If you’re not as familiar with the different stages of locs, they include: starter, budding, teen, mature, and rooted. The first stage, starter, also known as baby locs, can roughly last anywhere between three to six months depending on how quickly your hair grows and how short your hair was when you started. If you’re starting a new journey with locs, here are a few things you’ll want to know, or better yet, what to avoid through the power of information!
Unraveling
With anything worth having, it will definitely come with challenges, and locs are no different. The most common challenge you may face are your new locs unraveling. Unraveling can occur for a number of reasons, maybe you’re over-washing your locs, the texture of your hair is a bit more soft when growing locs, which makes the process difficult, or maybe you forgot to cover your hair one too many times during the month. In any of these cases, unraveling can occur and you must take precautions with how you handle your locs during this time period.
Dandruff and Dry Scalp
After going through the unraveling phase, it strikes fear in most loc growers and prevents them from washing their hair. Consequently, under washing your locs leads to different types of dandruff on the scalp. Products used during the locking process can leave your scalp feeling dry and itchy and grease produced by the hair can result in an unpleasant itch in the scalp after the first week. The Dr Locs brand is very familiar with this process, which is much reason why the Pre-Cleanse is a great solution for the starter loc phase. The Dr Locs Pre-Cleanse removes trapped oil, dirt, and product build-up from the scalp and new growth area.
Frizzy Frills
Frizziness in your locs can give any loc journey the blues. You just want your hair to be neat, so why won’t it comply? As someone growing locs the frizz phase can last two months are longer, depending on your hair type. Having the right products from the beginning can be helpful when transitioning to longer locs during this time period.
Avoiding Pitfalls During Your First Months With Locs
A few ways to avoid pitfalls during your first months with locs may include a strategy to protect your hair. Ways to do this may include covering your hair while you shower and wrapping it up at night when you sleep. Covering up your starter locs while you shower will one, serve as a reminder not to wash your hair, and secondly, prevent your locs from getting wet. Covering your locs before bed will prevent any dirt or lint from getting into your hair, and will also remind you not to twist or manipulate your hair. It’s not easy to break old habits and start new ones, so it's best to have these protection methods from the beginning to continue in the next few phases of your loc journey.
If you’re considering seeing a loctician, then we strongly recommend this during the first few months, maybe even the first year. Your loctician can guide you step-by-step on how to wash your locs and maintain them as they grow. Plus, you may end up gaining a new best friend. Finally, we mentioned our Pre-Cleanser earlier. Don’t fall into the trap of dirt and lint being collected in your locs. Our pre-cleanser serves as a special blend of cleansing and softening for a deep refreshing cleanse before shampooing.
Takeaway
You may confront challenges like unraveling locs, dandruff, frizziness or slower hair growth than expected, and though some of these challenges can be avoided, just know, the next phase is on its way! Just try to do your best to cover up and protect your new locs, and ask a professional how often you should be washing for your hair type at this phase. And most importantly, trust yourself and your hair that you’ve made the right decision and don’t lose faith in yourself or your locs during what could be, a challenging but super exciting time!
Share Your Experience With Us. Tell us about your experiences during your first stages of locs, we’d love to hear about them and how you overcame the challenges if there were any!
