Top 5 Reasons Why I Cut My Sisterlocks

In my Sisterlocks Big Chop video [HERE] I touched on my reasons, which were many, briefly but since so many people are still asking me “Why did you cut your Sisterlocks?” I figured it was time to make a dedicated response. You can watch the video [HERE] discussing my Top 5 reasons and/or check out the post below…



1. Negative Energy
I truly believe hair holds energy, I even wrote a post [HERE] about this when I first went natural and I still hold it to be truth. With that being said, a lot of negativity and difficult situations transpired in the 2 years I had Sisterlocks so towards the end they felt “weighed down” and I knew it was time for me to let them go.

2. Styling Versatility
As my Sisterlocks began to mature and swell it became hard to style them. It would take hours upon hours for my hair to dry if I set them on rollers and if I tried to recreate a style my Sisterlocks pretty much fought me the entire time. In the beginning my Sisterlocks were very flexible and I could easily style them and recreate almost any style that I found.

3. Appearance / Size
This goes almost hand-in-hand with #2 because my styling woes were a result of the sizing and also my hair care practices. You see when I first started my journey my Sisterlocks were thin, as all Sisterlocks are in the beginning, and I had a lot of versatility with them. With Sisterlocks there are strict regimen practices and guidelines to follow and if you don’t follow them you damage the integrity of the Sisterlocks. I am guilty of breaking the “rules by using moisturizing & conditioning products, coloring my Sisterlocks before the were fully-settled, and shampooing very aggressively which led to the “imperfections” in my Sisterlocks [HERE]. While I loved my Sisterlocks regardless, I desired them to look more uniform and I had 337 medium-large Sisterlocks; I would have preferred a greater number of Sisterlocks and mostly the small-medium size to allow for maximum flexibility.

4. Cost
If you follow my personal blog or other social media accounts, you know that I quit my corporate job last year to purse my dreams. While this has been great, my income isn’t what it once was so I had to create a strict budget and factoring in over $100 every 6 weeks to get my Sisterlocks retightened was not a priority. Yes, I am a Sisterlocks Consultant, and could have maintained my hair myself, I didn’t want to dedicate the time to do so.

5. Lifestyle
Sisterlocks are a lifestyle, not a hairstyle. You have to commit to retightenings on a set schedule, using only Sisterlocks products, and of course the time & cost commitment for retightenings. For the 2 years that I had Sisterlocks this lifestyle was perfect, but now that my life is changing again, my hair needed to change as well.

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Jocelyn Reneé

Jocelyn Reneé is a Licensed Cosmetologist, Loctician and Textured Hair Educator. She was born and raised in the Washington DC area and is a graduate of the Aveda Institute Cosmetology Science program. With over 14 years in the Hair Care Industry, from Salon Assistant to Natural Hair Blogger to Professional; Jocelyn is passionate about cultivating healthy hair.

Blog Comments

Hi!

I am officially addicted to your blog. I just locked my hair a little over a month ago and I am still learning how to maintain it. I thought about getting Sisterlocks but it looked like too much of a commitment. So it is nice to hear someone share their honest opinion. Thanks!

Hehe, thanks for following the blog and I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂 All the best on your new journey!

wow, interesting. I’ve had my SL for just over 8 years and during that time I was put on disability and for me if it weren’t for having the locs I would have no hair! Yes, it can be costly-right now my stylist does me at her home instead of the shop and the fee is greatly reduced because of it…I don’t know what i’ll do without her when I move, but one thing for sure I HAVE to fit it into my budget because it’s the only style I have actually kept and kept up with! Glad for your blog 🙂

good points….i like these….
hair transplant doctors

I have had Sister Locks since 2006, I love them and although they have been great, I am now transitioning to a more carefree style completely natural, so I have not scheduled a re-tightening since June of 2013. I have maybe 2-3 inches of new growth, so at this point there is no turning back.
Do you think that if I cut my locks down to about 2 inches before the new growth that my hair will unravel the rest of the way? My head is too big to where it really short! LOL

Okay, you already answered my question, I just saw your video, explaining how you cut your locks out. Thank you girl, I’m on it.

I have sisterlocs for 3.5 yrs. ..I AM HAVING MY HAIR RETIGHTENED EVERY 4-5 weeks. I feel this may be to frequent but my stylist does not feel the same. Also my hair is really thinning in the top, any suggestions.

Mine too Anonymous 20/1/14. I need help or I will be getting rid of them. Looking for answers.

Good evening!
I’m new to your blog and already I’m finding out so much information. I fo apologize for commenting back so far back but this particular subject touched base at to where I am at in my loc journey. I’ve been locked for about 6 going on 7 months. The lady who started my Locs asked me what size did I want…I said pencil size would be good and I showed her an example. I changed Locticians because the original one began to charge too much and I felt she lacked knowledge on locs. My new Loctician told me though my parts are excellent, my locs look like sisterlocs. My question is what size is are sister locs really? How can you tell? I felt my locs were bigger than that but now I’m not so sure.

Thank you for reading my blog. As a Sisterlock Consultant, I can tell you that Sisterlocks range in size from micro size which are about the size of spaghetti noodles to “large” which can be slightly smaller than pencil size. Typically as the locs mature they swell to about the size of the partings so if your parts are about pencil width or larger, your locs should reach that size. Keep in mind that is a general estimate and depends on your texture and hair density.

[…] milestone for me personally because it is the longest I’ve ever had locs, if you can remember I cut my Sisterlocks just shy of 2 years. I celebrated my “half of five locversary” by taking lots of […]

[…] to cut my Sisterlocks and start over with Traditional Locs and I share more in my video “Top 5 Reasons Why I Cut My Sisterlocks”. Also, if you are interested in more information about the styling, sizing, and product choices […]

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