Hey, present and future Loc’d friends! It’s your girl, Daneen! N Natural's in-house loctician is here to give you the deets on starter locs. We'll be going over expectations, the different "starter" methods, types of locs, and who can wear locs.
Starter Locs
What’s in a name? In this case, it's ALL in the title. Starter locs are the start of your loc journey. You’ve probably been contemplating N Natural for a while, done a bunch of research, found a ton of pictures and you’re ready to book your appointment. Before you do, let’s chat about what to expect.
The start of your loc journey can be exciting, but also nerve-wracking. It WILL test your patience. So, dig deep and BE patient. Dig deeper and make sure it's a journey you truly want to be on.
A quick tip: Consult a pro, and stay off of YouTube University. Youtube is great, but nothing beats years of hands-on experience
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 your hair grows. The tighter your curl pattern, the faster they will loc. Looser curl patterns can take a bit longer, and straight hair may need a different starting method. We’ll get into that further down.
In the first stage of the process, you'll begin to create a parting pattern, such as diamond or even brick-lay parts. 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.
Now, when it comes to choosing what type of starter locs to get, hair texture and preference plays a significant role. You have traditional locs, which are either started with comb coils or the two-strand twist method. If you have a TWA I would suggest comb coils and someone with longer hair, two strand twist.
Next, you have sister locs and micro locs. Heads up, maintenance for this method can be costly. With these locs, the establishment process can take 3-12 hours depending on your hair density.
Then we have instant locs. This process sort of skips the baby stage and gives you the loc’d look when you leave the salon after your first appointment. These locs are for someone who wants to move quickly through their journey or for someone with straight or fine hair. Lastly, we have loc extensions. Loc extensions altogether skip the starter loc phase and will take you to mature locs after your first visit. It's all based on preference.
Anyone can get locs! No matter the race or hair texture. Anyone can achieve Locs.
If you’ve been contemplating starting your locs and you don’t know what kind or what size you want, we are all here to answer any questions to help you along your journey!! Until next week Curlfriends.