Happy Thanksgiving - I Am Thankful

During this Thanksgiving Season I must give thanks for some of  the blessings this Sisterlocks Journey has brought to me:

I am thankful for Dr. Cornwell and her vision of Sisterlocks.
I am thankful for being on this beautiful journey of  freedom and discovery.
I am thankful for the peace that I have surrounding my hair and it's "natural" beauty.
I am thankful to know that within my spirit I have discovered another part of  who I really am.
I am thankful for all the love and support that is available from the SL community.
I am thankful for the courage and faith that keeps me on the path.
I am thankful for "you" for sharing this journey with me.
I am thankful for a great consultant to assist me on this journey.
I am thankful for family and friends who always encourage me.
I am thankful for the SL sistahs who have gone ahead and lead the way!

What are you thankful for while on this SL Journey?

Week 13 - Reti Recap / Consultant Addresses Number/Size

So this post will close out the size/number issue.  I had a great visit with my consultant last Saturday for my Reti appointment.  Ironically, she had not received my text regarding my lock size/number questions.  (She lost her cell). We have such a good rapport that we laughed as I shared my anxiousness with her and the fact that I was a victim of "information overload" and also that less than an hour after I sent the text I sent another one voicing my understanding of  what the  true focus of my locks should be and that I was okay.  LOL! Sometimes we just need to get things in the atmosphere in order to rid ourselves of  those nagging thoughts. Other times we can have so much information (even through blogging) that we begin to compare our locks too much and on every issue. This can cause us to "create" problems for ourselves. Thanks for helping me work through this SL sistahs.  My lock journey has gone absolutely beautiful and I love it.  At this point locks size and number is and shall forever remain a mute issue for me.

My consultant told me that she is more concerned about the health of my hair than any rule that says one must have a certain number of locks. Her goal is for me to have healthy hair /locks. I had to laugh since a number of you told me the same thing.   My hair is healthy, growing and beautiful and I am at peace with it.   My consultant is knowledgeable, experienced and  knows that I trust her expertise.


I hope these post will help someone else on their journey.  Just remember that though we are on the same journey, we are all different and we have to be flexible in applying hard, fast rules.  Sometimes it's necessary and wise to adjust rules and tailor them to our individual situations, environments/etc..  We can follow guidelines that will give us the desired result while promoting the growth of  healthy hair.  Don't be too stringent and too critical. Be patient with your hair and your journey.  And on non crucial issues such as lock size and number NEVER compare your locks with others.

RETI RECAP- Reti only took about an hour.  I did not have any slippage/unravelling. My edges are really filling in a lot and we should be ready to start some new babies soon.  I was told that I could begin spraying my scalp with  Janol spray once a week. Also, this time she did the reti  first and then shampooed me. She said that it really didn't matter. My hair turned out great.  My next appointment is in 6 weeks.  It was a great visit.   BLESSINGS!!

Week 12- Feeling Better About Lock Size/Number

Okay Sistah's, I  heard you loud and clear. I so appreciated each of your comments and words of encouragement from my last post. You helped to ease the tension I had began to feel. Thanks for helping through this little period of uncertainty.     

I actually spoke with a local SL veteran whom I recently met. (Thanks D!) She assured me that my locks looked great and were the right size for my hair/head. She stated that she began with more than 400 very small locks but had problems with them breaking off and had to have many of them combined. She also said that if she had to do it again she would get them larger. In addition, even with her reduced number of (combined) locks, her DIY reti's are very time consuming and arduous. I feel a lot better since these were the concerns my consultant stated during our initial consultation that she did not want me to experience due to our climate/environmental factors, hair type and density, etc. Given that she has been installing Sls for about nine years I'm glad she knows the dynamics of the factors that promote a successful SL experience.

Lesson Learned: Don't over analyze or compare your locks to anyone else's If you have a very good consultant, trust her judgement and expertise. Believe your SL sistah's when they say "No two sets of locks are the same". Everything about locks are unique just as each of us is unique. Even Number and Size.

@ Shelly THANK YOU so much for commenting. It helps to know that I'm not alone. When I read your comment I actually let out a sigh of relief. Our situations are quite similar and your comments brought me so much relief.

I did text my consultant with my concern and we can talk about it on Saturday during my appointment, although I think I'm okay now.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!!!! BLESSINGS!

Lock Number & Size Issue - HELP!!!

So I have a very rare Saturday morning free so I was up early on my laptop enjoying reading your SLS blogs and relaxing. Well, I discovered (rather acknowledged) something about myself that has been popping up in the back of my mind for quite some time and I need to get it out here so I can get over it.

Here goes, I really think I have an issue with the number of locks I have (or don't have). The crazy thing is I totally understand the process of what determines lock number and size / hair density, etc., but I keep wondering if I should have more. (I think subconciously I actually want more.) I mean is there anyone out there who has less than 300 locks? I haven't seen anyone. I only have around 225 or so and although my locks look great, not too big, not too small...probably just right for my hair/head/etc., I always see that other sistahs' have locks numbered in the 300's. 400's, 500's, etc. And I see how full and beautiful there are or are going to be and I feel that somehow my locks aren't going to be as beautiful. I think as women we find comfort in identifying with someone in a situation like ours who has a success story. I kinda poked at the issue in an earlier post(Recap of Installation - Week 1) but didn't really address the issue and it simply won't go away. Oh, I know this may seem petty to some but it's where I am today and it's what's on my mind. Make no mistake, I love my SLs but I just want to keep it real. Maybe someone else has the same thoughts as I do and, just like me, didn't want to acknowledge or address the pesty little thoughts.

Even as I'm writing this it's as if I have an angel sitting on one shoulder encouraging me that all is well and a demon sitting on the other trying to discourage me. Who would have thought that my lock journey would be this spiritual, at least on this level anyway ? LOL!

So there you go, it's out there. Hopefully I'll get past this bump in the road. BLESSINGS!

Week 11 - "I Love My Hair"

Week 11 - Can I Just Say "I LOVE MY HAIR"

Can I just say "I LOVE MY HAIR". Okay, now that I've gotten that out I can move on. This was a great week. Every day yielded a new appreciation for my locks and a renewed acceptance and confirmation of this journey I am on. Still had some of the curls left from the set a couple of weeks ago. Had a wedding on Saturday so I wanted to add a little something something. Put the soft spikes in on Friday night. Only use a very light mist of water on each section. I don't want to over manipulate my locks yet. Wore a pin up in the back for the wedding. Didn't go for a "neat, every lock in place look. Just put in a few hair pins/pearls and my hair was done. Got soooooo many compliments on the style. You can't really tell it from the photos but it was really cute. I'm not going to do anything else for the next couple of weeks. I think I'll just let it do what it does. I visit my consultant on the 21st so I'll just wait for my visit and see how my babies are doing.

Week 10 - Curls Still Holding

I was very pleased with my hair this week.  The curls are still holding from my Soft Spikes set last week.  The curls are slowly falling out and my hair looks great.  Most of the week I really didn't bother much with my hair.  We had a snow storm and when I went out I had a hat on my head.  When I took it off, I simply ran my hands through my locks to fluff them up and that was it.  All in all it was a good hair week.  I'm a few days late posting this week but I had a busy weekend and didn't have time to do my Sunday evening blog update.  Thanks for stopping by.