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If anyone doesn’t know, on June 12, 2020, I started the process of loc’ing my hair! (Follow me on Instagram for more pictures: @angellijim and @naturalblackvegan) I started by doing 100 two-strand mini twists on my loose natural hair, and 3 months later, they are thriving! And if you know me by now, you know I am breaking ALL of the “loc rules”. When it comes to my hair, the person that knows best is ME. So in this post, I am sharing how I take care of my 3 month old starter locs. I’ll share my routines, products, pictures, and anything else I can think of. Leave any tips for me in the comments below!
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Wash Day Routine
This feels so weird for me to say, but I do not have a set schedule for when I wash my starter locs. This is because I just wash them when they are dirty. At first, I was washing my hair every 7-10 days, but recently, I have gone three weeks without washing them. I may still wet them occasionally, but I only wash them when they are dirty. For wash days, I use shampoo and conditioner. I did not wait months to wash my hair nor do I dilute the shampoo; that’s just not for me. At first, I was washing my hair in sections with hair ties, but my locs weren’t coming down, so I stopped doing that. Basically, I just keep it as simple as possible.
Wash Day Products
As I said before, I keep it simple. For shampoo, I use any shampoo that tingles, and my favorite is the Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo. This shampoo is cleansing but not drying, and it has peppermint, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus which are all amazing for my hair. After I rinse out the shampoo, I use a leave-in conditioner. My three favorites are The Mane Choice Tropical Moringa Sweet Oil & Honey Conditioner, Mielle Organics Avocado Moisturizing Hair Milk, and TGIN Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer. These are just three great products that I used to use for my loose natural hair. After shampooing, I just take a small amount of one of these, and I work the product throughout my locs. And just like that, wash day is over!
Retwisting Routine
At 3 months in, I now re-twist my hair every three weeks or once a month. I started my twists in the counter-clockwise direction, so I always retwist in that same direction. Whenever I do re-twist, it is following wash day, and it takes me a little over an hour because I’m still getting the hang of it. Also, I take care of my hair all on my own, so it is definitely a journey! Each time I retwist, it gets easier and I go faster, so I would say I’m getting better! When retwisting, I make sure my locs are soaking wet, and I go through one-by-one separating the locs (and popping a few) to make sure I only have the hair that belongs in that loc. I then oil my scalp, apply my products, palm roll to the left, and clip it back. That’s it! I repeat that process on all 100 of my locs, and my retwist is done! I have VERY high porosity hair, so I don’t sit under a dryer because my hair is fully dry in a couple of hours from air drying. Now, on to products!
Retwist Products
As with everything that I do in my loc routine, I keep these products simple. In my spray bottle, I mix water, aloe vera juice, and Heritage Store Rosewater & Glycerin mix. This is what I use to saturate my hair and give it more moisture. I then use the Locsanity Moisturizing and Tightening Spray. I love this product! It contains so many good ingredients like rosewater, peppermint, sea salt, vitamins, proteins, and essential oils. Basically, it is the bomb.com! Lastly, I coat my hair and scalp with a light oil. I make my own oil mixture, but feel free to use any light oil for this process. And, this is all I use to retwist my hair. There is no need for a gel or wax if you’re palm rolling tight enough. And this retwist lasts me a good couple of weeks!
Nighttime Routine
Not much to add here, but it wouldn’t be a hair post on Natural Black Vegan without me mentioning satin bonnets or satin pillowcases! I still use these for my starter locs! And some nights, if I want to stretch my hair, I will put my locs in a pineapple with a satin scrunchie. You can find all of these products at your local beauty supply store or on Amazon.
Daily Routine and Styling
The daily routine and styling of locs is one of the reasons I love them: it’s so much more simple than loose natural hair! Every morning, I take my locs out of the bonnet or scrunchie, spray them with my spray bottle mixture, and style them! I love cute scrunchies, headbands, hair clips, and loc jewelry, and I linked some amazing Black-owned shops for these. And since I started my locs without cutting off my hair, I have so much versatility when it comes to styles! I can do buns, braids, ponytails, etc., and it’s so easy! I also oil my scalp and edges whenever they are dry between wash and retwist days, and I’ll put my favorite oils in the next section.
Scalp Care and Styling Products
I don’t use a lot of styling products, but I do have a few to mention. My favorite scalp oils are The Mane Choice Growth Oil and Peppermint Jamaican Black Castor Oil. I use the first oil for dry scalp, and I use the second one for itchy scalp. For styling, I typically just use my spray bottle mixture and Jamaican Black Castor Oil, but if I want a really slick bun or ponytail, I use a little bit of Aunt Jackie’s Don’t Shrink Gel. This stuff melts right into my starter locs and doesn’t give me any build up. And lastly, of course I slay the edges sometimes! I love the Edge Booster Pomade. I put a link to Amazon, but I find it to be much cheaper in the beauty supply store. And that’s it! Those are all my styling products.
Whew! That is how I take care of my 3 month old starter locs. Please leave any suggestions and tips in the comments below! And make sure you enter your email to subscribe to Natural Black Vegan and get notified of all new posts. I’m really excited to share more about this new hair journey, so keep an eye out for more loc content!
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You are so pretty omg! thanks so much for the tips and God bless!
Thank you so much!
Your locs are so beautiful I love ’em!
Did you loc it yourself?
I did! I started with two strand twists