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

CocoGlow

Well-Known Member
My hair survived the henna. I ended up washing my hair loose so all the henna would rinse out. I also shampooed three times. I don't have any slippage or loosening that I can tell. They are a little fluffy but they normally contract once they dry
Pics








ETA sorry the pics are so big. Trying to resize

@Foxglove

Hey Sis...would you mind sharing your recipe/routine for using henna on your locs? I'm assuming it would need to be a thinner texture than normal in order to be able to rinse out properly. I might get back into henna because I think I may be allergic to regular dye, even the awesome Shea Moisture dye :cry3:

Thanks!
 

Foxglove

A drop of golden sun
@Foxglove

Hey Sis...would you mind sharing your recipe/routine for using henna on your locs? I'm assuming it would need to be a thinner texture than normal in order to be able to rinse out properly. I might get back into henna because I think I may be allergic to regular dye, even the awesome Shea Moisture dye :cry3:

Thanks!

When I used to henna on loose hair I would mix it with conditioner which would make it really easy to rinse out but I'm not supposed to use conditioner yet. This time I just mixed it with water and lime juice (something acidic either lemon or lime juice or ACV helps with dye release) and I left it overnight. I applied it in the morning and left it for several hours. It took a while to rinse out (almost an hour). I rinsed until the water almost ran clear then I shampooed 3 times until the water looked like it was running clear. I've used this recipe on loose hair before and I normally DC afterwards but I didn't this time bc they're not mature yet. I did end up washing again a few days later because it felt like I didn't get it all out and after that last wash my hair felt nice and soft. I have this reddish tint to my hair which I love. It starts out brighter and more orange but deepens into a dark red which will be more pronounced the more I do it

As far as brands I would stick with body art quality henna that's very fine. The finer the powder the easier it is to wash out. I used jamila because I had some left over from my loose days but once it's gone I'm switching to mehndi brand of henna for African hair bc it has a very fine sift so should be easier to rinse out
http://www.mehandi.com/shop/african/
 
Last edited:

kandiekj100

Well-Known Member
I'm 7 months into this thing and I'm having the usual issues I seem to have with my hair no matter what I'm sporting. Whether relaxed, loose natural, and now locs, I always wish my hair was thicker. I'm 35 years old. At some point I need to just accept my hair for what it is and what it isn't. I thought about combining my locs, but then I'll have few locs and I don't imagine that will help the density. I went smaller in the first place because I didn't want to deal with scalpy locs and heard that smaller locs are good for lower density hair.

And this frustration with my hair is causing my usual thoughts and boredom with my hair. I've been wigging it here and there and I also put in kinky twists for a couple weeks and just took them out Sunday. I probably would have kept the twists in longer, but my some of my locs kept peeking out (I did the twists myself). I've thought about doing crochet braids next.

The main thing is I want to get to a year before I make a decision on whether to give up on the ghost on this. I know I shouldn't make any rash decisions while my hair is still in this teenage stage, which is why I think I've coming to hiding it every so often.
 

caltron

Well-Known Member
I'm 7 months into this thing and I'm having the usual issues I seem to have with my hair no matter what I'm sporting. Whether relaxed, loose natural, and now locs, I always wish my hair was thicker. I'm 35 years old. At some point I need to just accept my hair for what it is and what it isn't. I thought about combining my locs, but then I'll have few locs and I don't imagine that will help the density. I went smaller in the first place because I didn't want to deal with scalpy locs and heard that smaller locs are good for lower density hair.

And this frustration with my hair is causing my usual thoughts and boredom with my hair. I've been wigging it here and there and I also put in kinky twists for a couple weeks and just took them out Sunday. I probably would have kept the twists in longer, but my some of my locs kept peeking out (I did the twists myself). I've thought about doing crochet braids next.

The main thing is I want to get to a year before I make a decision on whether to give up on the ghost on this. I know I shouldn't make any rash decisions while my hair is still in this teenage stage, which is why I think I've coming to hiding it every so often.

@kandiekj100 I hope you decide to stick it out with your locs because they are so cute!! If I could be in your position right now 99.9% of my hair problems would be solved. I do think you made good points about accepting your hair for what it is. The grass is always greener. Your hair is gorgeous as it is and you should never forget that. One thing about high density hair is that it takes an awful lot of work to keep it under control and in a "style". My hair is very dense and 90% of the time it looks crazy when I wear it out because it has a mind of its own. I already know that once I get locs my hair is going to do it's own thing for many, many months until it starts to look really good. I think if you just stick it out for another year or two you will start to fall in love with your hair as it is. I've yet to see a sister 2+ years out who didn't have gorgeous looking locs. They all look different, but gorgeous.. There will be many styles that you can do with your hair that I won't because of the density and vice versa. Just be patient!
 

kandiekj100

Well-Known Member
@kandiekj100 I hope you decide to stick it out with your locs because they are so cute!! If I could be in your position right now 99.9% of my hair problems would be solved. I do think you made good points about accepting your hair for what it is. The grass is always greener. Your hair is gorgeous as it is and you should never forget that. One thing about high density hair is that it takes an awful lot of work to keep it under control and in a "style". My hair is very dense and 90% of the time it looks crazy when I wear it out because it has a mind of its own. I already know that once I get locs my hair is going to do it's own thing for many, many months until it starts to look really good. I think if you just stick it out for another year or two you will start to fall in love with your hair as it is. I've yet to see a sister 2+ years out who didn't have gorgeous looking locs. They all look different, but gorgeous.. There will be many styles that you can do with your hair that I won't because of the density and vice versa. Just be patient!

Thanks so much!! It is true, the grass is always greener. My sister's hair is much thicker than mine and she always talks about how she wish she had my hair (the bolded is how she would probably describe her hair) and all I could think is, girl if I had all that hair you couldn't tell me nothing, lol. I'm sure when you do your locs they will be gorgeous.
 

kandiekj100

Well-Known Member
It's been two months since I retwisted my hair and I think today is the day, as long as the weather is on my side. My son wanted to go to the pool today after I get off work if it doesn't rain. I figure this is the perfect time to do it. Hopefully laziness and pregnancy fatigue doesn't get the better of me.
 

Foxglove

A drop of golden sun
Well I guess if anybody is struggling with thin locs look into henna. I had my reti yesterday and my consultant noticed a significant difference. She kept asking if I had used any new products because my hair is much thicker and I let her know the only changes to my regimen were the henna and washing my hair loose (not banded/braided) after the henna
I will probably wait until I'm at the 1 year mark before I henna again. I'm so paranoid about washing without banding/braiding so I'll delay it until I can be sure the locs are mature enough
 

caltron

Well-Known Member
I got my locs on Friday and I love them!!! So far they are everything I thought they would be and more. I'll try to post pics soon!

I started them with the interlock method. So happy I went with that method. When I first got in the chair, I was leery because my loctician started talking about how much she admired Donald Trump and planned to vote for him, lol. I was halfway thinking I should just get up and leave then! But the final result is exactly what I was wanting. I asked for pencil sized and it looks like these will thicken up to be a slightly smaller than pencil. I have fine strands so I think it would have been difficult to get mine very thick. I have about 80 locs so if I wanted any thicker, I would probably have a lot of gaps.

I am still having trouble programming myself to how easy loc maintenance is. My loctician said the only thing I need is wash and maybe add oil if I wanted. So why am I still trying to find info on the best products to use on my hair, lol???
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
I saw my brother this week. His scalp is just as bad as I suspected it would be AND he had gone back to the same chick for a retwist. He watched me do my hair, watched how I used clips so that he can try doing it again on his own. He said "I couldn't walk you down the aisle looking funny so yeah I went back!" but he was so self-conscious of the giant flakes of dry scalp that he didn't really enjoy himself. She still has not addressed his itchy damaged scalp. After all the festivities, I took a good look at his hair..... :eek::cry3::mad: :angry2: Parts of his scalp look like they're dry and flaking up UNDER the root of his locs. HUGE flakes. Defintely NOT dandruff I told him that his best bet was likely to cut off and start over, combing out the flakes and babying his poor scalp; he did not like that idea as anything but a last resort. So instead I'm collecting ideas for how to care for his scalp.
This is what I have so far. Any suggestions are extremely welcome and highly appreciated.
  • Make tea from fresh rosemary, sage or oregano and use as a refreshing spray/nightly rinse for his scalp.
  • Eat more fresh fruit/veg, less sugar/refined carbs
  • Use alcohol free witch hazel to wipe between locs
  • Use baby shampoo to gently cleanse w/o stripping
  • Rinse with lukewarm water, instead of hot
  • Additional rinse add-ins/options: chamomile tea, lavender, diluted apple cider vinegar, comfrey, tea tree oil
  • Dry hair with t-shirt and hand held dryer to reduce dampness/mold opportunities
It's highly likely I will be supporting him through this, sending him the oils/products. If he doesn't see progress by Christmas, hopefully he can let go and cut and I'll be going to him on my spring break to start his new locs.
 

Rain20

Well-Known Member
@MeaWea
These are suggestions:
Prepoo (apply on scalp with squeeze bottle) with aloe Vera gel mixed with coconut oil and a little castor oil. Let sit for 20 mins

Rinse

Then use Diluted natural neem conditioner Thera-Neem conditioner (I have seen at Whole Foods)

After spray for scalp:
Aloe Juice, diluted apple cider vinegar, rosewater, 1-3 drops tea tree oil

If none of this works consider medicated options until scalp heals
 

caltron

Well-Known Member
One thing I'm amazed at is how soft my locs are. I have never really had an opportunity to touch someone else's locs so I did not know how they felt. I always imagined they would feel like braids or twists, but they are soft like cotton. I can't keep my hands out of my hair! Do they continue to feel this soft after they mature?
 

Guinan

Re-Branding
One thing I'm amazed at is how soft my locs are. I have never really had an opportunity to touch someone else's locs so I did not know how they felt. I always imagined they would feel like braids or twists, but they are soft like cotton. I can't keep my hands out of my hair! Do they continue to feel this soft after they mature?

My friend's locs became hard overtime; however they looked soft.
 

bklynbornNbred

Well-Known Member
@MeaWea You can't build a house on sand. He needs to start over now to fix the foundation instead of waiting six months. And he needs to find a new loctician stat.

He doesn't need baby shampoo he needs to scrub his scalp with a good cleansing shampoo and get that gunk off his scalp and out of his hair. His locs may loosen up but he may be able to save his length and get it retwisted by someone that knows what they are doing. If he waits it will only get worse. If his hair starts budding around dandruff and dirty scalp the only option he'll have six months from now is to shave. The other suggestions will work to sooth his scalp after he cleans the base but he has to lift that gunk up, follow with a moisturizing shampoo/conditioner then get someone to assess if its worth retwisting.

I wouldn't advise him trying to DIY this. He needs a real expert or an experienced loc head with healthy hair to do it for him.

He also needs to publicly blast the person that has his head looking the way it is.
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
@MeaWea
These are suggestions:
Prepoo (apply on scalp with squeeze bottle) with aloe Vera gel mixed with coconut oil and a little castor oil. Let sit for 20 mins

Rinse

Then use Diluted natural neem conditioner Thera-Neem conditioner (I have seen at Whole Foods)

After spray for scalp:
Aloe Juice, diluted apple cider vinegar, rosewater, 1-3 drops tea tree oil

If none of this works consider medicated options until scalp heals

Thank you!
 

LavenderMint

Well-Known Member
@MeaWea You can't build a house on sand. He needs to start over now to fix the foundation instead of waiting six months. And he needs to find a new loctician stat.

He doesn't need baby shampoo he needs to scrub his scalp with a good cleansing shampoo and get that gunk off his scalp and out of his hair. His locs may loosen up but he may be able to save his length and get it retwisted by someone that knows what they are doing. If he waits it will only get worse. If his hair starts budding around dandruff and dirty scalp the only option he'll have six months from now is to shave. The other suggestions will work to sooth his scalp after he cleans the base but he has to lift that gunk up, follow with a moisturizing shampoo/conditioner then get someone to assess if its worth retwisting.

I wouldn't advise him trying to DIY this. He needs a real expert or an experienced loc head with healthy hair to do it for him.

He also needs to publicly blast the person that has his head looking the way it is.

That is EXACTLY how I feel. Alllllllllllllla dat and amen!! I STILL want to go find this chick and give her a choice piece of my mind and then some!!
However, he's ten years my junior and thinks he can work around it- even though my first suggestion was to cut and start over. What do I know though, right? Being in Ogden, Utah, there aren't many qualified loctitians, much less natural hair shops where he could have his hair cared for, not even within a few hours drive. I don't know how far he is willing to travel or how much he's willing to pay.
I'm hesitant to bring up cutting again because he'll just stop talking to me about it and do what he wants anyway.
 

sunkissedskin

Well-Known Member
20120115_142516.JPG 20120115_142704.JPG 20120115_142932.JPG 20120115_142947.JPG
Here are my baby locs, 3 months later. :love2: Just had a wash and retwist last weekend.

I found out recently that I have a bunch of food allergies, and apparently I'm iron deficient as well... I think both of these might be contributing to my slow hair growth so I'm really trying to get my health under control. But overall, I think they're looking pretty good.

Plus, here's a link to some gorgeous hair photos that my friend showed me today. Motivation! :love3:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.367193123478481.1073741839.216237075240754&type=3
 

Arian

Loc'ing Up!
I figured out that the issues I am having with my locs is called bunching. It can go one of two ways: they may eventually straighten themselves out or they will lead to bumpy locs. :-(

I am not sure how I feel about this.
 
Top