Growing Locs Quickly

If you do enough research on YouTube you will come across my loc god Damien Walter. He is a firm believer of having a establishing a healthy hair regimen. According to him you must use a clarifying shampoo followed by a moisturizing shampoo then a deep conditioner with protein. I am a firm believer of this method. By clarifying, moisturizing and conditioning you increase the strength of the hair on a superficial level. If the hair is not properly moisturized, the individual strands will break and by extension, the locs with thin or break. 

To truly moisturize and strengthen the hair you should ensure you drink enough water. This varies from person to person so experiment until you hit the perfect amount. Strong hair is less likely to break and will assist with hair growth. Avoid products that have waxes or that are not water based. They may feel moisturizing but actually add nothing apart from build up to your hair.

Speaking of less likely to break, monitor the amount of tension you place on you scalp. Locs may be thicker than individual hairs but there is still a very real risk of losing hair due to the stress. Constant pulling of the hair at the roots will lead to balding in the areas where the pulling occurs the most. 

Let your hair grow free. Over manipulation of the hair can cause breakage. Relax every once in a while. Use hair bands or scarfs to cover your wild looking roots. You can also experiment with semi-free forming. Checkout Jasmine Rose on YouTube to get an idea of how to keep locks looking neat when not retwisting. Do not be afraid to leave styles in your locs for two weeks at a time. Believe me, your hair will do its thing and in no time you'll start to notice growth when you least expect it.

The final secret to growing your locs is to be patient. Don't measure your hair growth every two weeks. Ignore them particularly during the initial phases of locing. Your hair will shrink while it locs and take up to two years to regain the length you lost initially. If you want long flowing locs now or within the next six months, forget about growing them and invest in loc extensions or faux locs. 

That's all for now. 

Til next time - Lata!

Palm Rolling vs Interlocking

There are two ways of maintaining salon locs - palm-rolling or interlocking. There is often debate over which one is the safer or better method so I'll be exploring that topic today.

Let's start with the pros and cons of palm rolling.

Pros

• It is easy to perfect. As long as you remember the direction to roll the loc, you're good to go. It took me five minutes to learn this technique and it only took that long because I used those five minutes to practice and perfect it.

• Can take a relatively short time to complete maintenance with this technique. By this I mean that, based on how quickly you can palm roll one loc you can be finished in as little as half an hour. If you are more meticulous it can take upwards to three hours. Most professionals finish within half an hour to forty-five minutes depending on the number of locs the client has.

• Gives a neat appearance. When done right, palm rolling can allow all of the hair within a part to be integrated into the shaft with little to no fuzz.

• Works well on larger locs as well as the thicker microlocks.

• Gives each loc a more uniformed look. Palm rolling shapes the shaft of the loc into a more rounded shape which a lot of people prefer.

Cons

• Uses products. To keep the shape after palm rolling, some form of product is often used. This is not always the case as persons with mature locs can use just water or oil and water for their retwists but usually gels are used.

• Unravels when wet. If you sweat a lot or go swimming often this method of maintenance will be difficult to keep looking neat for more than a few days.

• The risk of breaking locs is greatly increased on thinner microlocks. Locs created with fewer hairs are more likely to break under the pressure created by twisting the strands.

• Can lead to thinning locs. If done too often or tightly, individual hairs can break causing locs to thin over time. This can also lead to traction alopecia, and suffers can have bald spot in their hair.

• Must be done frequently to maintain the neat look. If you don't mind seeing your roots grow wild then this is not a true con but if you love having you edges laid then this is definitely a con. It's usually recommended that retwists be done every two weeks but I have found that as long as you do not twist the hair too tightly you can maintain the hair as often as once a week.

Interlocking

Pros

• Does not require products to maintain the neat look. According to Damien Walter, it is a form of free form locing but I disagree with that. 

• Does not unravel when wet. This is the main reason why a lot of active people choose this option. Admittedly, during the initial stages the hair can slip and persons are advised not to wash the hair to often but once the hair has started loc this becomes a non issue.

• Can be done once every four to eight weeks. This results in less manipulation of the hair which means that the hair is less likely to break.

• Is recommended for persons with smaller locs. Interlocking forms the foundation (middle) of the loc while allowing the rest if the lock to form around it.

Cons

• Is not as neat as palm rolling. By pulling each loc through itself as interlocking does, the fine hairs are usually not captured and remain outside the loc giving a less neat appearance.

• Hair can easily slip during the starter loc phase. For starter locs slippage us a major concern when using interlocking as the hairs have not tangled as yet and will unravel especially when wet.

• Requires a lot of practice to perfect. Persons new to this method of maintenance can find themselves unintentionally merging locs. Can also lead to split locs or holes in the locs if done incorrectly. There are techniques associated with interlocking that avoid this problem but mistakes are easy to make.

• Takes longer to complete maintenance. Can take anywhere from one to two hours if done by a professional to days for the DIYer. The amount of time taken varies according to the amount of growth and the number of locs.

I can't think of any more pros and cons for each method but if you think of any I may have omitted let me know. 

In the meantime, as you can see, there are several pros and cons to each method of maintaining locs and neither is superior to the other. When choosing which method you prefer just bare in mind some of the pros and cons of each before committing to one. Alternately, there is nothing stating that you cannot change maintenance methods if you choose. 

Many people alternate methods as they see fit. Some palm rollers interlock their hair a few times  a year to reduce the amount of unloced hair at the base. Some interlockers palm roll occasionally to keep a neat appearance between retightenings. I have done both and I like each method for different reasons.

Remember to let me know if I left something out and I'll be sure to add them.

Til next time - Lata!

5 Signs You Aren't Ready For Locs

1. Someone told you to get them

One of the worse things you can do is commit to something just because someone else mentioned you should do it. Sometimes it works out but let's be honest here, most of the time it doesn't and you resent the position you are put in because of it. 
If a family member or significant other suggests you get locs, you should know if it is something you want and can commit to before jumping in. Write a pros and cons list, learn about starter locs, the phases of locs, the do's and don't's and decide for yourself.

      2. You change your hair every week (colour, length etc)

If you like trying out the latest hair tends or the newest hair dye then you might want to give locs a pass. I know people who seem to be stuck in a cycle of cutting their hair, growing it out, relaxing it then cutting it again. One minute their hair is blonde, the next it's purple, then blue then red all withing three months. If you cannot be bothered to stick to one style for more than a few weeks then locs aren't for you. By the time your hair starts to bud you'll be bored with it and ready to cut it off in a heartbeat.

      3. You don't know how to take care of natural hair.

You may have been natural your entire life but if you still struggle to grow you hair past six inches or have managed to make your edges disappear or worse yet, you've been using the same products for years even though they're clearly not working then put off your loc journey until you sort that ish out.
If your hair is always breaking, that might be a sign that something is wrong. You could be dehydrated or putting something in your hair that's damaging it like too much heat. Start changing things up. See what works for your hair and get real comfortable with it before you do anything else.

      4. You think you can treat them the same as loose natural hair.

Locs are not the same as loose natural hair and should not be treated as such. You can easily wash out anything from loose naturals but not from locs. I have had glitter in my locs for two years! Nothing I did would get it out. I spent hours picking at this purple/green reflective piece of torture at every opportunity. I washed my hair, did apple cider vinegar soaks and for a short time it would be hidden in the other hair but that one fleck stayed. I say all of that to say this, things like waxes, shea or cocoa butter will be near impossible to get out. Not only that, they will also trap lint and you'd have no choice but to use dyes to hide it or risk leaving holes in the shaft of the locs after trying to pick it out.

      5. You are impatient.

If you expect your locs to mature in less than a year, babes, you're in for a rude awakening. Locs can take up to two years to fully loc up. If you are expecting your hair to reach your target length withing months after starting them, prepare to be severely disappointed. 
But, if you are willing to stick with it, growing locs can be a rewarding venture that allows you to fall in learn about yourself and your hair. It can help you appreciate the journey while striding towards your end goal.

So that's it. I may not be a professional but I do believe that locs aren't for everyone and I hope people read this before decided to start their journey.

Til next time - Lata!