Microlocs: the Basics

It is the most simple thing in the world really. Coilly, curly hair will curl on itself. The tangles my mother combed out of my coilly, curly hair every month until I was twelve are a testament to this. At age 12, I graduated to having my hair permed to make it more manageable. I imagine a lot of women can identify with this ritual. I left my hair permed for the next decade except for a brief period when I got a hair cut in Denmark and the stylist gave me a fade. Not the look I was going for but I wore my hair short and natural for a year before I went back to perming my hair.

In December of 2012, I decided I had had enough. My hair would not grow past a certain length because I always had breakage or split ends or some type of damage. I felt like a failure and I felt like my hair was a failure. I decided to go natural. I decided I would grow a thick afro that would sit on my shoulders. Occasionally, I would twist it and have waves of curly hair. Much to my surprise, that never did happen.

My daughter decided to go natural, too. She was in college, not far away. We shared notes and made comparisons. She was more adventurous. She made wigs, wore wigs, added extensions, colored her hair. I too colored my hair. I used henna to cover the grey and white hair that peaked out every month. I loved my natural hair. I learned a lot about it. I learned that all of my hair is not 4C, There are some looser 4B curls in different sections. I learned that my hair loves Jamaican black castor oil. I had a shelf in my closet just for my hair care products my hair didn’t like as much. I was the poster child for the slogan: “My Hair is My Hobby”.

Sometime in 2016, my daughter had Sisterlocs installed. She cut her hair to reduce her cost of installation. I couldn’t imagine spending a thousand dollars for a hairstyle. I was perplexed, stymied, not convinced that this was a good decision. She tried to convince me to loc my hair with her. My husband was just as insistent that I did not. So, it was very easy not to loc my hair. But, my curiosity was piqued.

As time passed, my daughter’s locs grew and grew. They are now mid back length and very beautiful. It was Christmas of 2021 when my daughter came home for the holidays, when I knew for certain I had to start my loc journey. It did not matter that my husband’s opinion had not changed. After 35 years of marriage, I felt pretty sure a hairstyle change would not be a big issue. What drove my decision more than anything was the thought that I didn’t want to leave earth, that is – die, without ever having had long hair.

All of the old concerns about locs being unwashed, uncared for hair had been swept away by my very thorough research at YouTube University and vicariously through my daughter’s lived experience. I knew that whether I chose to wash my hair once a month or once a week was a decision for me to make. How I would maintain my locs would be my choice. I set out to find a loctitian.

I had reached out to a friend’s loctitian in 2019 for a consultation. She was not taking on any new clients. In December of 2021, I reached out to another local loctitian. She replied in November of 2022 that I should call to get on her schedule. By that time, I had already installed my locs and I was seven months into my loc journey.

In January of 2022, I installed two strand twists to see if I would easily get bored of wearing my hair in the same style. I have friends who have worn their hair in the same style for years. While none of these friends are black, I thought perhaps I could try to adopt their approach. Clearly, a one month trial was in order. Usually, Sisterloc consultants install a few “test” Sisterlocs for clients to see if this is a style they will enjoy. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea.

I had not been much of a 2 strand twist wearer. Twists for me were typically a means to getting curly or stretched hair. It turned out I enjoyed the way my two strand twists looked. It did not bother me that they did not look like locs. It was enough to get an idea what living with locs might be like.

January’s experiment went well. In February, I took down the twists; washed and hennaed my hair and re-installed two strand twists. It occurred to me, “why not just install two strand twists in your hair each month?” In March, I noticed that as I took down my twists, conditioned, detangled, washed, hennaed, conditioned, and oiled my scalp and hair before installing two strand twists again that the effort was taking about as much time as wash day with loose natural hair. It also occurred to me the detangling process would at least be eliminated if I left my hair in two strand twists. As I write, I now know combing, parting and detangling two strand twists keeps the hair strands from matting together to become locs. In March I decided this time I am going to install two strand twists and officially start my locs. Making the mental declaration is the first step.

Over the course of one day I installed 96 two strand twist baby locs on my hair. I felt pretty accomplished. I told my daughter. She was happy for me and proud I had finally taken this step and loc’d my hair. She was also surprised I had actually done it and, I found out later, she told her old college roommate she wasn’t sure how long I would keep them. Meanwhile, I liked getting up in the morning and not having to stress over what was I going to do with my hair today. The feeling of freedom for me was almost instantaneous. That was March 26, 2022.

I was sure I had done the right thing locking my hair. But, I was afraid I had not given myself enough locs to satisfy my desire to have loc style flexibility.I Sprayed my locs with my new mister spray bottle and divided each loc into two or more sections. This dividing took place over two days. On April 2, 2022, I declared my microlocs installed. I had 212 locs. In 3 months time this number would shrink to 210 microlocs as I combined 4 locs into 2. I had thought if I have 200 or so microlocs and I decide I want more traditional sized locs, I can simply combine some together.

I Know What I Know

I had done my research. I knew I was supposed to keep my locs moisturized by spraying daily with water, or rose water, or aloe vera gel. (Over time I have refined what goes into my moisturizing spray bottle.)

I knew I wasn’t supposed to wash my locs for 4 weeks. Some people seem shocked to hear this ; but, as a loose natural, it was common for me to wash my hair once a month. I was more surprised by the YouTubers who washed their locs within the first month. Today, I’m pretty sure you do not have to wait 4 weeks to wash your hair…especially if you interlock to maintain your locs. Even if you started your locs with finger coils there are ways to wash your hair. You can braid and band your locs.

I knew about braiding and banding my locs if, and when, I was going to wash them. One big surprise was my locs had shrunken so much after the daily misting moisturizing I did not have enough hair to braid. So, if your locs are short, you just band your locs together before washing. At one year loc’d, I can now braid and band. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I now know that when you wash your locs for the first time should not be dependent upon some arbitrary date. The need to shampoo your hair is particular to your scalp and locs’ requirements. You should feel free to wash or my favorite, rinse your locs when they need it.

I knew to use a clear shampoo and not creamy detangling shampoos or conditioners. I was ready for the first wash with Dr. Bronner’s Castle soap in Peppermint. I have since bought Dr. Bronner’s Shampoo in Rose and in Eucalyptus. These are the only shampoos I have used with the exception of a conditioning shampoo by Giogio Di Acqua I used while on vacation. My daughter had used it on her locs and was pleased with the conditioning. In my defence, the product is mostly clear, certainly not creamy and I forgot that she has been loc’d about 7 years while I was only 3 months loc’d. Her mature locs enjoyed the conditioner. I, on the other hand, could feel the coating of conditioner on my locs even after I rinsed my locs three times. As my locs dried, I noticed a lot of strands slipped out of my 4B locs. If you have a looser curl pattern, I recommend that you do not use conditioner on your locs during the first year.

The use of conditioner in locs is one of those “Hot Button Topics”. If you use conditioner on your locs, how long have you been loc’d and when did you start using conditioner? How do you use conditioner?

I am curious as to how you use conditioner because while I do not use it, I also do not use shampoo the same way I did as a loose natural. I now put my shampoo in a spray bottle and dilute the shampoo with water. Dr. Bronner’s Shampoo is a concentrate which has to be mixed with water. I dilute a little more than specified. Spraying the shampoo places it directly on the scalp. I use the balls (tips, pads) of my fingers to massage the shampoo into a lather. I rinse this out and reapply shampoo. Again, I focus my attention on the roots and the scalp. I then squeeze soap through the length of my locs. I rinse them several times with warm water until no soap washes out of the locs.

One of the freedoms microlocs has given me is the freedom to wash my hair in the shower. Let me expand on that. For the first time in my life I have the freedom to just let water run through my locs every time I get into the shower. I no longer worry if, and when, my hair gets wet.

I used to wash my loose natural hair in the kitchen sink because I hate hair from my head getting stuck on my body. To my very pleasant surprise, I don’t mind washing my hair in the shower because loc’d hair sheds only a very little bit. If you’re not looking for it, you will likely miss, or maybe not miss, the shed hairs.

I knew I needed to use a microfiber towel to dry my hair. Some YouTube loc stars only use a teeshirt. I have never tried that. I bought extra large grey microfiber towels from Amazon. I love them. They leave no lint and they dry my locs pretty quickly. Once towel dried, damp locs are easy to style. Again the joke was on me. 210 microlocs and I usually just “play the harp” while running my fingers through my hair until my locs are shaped the way I want them to be for the day. To “play a harP’ one curls ones fingers and gently plucksat each individual harp string. In this analogy, your microlocs are the harp strings. I find myself “playing the harp” through my locs several times a day. I know the conventional wisdom is to keep your hands out of your hair. I really love the feel of my locs so much I thank God for bringing me to this new state of being where I truly love my hair and all of the weird things it does. So thankful for having installed my microlocs.

For 12 years, I had been a “loose natural” (loc terminology to describe someone with natural hair that is not loc’d). So, I knew about hair shrinkage. Shrinkage comes with the territory when you have 4C and 4B textured hair. Even with this knowledge, I was surprised that my hair went from longish 2 strand twists to skull hugging baby locs.

I knew that I needed a silk or satin bonnet or scarf to tie up my locs at night to keep them from having all the moisture sucked out of them by cotton sheets; as well as, to protect my locs from lint. A satin or silk pillowcase would not have been effective for me. I enjoy pulling the covers over my head when I sleep. As a loose natural, I already had a collection of satin like bonnets. As a sewer, I decided to cut up a satin pillowcase to make a bonnet for sleeping. This is my favorite bonnet. I toss it in the wash once a week.

Why Microlocs?

As you may have noticed, I started my loc journey with 96 locs . I then started second guessing my decision. I went back to YouTube University. It began to become obvious, the more locs I had, the more opportunities I would have for styling my hair and hopefully, there would be fewer reasons to become bored and cut off my locs. I thought about the versatility my daughter has with 700 Sisterlocs. I knew, however I did not want to maintain 700 locs. But, I could maintain 200 locs. I went to work untwisting and retwisting my locs. Two strand twist microlocs gave me the flexibility to change my mind about the number of my locs.

I have always been sensitive about my forehead. My edges have always been sensitive to tugging and friction. I decided that I would make my locs extend down from the crown of my head towards my face and neck. I did not want a scalpy look. Sharp, crisp, well defined parts or a grid were not on my list of “must haves” for my locs. Microlocs gave me the ability to have fringe bangs that stayed on my forehead for the first time ever! Microlocs allowed me to protect the delicate hair around my temples and hair line edges. The general shape of my hair with microlocs was pleasing to me.

With microlocs, when you are styling your locs, it is the shape of the hair around the face that matters. This is especially true with short microlocs. I used my fingers to guide my locs into the pattern or shape I wanted them to assume while they were damp following my morning misting spray. Typically, I did not have to think about my locs again until it was time to wrap them up at night to go to bed.

I installed my locs on a brick pattern, more or less. There are definitely horizontal lines across the back of my head from the nape of the neck up to the occipital line – which I interpret on my head as just above the ears. The section above the ears moving to the crown of my head has a few locs that have a diagonal edge. Not my best decision. I believe installing an all over diamond grid relies on larger partings. With my smaller partings, I have occasionally interlocked these angled edges with the wrong loc. Based on my experience, I recommend you stick with a square shaped loc base or rectangular for microloc installation. Let me know if you have a different take on the shape of the base of the loc. Two strand twist microlocs were easy for me to determine the size and shape and location of each of my locs.

At the top of my head, I wanted to have the flexibility to style my locs with a center part as well as a part on either side. I was careful to install my top and front locs after these partings were made. I did not intend to part my hair exactly down the center in the back. If I want to wear pigtails I will have an uneven line down the back of my head. I thought that was less of a problem than not having full coverage of my scalp in the back. The offset brick pattern I used insures fullest coverage possible of the scalp. Not breaking that pattern with a straight line was a design choice I made. Thus far, it has not been a problem.

The biggest joke I think is this: most of the time since installing my microlocs in April of 2022, I have worn my locs without imposing any style on them. With microlocs, especially when they are short, it’s about the health and shape of your hair. If your locs are healthy, they are going to look good. One morning while walking in the park, I started a conversation with a woman whose behavior interested me. Turns out she was very receptive to electricity in the air. As she finished explaining her actions, she said, “You take really good care of your hair.” I took that as a compliment. My baby locs had been sprayed and they were luscious. I know that some mornings the sun strikes my gray hair and makes it look like a halo.

This post got a little lengthy. In my next post I want to share some of the issues I have dealt with as a new traveler on this loc journey. Itchy scalp was a particular problem.

What types of issues have you encountered on your loc journey?

Wishing you peace and hair freedom,

Bettye