Two Headed Dragon Tale
Welcome to the blog! My name is Bettye. I have 208 microlocs which I started a little over 4 years ago. I am still learning new things about my locs and about myself.
First, I have been absent from this space for the past 4 or 5 months and in truth this may be my last blog post. Why? Well, I was embarrassed to post in May, because I tried to deconstruct two combined locs and ended up with two 2 headed dragon los.
It started with an attempt to deconstruct a combined loc. The last time I retightened that loc it was hard to pull the combined loc through the opening at the root. It started by releasing knots I had tied at the end of the combined loc. This deconstruction took place over more than three days. I would work on it for a bit and then go on to something else.
On day 2, I got a burst of energy and determination. I was going to separate these two locs. As the knots were loosened, I realized two things: the two combined locs created one loc that fit perfectly well with the general size of my locs; and the loc I was deconstructing was not the one I thought it was. It was a different loc combined several months earlier.
At this point I had 2 two headed dragons!
On day 3, I began thinking more rationally and less emotionally. I couldn’t keep the two combined locs in their current state with one loc attached at the root and branching into 2 smaller locs. I decided to keep the healthier looking of the two loc ends. I snipped the two thinner loc ends off leaving two locs with a little bump on the side. I applied water to the “nubs” that had been locs and using two fingers rubbed each loc back and forth between my fingers. The nubs disappeared and I had 2 locs where earlier I had had 2 headed dragon locs. Both of the remaining locs diarrhea doing very well. In fact, I couldn’t pick them out now if you asked me to. There was no shedding or budding where the smaller locs were removed.
I think this is important because I now have a different loc count: 208 locs.
Recently, I identified a combined loc that had been two smaller locs joined together probably 2 years ago. I can still see that this loc is made of two smaller locs. How you decide to treat two headed dragon locs is a personal preference. If you happen to get a 2 headed dragon loc, do not allow ego or pride to become involved.
Have you ever had two conjoined locs or a two headed dragon? If so, how did you address it?
If you’re looking for inspiration to start your loc journey, I hope this blog helps you find the love and respect I have for my hair. I have been on this journey for more than four years, and I am still learning things about my hair and myself.
Through this blog I have come to realize that I like manicured locs. Free formed and colored locs are not my style. Braiding your damp locs creates waves, but, I don’t like taking time to braid and unbraid my locs and the results are not worth the time expended.
Cutting locs into bangs or a fringe is not a widespread practice. However, my bangs look like my style. They are simple and easy to maintain. I’ve had a few people tell me they have never seen locs maintained this way. Yet, it is perfect for me.
Layer cutting the locs on the sides of my face is another style you rarely see with locs. Most people just want long locs to style. When you do not manipulate your locs into a style, the cut or shape of your locs is everything.
New Experiment With Locs
This summer I had two occasions when I was outside in the heat and humidity and I thought I smelled a carnivore. The smell is hard to explain but if you are around dogs, cats or bears you may know the smell I’m talking about. Once I actually looked around to see if it was a fox. We have had them around our backyard. It didn’t occur to me that it might be my locs because I wash my locs at least once a week and in the summer it’s not unusual for me to wash my locs twice a week or just let the water from my shower run through my locs.
Then I saw a YouTube video from Yannie , The Locologist where Yannie talked about not misting your locs with water every morning. Yannie doesn’t mist her locs. I discussed this with my daughter who has had Sisterlocks for 8 or more years. She said Sisterlock consultants told her not to spray her locs with water to moisturize them. They seem to have suggested using as little water as possible on Sisterlocks.
During July I decided not to spray my locs every morning as I had been doing for 4 years. I thought it was so humid I would suffer little dryness and this would be a quick experiment.
What a surprise! I continued to wash my locs on the same schedule BUT in the morning when I took off my sleep bonnet I would not spray water or rose water or an essential oils and water mix on my locs. Instead, I massaged my scalp and finger shaped my locs for the day. Over the weeks I was amazed to find that my locs did not become dry and crunchy. Instead, they felt moisturized and bouncy. This moisturized feeling was present whether or not I used conditioner. Usually during the summer I do not use any conditioner on my locs. I will apply oil after towel drying my hair but this does not always happen.
I had one scary moment during this experiment though. One of my locs in the back looked damaged about two inches from the end. It looked like that two inches was hanging on by a few filaments or strands of hair. I could have tried crocheting the two pieces of loc back together but I have had no success with crocheting as a means of maintaining my locs. I snapped the two inches off and kept it in a box for a few weeks. Eventually I discarded the loc end. I didn’t know which loc it belonged to and it was much shorter than the two headed dragon ends I had cut off. I may have caught or snagged the loc. I am not sure. I have never had a loc end come off.
It is now the middle of September and I have not misted my locs on a daily basis since the end of June. I have had no other loc ends break off. It’s still humid . Maybe my locs are getting the moisture they need from the humidity but I doubt it. I think they get the moisture they need from my shampoo and the routine I maintain.
So, I stopped adding oils to my locs regularly back in year one of my loc journey because I experimented to see if my locs needed the oils and how often. Now, I will add a very small amount of oil after I have washed and towel dried my hair. No more than a 50 cent piece would take up in the palm of one hand. If I use a conditioner on my locs after shampooing I will not add any oil at all. I do massage my scalp in the morning and at night to help distribute my own sebum. This is the routine my locs like.
I don’t spray my locs with water, rose water or essential oils and water. Maybe I will introduce an occasional spritz during the winter or a daily spritz when the air is dry. I will decide first if my locs feel dry. My plan, during the winter is to continue with my once a week shampoo. I will use a light conditioner after the shampoo or perhaps use a leave in conditioner between shampoos if my locs feel dry before resorting to a daily moisturizing spray. Both of these practices are contrary to the generally regarded rules for taking care of locs. I can only tell you what has worked for me.
I can tell you that starting this loc journey was full of rules and worries and hope for hair retention. For me, observing the “rules” meant that my scalp was itchy because too much oil aggravated my scalp. Washing my locs in the shower has been so easy. Not using products has meant in 4 and a half years I have not needed a loc detox. The frizz around my locs has become an aura or halo which makes my silver locs sparkle. I get complimented on my locs frequently. If I tell you about once a week that is not an exaggeration. It is amazing to me because this is the easiest way to take care of my 4C / 4B hair I have ever experienced. I do sleep with a silk or satin bonnet on my locs almost every night. I do not have lint in my locs. Lint has never been a problem for me on my loc journey.
I started this blog because I had hoped to encourage others to try locking their hair. I think people are more visual and the loc content makers on Youtube offer all kinds of advice. If you take loc advice from your loctitian or from a loc content maker, be sure to take time to see if the advice was meant for your locs. For example, the loc’d creator of glue for locs shows how the glue works in her locs. Glue is a non starter for me. I won’t even experiment with it. Interlocking my roots and braiding my frizz down the length of my locs is enough. I don’t need to glue my locs.
Tying knots in my locs left me with 3 locs with a knot in them. The look of knotted locs is not my preference even though they will probably grow to look like any other loc over time. My locs are thickened at the root by interlocking. I don’t experience thinning at the roots because I learned that my tiny locs will not mat together in 4 months of not interlocking. Four months is too long a period of time for me not to interlock. My locs will start to thin at the roots. Maybe it is the length of my locs now and their weight that makes some of my locs thin at the root if I don’t interlock for months even though I am separating my locs regularly and braiding in the loose strands. For my locs to remain strong it’s best for me to interlock every 7 to 8 weeks. This schedule works for my locs.
One more thing I do that is not conventional loc wisdom. I don’t retie my locs on wet hair right after a shampoo. I will separate my locs after they are towel dried. Then, I will interlock the next day. It’s easier for me to section dry hair. I still separate my locs one strand at a time. Sometimes, I will spray a few locs at a time at the roots while I interlock. Other times I don’t. I have fewer broken hair strands as I interlock or retie on dry or slightly damp hair.
On October 2, 2026 I will celebrate 4 and a half years as a loc girlie. This has been my best hair decision ever. I doubt I will color my locs. I really think my platinum strands make my locs even more special. In my eyes, my locs are long already even though they have not reached the bottom of my bra. I may begin to trim the ends in the back once my locs reach that length. I might let them grow down to my waist. I only know that I love my hair in locs. As long as my scalp can support locs I intend to wear them. I was a beautiful woman before I loc’d my hair, I just didn’t know it then. Now, I do and it is no big deal. My locs give me the appearance and confidence of beauty in this very superficial world. This gives me space to do the things I want to do. I wish this for everyone.
This will be my last blog post.
Best wishes,
Bettye
Microlocs and Me: Journey to Hair Freedom 