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

MzSwift said:
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! :)
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Thanks for the advice! Turns out I just had too much aloe Vera gel in the mixture. Needed to be diluted more. My hair feels great now!
 
I forgot to post at 9 months, I think. I will be 10 months in a few weeks. This is my hair stretched with a braidout. Since then, I have not done any more braidouts because I am starting to get caught up on length again. I am trying to go back to letting my hair do what it does. I am so looking forward to summer break. This was the teaching year from hell.

LHCF 9months.jpg
 
Whimsicalgodess said:
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
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Essentially she is making a good point about not putting that style in with starter locks. You indicated that you wanted to leave them in for a week or two and right now your locks are still forming. Your hair will be shedding every day and adding to the matrix of hair that will become mature locks. So when you take the twists down you will be disrupting that process some. More than likely you will be removing the shed hairs that have not securely been embedded into the foundational two-strand twists that will make up the locks.

I wouldn't twist them together at this point at all unless I was unhappy with the size or if I felt they were too small and susceptible to breaking off. I actually had to do that at some point in my journey but it was definitely not this early in the game.

If you do decide to twist them together, I wouldn't leave them that long. Maybe just a day or two to give them time to set and then wear a twist out.


Most of the ladies here have experimented with twist outs but their locks have been mature for years. Hopefully they will also chime in with their opinions on the matter.

I haven't done that style yet, mostly because I have combined some of my locks and some of them didn't fuse together down the whole length of the lock like I wanted, so I'm not ready for that style until that happens. (My locks just turned 3 last month so obviously I'm not in any rush for that to happen. :lachen:) Or I may just leave those 2-headed dragons.

This post is getting kind of long so I'll try to answer your other questions quickly.

As far as her stating it may cause thinning over time, she may have just not wanted to do them or had the time to do them, but just say that. :lachen: IMO, the locks can appear more compact/condensed since they have been twisted together and left that way for a period of time before they are unravelled, but once the hair is wet or washed it would retain their original shape/look. Of course, the thinner the lock the more condensed or compact the twist out may look but I also think hair density, etc would also play a part. There's lots of factors.

If it would help you to look at pics of twist outs on locks I think it wouldn't hurt to do that.

I don't retwist to maintain so I can't answer that question but I would think you would need the clips initially to help the retwist stay, although some people retwist without using clips at all so there's that.

Maybe the ladies who retwist can help answer that one.
 
I have taken to washing my hair in the bathroom sink. I felt like I was wasting a lot of water in the shower and never felt like I was getting the length of my locs clean and clear of shampoo or conditioner. Since they are longer now, I can soak them in the sink and squeeze them and really get in there and see the water. I do a final rinse in the shower as I get my body clean. Anybody else have any wash techniques to share?
 
Cattypus1 said:
I have taken to washing my hair in the bathroom sink. I felt like I was wasting a lot of water in the shower and never felt like I was getting the length of my locs clean and clear of shampoo or conditioner. Since they are longer now, I can soak them in the sink and squeeze them and really get in there and see the water. I do a final rinse in the shower as I get my body clean. Anybody else have any wash techniques to share?
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Pretty much the same. I may do the first shampoo when I’m the shower, then do the second at the sink.
 
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Platinum said:
I'm thinking about ordering one of these. I'd use it for ACV loc bath. View attachment 472257It looks like it would be much more comfortable to use instead of leaning over a sink.
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I’ve had one for a couple of years...I’ve used it exactly one time...LOL. Great idea, I just don’t want to get in the bathtub to use it but I don’t want water on my floor either. I’ve got to do better.
 
Getting braidlocs this weekend

UPDATE:

Ended up getting them completed early TODAY 5.22.21!!!

We started yesterday at 5pm and finished today at 230am!!!!!!!

I had been researching/interviewing locticians for the past 2 weeks for my braidloc install (had no interest in diy).
I'd been going back and forth about getting locs since 2010. Tired of just thinking about it.

Candice aka my new bff/loctician called when she had an client reschedule their 5pm Friday appointment (her last appointment for the day). She asked me if I was interested in getting started Friday evening for a few hours and finishing on Saturday. *vs the original plan of spending all day Saturday.

I decided to go for it, and met her at the salon (its only 20 minutes away from my home).

We really vibed/ had GREAT convo and just pushed through till the end (took dinner break and bathroom/stretch breaks).
We had Ginny & Georgia on Netflix playing on the TV.. *show was good, check it out if you want something to watch.


It looks scalpy and I feel bald lol.. but I'll trust the process.
 
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my gray hair is not locing like the rest of my hair. I don’t care about the color but the gray hair is softer and fuzzier than the rest of my hair. I have 4 locs that are about 60-70% gray but the pre-gray is holding them together nicely. The problem is at my temples. Since the hair is growing in gray it is fuzz city and does not loc. It doesn’t help that those parts are giant sized because that is the way they were parted at install. I gave up today and just created a new loc there. I hope I don’t regret it.
 
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Cattypus1 said:
my gray hair is not locing like the rest of my hair. I don’t fair about the color but the gray hair is softer and fuzzier than the rest of my hair. I have 4 locs that are about 60-70% gray but the per-gray is holding them together nicely. The problem is at my temples. Since the hair is growing in gray it is fuzz city and does not loc. It doesn’t help that those parts are giant sized because that is the way they were parted at install. I gave up today and just created a new loc there. I hope I don’t regret it.
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I've been locked for 5 minutes and I've already come to the conclusion that grey hair just does what it wants. And that's ok.
 
Cattypus1 said:
my gray hair is not locing like the rest of my hair. I don’t fair about the color but the gray hair is softer and fuzzier than the rest of my hair. I have 4 locs that are about 60-70% gray but the per-gray is holding them together nicely. The problem is at my temples. Since the hair is growing in gray it is fuzz city and does not loc. It doesn’t help that those parts are giant sized because that is the way they were parted at install. I gave up today and just created a new loc there. I hope I don’t regret it.
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My grays seem to have a mind of their own.:lol: I have a huge patch in the front (kind of like Rogue from The X-Men).
 
yaya24 said:
Getting braidlocs this weekend

UPDATE:

Ended up getting them completed early TODAY 5.22.21!!!

We started yesterday at 5pm and finished today at 230am!!!!!!!

I had been researching/interviewing locticians for the past 2 weeks for my braidloc install (had no interest in diy).
I'd been going back and forth about getting locs since 2010. Tired of just thinking about it.

Candice aka my new bff/loctician called when she had an client reschedule their 5pm Friday appointment (her last appointment for the day). She asked me if I was interested in getting started Friday evening for a few hours and finishing on Saturday. *vs the original plan of spending all day Saturday.

I decided to go for it, and met her at the salon (its only 20 minutes away from my home).

We really vibed/ had GREAT convo and just pushed through till the end (took dinner break and bathroom/stretch breaks).
We had Ginny & Georgia on Netflix playing on the TV.. *show was good, check it out if you want something to watch.


It looks scalpy and I feel bald lol.. but I'll trust the process.
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When you wash them they’ll plump up a tiny bit.
 
I went back to my loctician for the first time since the pandemic. It was so nice having somebody else do my retis


GfBK32n.jpg
 
I was planning to go to the salon this week for maintenance but I think I'm going to let my hair and scalp rest. Plus, it's summertime now and I've been working out and sweating a lot more. I'm going to start doing frequent water rinses like I did when I started my loc journey.

Right now, I'm the process of looking for a good shampoo that can soothe my itchy scalp. :burn: :angry2:
 
Platinum said:
I was planning to go to the salon this week for maintenance but I think I'm going to let my hair and scalp rest. Plus, it's summertime now and I've been working out and sweating a lot more. I'm going to start doing frequent water rinses like I did when I started my loc journey.

Right now, I'm the process of looking for a good shampoo that can soothe my itchy scalp. :burn: :angry2:
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A few things I do for itchy scalp:
I started using a bar of african black soap before using my regular shampoos or you could clarify with ACV or also trader joes tee tree shampoo helps
 
I will be one year loc'd in August. I have enjoyed the journey thus far. There is nothing like waking up, shaking my hair out, and going every single day. I don't miss my loose natural hair one bit.

I take my self-retightening class next month. I can't wait. I'm so ready to be free from my consultant. I will be making a transfer client appointment as soon as some of the other local consultants start taking new clients again.
 
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