Sisterlocks Photo Essay: Months 1 to 10

What a challenge it is to capture the evolution of sisterlocks with my camera.

I can feel changes in the size and texture of my locs with my fingers, but through my photos the only obvious change is in the length.

As Cia promised, many of my locs that have truly locked are almost twice their original thickness. Most of those are on the crown of my head.

The many micro-locs around the periphery of my head and behind my ears are still rather small in diameter and I can still feel their crocheted pattern with my fingers, but they are well entangled and I no longer experience any slippage.

Sisterlocks Installation

Remember this photo? This was my two to three inches of new growth with permed ends on the day of my lockiversary ;o)

Here is my scalp at the end of day one.

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Sisterlocks Retightening at 4 months

But check out the increase in length in the photos below. These photos were taken towards the end of my fourth month with sisterlocks.

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Sisterlocks grow over several months: scalp photos

Compare day 3 sisterlocks...

...with week eight of sisterlocks. And compare week eight of sisterlocks...

...with month 8 of sisterlocks!

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A fuller hairline

Check out the return of my previously 'burnt-out' hairline. At 9 month, lots of new coils have finally recovered from the shock of the 'lye' and are creeping out again!

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Increasing length from month 2 to month 10

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Braid-out set: Months 2, 4 and 8

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Styled Braid-out set: Month 1 and Month 10

My First Re-tightening Photos

My first re-tightening took exactly 4 hours! Oh my achin' back. I'll have to use a pillow for lumbar support next time.

Cia and I watched two old Listervelt Middleton interviews with Dr. Asa Hilliard, III, both of them now ancestors. But the information and perspective of Dr. Hilliard is timeless and Listervelt Middleton was an expert in eliciting pearls of wisdom from his guests.

I had amazingly little slippage in my "kitchen!". I attribute that to my wonderful dreadsock (thanks Julian!) and to my not overdoing it with the shampoos!

My First Shampoo Photos

I washed my hair today for the first time since having my sisterlocks installed 3 weeks ago. Cia told me that I could wash my hair weekly, but I felt better waiting until today. In about 2 hours, I will go to get my first re-tightening.

A texture shot (click to enlarge)

I divided my hair into 10 sections, braided the ends loosely and bound the ends with the tiny bands that came in my sisterlocks starter kit.

I diluted the sisterlocks starter shampoo with water in a spray bottle, 1 part to 3 parts. My hair did not lather well on the first go round, but lathered very well with the second wash.

(Soapy-head!)

I was worried that my relaxed ends would become matted together, but they didn't. Now I have braided ends in soft rollers and I will sit under the dryer for an hour or so before heading over to Kinky Awakenings.

I'll post my first retightening pics tonight.

Sisterlocks Braid-out update

My first braid-out lasted one week! No rolling my hair nightly! Just don my dreadsock and call it a night. I love it. I plan to do this weekly on Friday nights from now on.

I worked out and sweated quite a bit one night during the week. I anticipate changes in the color, texture, and fullness as my new growth emerges. At some point the two textures are not going to "jive" well together and then I will undergo the Big Chop (unless I get tired of the ends sooner that I expect!)

You can see how my hair fell just a bit, with less wave and texture closer to the new growth. The curl in the ends held up very well.

I'm lovin' them roots. They are dark and coily...but I must remember: patience, patience, patience.

Sisterlocks Photos: The First 3 Days

My first sisterlocks plait-out (braid-out) photos

It's been a week since my sisterlocks were installed. I have been treating them like fragile crystal, hardly touching my hair except to roll it on a few bendable rollers and gently arranging it inside my dreadsock. This weekend, however, I decided that my sisterlocks could take just a little manhandling, so I tried a plait-out.

I divided my hair into about 12 sections. Then, I sprayed the relaxed ends with some diluted infusium and braided them. I rolled the ends on 1/2 inch diameter bendable rollers and let my hair dry overnight.

In the morning, It was really curly. I regret cutting my bangs earlier this week. It made the top a little too short for my liking.

But overall, I am happy with the look. Now, I just want to see how long the set will last. I think I will send Cia a link to this post.

(my kitchen!)

By the way, my mother finally saw my hair today...

Back to Work with Sisterlocks!

This is me this morning before going to the office.

I received varied, but mostly positive reactions. Most people who new that I had planned to get sisterlocks were very curious and encouraging, eyeballing my hair and smiling. Lots of locked nurses seemed more excited than I was.

A key employee stated the obvious, "You got your hair done." Then moved the conversation on towards the business of the day.

This evening there was a parent-child scrimmage with Daniel's team. I put on sneakers, a tee shirt and a bandana and had a ball! The bandana covered the visible parts, hiding them from my mom who was at the game. I'm not ready to deal with her reaction just yet :o~.

The children always seem to win. Perhaps it's because the rules state that the parents have to shoot with their left hand! The referees seem to be a little biased as well :o). The children beat us 30 to 12.

I think I will clip my ends tonight and spray a little diluted Infusium on my ends.

This weekend I might try a braidout.

Sisterlocks in Progress!

Well, they're in!

(These are my before picture )

Cia (Kinky Awakenings) and I had a great weekend watching movies and working out the solution to all the world's ills!

I had to take quite a few bathroom breaks early on, as I drank a whole carafe of coffee at IHOP Saturday morning before going over to Cia's place.

I had never seen Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. It was pretty gory...but boy was the acting great. We started at eight and Cia finished the back of my head by five!

(End of Day 1 - Half a head done!)

I had a little apprehension about seeing my mom on Saturday night, but you couldn't even see my locks under my hair. My mom treated the family to tickets to the see the African Children's Choir at the Ferst Center - our first Black History month outing this year. My boys enjoyed it, as did we all. The children put on a wonderful show. They danced, they sang and they told their stories. Some were war orphans. Some were AIDS orphans. They were amazing. We are some mighty strong people.

Anyway, I think my mom knows that I'm getting locks already. She knew I was getting my hair done, but didn't ask a thing about my hair after I came home with hair that didn't look any different that it did the day before! I think my son or the babysitter probably told her.

On Saturday we watched Drumline. I love that movie. We finished about an hour earlier on Saturday that we did on Sunday.

(End of Day 2 - Whole head done!)

Finally, on Sunday, after getting all of my sisterlocks put in, I went home and watched my NY Giants win the Superbowl!

Now, I have just the slightest scalp ache, but it's nothing like when your braids are put in too tight.

More pics soon.