What do starter locs look like

If you're new to the world of dreadlocks—or locs , as they're often called—then you need to know what you're dealing with before deciding that they're the hair leap you want to take next. They're high-maintenance at first, so you should know what you're getting into. That said, before embarking on your loc journey, it's important that you familiarize yourself with the five different stages your strands will go through: starter, budding, teen, mature, and rooted.

While the overall process can take between months, some loc wearers find the beginning and end phases to be the easiest, because the middle stages present their own set of challenges. Conversely, there are others who say they find the beginning stages to be the hardest. Nevertheless, if you're serious about having locs and can handle the upkeep, you should go for it—but not without getting up to snuff on what each stage truly entails first.

We reached out to loc expert Chimere Faulk for more detail. Keep scrolling to get a full breakdown of the different stages of locs. Meet the Expert. Chimere Faulk is a natural hairstylist, loctician, and the founder of loc care brand Dr.

Upon noticing build-up in her clients' locs, Faulk decided to create her own line of products that worked throughout the entire process. The starter AKA "baby" stage of the loc process can last anywhere from three to six months, depending on your hair type and how fast it grows. There are several styles—such as braids, two-strand twists, comb coils and palm rolls—that you can choose from to start off your locs.

This is the stage where you'll begin to create a parting pattern, if you wish. You could also always opt for a freeform look, where you don't "cultivate" or control section size and simply allow your hair to be. Either way, it's important that you don't create sections that are too small, as locs can break off if they're too thin or too dry. Locs tells us. During the budding phase, you might notice that your new growth is puffy and on the fuzzy side.

However, it's still crucial that you are consistently and thoroughly cleansing your hair to avoid buildup, bumps, and weak spots. It's a great idea to practice a re-twisting routine to keep the maintenance of the style of locs you choose or for you to transition in sizing your locs. You can keep track of the original section partings when re-twisting or maintain of a free form style without parting. It allows you to get into a consistent routine while keeping up with the rapid growth process.

It may be tempting to re-twist often, but it's important not to overdo it, as this can lead to thinning locs and breakage. However, not unlike human teenagers, this is also the stage where you wonder what could possibly be going on with your hair.

Too short to lie down easily, your teenage locs may seem to sprout all over your head and go in whatever direction they want. It was growing like crazy from this simple routine. I was barely doing anything to it. At the beginning of my journey I used, Wild Growth oil on my scalp, and coconut oil to seal the moisture from the water into my hair. And no I am not an affiliate, just sharing what worked for me. I liked it a lot! But I hate waiting for things to ship. Currently, I am back to using Wild Growth oil for my scalp and using coconut oil to moisturize and seal moisture into my locs.

It will all eventually loc, until then I just needed patience. Eventually, it will stay together and loc. I think the frustration came from wanting my hair to loc fast. I needed more patience with my locs. This is a journey, not an overnight process, it will take time. I would just have to keep re-twisting the same loc until my hair understood what I wanted it to do. And eventually, it did. I later realized that this issue was from one, putting the shampoo straight onto my locs and two, not rinsing for long enough.

My hair was locking on itself and compacting. And because of this natural phenomena, it was becoming harder for products to rinse out easily. Shake it together and apply that to your hair. Creamy thick shampoo will cause buildup, so you need to dilute it. The diluted shampoo will still clean your hair but without the added risk of causing build up in your locs.

Build up is bad because it can cause mildew and other nasty issues to arise in your hair. And when you lock your hair, you want the only thing that is causing the compacting of your hair to be its natural texture and not dirt and buildup. And my next tip is to just stand under the water for a good 10 minutes for the product to fully rinse out of your hair. Bonus tip: do not scrub your scalp hard with starter locs, This will cause your locs to unnecessarily unravel.

The water pressure plus scrubbing will cause premature unraveling. Take your time and be gentle. But that felt too comfortable to me. So I just wash my hair without the stocking cap. I make sure to be gentle as to not cause too much unraveling. This loc journey taught me so much about inner beauty. My loc journey taught me about not being so wrapped up in what is considered beautiful.

As black women we are only given but so many hairstyles that are deemed pretty by society. Tonia Cope. October 21, at pm. Hi I started my locs with the interlocking method in August of this yr. I am excited and appreciate your post. I feel so free! November 20, at pm. Best decision ever! Sister locs were a tad too small. This journey is amazing. Congratulations on your new journey! Sending you love and strength through the journey of locs and motherhood! November 27, at pm. This article is extremely informative to me as I contemplate taking this journey.

My hesitation is because I have very thin hair and also a nearly bald spot at the top of my head. I am trying to figure out if this will work for me.

Lots of anxiety. November 29, at pm. If you would like a consultation to discuss your options, let me know! December 1, at pm. December 12, at am. First set was comb coils. They lasted a week because O was ready to lose my mind without being able to wash my hair in that heat.

Put in my self and it has been 3 years and they look good to me. January 9, at pm. Hi Jocelyn, What age do you recommend starting locs for kiddies? Her hair is still growing and she has a few bald spots. What do you think? Thanks so much x. February 14, at pm. I do not recommend starting locs before the age of 6 because the hair is rapidly changing from birth through childhood and toddlers also tend to play very hard which would attract a lot of lint and buildup in the locs.

January 13, at pm. I have a quick question — If I start with the braids, can those ever be taken out? Thanks for such an informative blog!! Great info! Yes you can always remove or comb out locs, but your length retention will depend on product usage and the health of your hair which it way it is very important to develop a healthy loc regimen in the beginning.

January 20, at pm. I tried comb coils and backcombing and just about lost my mibd after a week of not being able to wash my hair with the coils. Hated the way the looked after I took them out the style. So I combed them out and braided my hair myself. April 25, at pm. Hey Miss Jocelyn! I just made an appointment today to start my loc journey. My hair is natural, tightly coiled, and shoulder length when blow dried.

Which method would you suggest for me? Hopefully you scheduled a consultation and not just an appointment to start locs on the first day. At the consultation your Loctician should discuss what would be best for your hair. August 8, at pm. I am starting locs this weekend however I am so confused as to which to use.

I have very thick shoulder length 4c hair and am a college student, so i will be walking alot in the sun. But, i heard that with two strand twists, there is a big chance of bunching. Have you heard of that? The bunching vs budding thing? August 9, at am. July 17, at pm. Thank you for this article. My ten-year-old is having a consultation tomorrow.

We live in a small town and our options are limited. Are coils the best choice? She plays competitive soccer.

Will her coils stay if they begin this week and she starts playing in the fall? She has thin hair which fall to the most of her neck. Hi Alison! I would definitely suggest twists because she is so active and also young. Twists will allow you to shampoo more freely and still style. I understand how it can be hard to manage on your own….

August 29, at pm. Hi Jocelyn! Thank u for this informative article. Can I two strand twist the root and finger coil the rest of the way?

January 22, at am. Tamara Stewart. December 21, at am. This blog was so helpful. January 7, at pm. The best method will depend on more than what type of hair you have. You also have to consider the type of lifestyle you have budget, frequency of exercise, etc. December 29, at pm. This was a great article that I wish I read a month ago lol. I started my loc journey 4 weeks ago today yay!

I have 4c and fine, dense hair that I believe is also soft. Hi Alex! Congratulations on your new journey with locs! My 1st time was done with 2 strand twists. Thank you so much for your enlightenment and giving me the needed push to begin my journey again! January 22, at pm. January 21, at am. I started my locs March 23rd with comb coils with about 2inches of hair and kept them for a year and a half.

They were about 7inches when i decided i wanted to comb them out over the summer of I did braids for about months and yesterday i two stranded my hair myself by taking out my plaits one by one and twisting them. Im ready to continue my loc journey, its an awesome experience. Bamidele Adeola. February 15, at am. April 3, at pm. April 6, at am. I really enjoy your site as its given me so much information as I research starting locs.

I do have a question. Would I be able to loc my hair while still wearing faux locs over them? Its time for me to take these extensions out soon and I was thinking of leaving my hair twisted, maybe retwisting the roots and once dry, wrapping with extension hair. May 15, at pm. The synthetic hair is too heavy and if you were to keep it in as your hair begins to loc it would cause thinning at the roots. April 24, at am. Thank you for your article! I have always wanted locs, so I decided to take the plunge and install two strand twists.

They are on the smaller side. I have approximately I want to interlock for maintenance. Is it possible to interlock for maintenance while allowing my actual 2 strand twists to lock up naturally? If it is possible, how would you recommend I interlock?

Using 4, 3 or 2 point rotation? You can cultivate locs from two-strand twist using the interlocking method. April 24, at pm. Thank you for taking the time to share this information with us!

I started my loc journey Feb 29 by installing kinky twists synthetic and crochet in the top because of thinning alopecia. However, I have been reading your information and wondering if I made the right choice. I have very soft, curly, fine hair. Would two strand twists work better for me as well as covering my bald spot? I also suffer from graying. I need to be able to color my hair. Please help. Hi Kecia! I would definitely say take the synthetic hair out. I had a client come to me with a similar start alopecia in the crown and the synthetic hair loc extensions and the fake hair made the thinning much worst.

May 6, at am. Hello Jocelyn! Your article was so helpful I decided to ask your thoughts. My hair is 4C, tightly coiled when wet, but shoulder length when blown out.

I was thinking I would start with two strand twists and maintain with palm rolling. But, I have psoriasis and would need to wash my scalp every and a half weeks. Would I able to maintain my local with this frequency of washing?

Or should I consider interlocking instead. Thank you for your time! May 7, at pm. Hey Ashley! You most definitely can cultivate locs and keep your scalp healthy at the same time. Twists are a good method to start with, more so than coils, to allow you to shampoo your locs regularly. Interlocking is also a method that can work. I tend to recommend that you consider your lifestyle— are you able to commit to either paying to have your hair retightened every weeks or do you have the time to invest in interlocking your hair yourself which can range from hours depending on the size?!

May 14, at am. Good day Must say I really enjoy your article,I have 4c hair 2inches can i still start my dread with comb coil. May 14, at pm. Thank you for reading my blog! You can start with 2 inches. You just want to be very careful when washing the starter locs.

June 15, at pm. I just started comb coils and I was wondering when people get the extensions does their hair grow into it as the persons hair grow or at some point do we cut the extension part out?

June 17, at am. Generally, loc extensions are cut off after 5 years. August 14, at pm. I will be starting my loc journey really soon. I will be doing them myself with the two strand method. Should I do it while my hair is wet or dry?

August 18, at pm. I have to wash my hair every other week or it scabs up.