Month 1: Combing out my locs, then, now & what next...

Over the course of three days I combed out half of my locs with a large safety pin and a fine tooth comb and put them in two strand twists. My hair was already clean and moisturised so I just left them for the month of September and what a long month it has been.

I've decided that my loc journey will continue with two strand twists in the front and locs in the back. It had crossed my mind to comb them all out and start fresh but I had not the time nor the heart to go through with it. After all I really like my locs in the back and as the twists will turn into locs anyway, there was no need to fix what wasn't broken.

I've never had two strand twists before so I never recognised them as a wearable style. I remember being so against them as a starter loc method because I was sure they'd be a fuss and bother with only an inch of hair but now that my loose hair is 5 inches long, two strand twists have been ideal.

(reinatallation - week 1)

 

 WEEK 1: They started to shrink the day after installation and continued to shrink throughout the first week. The pictures above show them at their fullest length after installation. Non of the twists unravelled and my hair was baby soft as I wore my satin scarf/bonnet to protect them.

(week 2)

WEEK 2:  I got caught in the rain so I re-applied a tiny amount of raw coconut oil before they dried. The twists stayed firmly in place but they'd shrunken to almost half their original length. I retwisted the two at the front to get them to lay down better after the shrinkage reached it's peek, as seen in the pictures above.

(week3)

WEEK 3: I decided to retwist to freshen them up a bit. My scalp is almost due for a shampoo, though I'm hesitant as it'll fade my colour and I don't know if I can re-colour without unravelling these new twists.

(week4)
*PICTURES TBA*

WEEK 4: Last week's retwist came undone after a night of dancing. I washed my hair with great success because unlike the very first wash I didn't require an over haul retwist. They feel just that tiny bit more solid and are beginning to knit together so I'm expecting steady progress over the next 6 months.

So did reinstalling my locs solve the problem? I'd say so, they don't look as sparse anymore because I added a loc to each row. I also staggered the parts (brick-lay pattern) after doing some research online. Turns out the grid pattern I originally had in the front made my parts too prominent and as my locs were starting to condense it was clear they'd always be visible whenever I retwisted. All this time and I'm still learning.

My next post will be brief with clearer pictures of my actual locs as they reach one year and six months maturity.



Confusing? Yeah, but it's a journey all the same. Comments welcome below!

DREALOCKS ARE...

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