The age old question is are sisterlocks cheaper? Does one save more money with sisterlocks than with loose natural or permed hair. Many argue that you save money with sisterlocks.
I say yes and no its all about location and the consultant/trainee. I think it also depends on where you live. I started out with 7.5-8inches of natural hair. I was only charged $575 for my install which included a wash and style. My consultant also included 2 free washes between my first retighten just to make sure our sl were still doing well and styled my hair after my install... Afterward our follow up visit that was included in my price 4 weeks later she did a flat fee of $65 every retighten which included a wash and style. She was pretty fast so all of her clients got out in under 3.5 hours.. And if you wanted to just come in for a style and wash that was just $20.
Now, when I moved to va maintaing sl is expensive. ppl were charging $20-30 an hour and it usually takes ppl 4 plus hours to retighten my SL in va. When i was in Missouri i was use to my 2.5-3 hours retighten.... i had a trainee maintaining my sisterlocks for about 1 year and she charged a flat fee of $100. Which I could dig. But it was a far cry from my flat fee of $65... so that was an $35 increase. But I was not upset with the price. I would would rather have a flat fee then a surprise fee every month.
Now when she decided she did not want to do sisterlocks anymore I had to search again and what I found again was alarming. The prices yet again ppl in va charge a flat fee of $100 for the first 3 hours then charge $20-$50 an hour after that first 3 hour. Or they charge $20-$30 an hour and the retighten can try take up 4-6 hours.. yikes... So right there I am paying anywhere from $100- $180 a month. And no style and wash was included. So that too adds up.
I think it depends on what city/state you are in that you save money. For me, i have to go every 4 weeks. Plus my hair is very dense. So in va im paying close to $1200-1800 a year while in mo I was paying $780 a year and that included a wash and style. So basically I had a min of 12 different styles and washes...
So where a person lives will def determine if you save money... i am 2 years in and still have my sisterlocks but location will def determine how much money you will pay and microbraids/Senegalese twist are $200-$250 in virginia.
Now lets talk about loose natural hair... now when I was a loose natural I was paying about $25 every 2-4 weeks to get my loose natural hair washed and styled. Some natural hair styles were $65. For a while i was a producr junkie and i was buying everything that said natural. Lord knows how much money i forked up for miss jessie, kinky curly curling custard, oyin handmade, shea mositure, conditorers, etc. Etc. The list goes on and on. Lol.or I got Senegalese twists for half the year... when I was a relaxed sista my sew ins would cost $200 but I had to also pay for the hair and a perm was $65 every 6 weeks and a wrap with my real hair was $30 every 2 weeks. So you get the picture...
OH AND PS... I have been told in virginia that that if I wanted to start my install in va with 7.5-8inches the starting fee of an install with 3inches was $675 and every inch was an additional fee so I would have been looking at over $1000+ dollars just for an install. Also my sisterlocks are smaller than the average size small which I absolutely love and many ppl in va said they would have charged me more for my size. So ppl say they consider all of my sisterlocks to be small or micro size sisterlocks. .. some even told me that they would not have installed this small sisterlocks in my head. But one thing is for sure everyone says great things about my sisterlocks when they see them. They always say "whoever started your sisterlocks did an outstanding job and whoever was maintaining them did a great job too and the price you got them for was amazing." I will say at the time during my install my consultant at the time said she would be going up on install prices bc my hair is super doper thick. But Missouri is still cheaper and I am sure a lot of other states are cheaper than others when it comes to prices for install and prices for retighten.
Now reading this you might ask do you regret getting sisterlocks.... the answer is no, I do not regret getting sisterlocks... I still love my sisterlocks but I just wanted to give you guys a glimpse into prices at a different angle. This is also just my experience some people may pay way less than I pay for a retighten or way more. But just because I love my sisterlocks does not mean you will love sisterlocks.. its def about choice and what I will say is this. Despite me having some money troubles right now my hair still look presentable and I can still get up and go and go about my day and I do not have to worry about doing my hair everyday. So that is one blessing that I do not have to worry about.
Thanks for reading until next time...
NaturalNikkiDST
Oh and PPS... Before you guys write and ask it I am not a do it yourselfer. Lol.. I dont even like washing my own hair that feels like a chore/punishment within itsself lol. My arms get tired just from washing my hair. Seriously. I have a lot of hair.(700 sl to be exact) I will always be team pay somebody to do my hair. Some consultant or trainee will always be getting money from me. Lol.
