Lock It Up! Support Thread (Sisterlocs, Dreads, Freeform, Etc)

[Cattypus1]

Same here! I wish I'd done this 10 years ago instead of in my 40s. Oh well, we're here now lol.

I just stopped looking crazy I really considered taking them out in November. I don't see many images of people with hair like mine who don't have super thick hair and a ton of locs- I was worried about looking like I have only 5 locs on my head. I had to readjust my expectations.

I have fine hair and I do follow Daelocs. I’ll have to check the others out.

 

[Cheekychica]

I did that. It uploaded a random pic I had on my phone but wouldn’t upload the specific pics I had of my hair. Very weird...

Oh that's so strange! I'm lost then.

 

[Cheekychica]

I have fine hair and I do follow Daelocs. I’ll have to check the others out.

And I love your hair! @iamlindaelaine has a youtube channel also --> https://www.youtube.com/lindaelaine

 

[simplycee]

My 3rd LOCaversary came and went and I’m just realizing it. Time for some pics. I have so many ends that aren’t locked. I wonder if they will in this upcoming year. Maybe this year my front sections will catch up with the back and sides. I can’t believe I’ve been locked for 3 years. I do NOT miss my loose natural hair, like at all!

 

[Whimsicalgodess]

Hey everyone. When I first got my locs started she just used foam to start the twists and my hair felt super soft to the point where I didn’t feel the need to moisturize then until today. When I did, I moisturized with a combination of water, aloe Vera gel, and rosewater. What I normally use but I switched from jojoba oil to avacado oil because the jojoba oil was very hard to wash out of my hair. So my loctition said try avacado oil since it penetrates the hair shaft. Now my hair lost the soft feeling and has that crunchy/dry feel to it. I’m only 10 days in and don’t want to wash it. What else can I do?

 

[MzSwift]

Hey everyone. When I first got my locs started she just used foam to start the twists and my hair felt super soft to the point where I didn’t feel the need to moisturize then until today. When I did, I moisturized with a combination of water, aloe Vera gel, and rosewater. What I normally use but I switched from jojoba oil to avacado oil because the jojoba oil was very hard to wash out of my hair. So my loctition said try avacado oil since it penetrates the hair shaft. Now my hair lost the soft feeling and has that crunchy/dry feel to it. I’m only 10 days in and don’t want to wash it. What else can I do?

I am no loc expert or anything so take my suggestion with a grain of salt (no pun intended, you'll see why)...

Speaking of salt, as a loose haired natural and also texlaxed, whenever my hair felt rough or hard from using too much protein, I always added salt to my moisturizing DC. It leaves my hair feeling soft and moisturized. I stumbled upon it in 2010 after a bad henna session. After 3 different moisturizing DCs failed, I just added a tsp of salt to one of the failed DCs and immediately my hair felt better. Since then, I have used salt as my primary moisturizing DC tx, my favorite mix is salt and hibiscus. I've also used this mix on my sons locs since 2010. I know that some ppl use a little salt to help expedite the loccing process. The key is to not go overboard.

Also, is it possible you're experiencing build up? If so, maybe you can do a cleansing tea. That way you're not disturbing your new locs with scrubbing but still getting the benefits of a cleansing. So a cleansing mix would be at least 80% water mixed with a shampoo/cleanser of your choice. You could stand under the water in the shower to rinse off as much product as possible, just using your hands to hold apart your loc sections so that the water can better penetrate. Then pour on the cleansing tea and rinse it out at the end of your shower.

Your hair might feel better after just a water rinse and cleansing tea. If not, the salt tea could be a good option. I'd mix a tsp of salt into about 16 oz of water to start.

Hopefully the more experienced ladies chime in soon. GL to you!

 

[MzSwift]

Hey ladies!
I'm loving the updates and pix!!

Well my six month update time came and went! Lol.
So much going on! DH broke his arm in a sledding accident. He's been in a cast since the first week of Feb and will be for about 5 more weeks!! So I've been picking up a lot of his daily tasks around the house. Stress has been phenomenal! I'm talking skin issues (which I rarely have), insomnia, the blues, the works! It got so bad that I was neglecting my baby locs. It's hard to deprogram 12 years of healthy hair practices so I was unhappy and stressing about the state of my locs on top of it.

While they were long enough to bun, I was still fretting over my hair feeling unprotected and rubbing on things. I didn't want to put them into another set of twists that I would have to take down in a month or so. DH will not be back to close to 100% for another 8 months to a year (he's an older guy) and he may end up having surgery after this cast comes off. So I started researching permanent loc extensions as an option. I could throw them in and not have to really think about my hair. So I gave it a whirl! I figured I could always just comb them out if I was unhappy with them. I went with synthetic hair as these are permanent and I didn't want anyone else's "energy" on my head permanently. I also did not purchase them pre-made because those all appeared to be too perfect to me -- they were perfectly cylindrical and my hair is not, that's not my preference. I used the same combination I did when I started my own locs, interloccing + "instant"/crochet method so they look perfectly disorderly to me. I did not start them at the root, instead, I started them toward the end of my non-texlaxed loc, as they were more solid. I crocheted the hair through the loc (just like I would've at the root) and then started with the instant loc method to interconnect the hair to my loc. After that I started interlocking the rest of the way. It looks a bit more natural to me this way as well. I plan to cut them out gradually as my hair grows as I'm not sure that I want my hair any longer than it is now. This is a good length for me. It's not overwhelming. Not too heavy. And they dry just as quickly as my hair after a wash.

I still wash with my black soap castile soap and condition with my henna/amla/brahmi with lavender EO tea, 1-2 times a week. My daily moisturizing spray is still hibiscus/Bhringaraj with sweet orange EO tea. And my hair oil mix is still grapeseed/EVOO/safflower oil with sweet orange EO. Once a week or so I massage my horsetail/nettle/bhringaraj and peppermint EO infused EVOO into my scalp and around my perimeter. I still don't use any other products. And, surprisingly, I haven't needed to add any salt yet. And I have not needed to clarify since I started my locs back in July.

So I'm feeling much more peaceful about my hair and that makes me happy. Now, I'm not promoting this as something everyone should do. Just sharing my experience. Much love to you ladies! Stay safe!

On to the pix:

Before-





DURING (first loc attached)-





AFTER (One month in)-

 

[Evolving78]

@MzSwift
Girl that’s a lot going on and I pray for strength for you! Your new locs look nice! Are you going to retwist or interlock to maintain?

 

[imaginary]

@MzSwift Sending out positive energies to you and the fam. Loving the end result!

 

[MzSwift]

@Evolving78 and @imaginary


Thank you so much, ladies! <3

I'm gonna keep interlocking to maintain. I've already retightened once and it was quick! I also feel like I don't need to do as many rotations as when my hair was shorter. That works out because I'm not a fan of how scalpy it looks after reties sometimes.

 

[Silkylover]

Hey everyone. When I first got my locs started she just used foam to start the twists and my hair felt super soft to the point where I didn’t feel the need to moisturize then until today. When I did, I moisturized with a combination of water, aloe Vera gel, and rosewater. What I normally use but I switched from jojoba oil to avacado oil because the jojoba oil was very hard to wash out of my hair. So my loctition said try avacado oil since it penetrates the hair shaft. Now my hair lost the soft feeling and has that crunchy/dry feel to it. I’m only 10 days in and don’t want to wash it. What else can I do?

You have to let go of a loose natural mindset

 

[Silkylover]

I'm loving all this budding

 

[Alta Angel]

I have already washed my hair, applied and rinsed my color, and I am now sitting under the steamer with diluted conditioner. I am retwisting as soon as I am done steaming. I did a braidout the other day and I was happy to finally see some length.

 

[Silkylover]

2 more weeks till I get a real wash. Hoping my scalp eventually adjusts to less washes.

 

[simplycee]

*poof* gone...

3 years (a month and a few days)

 

[imaginary]

Seeing some fullness coming in. But this is the happiest my scalp has ever been my entire life. These sisterlocks were worth it if only for that. Plucked chicken look and all.

 

[Foxglove]

Posting to remind myself just finished another 2 week reti session. I’ll post pics later

 

[Silkylover]

Going to see how rose water goes

 

[Silkylover]

Seeing some fullness coming in. But this is the happiest my scalp has ever been my entire life. These sisterlocks were worth it if only for that. Plucked chicken look and all.

What has it done for your scalp

 

[imaginary]

What has it done for your scalp

Anything I used to apply to my scalp caused irritation, from conditioners to oils to tea spritzes. There'd be redness and itching and I'm sure I tore my hair out just to get some relief. I've used sulfur, essential oils and even otc ointments to try and calm the inflammation. At one point just gave up and went to a derm (who couldn't really find anything).

The first few months of putting nothing on my scalp without having to worry about my hair strands were bliss. I mean, they itched for the first few weeks because my scalp was tender from the installation. But by month 3, I'd been having no itching nor irritation for 2 solid months. I decided to use tea sprays (because I really did love how they made my loose strands feel) but only right before wash days. Now I can use them multiple times a week without even mild itching.

Wow, it seems a lot more dire written out like that, but it mostly seemed like a mild nuisance while I was going through it. I did overnight treatments knowing it would cause about a week of irritation and thought it fair trade. I mean, I am grateful I got all the loose hair experimenting out of my system. I don't think I could have locced any earlier since I kind of figured I'd have to bite the bullet eventually to get some peace. (Knowing all this I'm still annoyed that my hair refuses to grow 2" a month, or loc fully in 7 months flat or won't magically turn whatever colour suits my fancy atm )

Oh! I also chose sisterlocs over traditional because the thought of gel being on my scalp even once a month made my whole body itch. So I feel pretty settled in my decision for locs tbh. Scalp happiness alone.

 

[Foxglove]

The top two are length pics. I don't know why I have that one random really long one
The bottom two are my postpartum edge progress pics and my new babies I was able to start. The one reaching my eye on the bottom right was a victim of postpartum shedding the last time around and luckily escaped this time around

 

[Alta Angel]

8 Months

 

[Coilystep]

Hello everyone. I'm popping in to share that I've got sisterlocks. My install was finished on 3/31/21. It took 25 hours. I'm very excited for this journey. I've also let my grey come in. I'm completely salt and pepper now.

 

[Alta Angel]

I got my first, "Why are you locking your hair? Your hair looked so much better big and natural!" I simply responded, "I love my hair!" and kept it at that. I am not defending a dissertation and this person was not worth the energy.

I have also noticed that my back two rows of locks have almost zero stretch.
They seem to be at least partially locked. I am also babying my edges.

 

[Silkylover]

Anything I used to apply to my scalp caused irritation, from conditioners to oils to tea spritzes. There'd be redness and itching and I'm sure I tore my hair out just to get some relief. I've used sulfur, essential oils and even otc ointments to try and calm the inflammation. At one point just gave up and went to a derm (who couldn't really find anything).

The first few months of putting nothing on my scalp without having to worry about my hair strands were bliss. I mean, they itched for the first few weeks because my scalp was tender from the installation. But by month 3, I'd been having no itching nor irritation for 2 solid months. I decided to use tea sprays (because I really did love how they made my loose strands feel) but only right before wash days. Now I can use them multiple times a week without even mild itching.

Wow, it seems a lot more dire written out like that, but it mostly seemed like a mild nuisance while I was going through it. I did overnight treatments knowing it would cause about a week of irritation and thought it fair trade. I mean, I am grateful I got all the loose hair experimenting out of my system. I don't think I could have locced any earlier since I kind of figured I'd have to bite the bullet eventually to get some peace. (Knowing all this I'm still annoyed that my hair refuses to grow 2" a month, or loc fully in 7 months flat or won't magically turn whatever colour suits my fancy atm )

Oh! I also chose sisterlocs over traditional because the thought of gel being on my scalp even once a month made my whole body itch. So I feel pretty settled in my decision for locs tbh. Scalp happiness alone.

I would like to get to that point but I still need oil

 

[Silkylover]

Any thoughts on rosewater

 

[HisBestFriend]

I absolutely love this pic of my hair. My sisterlocks finally have me totally & completely in love with my hair.

 

[Platinum]

Great job, Everyone! I'm loving everyone's progress!

 

[shortycocoa]

Dang! I missed the pics. Congratulations on making it to three years! I'm sure your hair has grown to be more beautiful.

 

[Whimsicalgodess]

Hey ladies! So I’m almost 2 months in and I’ve only had 1 retwist. I asked for 2 strand twists, but she claimed that I shouldn’t put that style in with starter locs and even after my hair mature not to do them too often because it causes thinning over time.
I have no idea how that would cause thinning over time. I just feel like she didn’t want to twist my locs because she also claimed she didn’t have enough time. Is this true? If not I really want to 2 strand twist them tomorrow and keep them like that for a week or 2. I also want to twist them after every retwist so I don’t have to use clips