Hello, Friends! Not long after my last blog post, I felt compelled to ask for referrals from Facebook friends and work colleagues. I needed my reti (NOW), and I did not want to reach out, again, to my consultant. Her last communication, on April 24th, stated that she would “not reopen immediately” after the state granted permission for salons to reopen on May 5th. More importantly, she was clear that she would not consider an opening date until she could “assure the safety of all clients, my family, and myself.”

I’m not the pushy type; I didn’t want to continue to text her, repeatedly asking for a date…what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained. She wants to prioritize her family’s safety. I understand, I really do. Having small children and protecting them should be her most pressing concern as a parent. As an individual who has invested thousands of dollars on the maintenance of my locs, I also want to protect my investment. This meant facing my current reality: I needed to find another loctician to care for my locs.

During one of our daily chats, my cousin, Randy (who also has Brotherlocks) and I decided that we did not want to continue to wait indefinitely for our next reti; we both have the same loctician. So, I reached out, and one of my friends referred me to her new loctician. My friend was recently established and thought I might like her. She gave me her contact information and the rest is…history.

As I think back on my decision to transfer to a new loctician, a few things stand out to me about Daphne @ http://www.bittylocs.com:

1) Daphne has an established local business in Memphis and has done business in Georgia. Her local business is thriving; its centrally located in the city, and 20 minutes closer to my home.

2) Daphne’s website was easy to follow, services were clearly ordered with pricing. Her pricing was on par with my last loctician, with multiple payment options.

3) Daphne’s booking system offers the client control of the date, time, and type of service, along with email confirmations and text reminders. I am not a “diva,” but I am a busy, working professional, and I need you to communicate well with me. She was “bout her business.”

4) Daphne followed up, via text message, prior to the day of service; she communicated well throughout my initial inquiries and the days leading up to my reti appointment. This is the type of responsiveness that I expected and needed to shift my coinage.

5) Daphne wanted to “see what she was working with,” so she asked for pictures of my hair prior to the consult. Easy for a blogger and regular selfie taker like me. 🥰

6) Daphne has a clean, aromatherapy-infused, personalized salon space which offers client privacy, direct access to a restroom, and close proximity to a shampoo station where my locs were thoroughly cleansed amid a soothing hot steam shampoo.

7) Daphne takes her time to ensure that every single loc is retightened. Her conversation is genuine, peppered with humor, and it was a pleasure getting to know her as she worked her magic on my locs-which were in a serious state of some much-needed love after 13 weeks and 93 days.

Here are the pictures I sent to Daphne (don’t judge me 🤣):

I learned a couple of new things about my hair care from Daphne:

1) The bunching at the ends of my locs (especially in the back) makes it a challenge (and uncomfortable for me) to retighten some sections of my hair. The bunching was not controlled by the consultant who established my locs after a year of retis, nor was it discussed, as a concern worth correcting, during the three years spent with my previous loctician. During my initial consultation and visit with Daphne, her assessment of my locs was the first time I knew this “condition” has a name and a “cure.” We’ll work on unbunching my loc ends over time.

2) Retightening my hair while damp/wet eases my reti discomfort; I’m “tender-headed.” 😫 However, once my hair fully dries after a retightening, the loc base expands, which causes follicles to pull out and break. White follicle bulbs were present in my locs. We will watch this overtime. I will continue to feed my body and hair extra supplements and more hydration to help keep my scalp and locs healthy and strong.

My cousin, Randy, saw Daphne for his reti the day before me. His 96-day drought ended on May 12th:

The very next day, May 13th, Daphne greeted me at the salon door with a big smile and a hug. My 93-day reti drought finally ended. Here are pictures of my fresh reti:

Y’all see all those silvery strands? The gray is slowly creeping in…at 51, I have no intentions of coloring my gray. My mom’s hair is totally silver. We shall see…

The shots below also are post-reti pictures using a different camera:

I haven’t taken very many cute selfies since my last reti, but you know me…I’ll be back! 😘