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

@BillsBackerz67 do you think your hair would stay in flexirods? I did a roller set or two using those as a loose natural. I wish I had kept those rods to experiment with now with this set of locks. I'll have to get some more.

I'm just thinking out loud, but I think that would work. When you get to the last 2-3 inches, wrap the lock around the rod really tight and then put a rubber band around the tip to secure it on the rod before folding the ends. Or if you just folded the rod against the tip of the lock it might be enough to secure it.

Cattypus1 said:

This is shorter?

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Yes I still consider my hair at a short awkward length because when I put my hair in a ponytail some still don’t stay or they’re sticking up everywhere! Haha.

shortycocoa said:

I'm glad to help! Someone made a post about this recently on FB but nobody had solutions.... I think you should try the pipe cleaners, either individually on each lock (but I think that might give you a more curly set, not crinkly) or you can twist two locks together and then at the point where the two fat ends are too thick to be incorporated into the twist I would take one pipe cleaner and wrap it as tight as you can around each one. Try to do it when your hair is wet or damp also and that might also make it easier to work with your hair and it will also help the style set.

Re: the rubber bands--you're right. They will only help them stay secured but they're probably going to be too flimsy to create crinkles or a wave pattern in your hair. You might need to try using something else that is stronger and will create enough pressure to make the crinkles/waves in your hair. Try using elastic ponytail holders or cut up nylons/pantyhose if you have some on hand.

I know that when I put my hair in ponytails for bed, that bend is still in my locks the next morning, especially if the ponytails were really tight. It goes away after I've been in the shower and gotten my hair wet.

I can't wait to try twistouts (and other styles like bantu knots/knot outs) myself, but I have the same problem with my slim thick locks.

I also think I need to wait for my locks to mature more, for the twistouts, anyway. I attempted to do a style with knots but I couldn't quite get the thick ends to stay in the knots. I know if I had more time to experiment I could do it. I already know I have to use hairpins to secure them.

Getting back to your dilemma, these videos might help, though.

Here's NaturalBeauty0214, but her locks are not as thick as yours at the bottom. I also think you can use some type of sturdy wire, maybe from a craft store, in place of the wrap a lock tool.:


loc'dandloaded:


Harpo, who dis woman????? My slim thick lock twin in EVERY way! She started her locks the same way I started mine (with two-strand twists) AND we have the same number of locks. I don't think she interlocks, though.

Your ends are thicker than hers, but I just wanted to give you a visual. I also think if you approach it the way I mentioned (twisting wet or damp and twisting tight, then securing the very end with rubber bands) you can get the look you want.

She starts sectioning her hair off to twist around 6:05.

I would have loved to see the take down of this, but she doesn't have a video of that that I could find. She does, however, have a 3-strand twist tutorial. That might work for you also, if you wanted to try that.:


And here's the takedown:



There were a couple other videos I saw, but this YouTuber stood out to me the most. If she can get her hair in a twist out, there's hope for us.

Making A Woman:

(Braidout)


(Retwist and braids)

https://youtu.be/64f3S03Gl9c

If you want me to post the other videos I found, just let me know. Their hair was not as thick as yours, but still might be helpful in terms of seeing technique. But these should be enough to get you started.

I hope that helps and definitely come back and show us how yours turned out!

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I knew you would come through with the ideas! Thank you so very much. I’m def going to try this when I get my hair retwisted or ask my loctition to help me out!

shortycocoa said:

@BillsBackerz67 do you think your hair would stay in flexirods? I did a roller set or two using those as a loose natural. I wish I had kept those rods to experiment with now with this set of locks. I'll have to get some more.

I'm just thinking out loud, but I think that would work. When you get to the last 2-3 inches, wrap the lock around the rod really tight and then put a rubber band around the tip to secure it on the rod before folding the ends. Or if you just folded the rod against the tip of the lock it might be enough to secure it.

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I think if the flex rod is slim enough yes and the Bands would have to secure it.

Platinum said:

@BillsBackerz67 your locs are gorgeous!

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Thank you boo

simplycee said:

Went for my last retightening for 2018. This time it felt like my loctician was pulling my brains out. My scalp isn’t sore or tight but I was not happy with how rough my she was when she was cleaning up my parts. She said I had a lot of new growth and it was thick. After I told her to ease up the rest of the appointment went ok. She said my hair looked good and ok’d me to use a rinse but only a rinse to cover the grays at my hairline. I’m considering going every 7 weeks vs every 6.

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Oh wow! I wonder why she was so rough. It's good that you said something, though. What color are you thinking of using to cover the gray? I am starting to see a few random gray hairs in my locks. At first I panic and instinctively I reach my hands up to pull lint out, because at first glance I that's what it looks like. Then I relax once I remember it's gray hair. .

Right now I don't know how I feel about it yet.... sometimes I'm indifferent. But other days, that black dye is tempting.

simplycee said:

All the length I thought I saw after my retightening is gone . Went from past shoulder length to now today just below ear length. I’m reallly curious to see when the shrinkage will stop.

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That's a lot of shrinkage!!! Did you have a big shrinkage percentage when you were a loose natural also? I think that plays a part into how much shrinkage your locks will have. Are you wetting your hair a lot outside of wash days? If you are, maybe scale back some. During showers, aim your showerhead on the lowest angle so your hair still benefits from some of the moisture but doesn't get too wet and draws up too much. The wetter your hair gets, the tighter it is going to draw up, unless you stretch it first before you get in the shower to prevent that.

If the shrinkage is really bothering you, it might be time to go back to braidouts and banding and covering your hair in the shower to circumvent that. If you want to wear your hair in a certain style, it's also best to go ahead and style it before you get in the shower and not afterwards, unless it's a style that looks the best with shrinkage.

I think I might have posted this video earlier of PrettiPoison and how she prevents/corrects shrinkage in her locks, I'm not sure. She uses Cantu leave-in and a blow dryer, but I don't know if you want to put Cantu in your hair or use heat.:


If you are ok with using heat and your consultant says your locks are far enough along, don't forget you can also flat iron your Sisterlocks to lengthen them and decrease shrinkage. I think you have to use a high-end flat iron though...something like a Chi or Maxiglide. I'm sure there are others, but those are the main ones I can think of right now.

FlawedBeauty said:

Sooooo question. When do interlock start doing something? I feel like I'm going to have these lil braid looking things forever lol. My coiled ends are getting frizzier but the interlocs are like fresh looking

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That's the beauty of interlocking, Queen! It's pretty much going to look neat for the most part until your roots start growing out some and it's time for your next retightening. That's why interlocking is preferred by many because of how long it lasts and because the hair locks faster.

The only action you will see is the frizz from after your hair has been wet and is drying and when the shed hairs fall and attach themselves along the length of your hair to form your locks.

But if you prefer a messier look (which I highly doubt, but I could be wrong since you have embraced your frizz) then just continue wetting your hair every day. The puffy roots will come back in time as your hair grows out.

Remember, the water is also contributing to helping your hair lock faster. In order for locks to form, part of what has to happen is the hair has to shrink and wind onto itself. The fastest way for natural hair to shrink is when it comes into contact with moisture.

The other thing I love about interlocking is that you (general you) can clearly see and feel the point where your lock stops and the new growth begins. This is extremely helpful for you to be able to see how much your hair has grown/is growing. I compare that to being relaxed and being able to see the line of demarcation.

As far as the frizzy coils, the rest of your hair will catch up through the locking process, especially when it starts condensing. But in order for that to happen, time has to elapse. It's all good. You're pretty much on autopilot now.

It's so good to see this thread picking up momentum. I don't think this was the case five years ago. Five years ago, locking my hair was the furthest thing from my mind. Now, here I am locked.

Best,
Almond Eyes

Cattypus1 said:

I had to clean up the bubbles. I rinsed my hair and applied a little bit of shampoo, lathered and rinsed it really well. I didn’t mess with trying palm-rolling because i think my hair is too short for me to do it successfully. I just coiled in the same direction as they were started and clipped them down. It took me about an hour. I replaced my standing hair dryer so I’m drying right now. I’m feeling pretty good about it now. I haven’t taken a picture this week so it’s time.

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That's really fast! Look at you getting all proficient with your retwisting. I'm so proud! It's good that you were able to also get the dryer situation straightened out relatively quickly as well. As far as the palmrolling, I'm going to just sit this right here. There's more than one way to skin a cat.:


SlowBurnmmj: (one of DXLYN's clients)

shortycocoa said:

That's really fast! Look at you getting all proficient with your retwisting. I'm so proud! It's good that you were able to also get the dryer situation straightened out relatively quickly as well. As far as the palmrolling, I'm going to just sit this right here. There's more than one way to skin a cat.:


SlowBurnmmj: (one of DXLYN's clients)

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Please don’t be tryin to skin any cats...LOL...thanks for the info!

almond eyes said:

It's so good to see this thread picking up momentum. I don't think this was the case five years ago. Five years ago, locking my hair was the furthest thing from my mind. Now, here I am locked.

Best,
Almond Eyes

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I’m right there with ya @almond eyes. 5 years ago I was going to be a butt length natural but my kinks and shrinkage beat me into submission. My hair wants to loc so hopefully with a little help from her friends she will get loc-ed up tight!

shortycocoa said:

That's the beauty of interlocking, Queen! It's pretty much going to look neat for the most part until your roots start growing out some and it's time for your next retightening. That's why interlocking is preferred by many because of how long it lasts and because the hair locks faster.

The only action you will see is the frizz from after your hair has been wet and is drying and when the shed hairs fall and attach themselves along the length of your hair to form your locks.

But if you prefer a messier look (which I highly doubt, but I could be wrong since you have embraced your frizz) then just continue wetting your hair every day. The puffy roots will come back in time as your hair grows out.

Remember, the water is also contributing to helping your hair lock faster. In order for locks to form, part of what has to happen is the hair has to shrink and wind onto itself. The fastest way for natural hair to shrink is when it comes into contact with moisture.

The other thing I love about interlocking is that you (general you) can clearly see and feel the point where your lock stops and the new growth begins. This is extremely helpful for you to be able to see how much your hair has grown/is growing. I compare that to being relaxed and being able to see the line of demarcation.

As far as the frizzy coils, the rest of your hair will catch up through the locking process, especially when it starts condensing. But in order for that to happen, time has to elapse. It's all good. You're pretty much on autopilot now.

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Oh, ok. I was just worried that these coils were going to loc up and be a much thicker loc than the interloc section. Let me go back in the corner and work on my patience more lol. It's not even been two months and it feels like two years

Hair appointment got pushed back a day again. This inspired me to buy a interlocking tool today, I also twisted two locs together to see how they would look combined. I also braided three locs together to see how I liked combining locs that way. I think I like the braid method.

Random thought. Bless you all with sisterlocks. I def would have gave up and shaved my head by nowThe commitment, maintenance, and upkeep seems like a beast even though I still salivate at pics on here and Pinterest

However, I barely want to retwist what I have on my head now or drive to the loctitian. One thing I am good about is not lying to myself. Sister locks I am not capable of...I am not enough.

BillsBackerz67 said:

Random thought. Bless you all with sisterlocks. I def would have gave up and shaved my head by nowThe commitment, maintenance, and upkeep seems like a beast even though I still salivate at pics on here and Pinterest

However, I barely want to retwist what I have on my head now or drive to the loctitian. One thing I am good about is not lying to myself. Sister locks I am not capable of...I am not enough.

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For some us Sisterlocks can be frustrating! Add in consultants that you can guarantee when it comes a few hours before your appointment time they to have to reschedule. Me and SO now have a bet going on every time it gets time for my appointment that my consultant is going to text me having to reschedule. I honestly wish I went with small traditional locs.

FlawedBeauty said:

Oh, ok. I was just worried that these coils were going to loc up and be a much thicker loc than the interloc section. Let me go back in the corner and work on my patience more lol. It's not even been two months and it feels like two years

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BOFL! I meant to say "girl, what you doing in this kitchen after I done told you to leave that pot alone!"

But for real...all jokes aside, it hasn't been that long yet. Your locks need way more time but it will all come together.

I love my fatties and don't want them to condense, but I also am curious to see how they will end up as mature locks. Since I can't fast forward, I'm waiting too...but I'm loving this ride! If it just so happens that this is how my locks want to form, I'll be ok with that.

I almost don't want to say what I'm about to say, because I don't want you to get caught up in too much overcorrecting at this point and not enjoying the process of letting your locks do what it do. But on the other hand, this is your journey and you also have to be happy (and you like being in control). Plus, I might not remember later and then I'd be kicking myself for not saying something sooner.

If you are really worried about the frizzy coiled ends, you can use a crochet needle to bring the hairs in tighter so they match the smoother, tighter interlocked part of your hair.

That would be the least invasive, least time consuming way to remedy this situation.

I don't advise this next option because you would be undoing all your progress so far, but you could also undo the coiled frizzy part, take all the shed hairs out and recoil that portion of your hair tighter so it matches. (note: It will match the diameter, not the look) You can either discard the shed hairs or wrap them around the locks tight after you finish so you can keep some of your progress and you don't have to wait for the rest of your hair to catch up.

And lastly, if you really want all of your hair to be interlocked (matching in diameter and aesthetic) you can also undo that coily frizzy portion, tie a small knot at the end of each lock, and then interlock from the bottom up until it meets the rest of your hair.

But save the shed hairs to wrap around the locks when you finish so that they look more uniform throughout. If you don't, you will have to wait for more shed hairs to fall and fill those areas in.

This is part of the reason why it can take a while for locks started via interlocking and Sisterlocks to thicken up and fill in.

I'm sure ya'll have noticed, but I have at least two or three locks that slipped mid shaft but the ends stayed in tact. I interlocked to fix it. Those portions are noticeably thinner that the other parts of the locks, and theoretically, I could wrap shed hairs around those parts to help them catch up, but I kinda like it, so for now I just leave it.

I did tie knots in some of the ones that needed an anchor point, and you will lose some length doing this, but I didn't care about that for the most part. I know I'll gain the length back as my locks continue to grow so I'm not worried.

At any rate, I hope that helps!

@BillsBackerz67 you might consider these points also, but I don't think you are about that life, especially since you are almost three years in. But it might be an option for you if you are ready to part ways with your fat ends.

Cattypus1 said:

Please don’t be tryin to skin any cats...LOL...thanks for the info!

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Never that....I love cats! That was just an expression. And you're welcome!

almond eyes said:

It's so good to see this thread picking up momentum. I don't think this was the case five years ago. Five years ago, locking my hair was the furthest thing from my mind. Now, here I am locked.

Best,
Almond Eyes

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You're in good company....and we are glad to have you in the fold!

Cattypus1 said:

I’m right there with ya @almond eyes. 5 years ago I was going to be a butt length natural but my kinks and shrinkage beat me into submission. My hair wants to loc so hopefully with a little help from her friends she will get loc-ed up tight!

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Agreed...I definitely threw in the towel in 2010 and started my Sisterlock journey because the way my loose hair was starting to be set up.... But I can't wait for this time to pass and for my locks to progress all the way to a few inches below my butt. That's my ultimate locked length goal. The universe will bless me with what I want. I'm claiming it!

shortycocoa said:

You're in good company....and we are glad to have you in the fold!

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I am glad to be here!!!!!!!!I've tried all of the other hair sides!!!!!

Best,
Almond Eyes

shortycocoa said:

Agreed...I definitely threw in the towel in 2010 and started my Sisterlock journey because the way my loose hair was starting to be set up.... But I can't wait for this time to pass and for my locks to progress all the way to a few inches below my butt. That's my ultimate locked length goal. The universe will bless me with what I want. I'm claiming it!

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That's how I feel too!!!!!!

Best,
Almond Eyes

shortycocoa said:

BOFL! I meant to say "girl, what you doing in this kitchen after I done told you to leave that pot alone!"

But for real...all jokes aside, it hasn't been that long yet. Your locks need way more time but it will all come together.

I love my fatties and don't want them to condense, but I also am curious to see how they will end up as mature locks. Since I can't fast forward, I'm waiting too...but I'm loving this ride! If it just so happens that this is how my locks want to form, I'll be ok with that.

I almost don't want to say what I'm about to say, because I don't want you to get caught up in too much overcorrecting at this point and not enjoying the process of letting your locks do what it do. But on the other hand, this is your journey and you also have to be happy (and you like being in control). Plus, I might not remember later and then I'd be kicking myself for not saying something sooner.

If you are really worried about the frizzy coiled ends, you can use a crochet needle to bring the hairs in tighter so they match the smoother, tighter interlocked part of your hair.

That would be the least invasive, least time consuming way to remedy this situation.

I don't advise this next option because you would be undoing all your progress so far, but you could also undo the coiled frizzy part, take all the shed hairs out and recoil that portion of your hair tighter so it matches. (note: It will match the diameter, not the look) You can either discard the shed hairs or wrap them around the locks tight after you finish so you can keep some of your progress and you don't have to wait for the rest of your hair to catch up.

And lastly, if you really want all of your hair to be interlocked (matching in diameter and aesthetic) you can also undo that coily frizzy portion, tie a small knot at the end of each lock, and then interlock from the bottom up until it meets the rest of your hair.

But save the shed hairs to wrap around the locks when you finish so that they look more uniform throughout. If you don't, you will have to wait for more shed hairs to fall and fill those areas in.

This is part of the reason why it can take a while for locks started via interlocking and Sisterlocks to thicken up and fill in.

I'm sure ya'll have noticed, but I have at least two or three locks that slipped mid shaft but the ends stayed in tact. I interlocked to fix it. Those portions are noticeably thinner that the other parts of the locks, and theoretically, I could wrap shed hairs around those parts to help them catch up, but I kinda like it, so for now I just leave it.

I did tie knots in some of the ones that needed an anchor point, and you will lose some length doing this, but I didn't care about that for the most part. I know I'll gain the length back as my locks continue to grow so I'm not worried.

At any rate, I hope that helps!

@BillsBackerz67 you might consider these points also, but I don't think you are about that life, especially since you are almost three years in. But it might be an option for you if you are ready to part ways with your fat ends.

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OMG you absolutely read my mind with the crochet hook suggestion. I was researching it last night. I can't across a vid of a woman who's hair wouldn't stay locked so she started using the crochet hook. I have so much frizz it's almost as if the shed hairs are growing away from the loc instead of getting caught up in the loc if that makes any sense. I think that is why I maybe so worried about the amount of frizz. I don't mind how it looks at all tho.

mz.rae said:

Hair appointment got pushed back a day again. This inspired me to buy a interlocking tool today, I also twisted two locs together to see how they would look combined. I also braided three locs together to see how I liked combining locs that way. I think I like the braid method.

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Ugh....and I was going to say when I saw your other post where you said you almost wish you went with small traditional locks that you can always combine if you want to part ways with your consultant and feel that you have too many SLs to retighten. One of the YouTubers I posted upthread (kayajourney) combined her SLs and hers could still pass for SLs....they're small but not too small.

When I considered combining, I also didn't like the way two twisted locks looked so I ended up not combining. Three braided locks together for me, I had never considered as a method to combine but I don't think I liked how braided SLs looked on me in general. Granted, I was braiding and banding to wash so if I had done them smaller it may have looked way different. Can I see how yours looks (three braided SLs together)?

Which tool did you buy? Let us know how you like it!

BillsBackerz67 said:

Random thought. Bless you all with sisterlocks. I def would have gave up and shaved my head by nowThe commitment, maintenance, and upkeep seems like a beast even though I still salivate at pics on here and Pinterest

However, I barely want to retwist what I have on my head now or drive to the loctitian. One thing I am good about is not lying to myself. Sister locks I am not capable of...I am not enough.

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@ the bolded..... Ma'am!!!....

But yes....I still admire Sisterlocks all over social media but I just had to part ways with mine, due to all the issues I was having and also going through the frustrations @MzRae is going through now. I was fresh to death with my Caesar though!

FlawedBeauty said:

OMG you absolutely read my mind with the crochet hook suggestion. I was researching it last night. I can't across a vid of a woman who's hair wouldn't stay locked so she started using the crochet hook. I have so much frizz it's almost as if the shed hairs are growing away from the loc instead of getting caught up in the loc if that makes any sense. I think that is why I maybe so worried about the amount of frizz. I don't mind how it looks at all tho.

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I think you want the crochet needle. There's crochet needles and there's crochet hooks. Not the same thing. Two different tools.

shortycocoa said:

Ugh....and I was going to say when I saw your other post where you said you almost wish you went with small traditional locks that you can always combine if you want to part ways with your consultant and feel that you have too many SLs to retighten. One of the YouTubers I posted upthread (kayajourney) combined her SLs and hers could still pass for SLs....they're small but not too small.

When I considered combining, I also didn't like the way two twisted locks looked so I ended up not combining. Three braided locks together for me, I had never considered as a method to combine but I don't think I liked how braided SLs looked on me in general. Granted, I was braiding and banding to wash so if I had done them smaller it may have looked way different. Can I see how yours looks (three braided SLs together)?

Which tool did you buy? Let us know how you like it!

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Will do! I didn’t get a chance to take a pic of the braided locs as I took them down afterwards. Here is what they looked like twisted, I feel like they came out too large
I’m not sure if I want to use some type of product to combine them together so they will stay or just tie a knot at the end of the loc.

This is the tool I bought from off Amazon I’m going to watch some videos to get the routine down. I’m not sure if I should twist and then interlock or interlock and then twist the length of the hair.

shortycocoa said:

@ the bolded..... Ma'am!!!....

But yes....I still admire Sisterlocks all over social media but I just had to part ways with mine, due to all the issues I was having and also going through the frustrations @MzRae is going through now. I was fresh to death with my Caesar though!



I think you want the crochet needle. There's crochet needles and there's crochet hooks. Not the same thing. Two different tools.

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It's a hook. This is the video I was referring to...

mz.rae said:

Will do! I didn’t get a chance to take a pic of the braided locs as I took them down afterwards. Here is what they looked like twisted, I feel like they came out too large
I’m not sure if I want to use some type of product to combine them together so they will stay or just tie a knot at the end of the loc.

This is the tool I bought from off Amazon I’m going to watch some videos to get the routine down. I’m not sure if I should twist and then interlock or interlock and then twist the length of the hair.

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I have been eyeing that tool forever! Please let me know how you like it. The people in one of the FB groups I'm in that have this tool seem to love it and swear by it.

You should interlock and then twist any surrounding hairs into the freshly retightened lock. Otherwise you would be making more work for yourself. The same holds true if you twisted and then interlocked if you don't maintain tension on the twisted new growth.

mz.rae said:

Will do! I didn’t get a chance to take a pic of the braided locs as I took them down afterwards. Here is what they looked like twisted, I feel like they came out too large
I’m not sure if I want to use some type of product to combine them together so they will stay or just tie a knot at the end of the loc.

This is the tool I bought from off Amazon I’m going to watch some videos to get the routine down. I’m not sure if I should twist and then interlock or interlock and then twist the length of the hair.

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The video below shows nicely the wrapping the loose hairs around the loc when interlocking that @shortycocoa spoke about. Skip to 8:46...@ 12:12 is slo-mo of him wrapping the hair around

FlawedBeauty said:

It's a hook. This is the video I was referring to...

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Her locks are amazing! I think I follow her on IG, too. She is sooooooo sexy!!! I thought I was subscribed to her YouTube channel but I wasn't until just now. And my bad....I must be all the way wrong and confused. It's a hook but she called it a needle, didn't she?

I was referring to this one in Kris McDred's video (it's been posted upthread before, but I'll just repost it here.) but I'm also legit confused because it looks like a needle to me but he also called it a hook. Unless the point is so small that you can't tell it's a hook and not a needle.


I need an update on this client's locks...cause the first time I saw this video was about three years ago and these locks were dope then. I'm sure they look amazing now, if she still has them. I didn't realize I wasn't subscribed to his channel already either but I am now!

mz.rae said:

I’m not sure if I want to use some type of product to combine them together so they will stay or just tie a knot at the end of the loc.

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I had to requote you because I realize I didn't address this part of your post before. I'm not sure if using a product will allow them to stay. The locks will come undone as soon as you wash your hair, no? Also, if you tie a knot at the end of the lock, the knots might be big and you might end up with fat tips until they condense. If you're going to tie knots, you have to be sure to tie them extremely tight and be sure about your choice because it would be very hard to undo the knots if you decide you don't like the way that looks.

I would tie the knots loose enough so that you get an idea of what it looks like but tight enough to hold in case you do like it and decide to leave it, if that makes sense. You are also going to have to tie more than one knot, and you'll see what I mean when you attempt this, which will cause you to lose some length. Practice with a piece of yarn or string first so you can understand what I mean before you try it on your locks. I didn't do that, but I'm also cool with it because like I said, I know the length will come back as my hair grows out and I'm happy with the way my locks look. IMO, you can't even tell that I tied knots in some of my locks.

ETA: If you only want to tie one knot on all of your locks, you will have to probably cut all the hair that ends up being below the knot, so that the knotted end will then become the new tip of each of your locks.

The other thing I forgot to mention is if you reconsider and you want to combine them another way, you can always use your interlocking tool to interlock two locks together. I may have already posted the video of DynamicRunner doing this method on her locks, I'm not sure. There were several SLs I mistakenly combined that way when I was first learning how to retighten my own locks. With this method though, you do have to wait until the locks fuse together, and you will end up with two-headed dragons. Then you will need to decide which of the heads you want to cut off so that you end up with one lock. Also, until they fuse, you have to thread both locks through your tool when you retighten.

For me, it always made sense to cut off the shorter head and leave the longer one in tact. You can also save the shorter heads that you cut off and reattach them to the ends of your newly combined locks. I think I was throwing those away, partly because I didn't think to save them for the purpose of reattaching them to the ends of my SLs back then. The other part was due to the fact that my ends were already fat as it was, and some of the dragons I was cutting were not the same size and I didn't want the huge variance (small from the root to about mid shaft, then fat ends, then a newly reattached, smaller end.) So if you can picture it, it would have looked like this:

-------------------------------0000000000000000000============

instead of this:

--------------------------------000000000000000000.

I'm not even sure reattaching would have worked anyway, because my bunching on the ends felt like stone. I don't think a crochet needle was going to get through that.

FlawedBeauty said:

The video below shows nicely the wrapping the loose hairs around the loc when interlocking that @shortycocoa spoke about. Skip to 8:46...@ 12:12 is slo-mo of him wrapping the hair around

Click to expand...

shortycocoa said:

Her locks are amazing! I think I follow her on IG, too. She is sooooooo sexy!!! I thought I was subscribed to her YouTube channel but I wasn't until just now. And my bad....I must be all the way wrong and confused. It's a hook but she called it a needle, didn't she?

I was referring to this one in Kris McDred's video (it's been posted upthread before, but I'll just repost it here.) but I'm also legit confused because it looks like a needle to me but he also called it a hook. Unless the point is so small that you can't tell it's a hook and not a needle.


I need an update on this client's locks...cause the first time I saw this video was about three years ago and these locks were dope then. I'm sure they look amazing now, if she still has them. I didn't realize I wasn't subscribed to his channel already either but I am now!



I had to requote you because I realize I didn't address this part of your post before. I'm not sure if using a product will allow them to stay. The locks will come undone as soon as you wash your hair, no? Also, if you tie a knot at the end of the lock, the knots might be big and you might end up with fat tips until they condense. If you're going to tie knots, you have to be sure to tie them extremely tight and be sure about your choice because it would be very hard to undo the knots if you decide you don't like the way that looks.

I would tie the knots loose enough so that you get an idea of what it looks like but tight enough to hold in case you do like it and decide to leave it, if that makes sense. You are also going to have to tie more than one knot, and you'll see what I mean when you attempt this, which will cause you to lose some length. Practice with a piece of yarn or string first so you can understand what I mean before you try it on your locks. I didn't do that, but I'm also cool with it because like I said, I know the length will come back as my hair grows out and I'm happy with the way my locks look. IMO, you can't even tell that I tied knots in some of my locks.

ETA: If you only want to tie one knot on all of your locks, you will have to probably cut all the hair that ends up being below the knot, so that the knotted end will then become the new tip of each of your locks.

Click to expand...

Thank you ladies for all the tips!! @FlawedBeauty thst video was extremely helpful! He makes it look so easy and effortless. @shortycocoa did you tie a knot on all your locs or did you sew some together?