Name: Alexcia Where are you from: Spanish Town, Jamaica
How long have you been natural?: Since January 2008 (3.5 years)
1. Why did you decide to do sister locks and what inspired your recent hair cut/color?
Well the decision was a process. I went away to school, couldn’t find a hairdresser to maintain my cut (think Halle Berry in swordfish + 2 inch bangs) so I found a barber and told him to “G.I. Jane me” (see pic 1)
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| shaved head |
Next I started looking at natural hairstyles. I even decided to colour my hair and I would wear it in chiney bumps or an afro (see pics 2&3).
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Chiney bumps 8 months after G.I. Jane
*editors note: Chiney bumps are also know as “Bantu Knots in the U.S. |
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| 1 year after G.I. Jane |
I’m all thumbs so anything which required styling imput from me was out so I started to look at locs.
I really liked the bigger locs at first but then a friend of mine got sisterlocs and I saw that they were really pretty and didn’t require a lot of products in the starter phase.
So a year after I chopped all my hair off I got sisterlocs and after that I continued to experiment with colour (see pic 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d). N.B. I’m the worst person to ask about “proper” sisterlocs care because I broke every rule and instruction I was given about caring for my sisterlocs. LOL!
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| 1 week with Sisterlocs |
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| 3 months with Sisterlocs |
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| 13 months with Sisterlocs |
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| 20 months with Sister locs |
All it takes for me to change my hair is boredom. Hence my recent haircut was to shave a section of one side of my head. I wanted to do something that nobody else had done (pic 5 & 6 at the end).
2. Is there a special way to maintain your locks? If so how often do you do this?
Nothing special, I just retighten them myself whenever it grows out enough that I can put my index finger through the new growth. I wash it with shampoos and conditioners targeted to dry or curly hair. And I sometimes use some type of moisturizing product if my hair feels dry.
3. Let’s talk about one of you most recent trips and your haircare regimen during! (feel free to name some of your favorite products) and did you have to do anything differently for your regimen while traveling?
I generally do the same things whether I’m travelling or not which consists of washing it (I like Aussie Moist shampoo and conditioner and Pantene Curly Hair series shampoo and conditioner) and then moisturizing it if it feels dry (I like Ion Intense Hydration, Ion Deep Repair Leave in Treatment and any coconut oil pomades). I usually apply the pomades when my hair is slightly damp, it seems to retain moisture that way and I always just let my hair air dry.
4. What about what you did for nighttime?
Went to sleep. Lol.
5. Have you been out swimming at all? If so how did you prepare your hair?
If I’m going to the beach I really don’t prepare my hair in any special way but afterwards I make sure to wash it with my regular shampoos and conditioners.
6. How do you wear your hair while you are on a plane ride?
How I normally wear it – usually just out.
7. What are some complements you get on your hair while traveling (and around town)?
People love the colour, the length, the shaved off side, the size of the locs.
8. What do you love about being natural? What annoys you?
I love that:
- My hair is always done.
- My hair no longer has a “Caution when wet” label.
- I can take care of my hair on my own.
It annoys me that it takes me hours to retighten myself but I’m too much of a control freak to let anyone else do it for me. (That isn’t really my hair annoying me – that’s just me being odd. LOL.)
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| Shaved side-2.5 years with Sister locs |
Where do you recomend I go in Brooklyn NY to sha e o e side of my hair. I plan on getting sisterlocs with one side shaved. The regular barbers I’m going to are not very creative.
Hi Gloria,
Have you check out YELP? I used the site for find a hairstylist in my current city.