Ok, sorry I haven't provided any hair updates in a little while. I've been busy with work and school. Anyway, since I'm off tomorrow, I figured I'd update my blog. Since I'm combining everything into one, this post is pretty long.
Well not too much has changed about my sisterlocks so far. Then again I'm only in my 3rd week. The only thing that I've noticed is that the texture has changed slightly. During the first week or so, the ends that were left out were really fuzzy, especially in the front (the softer part of my hair). It was almost like an afro when it was dry. I would spritz it with water in the morning and by the end of the day it would just poof. I tried curling it one time with sponge rollers to hide the frizzy ends but it didn't come out that great. And some of the sponge roller pieces got stuck in my hair (I don't think I'll do that again). Now I notice that the ends curl a little tighter and my hair doesn't seem AS poofy. I mainly wear my hair freestlyed; I spritz with water in the morning, fluff up my hair and go. I have been wearing my satin cap to bed and I also have a satin pillowcase in case the cap falls off during the night. So far, I love this routine!
I have had some issues over the first few weeks though. First of all, the EXTREMELY itchy scalp was and still is a problem. Its gotten a little better but sometimes I feel like my scalp has gone mad! I expected it since I've read about this on many of your blogs but I didn't know it was going to be like this! I tried the spritz bottles with a few drops of an essential oil and that helped for a little while. Then it was back to itchin like crazy!
Second of all, my first wash was pretty crazy! I braided my hair into about 10 braids and banded them about 3/4 in from the end with little neon bands similar to the ones in the sisterlocks starter kit. Although I had read that many of you had problems with taking out the bands after washing, I decided to try them since I had bought them and I didn't have time to go back to the store. Big mistake. Also, my braiding is not very good (especially since my hair is shorter) so the braids were kind of ghetto. Looking back, I think the braids were too big, and my hair is so thick, so it made it very hard to braid right. So after braiding and banding, I got my aquis hair turban (which so many of you have raved about) and my sisterlocks starter shampoo and I went to work. Another mistake I made was not diluting the sisterlocks starter shampoo with water and using a spray bottle to apply it. I wet down my hair (at least I thought it was wet enough) and I started to apply the shampoo straight from the bottle. Oh my gosh, I could barely get it to lather! Do you know that I ran out of the starter bottle in one wash! And on top of that, some of my poorly braided hair started to come out of the braids. So there I was with hair half out of the braids, finished shampoo, and scalp and hair that felt hardly clean. I could also barely get to my scalp. I also tried using the ACV rinse because I thought it would help my itching scalp and keep my hair from looking so dry. This didn't seem to help that much. Frustrated by the whole process, I pulled out my aquis hair towel to dry my hair. After drying my hair, I noticed a few white lint balls in my hair. I thought this towel was supposed to be lint free! Did I get the wrong kind? Maybe because it is brand new? I washed it after that but I haven't used it since. I'm afraid that those lint balls will be all over my hair again. After drying my hair, I tried to take out the bands. It was soooo hard to get them out. They were very tangled up in my hair. I took out my braids and separated my locks one by one as I was told. As I was doing this, I counted my locks. I have about 550.
So after a week, I washed my hair again. It was right before my check up and my hair was obviously still dirty. Since I was out of SL shampoo, I decided to try the knotty boy shampoo that I had ordered. I absolutely fell in love with it! It lathered very easily and it felt good on my scalp. I was able to get my hair a lot cleaner than the last time. Also, when I finished, my hair wasn't as dry as when I used the SL shampoo. I would love to use this all the time but I think I will give the SL starter shampoo another chance. Also, this time I braided smaller braids and used the larger cloth type bands (recommended by some of you) on the ends of my hair. The braids stayed in this time and it was alot easier to get the bands out of my hair. Overall, the second shampoo went much better.
I went for my hair check up with my consultant the next day. I explained all of the problems that I had during the first couple weeks (itchy scalp, shampooing issues) and she said that this was expected because I have to get used to the sisterlocks and the new method of washing. She examined my locks and said that they were looking like they were supposed to. I also bought some dandruff gaurd substance (which she said to use sparingly on my scalp) and a bigger bottle of the SL starter shampoo. The checkup didn't last long at all. Plus I will be heading back to her in a couple of weeks for my first retightening.
So for right now I'm just freestylin it up. I do have some questions though. First of all, I don't feel like I am getting my scalp completely clean when I wash since I'm not really able to get in there and scrub. Also it is hard reaching the scalp within the braids. When my hair dries, I still see lots of flakes near my scalp. Also, the non-itchy scalp only lasts for a couple days and then its back to itch-city. Does anyone have any advice for shampooing and the itchy scalp problems? Will it get better as time goes on? Also, whats up with the Aquis hair towel? Is it supposed to shed like that? Also, with the ACV rinse, am I supposed to wash it out afterwards? It was pretty strong. I rinsed my hair with water afterward but I don't feel like the ACV rinse really helped.
Here are some update pics. My SLs don't look too much different than before.
