Product Review by Abena

Paul Mitchell Generic Line: Conditioner

I am truly amazed by this product. After I wash my hair with IC Fantasia 100% Green Tea Shampoo, and then put some of the Paul Mitchell Generic: Detangler I am ready for the conditioner. Now you have to understand I have always been ANTI- generic anything but I tried this product and my locks have never felt lighter and actually fluffy and they even bounce around a lot....I am loving it. I am going to also try one of Paul Mithcell Generic brand Shampoo and I will let you know how well it works in conjuction with the Conditioner.

I hope this was helpful :)

*Product purchased at Sally Beauty Supply

"Breaking News" Chosen Vessel almost cut her Sisterlocks off!! YIKES!!!

Photo taken: 2/14/2010 (6 Years and 7 months locked)

Ok ladies, the news that I was talking about with my Sisterlocks was I was going to get them cut off and start wearing my hair natural (TWA). Why, because I am a ZEALOT!!! and thank God for my husband who sat down and had a longggg talk with me (gave me the reasons why I should keep my locks). He said your hair is SO beautiful and I don't want you to cut it but if you decide to after this talk I will support you. Thank God for that MAN because I know I would have regreted it.

Why am I still sharing this with all of you? I could have made the decision and not shared it with any of you and you would not have ever known that I was considering cutting my locks but I am posting this because I hope that it helps someone who may be considering cutting their locks. Please, please, please do not make a decision until you have weighed the pros and cons, prayed about it, and intensly considered the alternatives.

Cons for my hair: (Hence the reasons why I was considering the BIG CHOP)

1. Friz, FRIZ, and MORE FRIZ...as you can see, I hate the friz but you know what I can learn to live with it. I have also been researching products that may help with this.

2. Length- it sometimes gets in the way, but once again, I can live with this. I actually ALWAYS wanted long hair, so I don't know WHAT my problem is...SMH....

3. Patches of new growth in between locks even after a retightening. NOW this gets on my NERVES!!!!! BUT...I am going to work with my Locktician to hopefuly resolve this issue, if not, oh well, my hair is not going to be perfect even though I am so anal that I want it to be :( JUST BEING REAL...LOL

Pros for my hair:
1. Easy maintenance.
2. Healthy.
3. Great growth.
4. Fits me and my personality.
5. I LOVE my BRAID-OUTS and ROLLER-SETS!
6. Inexpensive.
7. Easy to manage.
8. My husband LOVES it!!!
9. It is natural, no chemicals.
10.I can style it various ways (I just haven't tried many yet, but I will..stay tuned for a post entitled "Sisterlock Hair Show"
11. I love my Loctician.
and on and on and on...when I think about all of this I know I would have regretted cutting my locks....did I already say, I would have regretted it?

In summary:

My husband reminded me of all of the things I HATED about my permed hair, getting braids, natural hair, pony tails, etc. and I SNAPPED out of it quickly. My Sisterlock pilgrimage has been almost, PERFECT, now who could ask for anything more. I think I just got bored and wanted a big change but now I am learning to fall in love with my locks again AND I am going to take them to ANOTHER level by researching more product options, hair jewelry, hair accessories, and maybe even color so all is well with Chosen Vessel and her locks.

I hope this post was helpful and thank you ladies for all of your support over the years and thank you for following my blog and going on this journey with me, I truly appreciate it.

P.S. One more thing, I was in the beauty supply looking for products to prepare for cutting my locks and I struck up a conversation with an AA lady who still has a perm but trying to transition to natural hair and when I told her that I was going to cut my locks she said LOUDLY..ARE YOU CRAZY!!! Your hair is beautiful....then she said all of us Sista's trying to get that length and you are about to cut it...CRAZY...and then she just shook her head and walked to the counter and started telling everyone look at her hair and she is going to cut it...SMH...ok....OK!!!

Spotlight by Abena "Black Hairstyles Magazine"

Hey ladies, check out a new "Black Hairstyles Magazine" on the internet that highlights Black Hairstyles and includes Sisterlocks :)

Click here or copy & paste: http://www.black-hairstyles-magazine.com/sisterlocks.html

Lock update: 6 years, 7 months

Greetings ladies, well I am finally getting around to posting a current photo of my locks. I have reached 6 years and 7 months and I can hardly believe it. My hair is so long that I don't know what to do with it..."Boy I never thought those words would be coming out of my mouth (smile)." I have been contemplating some decisions regarding my locks but I will update you all soon. I hope all is well with you and your hair....Happy Locking!!!

~ Sisterlocks, braid-out, with head wrap~

2/2/2010

Natural Hair: "Why did you get Locks or Go Natural"

Ladies, I know I have been a way for a while but think I am back and in full effect :) Ok, now, the questions:

1. Why did you decide to get locks or go natural?

2. How long have you had locks or been natural?

3. What are some tips you have for women who are considering locks and/or going natural?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! HAPPY NEW DECADE!!!

Sisterlock length- "6 years 1 month August 2009"

Sisterlock and head wrap- "6 years 5 months December 2009" It's been a while, a long while, and I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I am at my 6 1/2 year mark with my Sisterlocks and I really cannot believe I have had locks for 6 1/2 years, WOW!! I hope everyone and their locks are doing well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! HAPPY NEW DECADE!!!

By Madison ParkCNN

(CNN) -- Divorce causes more than bitterness and broken hearts. The trauma of a split can leave long-lasting effects on mental and physical health that remarriage might not repair, according to research released this week.

Research shows health differences between people who are married and those who have gone through a divorce.

"People who lose a marriage take such damage to their health," said Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois.
Waite and co-author Mary Elizabeth Hughes, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people. They also have 23 percent more mobility limitations, such as trouble climbing stairs or walking a block.
Their article, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, examined the marital history and health indicators for 8,652 middle-aged people in research funded by the National Institute on Aging. The authors found differences between the overall health of those who remain married and those who divorce.

Almost half of all U.S. marriages end in divorce, according to the National Institutes of Health.

"Losing a marriage or becoming widowed or divorced is extremely stressful," Waite said. "It's financially, sometimes, ruinous. It's socially extremely difficult. What's interesting is if people have done this and remarried, we still see, in their health, the scars or marks -- the damage that was done by this event.

Divorced people "have more chronic conditions, more mobility limitations, rate their health as poorer than people like them in age, race, gender, education who've been married once and are still married," Waite said.

Previous research has suggested that marriage has protective health benefits by providing financial, social and emotional stability.
Married women have more financial security, which means better access to health care and reduced stress, Waite said.

"Married men have better health habits," she said in comparison to single males. "They lead a cleaner, healthier life, and less times in bars and eat better. Women tend to manage men's interactions with the medical system, get him in for colonoscopy and make sure they get flu shot."
Mark Hayward, director of the Population Research Center and a professor of sociology Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, said spouses check up on each other's needs. They remind each other about when to go see a doctor, a dentist or when to get a medical issue checked out.

"You're making decisions together about your lifestyle and investing in a future together," said Hayward, who was not involved in the latest research. But in a similar study, he found that divorce has a lasting impact on cardiovascular diseases, even after remarriage. His 2006 study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, found that divorced middle-aged women were 60 percent more likely to have cardiovascular disease than middle-aged women who remain married.

"There's no erasure of the effects of divorce," Hayward said. "There is intense stress leading up to divorce, stresses during divorce proceedings. Think of divorce as one of the most intense stressors. It leads to what we call dysregulation [impairment] in key cardiovascular process that may be permanently altered. You're not going back to your original set point."
Both genders suffer irreversible, detrimental effects on their health after losing marriage through a divorce or death of a spouse, according to the findings.

Those who did not remarry after a divorce or a spouse's death showed deficits in mental and physical health. Waite called this the "double whammy" because they don't get the protective effects of marriage and have gone through a "damaging, health-destroying experience."
They had worse health indicators than people who never married and therefore "didn't get the goods and didn't get the bads," Waite said.
People who remarried had better health than those who did not.
"If you loved and lost, did you find love again?" Waite said. "The people who did are doing better." But this group overall showed health deficits compared to those who remained married.

OT: Looking at the "Other Man" in the Mirror

Written by Pastor Miles McPherson

The impact of the death of Michael Jackson was felt around the world. People have reacted with shock, tears and dancing in the streets. While allusions to the dark side of Michael's life were put on the back burner during the time of mourning, the tabloids are now full of speculation and allegations that range from drug addiction to murder. This has also been the case with Steve McNair, a former National Football League most valuable player. Although shot by his mistress while he lay asleep on the couch, the quarterback has been praised as a hero and family man.Though we like to remember the accomplishments of a person's public life, it is often the drama of their private lives, the exploits of the “Other Man” in the mirror, that brings us down and can ultimately kill us. The Other Man in the mirror is the version of ourselves no one wants to talk about. He is bent on self-destruction and is determined to discredit the man that the public loves.I will venture to say that while the public Michael Jackson was entertaining us, the Other Man in the mirror was torturing him.We thought he was so beautiful but the Other Man convinced him he was ugly.

Michael gave us so much joy, but the Other Man beat him up inside everyday. Though he generated enough revenue to support a small country, the Other Man tried to bankrupt him. While we watched Michael dance, sing and push creativity past its limits, I wonder if it was the false promises and threats of the Other Man that drove him into the ground. The Other Man isolated Jackson from the people who really loved and wanted to save him. He surrounded Michael with those who catered to the desires of his flaws and ultimately killed him. I doubt that all of the years of hard work, dancing and performing ever gave Michael what he was really looking for. I have a feeling that we, the public, got more out of Michael's life than he did.Some people would say that Michael's fame and riches are what ruined him. But in reality, money doesn't ruin people; it just gives them the option of becoming more of who they really are. Michael's fame and power simply gave the Other Man access to the resources to supply his pain with whatever it begged for.We all have our own version of the Other Man in the mirror, and he has the same agenda as Michael's. He seeks to self-justify, kill and destroy you. When you wish to do good, he talks you out of it. When someone tries to help you, he accuses them of being your enemy.His handiwork in our lives is evident.

Fast forward your secret behaviors, and if it destroys a part of your entire life; chances are it's him. Fast forward your relationships, and see where you end up.Your funeral is coming, and let me tell you, the Other Man is planning it. Your friends and family will speak well of you, but unless you deal with him now and die on your terms, the Other Man will be claiming “mission accomplished.”If you don't deal with him now, you may be his next victim.Who is your Other Man?

"Spotlight" by Abena {Your thoughts on this video}

"Spotlight" by Abena {Your thoughts on this video}