6 Powerful Tips To Care For Your Starter Sisterlocks

So you've started your sisterlocks? 

Welcome to the club!

Starter sisterlocks is the beginning of a beautiful journey where you feel comfortable and liberated with your hair. 

They also look fantastic, but not without some legwork from you until they mature.

Sisterlocks, like most loc styles, are pretty low maintenance.

However, the maintenance and care for sisterlocks differ greatly from loose natural hair and in some cases, even traditional locs.

There are quite a few things you need to know to help you care for your starter sisterlocks in a way that ensures they will mature into healthy locks in the future.

1. Set A Regimen and Stick to It

Sisterlocks are a very particular style of loc that must be established by and should be maintained by a licensed Sisterlock consultant/stylist/loctician. 

The method is patented.

Attempting to maintain your sisterlocks at home might lead to disruption in your grid pattern or adjustments to the method used to maintain the locs. 

This is often frowned upon and can move your sisterlocks from the sisterlock into the microlock category, but that is a conversation for another time. 

When you have your sisterlocks installed/established, it is customary to discuss how often you should wash and retighten your locks with your loctician.

Many locticians recommend retightening every 4-6 weeks.

If you think you’ll need to wash your hair within that span, be sure to discuss the appropriate frequency with your loctician. 

Once you set your schedule, stick to it.

Waiting longer between retightenings and/or washes can lead to undue matting, tangling, and breakage.

2. Wash and Dry Your Hair Properly

If you’re washing your starter sisterlocks at home in between retightening appointments, you want to make sure that you are doing it properly. 

What does washing properly mean?

Washing properly means banding your hair before washing. Banding starter sisterlocks is key to avoiding slippage—the ends of the locks unraveling. 

Banding defined

To band your locks, you are going to section your hair into even sections based on your grid pattern and band 5-10 sisterlocks together using two to three hair ties per section depending on how many locks you have.

You will repeat this process as many times as necessary so that all of your locks are sectioned off and banded. 

What does drying properly mean? 

Drying your starter sisterlocks properly means air drying or blow drying your hair until each section of your sisterlocks is completely dry. 

You want to avoid going to sleep with wet locks because it could lead to your hair drying unevenly, which can lead to the formation of mold or mildew in your hair over a while.

Not only does that smell, cause itching and discomfort, but it can be difficult to expel from your starter sisterlocks and require premature detoxing. 

3. Stay Hydrated and Eat A Balanced Diet

If this is your first set of locs/ sisterlocks, this may seem like a silly thing to mention. However, much like abs, moisturized and healthy hair starts in the kitchen.

Drinking water helps your entire body including your scalp and hair follicles to be moisturized leading to healthy, shiny, and naturally moisturized hair strands and ultimately shiny and healthy sisterlocks. 

Start by drinking the recommended eight glasses of water daily. 

Eating a diet that is rich in protein, zinc, biotin, vitamins B and C, and omega-3 fatty acids will support your healthy hair growth and healthy sisterlocks. 

What does a healthy diet for hair growth look like*? 

• Proteins such as eggs, lean meats, dairy or soy (tofu) 
• Zinc sources such as seafood, fortified cereals, nuts, and beef
• Biotin from eggs and avocados
• Vitamins B and C from Spinach and berries. 

This is merely an example. A healthy diet can be cultivated using plant-based sources of these vitamins and supplements as well. 

If you aren’t sure that you can achieve a truly balanced diet be sure to supplement to ensure that your body has all of the vitamins and nutrients needed to cultivate a healthy scalp and ultimately, healthy sisterlocks.

4. Focus on Low-Tension Styling

This tip actually applies to your overall sisterlock journey but is especially crucial for your starter sisterlocks.

You want to avoid styles that require you to pull on your locks unnecessarily or wrap them tightly.

These styles, if done regularly, can lead to breakage—the breaking off locks—and/or thinning at the root or in the middle of locks from styling tools like rubber bands or elastics. 

It is best to avoid any high-tension styles for the first 6-12 months of having your locks. Why wait  6-12 months?

Because as your sisterlocks mature, they will bud and become stronger. That increased strength makes your hair less likely to break or thin with manipulation. 

Nevertheless, keeping your styling regimen to mostly low-tension styles and saving your fancier potentially high-tension styles for special occasions is advisable throughout your entire sisterlock journey.

This is especially true if you want to prioritize health for your sisterlocks.

5. Stay Away from Color (For Now)

In the beginning phases of your sisterlock journey, you should prioritize maintaining the integrity of your locs. What does that mean? 

The integrity of your locks means the strength and condition of each individual lock and the hair as a whole. To achieve some hair colors, one needs to strip or bleach your hair. 

Stripping and/or bleaching your loose natural hair can compromise its integrity, but you can see the damage instantly or over a short period. It can also be addressed with color-focused conditioning treatments.

However, with sisterlocks with color, these coloring agents can become trapped in the shaft of the locks and you aren’t guaranteed to be able to wash it out properly. This is especially harmful to starter sisterlocks as they have not fully locked yet.

 Several unfortunate things can happen:

• Your curl pattern can loosen leading your locks to slacken and slip

• The trapped pigment can eat away at your coils from the inside out and result in thinning

• Your hair won’t color evenly

• Conditioning treatments for sisterlocks are not usually formulated to address color damage resulting in chronically unhealthy sisterlocks that will have to be grown out and eventually cut off. 

6. Avoid Lint at all Costs

Lint is the arch nemesis of any loc-wearer. Although sisterlocks tend to be quite smaller than traditional locs, they are NOT immune from lint. 

Lint is small pieces of fiber and fabric that can stick to your hair and be impossible to remove. This occurs while we are getting dressed, wearing a winter scarf or a coat with a collar. Those are the sometimes unavoidable bits of lint that are just part in parcel of having locs of any kind.

Use products like our BLCK LUX Detox Cleanser. It can help you get rid of that extra lint before you wash your hair.

Before You Go...

However, there are several things you can do to combat lint or limit the potential of getting lint in your starter sisterlocks:

• When wearing a winter coat or a non-silk scarf, try to tie your hair up or out of the way. Perhaps, tuck it into a satin/or silk-lined hat or headwrap.

• When you’re at home, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, get your silk/satin bonnet on IMMEDIATELY. Don’t lay on couches, throw pillows, your bed, linens, and/or your rug or carpet without a head covering. 

• When getting dressed, cover your hair with a silk/ satin bonnet or scarf before putting clothes on overhead to avoid snagging or pulling that would impart lint on your hair.

• If you have a pet, their fur or dander can also get trapped in your hair. Cover or tie your hair up and out of the way as much as possible to avoid the transfer of fur or dander into your hair. If you do notice any transfer, try to wash vigorously to avoid it permanently attaching to your hair.

If you have scalp or hair thinning issues, consider seeing a doctor or specialist. For instance, Dr. Ife Rodney is the nation's leading hair and scalp expert (she also has sisterlocks). Her practice, Eternal Dermatology and Aesthetics, is located in the Washington DC / DMV area."

 

Use these six tips and your starter sisterlocks will be off to the start of a healthy and beautiful sisterlock journey.