Natural Hair / Sisterlocks: More Photos, (less text)

A good sistah's traditionals - working hard in ICU this day.

________________________________________

Gwen, now sisterloc'd, but natural for 45 years :o)

_______________________________________

Melinda, 3 months sisterloc'd

__________________________________________

10 years sisterloc'd

_______________________________

Sisterlocks Originator Dr. Joanne Cornwell

Dr. Cornwell, Dr. Sharita and Seestah Imahkus Nzinga Okofo chatting between their presentations at the Shrine this past Saturday.

My first braid-out in several months.

I'm liking the waves. It didn't take as much time as I thought because I braided it while damp (not soppin' wet), so I was able to use far fewer spongeless sponge rollers than when I don't braid first. I've been a little nervous about the rollers since discovering that weak loc base a while back.

I just might stick with the old braid-out for a while.

DL

Old Chinese saying...

I needed some comic relief and Latara sent this to me right on time:

Old Chinese Proverb...

Confucius say,

"If you are in a book store and cannot find the book for which you search, you are obviously...

...in the...

[Shh! You didn't hear it from Docs!]

Have a great week ;0)

Sisterlocks Photos: Atlanta Meetup & Booksigning

Dr. Joanne Cornwell, originator of sisterlocks, educating, entertaining and engaging her audience as only she can!

The Atlanta Sisterlocks Meetup and book signing was a wonderful ingathering of sisters, each one of us admirers of sisterlocks whether sisterlocks wearers or contemplatives.

Natural Beauty Salon in Gwinnett County (Duluth) Georgia was a great venue. The parking was ample and the food tasty (and free!)




My consultant, Julia Stewart-Stackhaus' beautiful head of sisterlocks.

Julia is a multi-talented sister. She has a degree in broadcast journalism, she is a sisterlocks consultant extraordinaire, and a professional body builder.

[Stone Mountain: Julia Stewart-Stackhaus (404-718-9371 or 770-987-8928)]




Julia Stewart-Stackhaus' mommy wearing her beautiful silver sisterlocks.

There were brotherlocks wearers who modeled as well.

I sat next to a brother who was marveling at all of the beautiful sisters sporting their sisterlocks and saying, "I'm in the Black mans heaven." :o)

My cousin, Ebony and me by a promo photo of Joanne.

A happy Ebony with Joanne and her signed copy of "That Hair Thing"

Keeping your sisterlocks permed ends intact

Nicky asked:

How did u keep ur permed ends from breaking off hardcore with the strong loc texture at the top?
______________________________________

DL:

Hi Nicky,

I couldn't keep them from breaking off, but I was able to slow down the process. After all, my ends were permed and therefore, weaker than my natural hair. But I think the following things helped slow the process:

• I didn't wash my hair excessively - Only once or twice between retightenings.
• I NEVER used a curling iron or other heating implements, except for a bonnet dryer.
• I never lifted color out to lighten my hair.
• I continued to bind the permed ends very well and EVERYTIME I shampooed to avoid bunching. [You can loose 1/4 of your ends with one bad episode of bunching!]

But slowly losing the ends is unavoidable. When my hair was wet, you could really tell the difference between the roots and the straggly ends.

The final ten month photo that shows coily, full ends is an due entirely to the 'braid-out' hair style!

A Question about Sisterlocks with Permed Ends...

On August 26, 2009 7:52 PM,

Ms. S said in a comment about the post entitled "The (BIG) Big Chop"...


Hello! How long have you been sisterlocked?
Have you kept the relaxed ends the whole time?
I plan on getting SLs soon but am not sure about a big chop soon after.

(My response)

Ms. S,

I've been loc'd 19 months.

I kept the ends 'til July (about 17 months), but I will tell you that in order to hold a curl at the end of my 'braid-outs', I would clip the ends a little to get them even.

Over time the ends will break off and bunching of permed ends can be a problem if you don't bind the ends with care EVERY time you wash your hair.

I found that braid-outs, minimized the difference in texture between the permed ends the locking, natural hair. Braid-outs also help to camoflage any bunching you might experience as well. It also makes your hair appear fuller and more abundant.

However, braid-outs (damp, braided hair, rolled on flex rods and dried VERY dry before removal of the rods), begin to take longer to dry as you gain length and texture. But without braiding your hair BEFORE curling it, the variation in texture is MUCH more obvious (and would have led me to cut off the perm sooner).

One of the upsides of having cut off the permed ends, is that I now roll WITHOUT braiding first, which has significantly reduced my drying time. Hope this inspires you!

Looking for lots of updates from you on your journey...:o)
DL

Earlier post about Braid-outs

The Big (Top) Chop

Well, I finally tired of the bunching and straggly ends...but didn't quite have the courage to do the BIG, big chop...

...so I chopped the top!

I separated a section of hair from my front hairline to just beyond the crown of my head. I then cut off the permed ends. On the locs that had significant bunching, I cut to the end of the bunching or through the middle of the bunched ends.

Then I tried a braid-out.

It wasn't too difficult to braid, since each loc is at least 6 inches or more, but it was hard to get the blunt ends around a bendable curler rod.

It turned out OK. Not too noticeably different, except that the top is a little fuller and less curly.

I think I will be experimenting with a 'cornrow wet to dry set' on top or perhaps a 'Nubian knot set' next time.

Happy Birthday to me!

I've been sick as a dog today...but I'm alive! :o)

I dragged myself to my 6am retightening appointment by 6:30, and nodded through the whole process due to a 'Nyquil' hangover. I think Julia got tired of my head bobbing backwards every several minutes.

But when I got home, my guys had tied some "Happy Birthday!" balloons on the mailbox. They ran down the driveway to great me with big hugs and lots of 'air' smooches (I didn't want to give anyone my cold).

On the kitchen table there was a vase full of orangy-pink roses and a birthday cake and my presents - a year's supply of almonds and cashews!

After I read my cards, I crashed for a few hours. Grandma came by later in the day and they all sang to me before Mike left for work.

It was a nice day.

How I Shampoo My Sisterlocks at 14 Months

I love it! I love it! I love it! ----- Texture!

I washed my hair tonight.

Notice where I bind each section of my hair.

The secret to reducing bunching at your ends, if you still have permed ends, is to bind your hair just above and just below the transition between your permed ends and your loc'd roots.

1 Month

14 Months

It seems that my ends are taking care of themselves. You can see how much of the weak ends have fallen by the wayside in this comparison shot. When I decide to go ahead with the big chop, it may not be as big a chop as I thought it would be!

16 sections to be braided for a braid-out after washing

I bound my hair into more sections that I usually do. Six sections would be typical for me at this point, but tonight I decided to bind my hair into the sections that I would braid for a braid-out.

The sisterlocks kit comes with several of these elastic hair ties which you can find in any drug store. They are ideal for binding because they are small, don't damage your hair, have a lot of 'give' but can still be snapped in case I have a hard time removing them from my ends.

Follow this link to see some of the products I'm using now

My locs have thickened up and are taking a little longer to dry, especially when braided and rolled on flex rods. I've found that I can braid them when they are a little dryer that I have in the past, with the same results as long as they are very dry when I remove the rods.

Love my hair dryer. I use one of those bonnets that attaches to the end of a pistol shaped blow dryer. It travels well - compact and light weight.

The Finished Product

After I braid, roll, and dry, I will lose a little of my texture. The combination of the braiding and heat smooths the cuticle.

To keep more texture, you can free style or, for move waves and if you have the length, you can make Nubian knots and let them air dry without heat.

Tight curls just after the set and braid-out

The curls are really tight, but they will fall over the course of the next several days. I can help it along by spraying some water on my roots to make it fall faster. This set will last 2 to 3 weeks or more. All I do at night to maintain this style is to make a loose ponytail high on my head and put on my dreadsock.

When it falls it will look a lot like this...

Looser curls after 2 weeks