First off, it’s not because I’m cheap! LOL! However, I’ll be the first to say that it’s definitely a money saver IF you actually save the money! Hellooooo!

It’s really quite simple why I became a DIY’er. Not to knock the skills of some well trained cosmetologist  and locticians in and around the city of Detroit, but frankly, I got tired of making time in my schedule and room in my budget to pay someone to oftentimes miss the mark with my expectations. Back in my press and curl days with my last beautician, I began to notice that the end result of my hair was dependent upon what time of day my appointment was and what she had personally going on her life. Meaning, if I were her first appointment of the day and we both arrived at the shop on time I was more than satisfied with the results. On the other hand, if I caught her in the middle or end of her day or if she had plans for the evening, she would rush through my hair–which I was glad to be finished fast–but the quality of my hair style suffered.  As much as I enjoyed the relationship I had with her–she was a riot to talk to–I knew I deserved better service on a consistent basis. Therefore I decided to take the care of my hair into my own hands.

By the time I began considering locking my hair in 2009 I was already accustomed to maintaining my own hair. Therefore, it was imperative that the method I chose to loc my hair be one that I could maintain on my own. For me, this automatically ruled out the single strand twist method and the gazillion $$$ pricetagged Sisterlocks! Double strand twist method, it was. Nevertheless, even as a DIY’er, I would still need a professional loctician in my pocket.

So, like I said, I started my locs with two(double) strand twists. Within the first two years of locking, I visited three loctitians. One was good and fast but her cost was too high and I couldn’t really connect with her on a personal level. The second one, I really liked but at the time she was working out of her home and and working a fulltime job, which made it quite maddening trying to get on her schedule because I was one who liked to make appointments the week of when I wanted the service. Then, when she did open her shop, the success skyrocketted to her head and she developed this attitude that it was my pleasure for her to maintain my hair. NOT! The last loctician I gave a chance would have lasted longer had she not been  TOTALLY inconsiderate of my time by not giving me a courtesy phone call when she was running like two hours behind schedule! Not to mention some new product she was started using was damaging my hair. UNACCEPTAPLE.

None of this is to say that I’ll never visit a loctician or beautician again. There’s still a small need for their services in my life: styling and coloring. I refuse to mess with chemicals! But those times are few and far in between. With the plethora of loc styling tutorials on YouTube and other maintenance tips along with a little practice and patience, I’m sure I’ll be a DIY’er for life!

Are you? I’d love to hear your story.