2nd Re-tightening

I got my second re-tightening yesterday. I washed my hair on Thursday in preparation for this. For the most part my locks were intact up until I washed my hair. I just had three or four loose locks. After I washed it however, I had a lot of slippage and unraveling. Perhaps I was too rough with the scrubbing. I think I am going to try washing my hair every two weeks, instead of every week. This might help with the slippage.

My head was so very sore and tender after my consultant was done. My hair is not done too tightly, I know that for sure, because she kept on asking me during the entire process. My theory is that my head has become unaccustomed to the handling that is involved in a retightening session. My head is barely touched anymore, since I no longer comb it, except with my fingers. This is the good thing about having locks. The low-maintenance is great.

I am not fond of my centre part, and I managed to train my hair (with perm rods) so that it was obscured. But after the retightening, it is very prominent again. I guess I will have to put up with it until my hair grows long enough to cover it over completely.

I did not bother to post any pictures here, because there is not much difference in how my hair looks since the last photograph.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. 2008 was a rough year for my family, and I hope and pray that 2009 will be an easier one for all. We spent New Year's Eve with friends. A good time was had by all, but I never was able to bleach too late, so we went home shortly after ringing in the New Year.

My hair is due for re-tightening in another week or so. Right now, some of my locks around the hair line are unraveling even though it is not as bad as it was in the beginning when I first got my locks installed. That is encouraging. And my hair seems to be growing really fast.

Being the recovering product junkie that I am, it has been incredibly hard for me to stop using all the products that I love on my hair. However, this week I could not resist buying Taliah Waajid's Stimulating Herbal Cleanser. I am going to wash my hair now and try it out for the first time.

One Month Anniversary

Merry Christmas to all. Tomorrow is my one month lock anniversary. Over the past month since getting my locks, I have gone from lukewarm to really loving my hair. I have received many compliments, and only one not-so-nice comment. A good friend told me that my hair looked unkempt. I don't think she was wrong about this. I think my hair did look a bit untidy in the beginning. But as my hair is growing, it is looking less untidy. Since my first re-tightening, I have had very little slippage and unraveling. Here are some pictures that were taken today.

First Follow-up

My consultant came today to give me my two-week checkup. I had quite a bit of slippage and a little bit of new growth. The slippage was mostly around the hair line. She told me that as a result of my hair texture, I am quite likely to have slippage until the locks settle down. I think I need to stop feeling and pulling on my locks now, and just try to leave them alone.

The re-tightening took three and a half hours. My head aches just like it did when I first got the locks installed. I guess my delicate scalp is protesting against being handled so much at one time. Here are some pictures of my newly re-tightened hair.

Second Wash

In anticipation of my consultant coming tomorrow for the first follow-up visit, I washed my hair again last night. I have not had any more itchy scalp issues since I washed my hair last week, so I decided to be good and use the Sisterlocks shampoo this time. I washed my hair as thoroughly as one can with elastics on the ends, but somehow I did not get that really nice clean "just-washed" feel when I was done. Anyway, despite this it felt nice and clean this morning, when it was dry.

I used my Soft Spike Curlers to set my hair. Talk about instruments of torture. I made the mistake of sleeping in these, and they are just as uncomfortable as they look.



But they give a very nice set. The curls are softer than the perm rod set that I did last week.



I must say that I am really loving my hair now. It took me two weeks to be able to say this, but I am now excited about my hair. The true test came this week, when I went on a business trip to Trinidad. When I travel, I usually pack all my hair paraphernalia, which includes oil and moisturizer, brush, comb clips etc. And this has become very difficult since 9/11, where you are now severely limited by the volume of gels and liquids that you can carry with you.

This time, I packed nothing pertaining to my hair. It was a very liberating experience. All I did when I got up in the mornings was to wet my hands with water and gently fluff up the squashed down locks. They sprung right up and I was ready to go. Fabulous!

My girls now tell me that they love my hair.

Roller Set

After I removed the perm rods this morning, I noticed that two or three of the short locks at the back of my head have unraveled. I think this is to be expected. I will get these re-done next week when my consultant comes back for the two-week follow up visit.
There is no itching this morning. That shampoo seems to have done the trick.
Here is a picture of the roller set that I did last night.

First Wash

My scalp has been itching me all week, and I have been dying to wash my hair. I am not sure why the itching started because I don't normally have problems with itching. To stop the discomfort I tried spraying my head with a 1:1 mixture of water and Infusium. This helped for the most part. But it felt like heaven to get under the shower and feel the steaming hot water on my head.

For this first wash, I chose to use Kera Care Moisturizing Shampoo for Dry and Itchy Scalp. I banded up my hair into sections with tiny rubber bands. My hair is too short to braid, but the elastics secured the ends.

For the very short locks at the back of my head, I used small snap clips to secure the ends. I got this great idea from Angel Locks.

I put the shampoo in a pointed tipped applicator bottle and diluted it with water. I squeezed shampoo at the base of each cluster of locks and massaged gently. Then I squeezed shampoo on the hair itself and gently squeezed it through each section of hair. I then rinsed and patted the hair dry with a towel.

When I pulled out the rubber bands, I wasn't too happy with how my hair looked and I thought that in the morning it would look really untidy, so I decided to set it up with perm rods for a tamer look.

I will allow my hair to air dry like this completely before removing the perm rods.