Care and Maintenance
As your hair grows,
you will need to retwist the roots. Although you want to give your
hair a chance to lock by being undisturbed, you do need to wash your
hair. How often to
wash, you may ask? As
often as you need to, but no more than once a week when the hair is
not fully locked. Many
people wash every other week in the first couple of months of
locking. Once again, it
depends on your hair, your activities, and personal preference. Once your hair is locked,
you can wash as often as your want.
After washing hair,
towel dry. If you choose, you can oil your hair and scalp at this
time. Separate hairs that have connected to adjacent locks. Apply your twisting product
down the length of your locs and twist the roots. Be sure and twist your hair
in the same direction each time. For example, if you choose
to twist your hair in a clockwise direction, remember to always
twist clockwise.
For bedtime, you can
sleep with a silk or satin scarf on your head. This will help keep your
hair in tact and also help to keep lint from blankets out of your
hair. Another
alternative is to sleep on silk or satin sheets and pillowcases.
Hair Stages
Your hair will go
through stages as it matures.
These stages can vary greatly depending on your hair type. For
example, I have interviewed people whose hair has been fully locked
in as short as 1 month, and as long as 2 years. These various
stages are often referred to as:
Baby Locs, 0-6 month
old locs. This is when
you are awaiting buds of locs to appear in your hair. After the buds you start
getting fuzz up and down the locs. Then, you actually have some
locked hair. Don't worry about the fuzz, it's all part of the
process.
Teenage Locs,
around 6 months to 1 year. Yep, just like teenagers,
your hair is doing what it wants to do. It sometimes seems just out
of control. It may
stick up instead of lay down, unravel instead of stay tight, or just
rebel. Don’t worry
about it, this is part of the process too. Please be patient and
continue to cultivate your hair.
Adult
Stage, from 1 to 2 year mark. Whooo hooo, yipeee,
hooray!!!!!! You have
made the journey to “locdom”!!! Your hair is locked and
unlike previous stages, it is pretty care free. Wash it when you want, twist
it when you want, or don’t want, YOU HAVE ARRIVED!!!
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