Locs - My Obsession

I am soooo obsessed with locs. One of the reasons why my protective style of choice is small box braids is because I love how at about the third week they get frizzy and resemble locs. I call them my focs aka fake locs :o) One of these years, I am going to loc. I think I will do it myself with box braids and maintain by using the latch method.

My brother is on his second set of locs. He cut off his first set after about four years and still has them in a zip-lock bag that he says he's never going to throw away. His first set was 'accidental'. I used to two-strand twist his hair - while hanging out with his friends he missed an entire month of maintenance. For some reason, I thought he was just re-doing them himself - but that was not the case. When he finally got around to trying to untwist so I could redo them - they were matted together. He did not want to cut, so he decided to turn the matted twists to locs.

We maintained his first set of locs just by palm rolling. With his second set, I started to tighten his new growth using the latch method (using a small latch hook that I got from the beauty supply). In between latching he does the palm roll method, using an alcohol free gel to tame the frizzies. Check out Nubian Locked Princesses Latch Tutorial - she makes it look so easy and I was able to pick it up in minutes just watching.

Here is a picture of my brother's hair about a week after tightening. His locs here are about three months old. Loc'd hair seems to grow super fast.


I also had the opportunity to write an article for Clutch Magazine about Locs and of course I was in heaven. I interviewed three lovely loc'd ladies, Tama, MiMi (aka) Carmen, and Nubian Locked Princess about how they started their locs, the locing methods they chose i.e. braid locs, Sisterlocks etc. and I asked them about maintenance - by the way even though the article is old feel free to leave your comments.

Being obsessed with locs - I follow lots of loc blogs and I'm forever lurking on loc'd hair communities. Recently, I was given an award from one of my favorite blogs - Nubian Locked Princess who also has the best YouTube channel - be sure to check out her tutorial listed above :o)



Another one of my favorite blogs - not a loc one though is Naturally Leslie, in May, she did one of her 'Sunday Cuteness' posts on Locs and posted the most beautiful pictures that I was drooling over. Check out the pictures - Naturally Leslie

I am going to share my award, again given to me by Nubian Locked Princess with some of my favorite loc blogs listed below.
Carmen
Brunsli
Naturally Sophia
On The Road To Queendom
Locked Hair Blog Exchange
Loc Rocker
Natural Hair Beauty

Here are some of my favorite loc YouTube channels:
Nubian Locked Princess
Scandalous Beauty
Minnie Moe
Chescaleigh

Enjoy - Peace and Blessings...

Pictures of Washed Rope Twists

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures of my washed rope twists. Like I said in the last post - the rope twists lasted longer compared to regular two-strands, over time they were less frizzy and withstood washing - especially since I braided the roots first.

Throughout the month I had them in, I washed every two weeks and co-washed in between. I also sealed my ends with Castor oil about twice each week.

These pictures were taken after the second wash. I washed with a shampoo bar, conditioned, sealed ends with Castor oil and air dried.

Still a little wet - not many unraveled and less shrinkage compared to regular two-strands.

I wore it down like this for a week. One thing I didn't like were the 'holes' that never went away due to the braided roots.

Closer shot of damp rope twists.

An unraveled twist - looks like two finger coils. I think I will rope twist without braiding the roots, so I can wear a finger coil/twist out.

I have taken the twists out and I'm back to my signature box braids. Before taking down the twists I did a pre-poo ACV and conditioner rinse, then unraveled while damp.

After unraveling each section I detangled with my fingers first, then with a wide-tooth comb and put my hair in about eight braids. I washed and conditioned with the braids in, then unraveled, clarified and styled. This process took a long time, but was worth it because I loss less hair - a small ball less than the size of a quarter!

The detangle, braid, wash, condition, un-braid and style - will be my routine from now on. I may break it up into two days though :o)

Old picture, but exactly how my box braids look - and the exact style I wear each day, although I do change up the accessories.

Until next time, Peace and Blessings...

Quick Update and Great Mag Commercial

My twists are out (and small box braids are back) - sorry I didn't post the pictures after washing, but I will post them soon. Braiding my twists at the roots really did help when I washed them. I still had to redo a few that came loose, but overall most stayed in and doing the rope twists, resulted in way less frizz when I washed. I will try them again.

Meanwhile, check out this commercial for The Coil Review re-launch coming soon :o) Also check out Naturally Beautiful's Blog for some interesting info on one of the models.

Peace and Blessings