So, you’ve finally graduated from the baby phase of locs and have made your way to the teenage phase… exciting!
But how will you know you’ve finally made your way from the baby phase to the teenage phase? How long will the teenage phase of locs last? What should you expect during the teenage phase? What should you ask your loctician when you transition to this loc phase? And finally, what happens if your coils start to unravel at this phase? Right. These are all important and valuable questions, and the good news is, we have answers!
Now, let’s get into the good stuff!
How will I know I’m finished with the baby phase and in the teenage stage?
You’ll know you're in the teenage phase when your locs appear frizzy but feel and look bigger than they did during the baby phase. After you wash your hair, your coils will feel more solid, more like locs, but still have their frizzy appearance.
The good news is, the form is on its way. This stage is incredibly exciting, when you finally start to experience the fruits of your labor and you can start to envision how your unique locs will take shape.
What should I expect during the teenage phase of locs?
Look, it’s not called the teenage phase for nothing. During this time you’ll want to approach your locs like a teenager. Give them (and yourself) plenty of compassion and encouragement. Please do yourself a massive favor and don’t compare yourself to other people (ever) especially those with mature locs (like you would compare yourself to grown ups when you were a teenager).
Your locs are developing, and weird things might be happening during the developmental stage. Shall we go down memory lane right now and recall all those weird physical, emotional and mental transitions we had to experience during the height of our hormonal surges? What’s going to be happening to your locs, and very likely to your own emotional and mental well-being will be something akin to the teenage phase of life. If you’re an adult now, what words of encouragement would you have told your teenage self? How would you have supported your teenage self to overcome and pass through those tumultuous and thrilling years? These are the sort of compassionate and encouraging words you’ll need to lend yourself during the next 6 months, potentially during the next year.
Your hair will look more plump as compared to the baby stage. There is shedding that will occur while the hair is matting together within that new growth and encouraging frizz. Remember, frizz during this stage is a great thing. Forget your constructed ideas of perfection here, and let your hair do its thing. Now is your chance to understand the rhythm of your natural hair and to finally give in to your physical rhythms rather than trying to control everything.
What if the hair unravels in this stage?
It's okay if the locs unravel during this stage. It happens. All you need to do is take a deep breath and remind yourself that your locs might rebel like a teenager. This happens to a lot of men and women with looser curl hair patterns or finer hair types. You’re good. And you’re on your way!
Ask your loctician
Ask your loctician to be consistent from root to tip on the locs. The focus shouldn’t only be on retwisting the root, but all the way down the hair. If your loctician focuses only on retwisting the root, then just your root will loc and the rest of your hair will take much longer to loc.
Twisting from root to tip will get rid of the frizzys faster. When you leave the salon after a wash and twist, your hair will appear much smoother, but yes, it will get frizzy again. Frizz is your friend.
But if this stage is really challenging for you, know that the frizziness will go away and will reduce after each new retwist.
Our take on things: learn to love it! So many men and women actually are nostalgic about the teenage phase, because in hindsight, it’s truly a beautiful stage!
