locks surrounding the one I'm working on from getting caught.  Right now I'm on a 4 week schedule and I get close to two rotations so I may push my schedule to every 3 weeks, but that might be a little too frequent (more than my mos cycle) LOL!!  

Now this is the first time I washed my hair right after doing a retightening and it actually felt so soothing to have the water run through my hair with the roots being tight.  The benefit of this is I didn't have to separate because there is no new growth to matte together, it was great!

So I'm now an official DIY'er!!

Feeling Lopsided

I took this picture yesterday and it is clearly obvious that my right side is noticeably longer than the left side. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything about it and I wonder if the left side has more shrinkage. When I wash my hair this week I will be able to tell more so, but whatever it is it has me feeling a little self-conscious. Unlike with permed hair, I can't just pull the scissors out and even it all up, for now my solution will be to start rolling my hair again or wearing the back up. I will figure something out tonight, but how weird is that. Its like all of a sudden there is a drastic difference.

All done!!

I am complete with my second DIY retightening. This marks my 5th retightening since having SL's in a little less than 6 months. The back definitely had the most new growth, took the longest, and caused me the most trouble because of the new growth. I still pulled in some of the neighboring new growth in when retightening with the SL tool, but it was easier to find the entry point and remove it. Since the back takes the longest, for my next retightening I'm going to start there.

One thing that was clear is that my right side is longer than my left. I constantly pull and play with my hair on the left side while driving I hope this is not causing to slow the growth on that side.

I was able to get through a full rotation and with some 2 rotations so for now I'm going to stick with a 4 week cycle and see how that goes.

I am so proud of myself I must say!!!! Retightening definitely takes patience and what I call "sticktuitiveness" (aka commitment). Lol!!!

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DIY-Rocks!!

Say what!!! I finished my right side in under 2 hours!!! I didn't really want to go out with half a side of my head tightened, so I started at 830 and finished a little before 1030. I'm getting the hang of this!!! Oh yeah!!! Since I have no major plans I may tackle the back of my head tonight.
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DIY Retightening #2

So tonight I was ready to put in a good four hours or more to retighten a section of my hair. I started on my left side @ 630 and I was finished by 930. I stopped for about 15 minutes, but to my surprise I was flying through my rows. I think it had all to do with not having to "thread" each lock when I was ready to tighten (see my previous DIY post).


What I found out is with the SL tool I didn't have problems like I did with the NL tool of pulling another lock through or even catching some of the new growth. This of course sped up my session and saved time trying to remove one lock from another. Surprisingly enough, even though I didn't separate my hair after washing it earlier this week I didn't find a section that I had to pop...that is at least on the left side.


I cannot stress how much better I like using the SL tool than the NL tool. At this rate I should be done in another 6 hours. Lol!! 6 hours still sound like a lot but compared to my first try of 5 days and about 3-4 hrs each day this is progress!!!

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Sisterlock vs. Nappylock

Apparently, this debate is years old, dating back to 2005. Until Wednesday, I was also unaware that a case actually went to court for trademark infringement. I was open with the trainer and told her that I had used the NL tool so she asked how it was, but then she stopped herself and said she didn't even want to know because of everything that happened. So I did some research and found the court papers which is lengthy, take your time and read through. In the end NL won, but I now feel as though I slighted myself by purchasing the NL tool because I have SL's no doubt about it. In addition, the NL website goes on about how much cheaper it is then the SL classes/tools for the same results. However, I'm not 100% certain that over time the results would be the same. Only time will tell and the only way to be sure of this is to compare someones hair who has been using the SL tool vs someone using the NL tool. So for me I will never know, but I know I will be using the SL tool going forward.

Retightening Class

Today I went to my retightening class and I met Kay Exquisite. It was just the two of us and honestly we talked for the entire class to each other and the instructor. With all that talking we actually ended up staying an extra hour just talking, it was a GREAT experience. #1, it was great to meet a fellow blogger in person, and #2 it was nice to see another person's hair in just about the same stage as I'm in.

In regards to the class, I definitely implore all of you to go and take the class if you want to DIY. I learned alot about my hair, why things are done a certain way and what my hair is currently doing, information about my cuticle and because Kay Exquisite was also there it was like we were able to bounce ideas and questions easier and learned even more then if we were there alone. Although, you do have your consultant for that you know human nature always wants you to get a second opinion on everything. The trainer was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and giving of information and for all of those reasons she will be my new consultant. I will definitely be going back to her in the future to check on my hair on a quarterly basis and if I need any styling for any special occasions. Now the ultimate test of course is which do I prefer. Since I have already retightened my whole head with the NL tool and now I have used the official SL tool, by far the SL tool wins!!! Hands down it cannot compare and I think my 5 day retightening will be reduced to 3 days. I will test my theory out over the Labor Day weekend. I still love my SL's and even more so now that I can take care of them the proper way.

And one last thing is that I have changed my pattern now to a 3 to allow my hair to coil around its natural pattern instead of keeping it stifled.

On another note, there is a HUGE back story on the NL tool and how it came about. I will post about this tomorrow, its time to go to bed!

5 days and I'm D-O-N-E!!

Whew!!! I'm finally done. I can't believe its finished my 4th retightening and I did it myself!!! It took a total of 5 days to finish I skipped Thursday because I was pooped from the gym! I can definitely do this going forward, but I have to report that I lost one to the struggle!! Yes, the struggle!!! "What happened was" I caught another lock while pulling it through the new growth and when I tried to get it out I "broke" the new growth to the 2nd lock and it was too thin to stand on its own. So, all I could do was combine them, and with that I've also lost a part!!!! Ugh! I'm a bit upset with myself because neither lock was thin and didn't need combining. However it was a learning lesson and while we are at it here is what I have learned for the next time:



1. Be patient -can't be done in a day (or 2)

2. Take your time while retightening

3. Keep duck clips positioned

4. Keep a mirror handy

5. Its much easier to separate after washing my hair rather than when retightening.



I can't wait to see what else I learn in the retightening class. :-)





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Taking the Retightening class

A Sista Who Locked brought up a good question:

Why are you still taking the class? It looks like you have it down

For me, since the SL's are a trademarked locking technique/system I feel that I should respect the integrity of it. I have made the commitment (mentally/financially) in my SL's so I feel I should learn the proper way to retighten my locks. Plus I feel that since I haven't had them even six months yet (a few days away though) that I should just make sure. Although, I do have the technique down from the wealth of information given on the web and it will get easier and faster as time goes on, but there are two things that I know can change from using the NL tool to the SL tool. For the NL tool you have to:

1. Thread the NL tool (for each lock)which is time consuming.
2. You actually have to pull the NL tool through the new growth for each turn.
3. As my locks swell from locking I may have to purchase the larger sized one.

With the SL tool or even the latch hook you don't have to do the first two things. You push the tool through the new growth wrap the lock around it and then pull through like crocheting (lol) which has to be much faster. Even still after taking the class I will have the option of using either tool and I will be 100% certain that I'm doing the correct pattern and rotation for my hair.

Whats your thoughts on it?

Its Done

On Wednesday, August 26th I will be taking the retightening class.Its definitely official that I will become a DIY'er...Go me!!! How quick and easy and inexpensive to have absolute and total freedom. So this is what I'm thinking, I'm going to finish my retightening this week and leave a section out so that I can retighten during the class and guess what -- the SL tool comes with the package so I will have options as how I choose to retighten going forward. SAY WHAT!!!

Day 2 in who knows how many!!!

Well, another two hours in to my retightening and its coming along well. What a tedious process that I have embarked on but I'm loving the feeling of self satisfaction. After I was done I can see the change in my locks (i.e the length, the density). As I'm retightening I can feel the difference in some locks, I can see, well feel if my hair is growing thin by the root and what areas has a growth spurt. I probably won't be done with my whole head until Friday, but honestly I don't think another consultant will see me for a retightening. Its definitely not about the price, but I feel accomplished by doing this for myself.....
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Well on my way...

My last retightening was July 21st, which is less than a month ago but for only three and a half weeks ago I have a lot of new growth so I decided to retighten a few locks. I decided to start in the back and see how comfortable/uncomfortable it would be. I finished my last row within like 20 minutes (whew, whole head is a full day), but I did it. Check it out!!!! My next appt is schedule for August 27th, which I think I may end up cancelling for now we will see how it goes.

The last row looks way uneven but I guess it wouldn't really matter.

It's here, its here!!!

So I got home this afternoon from yesterday's BBQ and what did I find on my counter. Oh yes, my nappylock tool has arrived!!!!! So of course I had to try it out and I got right to it. I tightened my first lock with the Nappylock tool. I am so proud of myself, but I can tell you right now that it will take me a solid week to retighten my whole head with my 580+ locks. However, it is another feeling of LIBERATION and FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!

It came in a nice little nifty pouch which most likely I will be carrying around in my purse going forward. Who knows when I have some free time, just sitting around i will be retightening locks here and there!!! Now that I have done it myself I think I will be start maintaining them around my six month mark which will be in September.

DIY

From the moment I got my sisterlocks installed, I thought that I would one day like to not have to rely on a consultant to maintain my lifestyle/hairstyle for me. Price was never an issue, but the health of my locks was all I'm concerned with. I just watched Kalia Dewdrop you tube video on how to retighten your own SL's with a 4 point pattern http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYM3j-QLvs&feature=channel. I'm now in the process of ordering my nappyloc tool. After my retightening, I have had no locks slip out and I have some locks that have sealed ends so I know that my locks are going to lock much sooner than a year. Upon receiving my nappylock tool I plan to attempt to retighten a few of my locks, the ones that I know get more than one rotation. If all goes well, by the end of year I plan to do my own retightenings.

My blog family (newbies), what are your plans in regards to maintenance? Do you plan to always go to your consultant? Or do you plan on starting to DIY?

Please let me know your thoughts...