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

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BillsBackerz67 said:
Haha yes and to think I thought they were too small and I almost combined them. Would have been looking crazy. Def not trying to scare you but 2 of my friends loc’d their hair and they text me shortly after saying how thin it looked. I’m like chill trust the process!:lachen:
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Is that because your hair is dense? I've seen some journeys on YouTube and their coils looked to be your size but their locks are pretty thin. See that's what I was afraid of, I want mine to be a bit thinner than yours and would have thought those size coils would have done the trick. Maybe they would because my hair is fine and not dense?
 
FlawedBeauty said:
Is that because your hair is dense? I've seen some journeys on YouTube and their coils looked to be your size but their locks are pretty thin. See that's what I was afraid of, I want mine to be a bit thinner than yours and would have thought those size coils would have done the trick. Maybe they would because my hair is fine and not dense?
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Maybe so! I do have a lot of hair. TBH I have had a few DM’s on Insta asking how are my parts so small but my locs are so thick. I have no clue how to answer that.

But that’s exactly why I went and got mine professionally done. I showed them exactly what I wanted as an end result ( or close to it) I have 121 locs. I think he pulled the coils tighter (hence them looking skinny and elongated) so they wouldn’t unravel.
 
FlawedBeauty said:
Is that because your hair is dense? I've seen some journeys on YouTube and their coils looked to be your size but their locks are pretty thin. See that's what I was afraid of, I want mine to be a bit thinner than yours and would have thought those size coils would have done the trick. Maybe they would because my hair is fine and not dense?
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I believe some people retwist more often to get that look. If you want thicker locks you should wait longer between retwists/retightenings. Other facts play a part too, but I have seen this as a main contributing factor to thin and/or thick locks.

If you had a chance to watch the videos in that post I linked to with the palmrolling videos and the video of DXLYN retwisting a client's hair, you will see that her client has small comb coils and she retwists often and her locks are a small size. Conversely, somebody like NaturalNirvana on YouTube started both sets of her locks with coils and her first set of starter locks look just as thin in diameter as @BillsBackerz67's did, but look at the progression.

Her second set that she started her hair was much longer and she did fewer locks but IMO they look like they will end up being on the thick side also, especially based on how her hair is looking now.

Then if you follow Missrii on IG her locks are an ideal size, at least for me...but she retwists every two weeks. At least that's what I remember her saying as a reply to someone who asked on one of her pics how often she retwists.
 
shortycocoa said:
I believe some people retwist more often to get that look. If you want thicker locks you should wait longer between retwists/retightenings. Other facts play a part too, but I have seen this as a main contributing factor to thin and/or thick locks.

If you had a chance to watch the videos in that post I linked to with the palmrolling videos and the video of DXLYN retwisting a client's hair, you will see that her client has small comb coils and she retwists often and her locks are a small size. Conversely, somebody like NaturalNirvana on YouTube started both sets of her locks with coils and her first set of starter locks look just as thin in diameter as @BillsBackerz67's did, but look at the progression.

Her second set that she started her hair was much longer and she did fewer locks but IMO they look like they will end up being on the thick side also, especially based on how her hair is looking now.

Then if you follow Missrii on IG her locks are an ideal size, at least for me...but she retwists every two weeks. At least that's what I remember her saying as a reply to someone who asked on one of her pics how often she retwists.
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Yes! Missrii has exactly the size I want! Man, I fogot how much fun the actual hair board part of the forum could be. I only hop in every so often and am usually always checking out the ET forum. I'm glad I have a reason to come back to the hair side.
 
shortycocoa said:
I believe some people retwist more often to get that look. If you want thicker locks you should wait longer between retwists/retightenings. Other facts play a part too, but I have seen this as a main contributing factor to thin and/or thick locks.

If you had a chance to watch the videos in that post I linked to with the palmrolling videos and the video of DXLYN retwisting a client's hair, you will see that her client has small comb coils and she retwists often and her locks are a small size. Conversely, somebody like NaturalNirvana on YouTube started both sets of her locks with coils and her first set of starter locks look just as thin in diameter as @BillsBackerz67's did, but look at the progression.

Her second set that she started her hair was much longer and she did fewer locks but IMO they look like they will end up being on the thick side also, especially based on how her hair is looking now.

Then if you follow Missrii on IG her locks are an ideal size, at least for me...but she retwists every two weeks. At least that's what I remember her saying as a reply to someone who asked on one of her pics how often she retwists.
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Yep this could also be why. My retwists are every 3-4 months now. Once they matured, I found that 2 weeks after I get my hair retwisted, it looks like I’ve done nothing to it. Same fuzzy/frizzy situation as when I used to get my hair braided as a child. :rolleyes:

Since 2 weeks vs 16 weeks looks no different I opted to stop going as often and just retwist my edges if I want a refreshed look.

I also don’t care for the super neat aesthetic of locs that are constantly retwisted. I prefer the organic look. Also a reason why I don’t go often.
 
FlawedBeauty said:
Yes! Missrii has exactly the size I want! Man, I fogot how much fun the actual hair board part of the forum could be. I only hop in every so often and am usually always checking out the ET forum. I'm glad I have a reason to come back to the hair side.
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Her’s are beautiful! I don’t follow her but if I had to guess she has at least 175-200 locs.
 
FlawedBeauty said:
Yes! Missrii has exactly the size I want! Man, I fogot how much fun the actual hair board part of the forum could be. I only hop in every so often and am usually always checking out the ET forum. I'm glad I have a reason to come back to the hair side.
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Agreed! I have always loved that size locks on anybody I see, so I always told myself that if I decided on traditional locks I would want them to be about that size or a bit bigger, maybe the diameter of a pencil. But then I will also see people with thicker locks than that that are just as beautiful, if not more and be like hmmmm....

For example, the woman in the Locumentary video that I posted earlier (she first appears at the 1:00 mark)....her locks are sooooo dope! I'm about to see if she has a YouTube or IG for me to follow. Mine seem to be forming the same way, (thin diameter near the scalp and halfway down the fatter ends) and I love the way they look, but I'm not sure they will continue to stay that way as they evolve. But whatever I end up with, I will love and accept them because as I said before, I ain't doing this again unless I have to! :lachen:

My Sisterlocks were forming the same way, and back then I didn't like that because it was painful to retighten those with the base of each of those 326 locks being so small and a lot of the ends being fat. I also used to have to manipulate, squeeze and force them to go through the opening of the plastic yarn needle and I didn't like that either. Now that I have the coil-less safety pins, I don't have to do that with this set anymore.

I said all that to say, no matter what plan you may have for how you want your mature locks to end up looking, your hair is going to ultimately dictate what that look will be. You can guide it as much as possible, but it's going to do what it wants to do and form however it wants to form.

I also started coming to the hair side just for this thread every day. I enjoy chatting with you ladies every day about what's going on with your locks.

BillsBackerz67 said:
Her’s are beautiful! I don’t follow her but if I had to guess she has at least 175-200 locs.
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I'm not sure how many she has, either and I can't remember if she answered that for her followers or the method she used to start them. As neat as her hair is, I want to say she started with comb coils but she could have also started with smaller two-strand twists also. (Or something else entirely. :lachen:)

BillsBackerz67 said:
Yep this could also be why. My retwists are every 3-4 months now. Once they matured, I found that 2 weeks after I get my hair retwisted, it looks like I’ve done nothing to it. Same fuzzy/frizzy situation as when I used to get my hair braided as a child. :rolleyes:

Since 2 weeks vs 16 weeks looks no different I opted to stop going as often and just retwist my edges if I want a refreshed look.

I also don’t care for the super neat aesthetic of locs that are constantly retwisted. I prefer the organic look. Also a reason why I don’t go often.
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I remember you saying this and I was hoping you would come back to reiterate it for @FlawedBeauty, because I definitely didn't want to take the words out of your mouth and speak for you too much. Thanks for explaining it to her. You are so lucky you can go that long between retwists. I have wanted to try going longer between retightenings, but for some reason, I always have to repair a lot of things.

Even now, I have to fix one of the smaller locks in the front that the bottom half has broken off of. I'm not sure if I want to put it back on or if I am going to just untangle it and wrap the hairs around the same lock or a different lock. Then I checked the calendar again and tomorrow makes 6 weeks, which is when I usually retighten. I can't believe it's time already.

I think what is causing this issue is the way I separate my locks after washing or just after I've been in the shower in general. I usually wait until they are mostly dry but slightly damp and I rake my fingers through my hair from roots to tips to separate and then I go individually pull apart what didn't get separated from raking my fingers through. But I have to handle my hair differently. I used to do my Sisterlocks like that, too and never had this problem so I don't know why it's happening now, especially with larger sized locks.
 
FlawedBeauty said:
Hi ladies!!! I will be starting my journey next week! One thing I am really worried about is my scalp. All my life I've dealt with dandruff. The kind where you scratch and it's kind of gooky under the nail. Or if I pat my head little flakes will fall. I'm afraid it will destroy my locs. Head and shoulders works for now but I have read it's not good to use if you have locs? Tea tree oil has never really worked. Has anyone dealt with this issue? Thanks so much!
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Have you tried Neutragena T-Gel? It helps me with my scalp issues. I wash with this first then use a clarifying shampoo on my locks not my scalp.
 
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BillsBackerz67 said:
I believe most loctitions focus on the client wants while also taking into consideration their hair density, size, and grid pattern vs a set numerical amount.
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You answered this perfectly and accurately so I don't have much else to add except that if there's a consultation they may ask the client how they plan to style their hair mostly, because there's all those updos and elaborate styles that tend to look better with more locks, even parts and a meticulous grid. Some people don't care about all that, don't plan to do that much styling and don't want super neat or defined parts.

But ultimately if you're not starting them yourself, a professional will take all those factors into consideration that you mentioned, @BillsBackerz67 , and the client will end up getting pretty close to the number of locks they believe they want to get the look they are going for.
 
shortycocoa said:
You can interlock the new growth using a tool or your fingers (I've seen people with thicker locks do this) or you can retwist using a product like gel and clips, or no product at all and just water (again, DXLYN has videos on how she retwists her clients' and family's locks this way), or you can just separate the locks at the roots if you plan to freeform and don't want a manicured look.

ETA: I forgot about palmrolling! I think I made an earlier post where there was a video showing the technique, because someone had asked. I will work on a separate post with video links to everything I referenced.

I and a few others in this thread interlock, and there are others who retwist. I thought we had a freeformer or two also. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. OP, at the very beginning in @Platinum's first post are a list of questions that we have all answered about starting our locks. I believe one of the questions was how do you plan to maintain them, so if you read through some of the posts that may help you make your decision. @Platinum, didn't you say earlier that you were going to start palmrolling yours?

Also, different maintenance methods produce different results, so some people choose the method of maintaining their roots based on how they want their locks to look.



Once you mentioned how long your hair was, I agree with @BillsBackerz67 and I think you won't have to worry about unravelling. I wouldn't cut them, because during the locking process your hair will shrink up and condense through several of the stages. Eventually they stop doing that and you will end up seeing the growth that you're retaining more. So, I say just wait it out if you can and the locking process will take care of the rest and you never know...you may end up liking the shape they end up growing in.

However, if you just want a drastic change before you start your locks and don't mind your hair becoming shorter through the locking process, then go for it. Your hair will catch back up in no time. Is your hair also color treated?
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@shortycocoa Hey! Yes, I've been palm rolling for the past few years. I considered going back to interlock because I've been going hard in the gym. But my last retwist seems to hold up well so I'm going to continue the palm roll method.
 
prettywhitty said:
I’m starting my research on locs. I started out wanting Sisterlocs or Microlocs but then I saw Josette Bianca’s locs on YouTube and I love the size and versatility of hers. I know I want smaller diameter locs, now I have to figure out thr method and upkeep that works best for me. In the meantime I will be
styling with mini twists until I know how I want to start my journey in 2019.
[/QUOTE]
I think this is a great idea because I’m struggling to find a dependable, reputable loctician in Louisville, Ky. I’m going tomorrow for my second consultation. I wasn’t impressed with the the stylist who did my consultation who, by the way was not the person I scheduled with. I think pencil size or maybe slightly larger is what I want...still researching. I think I’m going to look to January 2019 as goal to start my loc journey.
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Don't judge me :look: lol, but I was so sick of this one Loc slipping out. So I took some hair glue and glued the Loc so it doesn't come out anymore. My consultant suggested gluing it a few weeks ago so I went ahead and did it. That was the only one that was problematic for me.
 
mz.rae said:
Don't judge me :look: lol, but I was so sick of this one Loc slipping out. So I took some hair glue and glued the Loc so it doesn't come out anymore. My consultant suggested gluing it a few weeks ago so I went ahead and did it. That was the only one that was problematic for me.
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No judgement here! Remember I mentioned earlier in the thread that I had to ask my consultant to put nail glue in my hair so those problem locks I had would stop coming out. It worked, but you have to be careful with washing your hair. If the water is extremely hot, it will melt the glue and you will have the same problem. It doesn't all happen in one wash, but over time.
 
shortycocoa said:
No judgement here! Remember I mentioned earlier in the thread that I had to ask my consultant to put nail glue in my hair so those problem locks I had would stop coming out. It worked, but you have to be careful with washing your hair. If the water is extremely hot, it will melt the glue and you will have the same problem. It doesn't all happen in one wash, but over time.
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Thank you! I know some people are super strongly against people gluing their locs to get them to stay. Thank you for telling me about the hot water and the glue melting. Did you have to keep regluing it?
 
mz.rae said:
Thank you! I know some people are super strongly against people gluing their locs to get them to stay. Thank you for telling me about the hot water and the glue melting. Did you have to keep regluing it?
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Yes, there were a few that she kept regluing as needed during retightenings. It worked, though. I just don't want you to be alarmed about the glue when you wash your hair again. As long as you use tepid water, you'll be fine.
 
I'm not judging people and it's their hair so they can do what they want. But with that being said, I am finding it annoying the amount of people on YouTube that are getting locs and then combing them out after only having them for two/ three years. Now combing them out for health reasons, and because your scalp wasn't agreeing with locs I can understand. But these people that are combing them out because they are tired of having locs and/ or want to see their hair to me it's like whhhhat?

Two/three years isn't even a long time to have locs and they aren't even mature all the way by that time. It comes across to me like they weren't committed to having locs and going through the process. And that locs were just another style to them. I don't know I just miss the people that were committed to having locs and had them for yearssss. I know it's not that serious but I just find it extremely annoying.
 
So as it is getting closer to the start of my journey (Friday!!!!) I am becoming increasingly concerned about how I am going to keep my hair moisturized. I know oils alone isn't going to cut it, and my hair is the most moisturized with a creamy leave in and twists. I dont believe any of my current leave ins are going to be good for locs as they would likely cause a lot of build up. What are you ladies using to stay moisturized aside from water and oils? My hair gets extremely dry.
 
mz.rae said:
I'm not judging people and it's their hair so they can do what they want. But with that being said, I am finding it annoying the amount of people on YouTube that are getting locs and then combing them out after only having them for two/ three years. Now combing them out for health reasons, and because your scalp wasn't agreeing with locs I can understand. But these people that are combing them out because they are tired of having locs and/ or want to see their hair to me it's like whhhhat?

Two/three years isn't even a long time to have locs and they aren't even mature all the way by that time. It comes across to me like they weren't committed to having locs and going through the process. And that locs were just another style to them. I don't know I just miss the people that were committed to having locs and had them for yearssss. I know it's not that serious but I just find it extremely annoying.
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All of this!!!!!! I agree with everything you said. I know for me, I would be so excited when I found some of their channels and I think I can follow along as I go through my journey. Then I see 'I combed out my locks' or 'come with me as I transition back to loose natural' 'I'm thinking about cutting my locks' and I just sigh and stop following them. :lachen: :lachen: :lachen:

But most of the time they end up coming right back, and when they do I *might* see what they're doing the second time or whatever, but I'm not as interested as I would be if they had actually stayed the course. I honestly think it's a ploy to get their views and subscriptions up. There's so many of those videos now that there's no other logical explanation. I just find other people to follow that have more skin in the game or seem committed for life.

Did you see that JoyceMD relaxed her hair now? I was really surprised that she did that. I still look for her to lock her hair again at some point.
 
FlawedBeauty said:
So as it is getting closer to the start of my journey (Friday!!!!) I am becoming increasingly concerned about how I am going to keep my hair moisturized. I know oils alone isn't going to cut it, and my hair is the most moisturized with a creamy leave in and twists. I dont believe any of my current leave ins are going to be good for locs as they would likely cause a lot of build up. What are you ladies using to stay moisturized aside from water and oils? My hair gets extremely dry.
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This was a really hard concept for me to grasp my first time around with Sisterlocks, because I was so used to conditioner, conditioner and more conditioner, as well as other products to style my hair. It was hard to let all of that go and shift my mindset. I still didn't completely accept it. :lachen:

I also think that contributed to how hard it was for my hair (and scalp) to adjust at first. It was a complete culture shock.

With this second set, I understand more that locks don't need all that and my hair is doing fine with the things I am using/doing. I have learned that for me, it is enough.

I think if you focus on keeping your hair clean and feeding it lots of water/moisture in some form daily and a light oil you will be ok. Just make sure that your products are water-based and water soluble and you shouldn't have any problems.

I use sprays for my hair but I'm not consistent with spraying every day, especially now that it is getting cooler out. If it is a wash day, I also don't spray because my hair is already wet enough and it'll take a few hours to dry. If I do spray, it's not a lot and lately I will only spray later on in the day if my hair is close to being dry.

ETA: @FlawedBeauty I came back to this post to say please try not to get swept up in everything (and I do mean everything) a lot of these YouTubers are doing and using on their hair. For some people, being a product junkie never ends, and something so simplistic as cultivating and having locks has become so convoluted. It's easy to get lost in the sauce, so to speak. I equate it to being newly natural and having to learn your hair all over again, and wanting to experiment with everything. Take your time and don't feel like you have to do what everyone else is doing or buy all these products.

Someone also posted in one of the groups I'm in on FB that one of their friends said having locks is expensive, and they came to ask us if it's true. Most of the people on the post (myself included) have told her that is false, you don't need a lot to take care of them, and having locks is the easiest and cheapest thing we have done to our hair, especially if you don't go to a loctitian to start or maintain them. Hopefully the erroneous belief of her friend has not dissuaded her from starting locks.
 
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Cattypus1 said:
I’ve found a loctician! I’m starting my journey on November 14th. Nervous and excited and can’t wait! I’m planning on keeping a loc journal to document my trials and tribulations.
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That's great news...it'll be here before you know it. I started out doing that as well. I need to write about what's been going on lately. I haven't done that in a while, aside from what I post here in this thread. I look forward to hearing about your experience getting your starter locks.
 
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