Why I wish I never dyed my Sisterlocks

Hi Bloggers

If you have been following my blog you would know that I have been experiencing problems with my sisterlocks: they have been unraveling, dry and breaking. I have blogged about different things I have tried regarding this. I have come to realise it was due the colouring of my locs. I shared my experience on my YouTube channel which you can see below.

6 Years Locked Down

I have been on lock down for 6 years (and 5 days). WOOHOOO!!!! 

I was not able to post a blog entry on the actual day of my locversary so it is a few days late. I can't believe that I have been sisterlocked for 6 years; the time has really flown by. 

I am still experiencing problems with the ends of my locs and I really do not know what to do about them. I am still finding that some of the ends are unravelling and it seems to be getting worse. I thought that they would eventually re-lock but that has not been happening; in fact they seem to be unravelling more. I am still finding some of my ends are weak and I am continuing to loose some of them (or I pull them off). I have lost about 2-3 inches of my ends. This in combination with the unravelling is not good at all. I have racked my brains I cannot find a reason for why the ends are coming undone. It is like my hair is rejecting the locs. The only thing I can think of is because I have coloured by hair. I did use a product that contained ammonia when I dyed it and I did put onto of each other to lift the colour, the two occasions that I did dye it. That is the only thing I can think of. I have no other explanation for why mature locs would suddenly start unravelling. It is really frustrating!

When you look at this picture compring year 6 (top) with year 5 (bottom) there does not seem to be much difference. Each year I am convinced that my hair as not grown and each year I am surprised at the comparison shots. This year there does not seem to be much difference. Although looking at it again I can see there is some. I usually wear a shoulderless top to take my annual pics but I was unable to this time or you would have been seeing more than you needed to. And it was harder to take the side shots as the hair naturally parted over my shoulders. I am not so much bothered about the length as I am about having healthy hair. Sometimes I think about cutting off the dyed ends to see if that would make a difference to my hair **SIGH**

I am still experiencing dryness with my locs (I wonder if that is contributing to the unravelling). I have tried everything I can think of combat it: shea butter (horrible), deep conditioning, vegetable glycerin, coconut oil, spritzing with water and oil blends, co-washing (I can see if working if I washed my hair every or every other day but I do not so i need a proper cleanse), caster oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera juice, homemade conditioners, pre-pooing and nothing has worked. I am really stumped with this! I wonder if the shampoo is too drying? I don't remember it being this dry when I first had my locs, so I wonder if it is stress, nutrition? I have done what I can on that front so I am stumped!

I recently did a presentation on sisterlocks at a natural hair event. At that event I won a goodie bag from Love Harlem, YEAH!!! So I am currently trying the avocado butter conditioning hairdress on my locs. I tend to use castor oil or jojoba oil on my roots and use this on the length of my hair. So far it is good and I will do a full review in the future. Trying to make my own products was getting too expensive

I also got some Rhassoul clay. I have not tired it as yet but I plan to for my next wash. It is supposed to leave your hair soft and manageable and not drying like shampoo. I have never tried bentonite clay. Some people swear by it, others say that it is really drying for their hair. However Rhassoul clay is meant to be very gentle so I am excited to dry it. 

I hope that you have been following my YouTube channel: chocolatebombuk. You can also find me Instagram: @KhandeeKhane. Below are some pics of styles I have done recently. 

I call this style a twisted bun

5.5 Years Locked Down

My sisterlocks are 5.5 years old now. I did a video log this time, check it out.

The Search Continues

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you all the best for 2013 and continued growth. 

My search continues for a hair routine for my locs. As I stated in my previous posts my aim is to grow healthy locs. I have finally decided that I do not like shea butter on my locs. I have heard that some people say that you shouldn’t use it on locs and others have said that it is possible to use it. I used raw pure shea butter and I always blended it with other ingredients (e.g. coconut oil, castor oil, evoo - extra virgin olive oil); however, I never liked the feel of it on my locs. I thought it could have been the shea butter that I used so I tried a different one, I even tried different blends; all I can say is that from my experimentation I will not be using shea butter on my locs at all. It is lovely on my skin though.

If you will recall from my previous posts I had noticed that some of ends were unravelling. This should not be happening as my locs are matured and I was confused as to what was causing it. I do not know if it was the colouring. I have only dyed my locs twice but I do not know if that has contributed to it. I do wonder if it is split ends and I have considered trimming my locs. I have not yet decided if I would do this myself or go to the hairdressers. I do know that if I do cut my locs I will get some unravelling until it re-seals. My consultant had previously stated that maybe I was over conditioning my locs. I do not what I think about this as my hair feels dry and not over-soft. I do wonder if my hair needs my protein and not moisture. I attempted to do the strand test (sorry I cannot find the link at the moment but I will post when I find it) but I think that it is hard to do properly with locs. So I think I will ease back on the deep conditioning and may be do it once every 2 months or so (not certain as yet). I may do some pre-pooing to counteract the potential dryness of the shampoo. I did go through a phase of co-washing but it does not work with the frequency that I wash my hair; I need a proper cleanse with I don’t get with co-washing. So all in all I am confused about my locs unravelling. I will try less conditioning and see how my locs are and I may trim them.

At the moment I am trying to be really simple with my routine. I went to a hair show and in the goody bag I got some JBCO (Jamaican Black Castor Oil) woohoo. 

It was only a small sample but I am currently using that on my roots after I wash. A friend of a friend makes and sells her own products and she invited us to a new product launch. At this party I got a free sample of honey comb and myrrh, which I currently use on the length of my locs after I wash. 

When these samples are finished I will probably use castor oil on my roots and evoo/coconut oil on the length. I currently spritz my locs with distilled water and JML cactus oil. 

I got the oil during my first year of locking but I never really used it, but i thought waste not want not. When that is finished I will probably use evoo. I did not particularly like the aloe vera juice mix that I mentioned in my last post. I have decided to try using baby shampoo to wash my hair as they tend to be gentler being designed for babies. At the moment I am using Johnson’s baby shampoo; I may switch to a more natural on.  I haven’t totally given up on making my own products so I may make shampoo in the future; but currently for me buying products is the best.

Actually after I had written this post I cam across this article about telling the difference between hair that feels dry and hair that is dry. After reading this I think my hair feels dry rather than actually being dry. I do moisturise it and it does feel soft and supple. It could just be my hair texture. My consultant or her niece (who currently re-tightens my hair) has never told me my hair is dry, so maybe it feels dry rather than actually being dry. I will monitor it and see.  

Happily locked up

Khandee :)