Locs Advice/Tips thread?

[goldielocs]

I'm in bantu knots right now and I'm taking pics to post next week... I haven't done my hair this way in YEARS so I hope it turns out ok.

I love the tips so far and am guilty of breaking a few. I promise to do better.

My tip of the day piggy backs someone else- Moisture! Drink it, apply it and do whatever you can to keep it. Locs may look "rough" but they need plenty of TLC. I have to catch a plane so take care.

 

[Madeinthe80s]

I'm in bantu knots right now and I'm taking pics to post next week... I haven't done my hair this way in YEARS so I hope it turns out ok.

I love the tips so far and am guilty of breaking a few. I promise to do better.

My tip of the day piggy backs someone else- Moisture! Drink it, apply it and do whatever you can to keep it. Locs may look "rough" but they need plenty of TLC. I have to catch a plane so take care.

Safe flight!

 

[jamaraa]

Just curious...do you treat sisterlocs like loose hair or do you have any special way/products you use for them? I've seen the nappylock tool and I'm curious of anyone maintains themselves w/ it?

 

[purplepeace79]

Oh I love your locs the 2nd time round! Gorgeous!

That red colour you had in... what shade did you use? Was it a natural dye? And your hair grew so quickly! What was your regimen?

Ive never used natural color lol

I used the bold reds from Feria. The problem with red is that it fades fast.

Thank you for the compliment.

My hair grows fast. Thats my only explanation. The first time around, people thought I was getting loc extensions. *shrug* I had the simplest regimen. Washed twice a month, retwisted once a month with black gel. That was it. It wasnt until I came to hair boards did I hear about people deep conditioning locs and doing all kinds of other treatments and such.

 

[purplepeace79]

I don't condition yet because I'm less than a year in.


Any tips for me for those in advanced stages are welcomed.

Hmm, never heard of people waiting a year to use conditioner on their locs. I used it from the first wash.

Very interesting

 

[Vinyl]

Just curious...do you treat sisterlocs like loose hair or do you have any special way/products you use for them? I've seen the nappylock tool and I'm curious of anyone maintains themselves w/ it?

I use a special shampoo for them that's supposed to help them lock more quickly. In the baby/teen stages, I can't use regular shampoo/conditioner that'll untangle the locks. You also have to be careful with the use of oils/grease because it'll attract lint to your hair.

I know a bunch of people do self maintenance with sisterlocks, I don't though. I'm afraid I'd mess my hair up.

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Ive never used natural color lol

I used the bold reds from Feria. The problem with red is that it fades fast.

Thank you for the compliment.

My hair grows fast. Thats my only explanation. The first time around, people thought I was getting loc extensions. *shrug* I had the simplest regimen. Washed twice a month, retwisted once a month with black gel. That was it. It wasnt until I came to hair boards did I hear about people deep conditioning locs and doing all kinds of other treatments and such.

I've sooo been wanting to put a copper red tint to my hair but like you said, it fades quickly. So right now I'm just being content with blonde tips...

My hair would look so frizzy if I left it for a month without retwisting... so I figure I'll do it every 2 weeks. But I'm wondering if that's too much manipulation for the locs... I guess I'll see how it goes!

 

[purplepeace79]

I've sooo been wanting to put a copper red tint to my hair but like you said, it fades quickly. So right now I'm just being content with blonde tips...

My hair would look so frizzy if I left it for a month without retwisting... so I figure I'll do it every 2 weeks. But I'm wondering if that's too much manipulation for the locs... I guess I'll see how it goes!

Frizz is only bad if you dont like it. Didnt bother me lol. In fact, I preferred my roots to be a little puffy. When they were freshly twisted, my scalp was just all exposed for the world to see LOL

The manipulation does hurt some people. Depends on the kinds of locs you have and the size. Some people twist too often and it causes their locs to thin out over time. If your locs are already thin, they can begin to break off. I learned that lesson my first go round. So the second time, I stopped retwisting as much. If I needed to, maybe I'd redo a few rows in the front or top, but never too tight. However, the flip side is that frequent retwising in the first 2-3 years, IMO, trains the hair how togrow and reduces the need for frequent retwisting down the line. I found during my first set, the last couple of years, my hair would kind of twist itself. *shrug* But then when I cut them out, it took a while for my hair to fill in the gaps.

I'm a year post and I still have space issues

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Frizz is only bad if you dont like it. Didnt bother me lol. In fact, I preferred my roots to be a little puffy. When they were freshly twisted, my scalp was just all exposed for the world to see LOL

The manipulation does hurt some people. Depends on the kinds of locs you have and the size. Some people twist too often and it causes their locs to thin out over time. If your locs are already thin, they can begin to break off. I learned that lesson my first go round. So the second time, I stopped retwisting as much. If I needed to, maybe I'd redo a few rows in the front or top, but never too tight. However, the flip side is that frequent retwising in the first 2-3 years, IMO, trains the hair how togrow and reduces the need for frequent retwisting down the line. I found during my first set, the last couple of years, my hair would kind of twist itself. *shrug* But then when I cut them out, it took a while for my hair to fill in the gaps.

I'm a year post and I still have space issues

Yeh I like mine with a little puff to the roots (for the same reason lol) but the rest of the loc itself gets frizzy because my hair hasn't completed hardened up as yet. April 2010 will be 2 yrs...

I found when I used to go to the salon to get my hair done they would twist it so tight I got stress pimples! So I went less often and would insist that it not be done so tightly. But now that I'm back in London I do my hair myself. Just washed it tonight actually and twisted. Don't think I will do any twisting until the middle of December.

I made my own concoction to twist with....mixed shea and mango butters with emu oil, rosemary oil, tea tree oil, few drops of wild growth oil and some aloe vera gel. Smells ok... goes on really easy. Will let y'all know how it works out for me!

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Check out this young lady's eye shadow tutorials. She is brilliant! And we all know how poppin' eyeshadow can enhance a beautiful locs hairstyle!

http://www.youtube.com/user/EmsyJay

 

[Michelle1971]

You can do a lot of different styles with loc'd hair. I will be putting up some links so you can see

Here are some links.

I *heart* this chick. Her loc videos are good as well as her other videos. Now, some of the styles I personally wouldn't wear BUT she is creative and shows that loc'd hair CAN be styled I will add more later...

Braided Crown Hair How-to

Lady GaGa Hairbow

Easy bun updo

Bantu Knots

Loc Bun

 

[goldielocs]

Bump

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Another bump!

 

[genesis132]

I have in 4 Sisterlocks test locs in my hair. I haven't figured out if I want to start my locs with Sisterlocs or two strand twists. I like the versatility of styling with the SLs but I'm not too crazy about the re-tighten time. I'm one of those girls who years ago would have never loc'd my hair. It's funny how time changes things.

 

[goldielocs]

Hello Everyone!!!

I flew back east and realized one thing my hair was missing... Humidity!!! My hair was so moisturized and I only had to use product once a day instead of 2-3 times a day. Even my skin looked so much better. Right now I have my daughter's vaporizer going to increase the moisture in our apartment.

My baby sister helped me adjust my pics to a smaller format so I should be able to post some pics soon. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day and be blessed.

 

[Michelle1971]

BUMP!

 

[justsimply]

Any advice for shine? My locs are soft and they are not dry. I'm almost sure that the dullness is not due to product buildup. Due to build up experience the first 6 months or so of my 1st set of locs, I now use minimum products on this set. It could be my natural color, which I hate, but too early to dye it. I have a little shine when I first retighten (from the product I use), but then it's gone after a couple of days, and I only use the product when I retighten.

I've attached pics of my 1st set (doesn't look dull), when I first retighten (doesn't look dull) then a shot of how dull it usually looks (it looks dull even when curled). The last 2 pics were taken in August only a couple of days apart.

I don't remember what my routine was on my first set or IF I even had one. Other than herbal rinses, which I still do, I don't think I did anything special. Maybe I need more hot oil treatments (I've only done 2...lol)? Any advice?

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Any advice for shine? My locs are soft and they are not dry. I'm almost sure that the dullness is not due to product buildup. Due to build up experience the first 6 months or so of my 1st set of locs, I now use minimum products on this set. It could be my natural color, which I hate, but too early to dye it. I have a little shine when I first retighten (from the product I use), but then it's gone after a couple of days, and I only use the product when I retighten.

I've attached pics of my 1st set (doesn't look dull), when I first retighten (doesn't look dull) then a shot of how dull it usually looks (it looks dull even when curled). The last 2 pics were taken in August only a couple of days apart.

I don't remember what my routine was on my first set or IF I even had one. Other than herbal rinses, which I still do, I don't think I did anything special. Maybe I need more hot oil treatments (I've only done 2...lol)? Any advice?

I have the same problem as you... the shine factor lol... when I first retwist after a wash it looks great but then starts to look a little dull. I have blonde tips so for me it's really noticeable.
Sadly I haven't found a way to change that!

I'm also looking for a spritz/spray concoction that I can use daily that will provide moisture (because locs love that) but not leave any oil dripping down the back of my neck! Any suggestions?

I read somewhere that glycerin is good for that but I'm not sure how to mix it up? Do I use it neat or dilute? Help please anyone!

 

[Ivonnovi]

I have in 4 Sisterlocks test locs in my hair. I haven't figured out if I want to start my locs with Sisterlocs or two strand twists. I like the versatility of styling with the SLs but I'm not too crazy about the re-tighten time. I'm one of those girls who years ago would have never loc'd my hair. It's funny how time changes things.

Bump & quote, Genesis132, did you decied to get them? I have 5 in right now and am so psyched. I'm also rocking micro-twist (for the past month) after seeing the test SLs I've decieded to go for it, they look neater than my microtwists and 6-8 weeks retightening of the roots is much more pleasing to me than the bi-weekly take down to retighten that I'm doing now.

Thank you for sharing

 

[Ivonnovi]

Motown Girls, honey lemon rinse worked for me on my twists a few years ago. The Honey/Olive Oil conditioner was great too. To get the best results be sure to clarify first.

http://www.motowngirl.com/index.php/homemade-hair-recipes.html


IHTH

Any advice for shine? My locs are soft and they are not dry. I'm almost sure that the dullness is not due to product buildup. Due to build up experience the first 6 months or so of my 1st set of locs, I now use minimum products on this set. It could be my natural color, which I hate, but too early to dye it. I have a little shine when I first retighten (from the product I use), but then it's gone after a couple of days, and I only use the product when I retighten.

I've attached pics of my 1st set (doesn't look dull), when I first retighten (doesn't look dull) then a shot of how dull it usually looks (it looks dull even when curled). The last 2 pics were taken in August only a couple of days apart.

I don't remember what my routine was on my first set or IF I even had one. Other than herbal rinses, which I still do, I don't think I did anything special. Maybe I need more hot oil treatments (I've only done 2...lol)? Any advice?

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Hey people! Sorry for the absence... uni has been demanding!

Any progress with anyone?

Just gonna post some recent pics of my hair...

 

[blkbuttahflyy]

Another loc wearer checking in late. Now that the summer is fast approaching, I will start using my Oyin Handmade Juices and Berries moisturizing spray and alternating with Taliah Waajid's Black Earth Protective Mist Bodifier more often. I also, without fail, wear my satin loc cap to bed every night. I wish I remember where I bought the one I have since I'm about to outgrow this one.

 

[Madeinthe80s]

Another loc wearer checking in late. Now that the summer is fast approaching, I will start using my Oyin Handmade Juices and Berries moisturizing spray and alternating with Taliah Waajid's Black Earth Protective Mist Bodifier more often. I also, without fail, wear my satin loc cap to bed every night. I wish I remember where I bought the one I have since I'm about to outgrow this one.

Welcome! Your locs look fab!

 

[Madeinthe80s]

I'm trying to get good at styling my hair myself... coming along ok I think!

Had to go to an awards ceremony on Thurs, so I did my hair myself... pics below:

 

[Michelle1971]

Decided to bump this thread up for a minute.
Have been lurking in those CERAMIDES threads.
Changed my regimen to include sunflower oil and my hair is in
My dreads are much softer now. I just received some WGO and hemp seed oil. Will be trying those out to see how they work in my hair.
Tis all!