Sisterlock inspiration

So I am fired up about my hair. I few days ago a nice woman with a blog about her sisterlocks wrote me http://mysisterlocks2005.blogspot.com. Her name is LaChanda and she has a host of links to other women's sites about their Sisterlock journey. Especially that of a woman in New York named Leighann http://mysisterlocks.blogspot.com.

LaChanda and Leighann are both absolutely gorgeous and so are their Sisterlocks! LaChanda encouraged me to take the consultant class I've been sneaking up to for the past two years and on Leighann's site I saw these fabulous rollers http://www.softspikecurlers.com. I liked the way Leighann's turned out so much. I ordered my own.


I had just begrudgingly bought some perm rods to replace the ones I've lost. But I was dreading the prospect of using them because my hair is so much longer now. Without a real dryer. I feared wearing perm rods would be a Sisyphean waste of time and energy. But when I saw Leighann in her curl spikes and saw the fabulous result I knew I had to get some.

I ended up talking a long while with the woman who makes and sells the Soft Spikes---I wish I had the moxie to be an entrepreneur! She is white and originated the product for her daughter's Irish dancing recitals. Probably because of Leighann's beautiful photos, she said she's been getting a lot of requests from black women. So you know how I love to talk about hair and especially Sisterlocks. I ended up telling her all about the blogs I found--though I've never met these women. Told her everything I knew about the history of Sisterlocks and Joanne Cornwell. I suggested that she contact them in San Diego and find out about the Homecoming. I told her with a product that works across ethnic hair types, she could be like the woman who invented that ponytail doo-hickey---was it a Topsy-Turvy?--like Dave Chapelle says ree-otch!

So in anticipation of the arrival of my soft spikes, I drenched my hair---I do mean drenched from scalp to tip--with the funky smelling Wonder 8 oil. While I do HATE the smell, I do think I should use it up because I bought it and can't take it back. And rather than letting it turn rancid I figured I'd make good use of it. I read an editorial from Daily Candy about this DC salon that charges an arm and leg to drench your hair with camellia oil that you then leave in 24 hours and figured I could do that myself. So I braided it last night, soaked the scalp, dipped the tips in oil, and stuffed the whole mess into a plastic cap. I covered my pillow with a towel and went to bed. I figure around lunch time I'll wash it out and see my handiwork. I wanted to touch up the color, but that's just me being fastidious. The roots aren't showing that badly and I need to limit the exposure to the color. Maybe to three to four times a year. I would gladly do it every four to six...but I don't want my hair to dry up and fall out. I'm hoping the oil soaking will help with my dry scalp and slow any breakage on the ends. I need to contemplate a trim...but I haven't had a haircut since I got my sisterlocks. I'm going to end up like those women on the Maury show who haven't had a haircut in a decade and look like mops.

In general, my desire to get my hair looking good and the shoe mission yesterday are interconnected. I am trying to getting my inner and outer selves in sync. And since I am doing so much adjusting and re-evaluating and replacing and redefining, it makes sense to me to check on everything and make sure I like it and it's what I want.

I went back and checked on the Sisterlocks consultant schedule. Philly in February is still my first choice...but if not, I'll take it in April in Newark! I'm claiming that as my new skill and I'll let the rest of it figure itself out...