Should I?

After three months I have come to realise that I have reached the point in my journey where I have to make a decision. Should I become a sisterlock trainee or not?

It may seem as though this questions just came out of nowhere but it didn't. I've always been fascinated with locs even when my mother would not let me grow any. I've started my sister's locs and I am considering doing my cousin's. I installed microlocs on another cousin in January but she took them down shortly after when she started a new job that does not like its employees to wear locs. Let's just say I've had three heads of practice including my own and I would like to switch careers so I could make a living from it.

The idea cemented itself while talking to my consultant during the last retightening. Now I'm hooked on the idea of taking the sisterlocks training and getting an apprenticeship with my consultant if possible. There is one flaw in this glorious plan though. What if I don't like it? 

Sisterlock training costs about US$1500 and to top it off, training does not happen in my country so I would have to travel to another Caribbean island or the United States. I get that it would be an investment in my future career but again I ask, "What if I don't like it?"

My SO made the perfect suggestion but I am no sure how it would work having two jobs. The full time one I have now is tiring but....maybe I can do it. Maybe I might realise that I love doing locs more than anything in the world and have found my true calling. Or maybe I'll be bored within a week and walk away. All that's left to do is convince someone to let me work with them until November.

If it works out I'll let you all know. If not....que sera sera. Wish me luck! 

Til next time - Lata!

Three Months Gone

I know I just posted my 10 week update but that went by a while ago. While work had me all over the place and stressing out, the day marking my 3 month anniversary (for lack of a better word) passed by without me noticing.

Originally, the plan was to create and upload a video to YouTube outlining the changes and how the journey has been so far. But that idea went up in smoke. I could not care less about recording and editing a video around that time simply because of work. Oh Heavens, help me! I have not been in the sun this much since I was eleven and thought it was fun to get away from being inside all the time.

Now, I have had my third retightening done and I am excited to report that the slippage has been drastically reduced thanks to one simple trick I've been using. Instead of washing my hair every two weeks like I was doing before, I am now washing it once a month. If my scalp is dirty before then, I use a mixture of vinegar, water and witch hazel to gently cleanse the scalp. On a side note, please remember that the recipe for this concoction was given to my by my consultant so it isn't something I made up by myself.

Anyways, by reducing the amount of manipulation to my wet hair, I managed to have only 3 locs slip during the first week. On the other hand, I did have to retighten the one loc four times before my last appointment. By the time I made it to the consultant'c chair, all that remained of that one loc was a knot near the tip. Up to now, I am still completely baffled by my hair's ability to unravel from the root and leave one of two knots in tact. Smh.

Oh well, maybe it won't be so bad next month. Til next time - Lata!

10 Weeks

I got my second retightening done on Thursday. The slippage was even worse this time. Sections that managed not to slip last time had lost their grip and succumbed to the 'bush' as I call it. There was no sign of the parts that should have been in my head and in many areas, only the knotted tips were proof of something being there before. As you could probably guess from this, I was desperate for a retightening. My consultant was no there so she got an assistant to fill in. Unlike my last appointment, any hopes I had of leaving within an hour and a half were dashed. The assistant worked a lot more slowly and left me in two minds about the experience. 

I went in fully expecting to be done by the end of lunch but ended up spending the rest of the working day in the chair. The assistant not only took her time, she cleaned up all of the parts and managed to wrangle to loose hair the consultant left out last time, back into the assigned parts. My mum was abandoned at the doctor's office for three hours and I could not account for my absence with the supervisor cause "I had a hair appointment" is not a good enough excuse. But even with all of that stress, I love the end result. I love it so much I am considering requesting the assistant for the next appointment but I would have to give up lunch time appointments. My consultant may not agree and I wouldn't want to upset her seeing as she's done a phenomenal job so far.

That's all for now. Til next time -  lata!