Maintaining Starter Locs

Happy New Year beautiful people and welcome to my first blog post!

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Sophia. I am an African girl (with Ghanaian and Namibian heritage to be specific) born and raised in the crazy city of London. I have been natural for 8 years and last year decided to start my loc journey. This is something I have wanted to do for at least 10 years, but being the type of woman who always wanted to ‘switch it up,’ I told myself “I’ll do it when I am 40”. Well, fast forward to 2018, I got pregnant and had this strong urge to “just do it”!

A woman’s hair goes through changes during pregnancy and postpartum, my hair flourished during pregnancy but once I delivered it all became interesting – the edges left the building! I researched tirelessly for months, Google being my best friend, and found so much inspiration from beautiful women like @jomichelleartistry and @valeriecradd to name a few who were that final push to embark on this journey. On April 11th 2019 I installed two strand twists and I haven’t locked back!

Why locs?

They are beautiful! I have always thought locs looked lovely on so many people, in all their variations. I loved the look of them and wore yarn braids and faux locs as a go-to protective hairstyle for years because of that.

The freedom I experienced with these styles was something I wished I had everyday. It also dawned on me that the versatility I was able to achieve with those styles could be replicated with my own locs. As a new mum I didn’t want to be obsessing over my hair anymore.

So now that my loc babies are 9 months, what has my experience been like thus far?

The best thing about having locs is…

I am free! I am so free people. For me locs have been very low maintenance (in comparison to loose natural hair). Most days I can get up, give it a spritz for hydration, add oil if necessary, shake n’ go. With a 15-month old on my hands, the good Lord knows I have no desire to be doing my hair for longer than 10 minutes daily. There is so much less fuss with my hair like this and I don’t have to over think it or obsess about perfection.

What I didn’t expect, was…

At about my 6-month mark, my scalp became increasingly itchy. I have no explanation as to why, but some days it was unbearable! Once that started, I decided more frequent washes would be necessary. I oiled my scalp and gave it a good massage on wash days especially. It has decreased a lot but that season was rough! I did see a few other cases of people saying they suffered from similar experiences so I guess it wasn’t unique to me. Something else that helped was adding peppermint essential oil to my conditioner and oils I used during the week. Whilst being a loose natural, I found that to be useful during seasons when my scalp would sometimes be more irritated. (check out fusionofculture on Youtube for tips and trick)

A few of my locs at the crown of my head, became flattered closer to the roots. At first, I was so confused, but upon research (I told you Google was my best friend) I realised that that part of my hair was not fully dried even though it felt dry, and when I would lay on my back for bed it would flatten and stay flat. Duh!

As most naturals, I have different textures and densities on my head with the middle being the densest, so I am having to make sure that my hair gets extra time to air dry and maybe even use the handheld blow dryer to ensure it is totally DRY. Locs are compact and need enough time to air dry (or for those that sit under the drier) to ensure our hair is set, otherwise they will set whilst we lay on them.

When it comes to maintenance and use of products…

We keep it simple over here. Water, Rosewater and oils. That’s it. My main oils are Jojoba, Sweet Almond and Jamaican Black Castor oil. I also add drops of peppermint (as I mentioned earlier) and tea tree essential oils to keep my itchy scalp feeling good. For shampoo I started off using the infamous Dr Bronner’s Castle soap It was ok but when the product finished I wanted to try something else. I have used Shea moisture’s Jamaican Castor OiI Strengthen & Restore shampoo and the Bamboo Charcoal Deep Cleaning shampoo. The Bamboo Charcoal is what I am currently using and it is AMAZING, cleanses my scalp and smells so good. I intend to try the Dr Bronner’s Castle soap again now that my baby locs are forming and getting firmer.

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Schedules do not exist for me and I ain’t mad at it. I wash my hair every 2-3 weeks as my scalp needs cleaning (depending on the weather or my workout schedule) and I oil my hair every 2-4 days. I decided from the jump I did not want to manipulate my hair very much due to my fine edges and hair strands, so the first time I re-twisted was at 3 months. Broadly speaking I keep the same time frame though I have neatened the fronts slightly if I have a special event. You really have to learn what works for your hair, which may take some trial and error. Be open to change things when needed.

“It is called a journey for a reason so enjoy the process and the freedom.”

For anyone wanting to start their loc journey, just go for it! Do recognise though that patience is a requirement, your hair will change! These changes are not always so obvious. It is called a journey for a reason so enjoy the process and the freedom. This is not the same as being a loose natural so be ready to learn how your hair flourishes in this new state.

Are you starting your loc journey soon? Have you already started, what have you experienced? let me know below.

Job 8:7  Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.