My Water don't Mix with My Shampoo!

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Do you notice that your Sisterlocks are dull and your scalp is dry even after you've shampooed, conditioned and oiled it! Well ladies, your water could very well be the cause. Households, depending on what area you live in, will have whats called "hard water". This hard water affects how your shampoo works, how your hair feels and how long your color lasts. It even makes your scalp itchy and dry. What causes it? The chlorine, fluoride,calcium and mineral deposits in the water.
See, when you use water to clean anything, the surface tension of the water must be reduced in order for the water to spread and penetrate the hair. What causes the water to spread and penetrate is called a "surfactant". If this wasn't added, water would stay beaded up on the surface of the hair and would not be able to wash away the dirt and grease from our hair. SOAP is a natural surfactant. Detergents, which were made at the beginning of the 20 century, are synthetic surfactants that are found in most shampoos today. I hear your question"So why did we switch from natural soap to detergents?"The reason why the detergents are more preferable is because they react less to the mineral deposits in the hard water and are easily washed away; real soap forms a film when used with hard water.
Hard water makes the scales along the hairs' shaft stand up; therefore, it is quite difficult to wash the soap out of the hair. Moreover, the use of conditioners are now needed to smooth the scales and reduce the roughness of the hair. Look at your favorite shampoo right now! Go on! Does the ingredients list include: Sodium Lauryl sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES), Ammonium Lauryl Sulphate (ALS)? These are petrochemicals and although they do not react with hard water, they don't form the lather that we crave when we shampoo our hair either. Thus, a booster is added to give US THAT RICH LATHER THAT WE LOVE!

You can request a free test kit for your home by contacting Diamond Crystal water softening products. Consumers can call (800) 428-4244 for the free kit, which includes an easy-to-use test strip, a coupon for a free bag of water softening salt, and other helpful information.

In the mean time you could either collect rain water to wash your hair or make an acid rinse to restore the pH balance of your hair. To make the acid rinse, use about a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to 8 ounces of water or the juice from a whole lime to 8ounces of water; put the mix in a spray bottle and spray it on your hair until it is completely saturated. This will take off any film from product build up or the residue from the reaction of the soap and hard water. It will also close the cuticle layer so the shampoo and debri can rinse away from the hair easily. Your hair will be softer and shiner as a result!

Smell Good Sisterlocks !

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Book of Esther chpt-2 v-12
King James Bible
*Before a girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics.

Now, I know we don't have twelve months to get ready for a date let alone husbands and such, but we could at least try to implement some extra special grooming time to our Sisterlocks(tm). I have researched different perfume oils that were used in Ancient Egypt and in biblical times. Putting the fragance oils in your hair instead of on your body will make the scent you use last longer. So if you do have great locks, that's good, but considering topping off that great style with an exotic fragrance that's all your own. Try mixing two different fragrances to personalize your scent. I mix about four different oils;two are essential oils and two are frangance oils for my particular scent. I get a kick out hearing my husband say he knows where I've been because of my special scent. Give your Sisterlocks(tm) a treat! Turn heads not just with a great Sisterlocks(tm) hairstyle, but stop him in his tracks with beautiful smelling hair.Not sure of what to use?
Scents to consider are

• florals like- jasmine, lotus, lavender, neroli( this fragrance is off the hook expensive but good.
• spicy like-ginger, clove, anise,
• sweet like-vanilla, amber, tahitian vanilla,orange essential oil, tangerine essential oil

Oils that work great together are :

neroli & orange

rose& vanilla

ginger& lotus

anise essential & orange essential

clove & vanilla

rosewood & lavendar

Also some pre-blended fragrances that smell really good are :

• Dutch chocolate,- very chocolatey sweet like real chocolate, sometimes I wear it alone or mix it with tahitian vanilla
• grapefruit & sage, - has a citrus herby smell. This mixes well with peppermint
• bayrum, -I very strong could be masuline for feminine scent. This is great with sandalwood and orange
• citrus linen- just smells like clean fresh laundry. I mix it with grapefruit and sage.
• sandlewood- very smooth woodsy scent. I blend with orange and even a little dutch chocolate too!

Just to name a few. These combination can be mixed in a ratio of 1:1 except when using strong scents like clove then you should use a ratio 2:1 or even 3:1. I always use a drop of vanilla in my combination because it helps to "blend" the oils that I'm mixing together.

As for where to get the oils, I buy most of my fragrance oils from "The Scent Shack". This company has some of the best smelling fragrances I have ever used. From this company you can purchase them in sizes of 1. oz to 16 ounces. There oils are never bitter smelling, and the oils are high quality. As for the essential oils I get them from the "NOW" company. The essential oils usually come size of.5 and up to2.oz sizes

Don't Hate!

Whew! Can I say I'm tired! I have been reading blogs and discussions pertaining to SL's and I didn't realize that there was so much "hate" goin on. I have even read where she testified in court saying that the technique originated in Africa thousands of years ago. That may or may not be true,but I don't think that has anything to do with the business she has created today. Other sistahs have clearly been "inspired" by the concept that Dr. C has brought to the forefront. Back in 93 when she hit the scene, nobody was "latchin" locks and makin tools as they are now. In my opinion, these same inventors are just trying to emulate the SL look. But don't through salt in the game. Give credit where it's due! If I were Dr. C I would be doing the same thing "mindin my business" and protecting my brand. I have been asked by other stylist to show them the SL technique or buy the tools for them and have said flat out no! Go take the course. I was almost fired from a salon job for not showing the owner the technique, and he told me, "I hired you because I thought you be an asset to my company but it seems as though your in this for your self!" Know what kind mess is this! I know it's about free enterprise, but how many of us are taking time out to down to the Library of Congress, obtain copies of course material to duplicate the companies concept? What you should be doing is investigating what these manufacturers are putting in our food that giving women ovarian and breast cancer. But we have time to investigate other ways short changing or under cutting someone's' business. Am I an advocate for SL! Yes!! To it's are all pros no "cons" to the method, and I thank Dr. C for having the wherewithal to bring this "ancient technique" to our attention. I guess you can tell that I am hot about this. I just feel that it's wrong for a company to copycat another and claim that they didn't get the idea from that company. Even the person that this particular company got to testify on there behalf was a SL wearer herself and its funny too cause when I asked her if she was wearing SL's she said no, these are BLAH,BLAh, BLAh! The joke is that when I took my training she was one of the models that came in to show the class how SL's looked. And another thing, stop complaining about the price. Why do we do this to each other? Being a woman, I know that when I want something and feel that have to have it, I will do what I have to do to get it. SL's are not expensive, it's just how much "you" feel should be spent on your hair. Japanese hair straightening cost on average $600 dollars, andI bet those people who are having that done are not spending there time looking for ingredients to whip up the formula themselves! Do you get what I'm sayin? They appreciate the service and the expertise of the person doing the hair and after 4 hours of work, the stylist gets $600 dollars . Now what do we get after 12, 14, 20 hours worth of work? Complaints about price! Unbelievable. I personally feel this is the casualty of making the course available to everyone, but that's for another post! Hey I love my people; don't get me wrong. But just because we stylist are doing "natural" hair doesn't mean our work shouldn't be respected for the outstanding work that we do!. And how do you show respect? Come on, you know how! By paying with a smile on your face and a thankful heart that's how!