I love Sisterlocks...and now I have them!

I got my Sisterlocks installed on February 8th and 9th by Carol Eunice at Pristine Locs. I absolutely love them!

It's been a long time...

Sorry for the long pause. I've been pregnant and busy with work. I am expecting my first little one in June. For the past few months I have been enjoying my loose natural hair in a variety of styles. Every so often, I still think about getting Sisterlocks in the future. Right now it is a question of when. Then sometimes I think that I may miss my loose hair too much. So I'm still alittle undecided at times. I would say 80% certain I want locks, and 20% uncertain. Today, I started looking back at some of the Sisterlock blogs and albums that I used to follow. I also found some new ones. I still love Sisterlocks!

Posting may again be slow for the next few months, but if I do get locks it will be shortly after the baby is born. At that point I want to begin blogging regularly about my journey!

NaturalBeauty247

Considerations

So I've really been impressed with Sisterlocks, but I have looked into other types of locs to compare pros and cons.

I've decided that locks started with comb coils or twists would not appeal to me because they are bigger than what I want and they require the use of product.

I've looked at Braidlocs (Bradelocz) and Nappylocs as alternatives that are supposed to have results more similar to Sisterlocks. The downside of Braidlocs is that the braid pattern lasts for a while before looking more like an actual loc. Nappylocs are "locks started with a tool" (similar to Sisterlocks). These use an interlocking method and can be done quite small, like Sisterlocks.

So, here's the breakdown:

Comb Coils or Twists

Pros- Not overly expensive, easy to find someone who does them
Cons- Require the use of product, freshly twisted roots look different than the lenght of the loc, are not the "microlock" look that I desire.


Braidlocs

Pros- Not expensive; can be self-installed, instructional resources can be bought for a low price, can be done small, can be maintained with a latch hook instead of product.
Cons- would be very tedious to self-install, takes longer to lock, braid pattern lasts for a while.

Nappylocs

Pros- Not expensive; could be self-installed, instructional resources can be bought for a low price, can be done small, maintained with a tool instead of product, looks the most similar to Sisterlocks.
Cons- would be very tedious to self-install (even more than Braidlocks, because braiding is familiar, interlocking techniques are not), would be difficult to find someone else to install or maintain if chose not to DIY.



Now the breakdown for Sisterlocks:

Pros- original (Nappylocks and tiny Braidlocks are in response to the Sisterlock look), organizational support, networking and training, very technical and standardized way of installation and maintenance that is designed to be consistent among consultants in different locations, the "sisterhood" and pride that comes with being able to say that you have Sisterlocks.

Con- install can be rather expensive depending on how much hair you start out with, training classes can be expensive.



So even though the only con for Sisterlocks is the price of installation and classes, I think that the pros outweigh the cons.

In the future, I will revisit this topic and provide links, references, and pictures for each locking technique.

How the love began...

I found out about Sisterlocks about a year and a half ago, when I was doing a search about natural hair. At the time, I was still relaxed, but had the intention of going natural very soon. I wanted to know everything about the care and maintenance, challenges and style versatility of natural hair before starting the journey myself. When I saw pictures of Sisterlocks on the corporate website, I thought "Those look nice," but at the time I was not considering any type of locs as an option for myself. On June 27, 2008 I did the "big chop" and cut off all of my relaxed hair leaving about 1/2 inch of natural hair. Since that day I have been in love with my hair and all that it can do in a loose state...but every few months, I would find myself searching for pictures of Sisterlocks and blogs of others on their loc journey. What started off as a passive interest became a passion, and by August 2009 (specifically after viewing this blog: http://blaqkofi.blogspot.com/) I had made the decision that Sisterlocks were in my hair future!

This blog will be for anyone who is interested in learning more about this wonderful locking technique!