Locs and Loc’ing Your Hair – The Basics
Ever wondered what some of the basic principals of loc’ing your hair would involve…? Well here are some simple pointers for you:
There are a few ways to loc including:
*two strand twists, which get washed and re-twisted without combing the hair through – a very presentable, tidy way to do it)
*gel coils which get redone at the hair dressers fortnightly or so without combing through the hair – can be quite messy in between washes
*have plait extensions and keep getting the hair re-plaited without combing the hair through
*sister locs
There are three stages of growth:
*baby locs (look neat, cute and nice)
*teenage locs (don’t do anything you want them to do)
*mature locs (settled in, manageable, thank God you didn’t give up!)
There are two ways to maintain locs after (or in some cases in between) washing your hair:
*palm rolling
*latch hooking
Things to be aware of:
* if a hairdresser knows that you want to loc your hair they may charge you more money, saying that they’re “starting your locs off”. If on the other hand you say you want comb coils, you’ll be charged the normal price for comb coils; if you say you want your hair to be twisted they’ll charge you a reasonable price to do that too but use the term “please start my locs off” at great expense.
*don’t get your locs any thinner than pencil sized (unless you like Sister locs) – remember to be practical: Don’t have more locs on your head than you’ll be comfortable managing on your own
A good tip:
*If you’re going to have slim locs, have a centre parting from the front to the back of your head when you start them off so that you can have neat bunches/pony tails, etc when your locs mature
There are some great Yahoo! groups which you could join including
*LadyLocs (Good site)
*Lovinlocs (I highly recommend this one!!!)
Natural Products for your Natural Hair
*Maintain your hair with natural shampoos, conditioners and oils – no beeswax, wax or petroleum based products as they are almost impossible to wash out of your locs.
Want to know more about loc’ing your hair or any of the pointers mentioned above? Post your questions below…
Yours naturally,
Xina
Tags: dreadlocks, dreads, loc, locks, Locs
I went to get my locs started and ended up with two folliculitis bumps. Well, they became infected and I ended up with a staph infection all because she coiled my hair too tight!! I still want locs tho. I’m going to wait until my hair is a bit longer. I’m so bummed. What about adding on loc extensions?
Reply to teri sealsHi Teri, welcome to the Parlour.
I’m so sorry to hear about your ordeal. Was the loctician recommended to you
If you want to add extensions, go for it! I’ve never had loc extensions myself. I knew a girl years ago who used to have them all the time and then finally decided to loc. There was a guy who was a drummer in a band I was in and he used to pay a fortune to have loc extensions just at the top of his head for the “funky dread” style – this is going back a long while though.
If you’ll be comfortable with it, then go ahead. I’d suggest you go to someone who’s reputable though because I understand it can be quite expensive and you won’t want to spend a lot of money and then be disappointed with the results.
Reply to XinaOmigosh!! that sounds awful & painful! I hope it works better for you next time< don’t give up, it’s worth it!!
Reply to Kitty