Thinning Sisterlocks (Alopecia) & Does it Make Sense
6:17 PM |
| Example of my stickies |
For example, I was walking in the Mall the other day, and a young lady asked me if I had sisterlocks. I answered yes. Then she asked to touch them and I let her. Then followed the next dreaded question. Why the locks in the front are so short? Does your sisterlocks snap easily? Usually I lie and say, my side was damaged and those are hairs that are growing back. Sometime I don't even bother lying and say, yes they did snap, but that was due to alopecia. Then they start to ask why I got them so small, especially knowing I have alopecia.
When I decided to get sisterlocks, I really didn't know I had alopecia. That finding came out from a visit to a dermatologist, after experiencing hair thinning again (learn more here).To be honest, even if I had known I had alopecia, I still would have gone the "standard small" route and that is because of A) Awareness - I notice a lot faster when my hair start to thin out, which cause my locks to start thinning out as well. B) I can disguise the thinning area much better due to the fullness of my locks.
If you look at my pictures in the past couple of post, do you guys even notice I have a bunch of stickies in the middle? The answer would be no, since I make sure to cover those area.
How My Current/New Growth Look Like
As you can see, they are much shorter and are growing as "newbie" locks. Notice how the area look so much different then my mature locks.
Below is how I typically wear my sisterlocks
I always have my hair part to the side to cover up my shorter locks.
8 comments
Hi Kreyola: Thank you for sharing such a sensitive issue. However, the sisterlocks snapping may have more to do with dryness. I only say this because during my first retightening session one of my sisterlocks snapped at a bud around the hairline. There was no relaxer in that lock because it was already short from my previous wig wearing. From that point on, I have vowed to put lightweight moisturizers and nourishing serums in my hair to keep it from becoming brittle. Example: a dry stick will break when bent. And yes, i know the sisterlocks teaches no products, but I know my hair and I know which products to use to not attract dirt and will not leave build up. Some people are born with a scalp that produce more oil. I am not one of them. I am going take my chances and keep my hair soft. The cheap way is to use the s-curl spray for the men. It has great ingredients in it for the price! Anyway, all hair can not be treated the same; so all locks should not fall in the same category. I will keep you posted if I moisturizing causes me any issues. Peace and blessings.
ReplyDeleteThe snapping is happening at the root and not really in the middle or at the ends of my locks. This is a sensitive issue for me, but I have to share it because it will help others.
DeleteIf your locks are too dry, you will notice you locks start to shedding excessively, which happen to me in my newbie locking stage. If I could do that stage again, I would moisturize my sisterlocks since I had color hair prior to being sisterlocked. My color hair shed almost completely off and that may have been the reason my hair is the current length now.
If your hair type is like mines, you should be fine with a little moister in your hair. Just be careful with build up and let me know if you run into any issues.
Hi Kreyola
ReplyDeletewhat is your email address? or twitter handle...need to ask you something
My twitter handle is https://twitter.com/Nubian_Queen and my email is sprevaly dot gmail dot com (space out for email crawler).
DeleteThey look beautiful! Thanks for sharing.. I'm scared to start the process cause I have noticed when my hair is dry, it sheds. I don't know what to do.. Want so bad to install...
ReplyDeleteIf your hair is dry, spraying it with water daily should help, unless your hair is colored? If your hair continues to shed, then add some type of moisturizer that doesn't cause buildup.
DeleteHi Kreyola, thanks for the great website. I have mild alopecia with 2-3 tiny bald spots behind my ears and good amount of thinning in my nape. Would it be a good idea to have sisterlocks installed with my hair in this state? Or would there be too much scalp showing to achieve that full look?
ReplyDeleteIt all depend on how small you go (not the micro size though...standard small should be fine). When your sisterlocks is first installed, some people who have thin hair in the beginning tend to show more scalp compare to someone who has thicker hair. I had very thick hair, so when I had my sisterlocks install, I had coverage (and from what you telling me about your bald spot, the coverage would have been fine. I have a picture of my sisterlocks when it was first installed after the third day. Take a look and see. If you have thin and fine hair, the coverage may not be there in the beginning but I promise it will later fill out when your lock start to mature a little. Thanks for the comment and good luck :D.
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