Locs for Length?
- Thread starter hareluvah
- Start date
Thanks so much. Do you have a link to her blog? I tried doing a search online and couldn't find it.
faithVA
Well-Known Member
[USER=209882 said:
You may want to mention people when you ask them a question otherwise they may never know you asked. Put an @ symbol before their username.
You couldn't find her blog because I didn't spell her name correctly
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/blog.php?u=174670
You may want to mention people when you ask them a question otherwise they may never know you asked. Put an @ symbol before their username.
You couldn't find her blog because I didn't spell her name correctly
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/blog.php?u=174670
faithVA
I realized when I was in my car today that I forgot to mention you. Thanks for the reminder. Her hair is beautiful but she doesn't have any pics or details of what her locs looked like or the take down process...
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@hareluvah I very recently took down 4 year old locs.
You can see what my locs looked like and what my loose natural hair looked like after the take-down process in this post: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showpost.php?p=14270015&postcount=126
I trimmed a few inches off a few months beforehand.. It took me 6 weeks to take them down.. took about 30-45 minutes per loc so I could only pick out a few per day. I used the metal end of a rattail comb and soaked each loc in various leave-ins. It took a lot of patience because it wasn't an easy process but I don't regret doing it.
I relaxed my hair a couple weeks ago but I never grew locs with the intention of taking them down to relax lol.. in fact if you told me a few years ago that I would have a relaxer now I would've laughed
. However I'm glad I did it and my relaxed hair is very healthy, night and day from when I had relaxed hair 7 years ago.
I would suggest only locking up if you really like locs.. not solely for growth. There are less drastic ways to grow your hair out. But if you like locs and grow them planning to take them down sometime in the future, I guess there's nothing wrong with that. Just know that the take down process definitely sucks lol.. and there's no guarantee how much length you will retain.. there's a lot of factors that go into that.
You can see what my locs looked like and what my loose natural hair looked like after the take-down process in this post: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showpost.php?p=14270015&postcount=126
I trimmed a few inches off a few months beforehand.. It took me 6 weeks to take them down.. took about 30-45 minutes per loc so I could only pick out a few per day. I used the metal end of a rattail comb and soaked each loc in various leave-ins. It took a lot of patience because it wasn't an easy process but I don't regret doing it.
I relaxed my hair a couple weeks ago but I never grew locs with the intention of taking them down to relax lol.. in fact if you told me a few years ago that I would have a relaxer now I would've laughed
. However I'm glad I did it and my relaxed hair is very healthy, night and day from when I had relaxed hair 7 years ago. I would suggest only locking up if you really like locs.. not solely for growth. There are less drastic ways to grow your hair out. But if you like locs and grow them planning to take them down sometime in the future, I guess there's nothing wrong with that. Just know that the take down process definitely sucks lol.. and there's no guarantee how much length you will retain.. there's a lot of factors that go into that.
Raspberry
All great points. Thanks so much for sharing and for the link to your photos. I'm so glad that you go the results you wanted. Yes, I guess I should have clarified that I do like locs!!!!!! These next few years of my life are going to be crazy busy and even though I know locs still require work, it's a different kind of work than dealing with loose hair. I might hate it and I might love it. I think I'm just ready to try something new.
All great points. Thanks so much for sharing and for the link to your photos. I'm so glad that you go the results you wanted. Yes, I guess I should have clarified that I do like locs!!!!!! These next few years of my life are going to be crazy busy and even though I know locs still require work, it's a different kind of work than dealing with loose hair. I might hate it and I might love it. I think I'm just ready to try something new.
Locs are definitely ideal for a busy lifestyle
The work is minimal, yea twisting every 4-6 weeks can take a while but there's virtually no daily maintenance unless you want to do a curly look once in a while. After my locs matured, I got to the point where I only needed to retwist the first few rows to keep them looking neat.
MyAngelEyez~C~U
Well-Known Member
Whoissugar on YouTube.
Sent from my iPod touch using LHCF
Sent from my iPod touch using LHCF
I didn't loc to grow my hair out. I did it because I needed a break from my hair for a while. I kept them for 2.5 years. When I started my intention was to keep them forever.
My take down process was very tedious. I used the rat tail comb method also. I found that soaking them in oil worked better than soaking them in conditioner. I did both a various points during the process.
I don't recommend this method purely for growth. You'd be better off doing long term protective styles. If you really want to loc though, and plan to take them down at some point, I'd recommend making them as big as you can stand, and maintaining by twisting rather than latching. That will make your take down easier.
Sent from my HTC Evo
My take down process was very tedious. I used the rat tail comb method also. I found that soaking them in oil worked better than soaking them in conditioner. I did both a various points during the process.
I don't recommend this method purely for growth. You'd be better off doing long term protective styles. If you really want to loc though, and plan to take them down at some point, I'd recommend making them as big as you can stand, and maintaining by twisting rather than latching. That will make your take down easier.
Sent from my HTC Evo
I think I will most likely keep them in for a few years, but I'm pretty sure I will I will want to take them down at some point. I have worn pretty much every natural hairstyle in the book from bleach blonde to shaved.
Long term protective styles aren't realistic for my lifestyle at this point. I end up losing the length I gain because I don't have long stretches of time for styling and take dwon.
When you say a big as you can stand, how big are you talking exactly? I know I don't want to do sisterlocks (too small) but I welcome any warnings/suggestions.
Thanks so much!
Hareluvah
The bigger they are the easier the take down will be, but a lot of people don't like the look of really big dreads. There's no set size you should aim for. Just go with the largest size you can deal with. I had about 150 locs. If I had had say 70 or 80, the take down would have been much easier.
Sent from my HTC Evo
Sent from my HTC Evo
Same here and the worst were the two-headed dragons from the ones I had combined..I started with about 180. ugh, I hate even thinking about picking out those skinny ends
FoxxyLocs
Raspberry
I plan on starting my locs with comb coils. What product would you recommend I use to start them and to do maintenance. In the research I've done so far it seems that the products used for loose hair don't work for locs.
I've tried doing a bunch of searches on LHCF about locks, locs, dreadlocks, dreads and there doesn't seem to be too much info. I guess there are not a lot of locked ladies on the forum? Or maybe I am just searching incorrectly.
Thanks!
Raspberry
I plan on starting my locs with comb coils. What product would you recommend I use to start them and to do maintenance. In the research I've done so far it seems that the products used for loose hair don't work for locs.
I've tried doing a bunch of searches on LHCF about locks, locs, dreadlocks, dreads and there doesn't seem to be too much info. I guess there are not a lot of locked ladies on the forum? Or maybe I am just searching incorrectly.
Thanks!
I started with two strand twists. IMO, that method is easier because you have less issues with unraveling. If you're a frequent washer, the coils might be harder to deal with.
I used all the same products I used on my loose hair (Suave shampoo & conditioner, CV shampoo bars, mango butter, water, and aloe). Stay away from wax and gels as they will just cause buildup, and really aren't necessary. Nappturality has a really good loc forum. I did a lot of my research over there.
I cosign FoxxyLocs advice - I too started with 2-strand twists and got all of my loc info from Nappturality.
Don't let people talk you into ditching conditioner, locked hair still needs the moisture and neglecting conditioner is major cause of loc dryness later on IMO (waxy product buildup is up there too). Conditioner does not cause build-up as it is water soluble, just rinse well. I never had a problem with my loc dryness and I attribute that to frequent washing/conditioning from the beginning.
Some people are tempted to use a lot of waxes and wash less because they want to tame the unruly nature of the early loc stages. If you are willing to come to terms with the early fuzziness and focus on hair health your locs will thank you by being awesome later on.
Don't let people talk you into ditching conditioner, locked hair still needs the moisture and neglecting conditioner is major cause of loc dryness later on IMO (waxy product buildup is up there too). Conditioner does not cause build-up as it is water soluble, just rinse well. I never had a problem with my loc dryness and I attribute that to frequent washing/conditioning from the beginning.
Some people are tempted to use a lot of waxes and wash less because they want to tame the unruly nature of the early loc stages. If you are willing to come to terms with the early fuzziness and focus on hair health your locs will thank you by being awesome later on.
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