Time on my hands...

meant time to tighten my hair. Whilst I had enjoyed playing in the snow yesterday, I was happy to stay in the warmth today tightening my hair. Actually, I had started this on Sunday with the back and I did a little yesterday after building the snowman, but overall I spent far less time on getting in done than on previous occasions. I guesstimate that it took me about 8 hours to complete, having taken up to twice that before. I think that I was helped by the fact that it is less than five weeks since I last did it; I have been going eight weeks or so between sorting my roots. (Note to self - regular sessions=less work!)

I love the way that my hair sits when it's been done.

Parks: What have you done to your hair? It looks really flat!

Me: Erm, tightened it!




Parks is usually really good at noticing that my hair has been done; however, I have noticed that the bigger it gets the less noticeable the parts are. I guess flat hair has replaced spacey hair!

"Aah Miss, your hair looks sick"

I'd better start by explaining that sick means bad when bad means good.

To be honest I thought my student was taking the mickey out of me when she said this; after all I think my hair looks a mess at the moment. She told me that she liked the way my hair had a nice afro shape to it and I explained that said afro look was due to the fact that my roots need 'doing'. She finished by saying "come on Miss, your hair looks really nice, I like it more than I did before and I really liked it then". At this point I smiled and thanked her.

Who was I to argue, after all, I like it more now than I did before.

However there is no denying the fact that my hair needs to be done. I have no time at the moment to do it myself and can't seem to get an appointment with my hairdresser. With another show on at work in a few weeks, I can see it being Easter before I get my hair sorted!

That's better

As I have been run off my feet with WSS, I tried to get an appointment with my hairdresser for a retightening. Alas, she could not fit me in and so I had to find the time to do it myself. Armed with my new Nappylocs tool (which I loved using), I have managed to tighten my hair in between being at the theatre and sleeping. I'd estimate that it took me eleven hours to complete; a little longer than the first time I did my own hair, but I am running on an energy deficit at the moment.
It's funny that although my hair has just been done, my parts are hardly visible; a sign of my hair's new 'big' status!



This is not the best picture of me (look at the bags under my eyes!) but I like the way my hair looks :-)

New toys

Now I need to work out how to use it!

From the head of the NHD

Literally!

I present to you, my newest hairties. While we were in Switzerland, Brunsli was kind enough to let me select some pieces from her collection. I'm sorry I can't give you the names (because I don't know them!), but I can tell you that I think they're great. Being Brunsli-sized, I can actually wear them as hairbands; the little purple one (and you all know I felt bad about choosing the purple one!) has become an almost daily accessory for me. I put it on whenever I have had enough of my I-actually-think-it's-growing-now hair being in my face. The cream one, has a lovely pearlised crackled finish to it. Brunsli joked that I had chosen this one because it looked like a white chocolate truffle (which I absolutely adore)! As you can see from my roots in the hairtie pics, I have given up on retightening my hair - only momentarily though. I have ordered the nappylocs tool and will keep going when it arrives.

Sunday Styling III

This week's Sunday Styling session was put on hold due to my last minute decision to retighten my hair. The trouble is, it's not as exciting second time around - why didn't anyone tell me! I started this section yesterday (foregoing my usual hairwashing routine, I might add) and I still haven't finished it. Admittedly I haven't been the most organised person; I can't find my clips and instead am using a variety of things to section off my hair. I shall persevere and hopefully have it finished by the weekend...

I hadn't really considered it before you asked

The question Anonymous asked in relation to my post was:

If you get Sisterlocks but maintain with a latch hook , Nappylocs tool or any method other than using the Sisterlocks tool, do you still have Sisterlocks?

I believe so!
There are people like me, who have Sisterlocks and have taken the step of teaching themselves to retighten their hair and therefore do not have the SL tool. On the other hand there are those who have paid for the SL retightening class, been provided with the tool and then for whatever reason, they have chosen not to use it anymore. Does that mean we are no longer Sisterlocked? I can't see why it would make a difference.
As far as I am concerned, I have Sisterlocks and will call them that no matter which tool I use to retighten them. I have paid a lot of money for the installation and maintenance of my SL's and I'm not about to call them anything else :-)
I am sure that a lot of you will have an opinion on this question - please share them in the comments!

It really wasn't that bad

I started my hair on Friday and as you know, I managed to complete about a quarter of it. I continued by putting in a few hours on Saturday evening and then again on Sunday afternoon.
By the time we left to go out for dinner I still had a fair bit to do; these two pictures show the untightened locks in big twists. By the time I had got to this point, I was feeling really pleased with myself; the degree of satisfaction felt at being in control of my own hair was immense. I really was trying hard to get it finished before and so continued with the tightening after we returned from our very nice Japanese dinner. It wasn't to be and by the time I went to bed I still had a very small section to finish.

I pinned the front up to go to work on Monday; the section on the left is the bit that still needed to be done. It didn't take me long to tighten that section on Monday evening and that was that, I'd finished! For a moment I couldn't believe it, I'd actually managed to do my own hair. Then (unusually for me!), I couldn't stop looking in the mirror; my SO expressed his pride in my achievement too. We tried to calculate how long I had spent on my hair and figured that it was about ten hours. In the end the latch hook was not too difficult to use, although I will pass on Brenda's advice and say that you should look for one with a smaller handle to the one I have. I would also recommend purchasing the latching e-book; as long as you know your SL pattern, it is really easy to follow. I only did two rotations on each lock as I wanted to ensure that each one finished at the same position (in my case 12 o'clock); this is another suggestion, as I think it makes it easier for the next session - I know that I will start each lock at 3 o'clock.

I'm sure that I will order the nappylocs tool; having used the latch hook, I can see how the nappylocs tool might be easier to use. For example, you wouldn't have to keep inserting the lock into the tool as you move around the rotation; something you need to do when using the latch hook. I think this would mean that it would take less time to tighten...
I did try to make my own version using a hair pin! Don't laugh, it did work!
Having managed it myself, I do believe that self-retightening is an option for everyone. I understand that some people will be nervous, as I was myself, about attempting this without doing the SL class. I guess it's about how much confidence you have in yoursefl; I just couldn't see what they would teach me in the class that I couldn't figure out myself. I know there are many of you that have done the class; perhaps you can share your reasons for taking it as opposed to working it out for yourself.

All finished

Whew!

Slowly Slowly

I managed to retighten about a quarter of my hair tonight! It was easier than I thought, although I did have the odd mishap. I joined a few locks together; luckily I realised before it was too late. I have no idea how long it is going to take me to finish the rest of my hair; the fact that I am still feeling ill is not going to help speed up the process either. With a bit of luck and lots of determination, I'll have it finished before going back to work on Monday...

It has arrived!

Watch this space...

"I can do it, I can do it..."

I am feeling more and more confident about being able to maintain my own hair; it's largely down to your encouragement and positive comments - thanks! I have ordered a latch hook from ebay; I wouldn't have the foggiest idea about where to purchase one otherwise. The price was really reasonable, just over £2 including p&p. When it arrives, I might have a go at doing my hair; it's still a few weeks until my next appointment, so I could manage one rotation and still leave enough for my hairdresser.

DIM (Doing It Myself)

It's funny that recently I've read on a few blogs that people are considering maintaining their own SL's. For various reasons I have been thinking about the same thing for quite a while; the main one being that I'd like to take care of my own hair. Self retightening was always part of the equation when I made the decision to get Sisterlocks.
I don't intend to take the retightening class and figure, that like many others, I can work it out for myself.
I've purchased the latchin' e-book and at £4 ($8) it was a bargain; very informative and the pictures are a bonus. The thing is I'm not sure that I'd be any good with the latchhook, so I'm thinking I'll order the Nappylocks tool and use it to follow the e-book instructions. My only gripe with the Nappylocks tool is the price us brits have to pay for P&P; surely $15.95 is a little steep, that's the same price as the tool. But I have to look at the big picture, having it will enable me to maintain my own hair and in the long run
I have an appointment booked with my hairdresser next month and I'll schedule another for December (when I hit 1 Year!) and then I'll attempt to take over myself. Like others, I wonder about the conversation I'll have with my hairdresser about doing my own hair; I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...

All is tight with my hair

Although I actually quite liked the look of my hair in it's pre-tightened state; a few locks were starting to bond with each other, so it was time for an appointment. What has surprised me looking at these before and after pics, is the fact that the parts no longer really show when my hair has been retightened. Apart from at the sides that is; it's still spacey there.
I'd really like things to thicken up there and be a bit more like the back, where the parts are almost invisible now. Did anyone else have areas of their hair that took longer to develop than others?

Issues

I had my hair tightened yesterday and my hairdresser immediately noticed the little (big to me) problem that has been getting worse lately. My hair has started to bunch a lot at the back; I have done my best to try and straighten them out especially after washing, but it would seem to no avail. So as she tightened she grappled with the mess at the ends and said she would cut the rest of the relaxer out at my next appointment. I don't have this issue at the sides or the front, so I'm guessing it's because the texture of my hair is different at the back. I tried to take a picture to make my troubles clearer but it's not so good! I know lots of you have had similar problems so I will be going through your archives with a fine toothed comb...

4th Tightening, 1st Cut!

What do you think?

"Your hair is like a cushion, I could fall asleep on it"

No, this was not a chat up line; Parks said it the other day at work when she touched my hair. I took it as a compliment, but now I wonder if she was trying to say my hair needed retightening. This morning while I was preparing to wash my hair, my SO was asking if I was pleased with the decision I'd made to get Sisterlocks - to which I replied YES. As he played around with my hair he said "looks like it needs doing again". Later on at my Mum's, my sister walked into the room and immediately said "your hair needs to be done", my cousin who was also there informed her that I "only had it done a couple of weeks ago". And then they proceeded to debate my hair whilst I sat there, feeling both paranoid and shocked at how much attention everyone was paying to my hair.
The thing is I was actually happy with my wash and go hair today;
I'm not scheduled for retightening for another four weeks, what will they have to say by then!



What everyone failed to tell me, was that my eyebrows need threading!

Right place, right time

I made it to the hairdressers for my third tightening session today. Whilst there I found myself envious of two people with SL's; my hairdresser and a lady waiting for retightening. Both women were sporting beautiful and healthy heads of Sisterlocks. I often find myself jealous of other's SL's as I read blogs, but this was my first in the flesh experience. I continue to love my hair and the decision I made to lock; my hairdresser also expressed her approval of the way my SL's are coming along, which was a bonus. I do wonder what my mature locks will look like, but I guess I'll have to wait and see...

Snow Lag?

Well I must be suffering from something...
I got up early this morning, had a shower and washed my hair using my new shampoo (more about that at another time), got dressed and left the house. I drove for fifteen minutes and found myself a parking space; I put several £'s into the meter and put the ticket on the car. I walked the ten minute journey and opened the door; I smiled and said hello to my hairdresser. She replied with a somewhat perplexed look and told me my appointment is tomorrow!