Phyllis’ Loc Journey
Hey gang.
Although I’m good at documenting my client’s loc journey through photos and videos, I realized that I have just a few pictures to document my own. In response to your continual requests to see photos of my loc journey, I spent most of the day looking for photos of my hair and was able to pull together a small collection from over a 10 year period.
I’m happy to be able to share these with you.
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How To Find A Good Locktician
This post was inspired by an email I received recently concerning finding a good locktician. I really felt compelled to answer it because as an experienced locktician, I find myself repairing or “fixing” the locks of women who have had poor experiences and bad results with an inexperienced or a “Lazy Locktician". Here’s the email I received recently:
I am in a city where there is only one sisterloctician. I went to get a consultation, but for some reason I am not feeling 100%. First it was suggested that my 7-71/2 be cut down to 4. I had some split ends on my natural hair, so I didn’t mind, but I would have liked to stay at around 5; then I was told that my loc size would be medium in the back and large at the top, she didn’t like to do the small, because it takes a long time to retighten. I was never asked how I wanted my hair to look, how many locs, or shown how my hair might look. I saw a brief retightening of another of her clients and the parting was not very neat. The big thing is that this person is not 100% satisfied with the way their locs look and neither am I; I don’t since the same pride that you have with your hair and work. I am willing to travel to other locticians, if necessary. This is permanent decision that I am making and I want to be satisfied. Plus, I live in a city where a lot of the African-Americans here have never heard of sisterlocs and i will be there first example. I am eager to get my sisterlocs started and my appointment is a week away, what do you suggest?”
Here is my response….
Regardless of whether this locktician has experience or not, I would consider her a “Lazy Locktician”. First of all, I would never suggest cutting off 3½ inches of hair unless that hair was completely damaged.
I recently installed Sisterlocks on a client who had over 12 inches of naturally straight and dense hair. She ended up with 548 locks. I’ve had clients cut their hair to get rid of damaged ends or because they wanted to completely cut off all the permed ends, but at no time did I recommend cutting the hair to save me time in the process.
Installing New Sisterlocks - A Video Journey
Hey Gang…Great Video Below!
I’m going to enjoy sharing this post with you. You’re about to meet one of my newest Sisterlocks client, Felecia. Felecia, a very attractive woman, has been plagued with pre-mature graying of her hair since she could remember. Because of it, the people who don’t know her assume that she is much older than she actually is. And when going to a salon to get her hair done, they would always give her, “old fashion” styles. Felecia shared with me that she has always permed and dyed her hair and was a very regular customer at the traditional beauty salons. So like most of us prior to locking, Felecia had a regular routine of perming and coloring her hair, which translates into many hours in the salon, dry damaged hair and lots of money spent on a style that’s only going to last until the next humid or rainy day. Permanent black dye was the only dye that would give complete coverage of her gray, but as her gray hair grew in, Felecia says that within a week and a half, you could see the conspicuous line of demarcation, which was literally “white going to black”. Felecia, who works in a professional office atmosphere and who is very active in her church, chuckles as she recalls how her hair looked and was perceived when she was not only growing out her perm, but also growing out of her black dye. She literally had black hair on top of a halo of white new growth, which she confidently wore in a straight afro. (Interesting. I wish I had a picture of that.) Also, as we get older, we desire to take better care of ourselves and Felecia realized that all of that chemical processing so often, needed to stop.
It’s funny when sisters decide that they’ve finally had enough hair drama. For most of us, once you decide to go natural, you become very determined about your hair and how you will deal with “non-naturals”. People closest to you can’t understand for the life of them why anyone would come out in public with their hair like this…
I have to give it to Felecia. She did her homework and actually interviewed two Sisterlocks consultants before finding me on YouTube. On the day of her consultation, she rang my door bell, and as I opened the front door, I was greeted by THREE people - Felecia and her two adult, natural-haired daughters. The younger of the two had natural twists, which she maintained herself and she was just as excited as her mother. The older one, however, who was more guarded and serious, had a head full of beautiful thick traditional locs that cascaded down her back. She had been growing them for over 8 years. During the actual consultation that lasted approximately 3 hours, they peppered me with lots of great questions in between the many questions that I had for Felecia along with watching videos, viewing pictures and asking her about her current hair regimen and her lifestyle.
By the end of the consultation, everyone was relaxed and confident that they had received thorough and accurate info about locked hair and Sisterlocks. It was during this time that I turned to the eldest daughter, smiled and asked, “Did I pass your test?” They all chuckled and agreed that I knew my craft and admitted they wanted to make sure that Felecia (their mother) wasn’t going to be talked into anything and that the person installing her Sisterlocks knew what she was doing – we’ve all heard of the horror stories.
That was funny to me and I occasionally tease Felecia how she came to her consultation with her “posse” and “both barrels loaded”. But at the same time, I had to convey and re-iterate to Felecia that her locking process would definitely be challenging because of the smooth and straight texture of her hair. She would probably experience a lot of slippage, plus she still had a few inches on top that were permed that she wasn’t ready to get rid of. All my experience with gray hair confirms that gray hair has a mind of its own and will almost always work itself outside of the loc. So I really wanted to prepare her for whatever technique she chose for locking. Her process would be a lot longer. Felecia’s hair won’t even resemble locs until close to 2 years in. It will look more like a bushy afro until then.
I will continue to document Felecia’s journey, so visit often. I love the challenging heads. You learn a lot from them. Enjoy the video and wishing everyone a great hair day!
Conditioning Sisterlocks/Locs With the Soul Purpose Shea Body Balm
Hey Gang!
This video is #3 of the 3 part series on shampooing and conditioning long locks, dreadlocks and natural hair. If you’re doing any type of clarifying shampoo first, you will be thoroughly washing away all of your natural oils. Well, those oils will need to be replaced. Now the natural oil that your scalp produces (sebum) will work to help condition the hair closest to the scalp, but if you have any length to your locks or if your locks are color-treated, the rest of you locks will become very dry over time. Since I and my clients have always “dry conditioned” our locks and use lock-friendly products, dryness is not really an issue. Healthy locks are clean, supple and have a naturally soft sheen when well moisturized.
As always, if you’re currently using products that you absolutely love and are working for you, then by all means continue to use them. But if dryness continues to be an issue for you, then try a few of the Soul Purpose products along with the Healthylocks Conditioning Mist. I highly recommend them. Enjoy the video!
Have A Great Hair Day!
Phyllis Johnson
Your Video Locktician
Lisa’s Sisterlocks Video Reveals Benefits of Parting, Grooming and Retightening Techniques - 600 Locs On One Head!
Hey Gang,
Let me introduce you to “Lisa”. Lisa has been a client of mine for the past 7 months. I first met Lisa at one of my natural hair seminars that she attended with her aunt. Although her aunt immediately became one of my loyal and appreciated clients, Lisa however, waited to begin her lock journey for 2 more years! So I knew she was ready when she came to me for her Sisterlocks. Lisa’s hair texture was very soft, wavy, and dense, and it produced a head full of endless beautiful natural coils. It was 3-4 inches on top and almost 3 inches on the sides and back.
Lisa is one of those “perfect clients”. She was very dilligent with her hair care in between retightening sessions. We had one set back though. During a shampoo, she accidentally grabbed a moisturing shampoo and most of her locks became extremely loose and many unraveled completely. What normally would’ve taken me 3 hours to complete her grooming, took me almost 6 hours!
Because of the softness and looser curl pattern of Lisa’s natural texture, she was on a “shorter” re-tightening schedule until her locks settled. She’s currently on a 4 week schedule and the goal is 6 weeks.
Although 7 months has passed, Lisa’s hair has not begun to lock yet. They are more settled though, and make for a great transitional style while waiting for her hair to lock. I don’t encourage any additional styling or manipulation. This is hair that you can just tousle and go! Lisa absolutely loves her Sisterlocks and cares for them meticulously in between her visits with me…and it shows!
This was a spur of the minute video. Lisa is one of those clients that I thought would never be open to sharing on video. I asked, and to my surprise, she said, yes! The lighting wasn’t all that great and the video has an orange hue, but the the content is amazing! I’m forever grateful to Lisa for allowing me to document this part of her Sisterlocks journey and sharing with all of you! Enjoy! Thanks Lisa!
Great Photos of Shannon’s Baby Locks - Dreadlocks Pictures
I’d like to introduce all of you to Shannon my newest client and brave soul. She has graciously allowed me to post her videos and photos for your viewing pleasure. So please, give her your support and as always remember what our mothers taught us…”if you don’t have nothin good to say”…(you know the rest). Shannon’s hair locking journey will be documented on this site-so stay tuned.
Shannon had color and texurizer on her ends. Of course this affected her natural curl. Her ends were damaged and would not readily coil. She held a very good coil near her scalp, but as I continued to coil, the ends remained loose. Many of her ends had to be clipped. The clipping of Shannon’s ends will probably continue for the next few groomings. Shannon is on a 4 week grooming schedule.
Shannon has great hair texture for locking and an incredible positive attitude for going through the locking process. It’ll be fun watching her transition and documenting her loc journey. Thanks Shannon! If you haven’t seen her interview, check it out.
Click on the dreadlock photos to enlarge. Click on the photo once more to get an incredible close up and then use the scroll bar to move up and down the page. What detail!
Have A Great Hair Day!
Phyllis Johnson
Your Video Locktician
Dreadlocks & Locs In The Work Place - Can I?…Will I?
Shannon is my newest client and I’m excited to have her as part of our "Healthylockers" family. She has new locks, which are considered "Baby Locks or Baby Locs". Shanon will be sharing her locking process from the perspective of a woman working in a professional environment. I hope this will help a lot of sisters who are hesitant about going natural or locking their hair because you don’t know how it will be accepted or what people will think of you. Great insight here. Click on the videos (Part 1 and Part 2) to see how the interview went. Then…
click here to See Shannon 2 Years Later…
MamaSita Twists Promo Video - “Professional” Part 4 of 4
(This is a series of 4 videos. If you haven’t viewed them yet, it’s best to view them in order starting with video #1 below.)
Hey Healthylockers!
Here’s the last video in the promotional series. I worked dilligently on this project for the last several months so that I would be able to upload the entire series for your viewing. I hope I whet your appetite enough so that you visit here often to get great tips on natural hair and more specifically…locks. I’ll see you soon. Until then…
Have A Great Hair Day!
MamaSita Twists Promo Video -”Sexy” Part 3 of 4
Two quick and easy sexy styles.
MamaSita Twists Promo Series - “Twists & Knots” Part 1 of 4
Hey HealthyLockers! Here’s the first video in the series of 4 showing the results of the MamaSita Twists. Just a little history…I have Sister Locks (over 400) and they’ve been in since May of 2000. I’ve always done basic styling, much of which you will see throughout this blog, and I’ve always adorned my locks. My lock jewelry, which I hand make myself has been in my hair for years.
I have so much to share with you, but let’s get on to the videos! Click on the picture below. Enjoy! Have A Great Hair Day!
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