Why this Sisterlock ™ Blog was created.

Hello,

My name is Taiysha and I am writing this journal for one reason and one reason alone - because we are one, we may not realize it all the time, but nonetheless, we are one.

I recently got Sisterlocks installed and I was taken aback with how many women were attracted to my hair. Not because they necessarily liked my hair in particular, but because they saw a sense of freedom, a way out, and they wanted in.

I would hear all sorts of comments like , "I want to get "freedom" Sisterlocks ™ but I am afraid", to "Oh, you have that good hair, you probably didn't even need to lock your hair - my hair probably wouldn't even look right with that". Now even though I was a victim of the first reason myself, the second excuse would always get me a little upset. Okay, It would get me "a lot of upset". Shoot, I felt like my hair is just the same and If they only knew my issues with hair, they probably would be floored or say, "hey, she ain't no different - she go through the same madness we go through. So in hopes of offer some encouragement to young girls and women struggling with this world's definition of beauty, I am telling my tale of my painful journey before sisterlocks™.

Ah! The formal years: The baby pictures

An illustration.

Here I wanted to show how my mommy would style my hair. Wow, I had it made in the shade. I was around five or six and it was my birthday in this picture. I kept trying to go to this place in my mind but I don't fully remember. But, I know we were at my grandmother's house, and I was probably cheesing so hard because of that big fat bank roll in my right hand. Cause at 6 years old, I was a true tomboy, so I know I was not paying attention to the pretty dress and satin ribbons in my hair. It was about the money man and it was all mine!

Above is a photo of my mother and I. Notice my hair, no grease no water- now that is the real deal Holyfield.

Another baby picture moment

Here I am with my hair out when I was younger. I used to always wonder why my mother would say she was tired and did not have energy to do my hair at times.

She even started hinting that I would have to start doing my own hair one day. I still didn't know what she meant. But anyways, notice the hair is not plated, just picked and standing strong in a traditional afro. Yea mon!

THE HOT COMB- my weapon of mass destruction!

Above is a photograph of a hotcomb my weapon of mass destruction.


Me with my hair hot combed

Sometimes I would take my hair out of extensions and press it with a hot comb. Now that was another psychological battle in its own right. Man, that heat was so hot but I would do anything to get that anything but African look. And at this point, I knew my mother's mantra, "I had to do my own hair and pay my own way for any upgrades". So that's what I did. But sometimes the hot comb was to hot, I would mess up or slip and burn my ears and neck. Sometimes I would even burn my face or a chunk of my hair right from my scalp.




I remember the smell of that heated grease mixed with the hot comb and my hair. It is a distinct fragrance that doesn't smell right. It smells like something is burning - it is alarming. But after awhile you don't even think the smell is normal. Even though I got used to the smell, after to many incidents of attending school with burn marks and missing hair spots, I simply save up enough money and put the braids back in my hair.


My hair would get split ends because I was using the hot comb frequently.
Not to be contradictory but hair extensions Is really what saved my hair from falling out completely. It gave my hair a break from all the stress and heat I was putting on it. Plus for me, the braids also kept me looking attractive while giving my skin an opportunity to heal from all of those burns. And since I was into boys, I was always eager to test the waters with some new style. I wanted to see what the male species preferred and how they'd respond to a new me.

Another year of burning my hair
In this photograph above, I had just came from a trip from great adventures and my hair was sweated out. I put this one up to show you that even though my hair appeared to be fine - that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted bone straight hair and to me there was a difference. Also, I was about 14 years old.

Here is the grease I used to use when I would hotcomb my hair-blue magic, yeah right.


Keep in mind, although I had a lot of variation in my hair arsenal, I couldn't wait for my mother to let me get a perm. So when I hit sixteen, It was a done deal. I was on my way to the salon. I felt I finally made it to the big leagues. You should have seen me, I was going to the salon with my mom and loving every minute of it. Yep, I had finally graduated. I was getting a perm and I was officially permitted to sit in that special chair and let my stylist put lethal chemicals in my hair. I had arrived.



I was finally able to sit under the dryer for 5 hours with other women and girls and waste a whole day in the salon, all in the name of beauty. Yes, I was apart of something. And I was observant and I took plenty of notes. I would watch everyone, but mostly the women, their style, their height , their weight and mostly, their hair. I would notice how the women with long strait hair got compliments while the women with shorter hair got second hand treatment and very little compliments. I would watch the women with long flowing hair walk around the salon like they owned the place. They seemed to always talk louder and walk harder than everyone else -they had attitude, they were strong, they commanded attention. And for the most part, they got it, especially from me. By the time I left that salon that day, I had a perm and I had it in my mind that my next step was to have the longest flowing hair in the world. I don't think I necessarily wanted to talk loud and step hard, what i wanted was compliments, I wanted what appeared to be love, respect, and support from women that looked like me - I wanted to feel special.

That was my hair-dresser in the middle in the purple and that was one of here clients in the white. I always thought my hairdresser was so pretty, she had hair down her back and yes It was long and flowing. The only thing, she did not talk loudly or anything like that. She was and will always be a class act. I remember she was the only adult women I observed with the long flowing hair that spoke softly. I also remember she was kind to everyone - even her employees. She had her own hair salon and made clothes on the top level. My mother even bought me one of her creations. Which you'll see later. Well of course I looked up to her, can't you tell.



Okay, I added this photograph not only to show that I was really impressed by Mrs. Sophia and wanted to kind of be in her likeness but I also wanted to get into this hair. Here, I had the traditional perm with a "doobee: with only the front let out. But here I added gold spray from canned bottles in order to to give the impression of gold or blonde hair. Heck, I new I could not die my hair on top of a perm, so I got creative. In this photo my gold did not show all that well - I was trying to get that 2 toned effect but my girlfriend Sherena's came out very well. Now, that spray was crazy because, I remember when I first spayed it, I almost choked from the fumes and toxins. You know how when you put polyurethane on to your wood floors to add a shine, that's the smell it was reminiscent of. Very strong. Please, at the time, I was oblivious to how crazy this was, I just held my nose and kept going until I saw the look I was trying to achieve.


Here is the gold spray can I used on top of my relaxer, rinse, and gel. All of these chemicals was slowly breaking down my hair and I did not know at the time.



Here is the effect I could achieve if I would have sprayed more gold.

THE WEAVE: Let's take a closer look.

Here is a photograph of what a weave looks like when you sew fake hair onto your natural hair. My technique was different, but it rendered the same effect.


Okay, I wanted to share with you a photo in order to bring your attention to something. The budget-cut weave installation I used to save money. Notice the roots of my hair, especially the top portion. You see that black part kind of interfering with the blonde consistency of my hair? Okay, those where bolts like knots that left a gap in the hair because it really wasn't a weave. It was my hair braided in such a way where my natural hair was tucked under the weave hair.


Now , when I would start a braid, or my weave technique, I would pull the weave hair out early in order for it to show and cover my braided hair. Now, in order for the blonde hair to fully cover the braided hair, I had to get a great amount of blond hair to out match my natural hair. Yeah, what the heck was I thinking? Not only was this a waste of time but I was going broke. Shoot, I told yall how much weave hair costs right? Well double that. It was at least $350 each time i need to redo my hair. You know I kept the old hair that could be reused so It might have been a little less, but you get the idea. This is how I cut back on my overhead, I used the braiding technique I had learned when I was younger. Plus, I refused to pay someone to put glue in my hair - that would have been taking it to far!



I posted this add of the tools you have to used to install a glue in weave. When I saw that I thought about the same tools you used to do home repair. I just didn't seem right and coincidentally, that was my second wake up call. At that point, I started to think about more natural alternatives. If not in practice, in my subconscious - I knew I had to change my mind first.

My weave even closer
Okay, I put his one up because this was a day when my hair was showing and there wasn't enough weave to cover my natural hair. Now, because the weave hair was released early from the braid eventually the weave hair would shed and ultimately loose its capacity to cover the hair. I know you've noticed the make-up, it was way to much, even for stage. I looked like a clown. But this is how this disease progresses - once you start with one thing it leaves the door open to all kinds of weird behavior.



The picture above shows when I learned a technique to let the banks cover the bolts created by the weave. But at this time, I was ready to transition to my natural hair. In fact, I used to bug my friend Candace all the times about how I really wanted to wear my hair natural and that it was time to get rid of the weave. She would say, "then do it. You'll look really pretty." And I would always say," it's not that simple. You don't understand. Black women have issues concerning their hair." In retrospect, she was right, it was simple - all you have to do is change your mind and the behavior will fall in line with your train of thought. So needless to say I changed my perception of my natural hair and soon after I took the fake hair out of my head. In 2003 I finally went natural!

THE NATURAL AFRO WITH A MODERN TWIST

Okay, here is a photo of my hair braided and let out. At this point I even gave the heavy make up and eyelashes a rest. I also tinted my hair color to a Aburn brown. Now although I was experiencing all the cool and wonderful ways my hair could be styled naturally, I was still doing way too much servicing.


Every night I would plate my hair with water to achieve this pattern in my hair-which i preferred. I frequently used grease to keep the shine and to assist with the pattern. Although this was very healthy, I still could not go swimming without my hair shrinking, not to mention the run away from humid days episode. To put it short - I still was not living "naturally". Or at least not like I wanted to. I wanted to go swimming or workout and go strait to work after my workouts without having to redo my do. Man I just could not catch a break. But I kept searching and praying and most of all believing. Don't get me wrong, this alternative was far more empowering than what I was doing to myself previously. It was also far less maintenance and the best part about the natural deal was it didn't cost me anything and and it was all my hair, without harsh chemicals. For the first time in my adult life I had felt proud of the way I naturally looked. I felt at peace with myself and that emotion is and will always be priceless to me.

Moving on: Why I chose Sisterlocks™

Now after i chopped my hair, I wanted to have a way to wear it natural with out all of the upkeep. That was the main reason why i went the Sisterlock ™ route. I personally, found this system to be the only hair care management system that gave me most out of what i wanted: no chemicals, the freedom to wake up and go with style, the freedom to go swimming and to workout really hard without worry about my puffy transformations. Now, honestly speaking, I really think the power is in the puff ,aka, the original afro. The afro with the hair un-plated and that stands up commanding the attention befitting for royalty. So, if I had it my way, I would just go good old fashioned 70's fro, use my black fist pick for styling, and call it a day. But at this time, I have to much on my plate as is, so, as of Novermber 13, 2008, I have worn Sisterlock™. I really love the low maintenance aspect of it and I can't wait for my length and thickness to return. Man, when my locks finally lock, I am going to jump in every swimming pool in Georgia.

I don't think one can grasp how entrapped one is until they are no longer entrapped. I mean, the things that bond you become normal after a while and you don't think it is that much of a problem. I did not even no the extend of the damage that needs to be repaired until I went totally natural. That's why I am so grateful to be at this point of my life.

One final note, I have to admit that the sisters who have come before me and broadcasted their testimonies on the internet, really got me through. Seeing all those beautiful pictures of sisters and reading their stories about their triumphs and struggles, really helped me to build up my courage. But the most important message I walked away with was that i was not alone, It made me see that, when it comes down to it, we are all going through the same tribulations and victories and we are all one. My only hope is that this journal can make a positive impression on someone who really needs to be lifted the way I did. So, here is my frame of mind for 2009: I am naturally beautiful and that is enough. Say it, and it is so!

We are free sisters, let us fly to extraordinary heights.