Microlocs and Me: A Woman’s Journey to Hair Freedom

Welcome to the blog. My name is Bettye and on April 2, 2025, I celebrated my 3 year Locaversary! It has been 3 years since I finished installing approximately 212 two strand twists with a goal of having my hair strands interlock together for strength, ease of maintenance and length retention. I knew it was possible. I had seen others make this decision again and again on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram. Even closer to home, my daughter had Sisterlocs installed years ago. Her locs were “bra strap length” when I started my loc journey. In case you didn’t know, “bra strap length” is a term of measurement in the loc community. It is a reference to locs that end in the general area of the base of the shoulder blades where a woman’s bra sits.

My baby locs looked like two strand twists for a month to maybe 6 weeks. They shrunk up on my head and laid on my scalp. I had a few misconceptions that probably didn’t help. I thought my locs needed water and oil daily. The water was a good idea. The oil every day not so much. I was dealing with an itchy scalp.

I was not a two strand twist wearer as a natural hairstyle. Two strand twists for me were a means of stretching my curl pattern while my hair dried. I washed my natural hair once a month. I also applied henna every other wash day to keep the grey hair away. Being a loc’d lady meant I had to readjust my hair care regimen. It was a little scary at first. All my life I have had certain misconceptions about my hair. I thought my hair would only grow to a certain length and then the ends would split and trimmed and so I saw length retention only when I was pregnant. After each pregnancy, I would see the inches added trimmed off until my permed hair was just at my shoulders in the front and reached the nape of my neck in the back.

I did a big chop of all my permed hair in the summer of 2013. I had stopped perming my hair in December of 2012. Had to do it one more time for the holidays. I then waited for my huge natural hair afro to grow. I waited about 8 years and realized that my hair had indeed become my hobby. I had a shelf of products and a box of essential oils. Over the years I discovered oils that my hair loved and oils that did nothing for my hair at all. It was a time of experimentation. No bleaching. No blonde hair. I had lost a lot of blonde highlights back in college after going to a professional hair stylist. Once in a lifetime was enough for me.

I cannot say that I loved my natural hair. I thought that I loved it. I wore my hair out for special occasions. Usually my hair was pulled back into a little ponytail. Often I would braid the perimeter as a style. I tried some of the hair growth trends like chebe powder but it was messy, and I tired of the smell and maintenance before I saw any improvement or length retention only.

After 9 years of natural hair I was ready to try locking my hair. Unfortunately we were in a global pandemic and getting someone to start my locs was not possible. I tried. I think this was one of the biggest reasons I decided to DIY my locs. I couldn’t find anyone to install them. I approached several women with loc’d hair to find a loctitian. After a few months I decided I would try to do it myself.

In March of 2022, I installed 96 two strand twists. I decided on an offset brick pattern because I didn’t want to have rows and squares. I got to install my locs the way I wanted them to be. At the end of March I reassessed my install. My concerns were how big and heavy would each loc become over time; and how would I style my hair over time. I decided I needed more locs to have more styling options. I can say now that I would have had enough locs to style my hair had I stopped at 96 locs…but technically they would not be microlocs. Microlocs is a subcategory of locs where there are at least 200 locs on one head. Many microioc wearers have 400, 500 or even 600 locs. My daughter has over 700 Sisterlocs. Personally, the high loc counts were a little overwhelming. I had no illusions I would find a loctitian to maintain my locs when I couldn’t find one to start them. Making sure I could handle my retightening or retwisting was of paramount importance.

Let it be known that after taking days to get my original 96 locs installed in straight lines, I decided to go row by row to make each loc smaller. Some locs I divided diagonally and I regret that decision every time I have to separate those locs. Little squares are just easier to retwist.

MAINTENANCE AT 3 YEARS

So much has changed. I am more confident about taking care of my hair. I have options but every thing is easier now. I still watch loc videos for community. I communicate with my chosen influencers and they respond with valuable insights. I encourage you to develop a community to support your journey and to inspire you.

I wash my locs once a week. During the winter I spray my locs twice a day most days. My house is dry and there’s not much humidity inside or outside.

I continue to use Dr. Bronner’s castile soap. I started my journey with peppermint and now I’m using the rose scented one. I also use Cecred moisturizing shampoo and conditioner during the winter. Spring is just starting and I have to see if a conditioner is necessary. This is the first winter I used conditioner. It does encourage hair strands to leave their assigned loc while it softens the feel of my locs.

I typically wear my locs down. I wanted hair that would let me get up and go. I have that now and I truly love my hair.