My Loc Journey
During my 20 years of wearing Traditional Locs, I absolutely loved them. I was so proud of them. I worked in Corporate America, in a political office, when I started them. I’ve always been free spirited and didn’t concern myself with what others thought. I take pride in the Whole Me; from top to bottom; from inside and out. For 15 years I got my maintenance every two – three weeks. When they were long enough, I did pin-ups with each maintenance. In the 15th year of wearing my Traditional Locs, I started noticing thinning in the top, with breakage. I never lost a Loc, but they were very thin. I cut often to keep the length a little pass my hips. When I realized the crown was really thin, I cut them shoulder length to help with the weight on the crown. That helped for a while but the thinning started again. I cut some more. By 2018 they were cut to my chin.
In December of 2018 I was washing my hair. Touching the crown, I heard “that’s enough”. I knew it meant it was time to cut my Locs off. I tried to ignore the feeling. For weeks, it kept popping in my mind. I knew I needed to do something, but What? I loved my Locs. I meditated on it and researched my options. After much meditation and research, I decided on Sisterlocks. I read a lot of horror stories. I knew finding a qualified person that I felt would love and treat my hair the way it deserved, would not be easy. With 20 years of Traditional Locs, I only had 4 different Loc Technicians. I knew I needed to find a Sisterlocks Technician I could have a long track record with. I found one. She wanted me to be sure I wanted to commit to Sisterlocks, so she scheduled me six weeks out. Because it was not something I planned to do, I hadn’t let my Traditional Locs grow out enough to start the Sisterlocks. I needed three inches of hair. I cut my Locs to 3 inches. I started the process of unraveling them which took three weeks. I got so sick to my stomach when unraveling them; I had to stop many times. I guess I was releasing a lot of un-needed energy.
It was quite the shock to see my natural hair out and so short. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself. Not knowing what to do with the TWA, I wore a lot of head wraps. I tried hair styles, but it was not me and seemed labor intensive.
After two full days of sitting for the Sisterlocks install, I truly didn’t know who was in the mirror. I looked like a new born chicken. I decided, this is who I am. I only wore my head wraps when I felt I wanted the look, not to cover my hair. Two years later, my Sisterlocks are shoulder length. They are really filling in. I’m embracing this new journey. I know when they get pass my shoulders, I’m going to cut layers to keep the weight off the crown. I made so many mistakes with my Traditional Locs. I won’t make the same with my Sisterlocks.
