You be the judge, what do you think?

For some time now I've been debating if I should start retightening my hair. You all know that I was having consultant problems and I really didn't want to start all over. Another issue I had was that the retightening class won't be offered down here until next year sometime. That is a long time from now and I decided that I didn't want to wait. So I said to myself that I would give myself a chance and if then I didn't succeed, then I would proceed to finding another consultant.

Well it took me along time to get to this point because I've been wanting to do my own hair for the longest now. However I guess I wasn't ready back then and plus I was too intimidated. I was too afraid that I would mess up. However after I looked back at all the things that I've been through and let happen I decided to put and end to it and decided it was time. Another thing which kind of held me back was that I really wanted to take the retightening class. I felt that if I didn't take the retightening class that I would be breaking some kind of Sisterhood but now I've come to realize that sometimes you have to do what's best for you and retightening my own hair is whats best for me and I'm glad that I could get over that bad feeling.

I've realized that being able to do your own hair leaves you with a special feeling. I feel like I am finally in charge and there is no more secrets. ( A while back I asked my consultant what my pattern was and she hesitated before answering. Why is knowing your pattern a big secret? At first I was scared to ask her because I knew what the outcome would be, but I'm glad that she did let me know.)
Like I was saying it feels good to finally be in control of my own hair the feeling is so indescribable! I want to give a shot out to all the ladies of the LHBE who stopped by and left me words of encouragement to go ahead and give it a try. Thanks again I really appreciate the love.

The Process

I have close to 400 micro/small Sisterlocks. I chose to use the Nappy Lock Tool ( size small). It is very simple to use. Now being that this was my first time it took some time. The first section I did was the back and it took me about 4 1/2 hours. After that I stopped counting but I'm sure if I was to estimate it took me a total of 16 hours. That is a long time if you do it all at once but I did spread it out over three days while watching movies. I hope to get better, like they say practice makes perfect. Now during this time there was a few things that I learned.

Things that I learned:

I learned that doing it yourself, you have this special bond with your locks and learn so much about your hair. I am even thinking about combining some of my locks mostly the ones in the front some of them are weak and may need a little help. However I am going to wait it out and hope that they will strenghten at the root and grow out. I don't want to mess up the parts and plus I think it may be a little too late for combining. If anyone has any tips on combining locks please share.

I learned to make sure you pull the lock all the way through once you finish the rotation so you don't form a bump.

I learned not to force a full rotation if it can't be done, this causes the lock to draw up and is also probably the cause of headaches.

I learned to take your time especially if you are a beginner. I married two set of locks by accident but I was able to un marry them.

I learned that there is a reason why your consultant says to separate your locks after shampooing.( Please do, it will help out in the long run) If you don't chances are you locks will start growing with other locks. Which causes problems during retightening sessions.

I also learned that if you want your retightening to remain looking fresh to wash your hair before not after.( However if you don't like all the spaces then washing your hair may be the thing for you). I usually wash my hair before I get my hair retightened but I didn't think it was necessary at the time. However when I really started investigating my hair while I was retightening it was definitely in need of a good washing.
My dandruff started to appear again. I had stopped using Nizoral because I didn't want any problems to prevent the rest of my hair from locking. However I needed more than Nizoral. I treated myself with ACV and Nizoral, I also used Sisterlocks Shampoo but I had to use my Avalon Organics Lemon Clarifying Shampoo to get rid of the smell. Anyways I know I said that I was going to stay away from other products for now but I had to reward myself for what I just accomplished. I was going to style my hair as well but then I got lazy, I did say I was going to chill out with the styling too so at least I didn't go back on my word on that part of the deal. I'm trying to hold out until my 1 year and a half mark or New Year's do you think I will last?

Anyhow being that I am still an amateur I plan to do my retightenings every 4 weeks so it won't take as long. When I get retightening my locks under control I plan to prolong it to every 6-8 weeks.

The Outcome

My hair came out decent except for those few mistakes that I mentioned earlier. I didn't see any wholes. My hair actually looked like it was retightened by a professional. It also felt like it was done by a professional. I'm glad to have overcome my fear of doing it myself and I look forward to many more retightening sessions.

This goes out to all those others who are considering doing it yourself. I say go for it because it can be done, however patience is necessary. There is a special feeling about doing it yourself and I love that feeling and I want to continue to have that feeling. Anyhow I have written more than enough as usual. So until next time much love.


P.S You know I couldn't leave you all without any pictures. Anyhow just a many slide show I created.

**New Memo** I have updated my fotki again (Months 12-15) and there are several pictures that I have posted there that I didn't post in my blog so you all can have a look if you like. You can get to my fotki from > Here or you can get to my fotki from my links that are listed to the right side of my blog. Hope you enjoy until next time much love!