Mummy, I Want Locs!

This is some serious deja-vu going on here. First my daughter and now my son. Ever since his father got locs (follow his loc journey at MERO LIN), DaVon’s been harping on about getting locs (not girly locs like his sister, ‘manly’ locs like his dads, lol). He was 6 at the time. “OK, DaVon”, I said (you know how mothers can be, totally not taking him seriously! Lol). ‘This is just a phase’, I thought. But no, it wasn’t. He was very serious about it. I explained to him that if he wanted locs he would first have to grow out his hair for a while until it was long enough to create the locs. And so the journey began. I think it’s great personally. It has given him a goal and an objective and the process has given him some resolve, teaching him to stick to his plans in order to reach his goals. We stopped cutting his hair and only let the barber give him a shape-up so he looked half decent whilst his hair grew.

Growing His Hair

He’s been a great sport about it. The whole process of ‘doing his hair’ was new to him. He’s seen his sister sit to do her hair but it’s never been his experience until now. He’s loved every minute of it, because to him it’s necessary to getting what he wants.

In terms of caring for his growing hair, I mostly co-washed his hair every few days because it kept his hair manageable (since he wasn’t used to getting his hair done) and I moisturised it daily using the L.O.C (Liquid, Oil, Cream) method, which his hair absolutely loved.

Sponge Coils

As his hair grew longer, I thought I’d try a method I saw on YouTube using a special type of sponge to coil his hair and keep it looking neat. I bought this sponge off Ebay. I would dampen his hair with water and apply some gel to his hair and then rub the sponge in circles all over his head to get the coils. It was a great look on him. The only problem was that it didn’t really last throughout the day. By the evening the coils would have pretty much unravelled and his hair would look more fro like.

Two-Strand Twists

After a month or two his hair grew too long for the sponge coils, so I decided to two-strand twist his hair, which I re-did every 2 weeks.

Installing His Locs

After a month of twisting, I thought “let me just comb-coil it and be done with it”, lol. I initially wanted to start his hair with the interlocking method, but I just couldn’t be bothered to wait anymore, as the hair needs to be a longer length to interlock it. But with comb-coils you can start with pretty short hair. I still want to interlock his hair, so when it gets long enough I’ll transition from comb-coils to interlocks, but until then I’ll comb-coil it.

I washed it with a clarifying shampoo and detangled with Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Mask (the jar). The products I used to twist his hair was a home-made conditioning milk spray to moisten, and the ORS Lock & Twist Gel to coil. Don’t ask me what size they are or how many coils he has, coz I don’t know. Lol. I just eye-balled it.

The ORS Gel is quite frankly horrible. It left so much white residue in his hair that it took several washes to remove. I have switched to Jamaican mango & lime locking gel, which is so much better. It’s light, has good hold and most importantly leaves no residue.

First Month + Retwistings

Because his hair is quite short it gets messy quickly, so I am re-twisting his hair on a weekly basis. I wash his hair with a stocking cap on (made by cutting the leg off some old tights) and use the same diluted clarifying shampoo and bicarb mix I use on Delaiah’s locs (see recipe here), and rinse thoroughly. The stocking keeps his coils secure whilst washing so that it keeps its form. It works great. I then re-twist using a comb and Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Gel following the same process shown in the pics above. After drying under the hood, I remove the clips and tie down his hair using a satin scarf for a few hours so his hair lies flat and doesn’t stick up. Here’s his hair at the 4 week/1 Month mark.

 

As for products and maintenance, I use a light oil spray about once a week or so (or as needed) to keep his scalp from going dry and flaky, and wrap his head up at night to keep it neat and reduce lint build-up. That’s it.

There you have it! Join me in welcoming and congratulating DaVon on his new loc journey.

I’ll keep you posted on his journey.