I’ve never been one to have a perfect hairline. Even as a child, the edges around my crown were pretty finicky. Once puberty set in, I used acne creams that proved harmful to my hairline and that, coupled with a few sessions of ridiculously tight hair extensions, damaged my hairline and it hasn’t been quite the same since.
When you know better, do better
Needless to say, these days I’m very fearful of putting too much pressure on the sisterlocks that grace my edges. Since my installation just over 8 weeks ago, my latest assault to my hairline has been my trusted workout headband.
I work out 3-4 times a week. Since my skin is still pretty acne-prone, I wear 3 inch headbands to prevent hair products from running down my face. They work great for that purpose, but continued use caused slippage around the entire base of my head. Sadly, some of the sisterlocks completely broke off due to the added moisture and manipulation.
So, here I am just 3 days after my 8-week reti and I’ve decided to retire the workout bands. The only “products” I use in my hair these days are Thayer’s Witch Hazel with Aloe and pure jojoba oil and so far, I haven’t had an acne flare up, nor have a lost a sisterlock. Now, I use thin, elastic bands that serve to only keep the hair from falling in my face.
Preserving the hairline
I typically either twist or braid my hair at night and take it down the next morning. I’ve limited this as well as I attempt to ensure that these newly reinstalled “edge babies” make it to the next reti. I also purchased a bottle of Jamaican Castor Oil to see if that will help regrow my edges. The fact that new GRAY hair is coming in (Lawd today) is a good sign that my hairline hasn’t been permanently damaged.
Have you had problems with slippage around your hairline? How did you combat it?
Loving My Roots 
Glad you’re seeing better results. What’s an 8 week reti? I might be interested. I didn’t know what sister locks were until I saw the pic.
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Thanks! I’ve had my sisterlocks about 10 weeks now. The “reti” refers to the retightening process that you must go through every 4-6 weeks to loc any new growth.
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Ohhh ok. I thought maybe they were injections to regrow hair. I’ve had those. Good luck!
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I’m loving your blog..can’t wait to see where you journey takes you 🙂
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[…] the perfect workout style. I had to stop wearing the thick workout headbands because they trapped in the moisture and caused slippage around my hairline. Earlier this week, I was laying down at the yoga studio, just before class […]
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[…] stopped oiling my scalp as frequently after I lost so many locs the first 2 months, but my scalp became itchy and dry again. So, I’m back to my normal […]
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I had some slip out at my 3rd reti. I realized I was forgetting to put barrettes on those that do not fit in my braids. My loctician also combined a few at the hairline to improve stylability.
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I had a few combined at the hairline as well. It’s just not strong enough to support the tiny locs.
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[…] I do hot yoga and martial arts a couple of times a week. Both of which cause an enormous amount of sweating in my head. But I stopped wearing headbands and scarves a few months ago when the locs around the crown of my […]
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Hello, I am glad to have found this blog because I had my installation done almost exactly two weeks ago and one of the things I was made aware that I had dandruff. Great. I was also told that we needed to figure out how to get rid of it. The thing that really sucks is that I know that I shouldn’t be putting oil in my hair but its because of my dry scalp from no longer moisturizing that the whole dry scalp situation became a situation. So far I have been trying Listerine on my scalp (seemed to work but I also think I did it wrong since i put it in before I shampooed instead of after so will need to try this again before my first retightening. sigh. I sense an epic battle coming (and I dont think that I will be the winner).
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Thanks for following, Marce. I thought my dry scalp would last forever. It was embarrassing. But, just weeks after I started the pure jojoba oil and witch hazel regimen, my scalp had no more signs of itchy, dry scalp.
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