u/Jychj

Hi guys, I am a melanin male. I am planning on going into the US military. I have locs but I know the main regulation with the military as far as male hair, is due to the fact that we must all cut our hair. I have been doing research for a while now on how and if I could keep my locs and came across some information. I found out that in order for men specifically to keep their locs, they would need to go through a process of having a waiver approved through a religion, specifically Rastafarianism. With that being said, I wanted to ask the main question of how do I officially convert to Rastafarianism.

I found this to be a weird question to ask from myself because it could come off as if I am just trying to misuse the movement/religion of Rastafarianism for egotistical purposes, but I have grew up to become intact with my locs on a deeper spectrum than just an aesthetic to look cool or anything. From since I received my locs as a child, I was told that I would have to do my research on locs before I received them and committed to them. I learned a lot, especially as I began to become older and become more knowledgeable spiritually and culturally with my locs.

With that being said, with this journey of trying to elevate my life through the military, I didn’t want my cultural and spiritual ideology with keeping my locs to be stripped simply due to most likely discriminatory ideas and regulations in the military towards people with melanin skin(a conversation for another day). After research, this led me to come across the movement/religion of Rastafarianism a few months ago, I wanted to make sure this wasn’t something I just wanted to get into due to egotistical purposes, and made sure to do thorough research on base level knowledge of Rastafarianism to make sure I agreed with it. Through that research, I found how Rastafarianism greatly aligned with my spiritual and religious beliefs still. I don’t want to get too into my idea of what I believe in religiously, since religion is a very sensitive topic I respect, but I will say that I connect with it.

In all, to end it off with questions, how do I officially convert to Rastafarianism? I did my research and discovered that there aren’t any community locations like churches for Rastafarianism(understanding that it’s more of a movement than a religion). I would like to connect with real officials within the religion to discuss my matter in taking in the study of this movement/religion further.

Thank you guys.

Hi, so I recently contacted a local loc specialist to see if I could get a few(only 2 locs) locs that thinned out a few months ago due to a bit poor maintenance. I was told by her that she could definitely reattach them, but in order for it to permanently stay, she would have to use “Jamaican Locs”. At first I was a little hesitant because I figured it was someone else’s hair just from the term alone, but she proceeded to say that it’s just synthetic hair strands created and shipped from China that would be used in the interlocking process when reattaching some of my locs.

When she stated this info, I then loosened up, but immediately after telling me, she also asks, “So are you okay with having someone else’s hair in your head?”, which immediately made me comprehend that question as, “Jamaican Locs” are actually real human hair(maybe mixed in with some synthetic hair) from other people.

In all, this leads me to the question, are “Jamaican Locs” synthetic or real hair from actual people? I really want my few locs permanently reattached, but if Jamaican Locs are real human hair(even if it’s mixed with actual synthetic hair), I’m not really comfortable with having hair from actual people head intertwined and locked in my head/hair.

Hi, so I recently contacted a local loc specialist to see if I could get a few(only 2 locs) locs that thinned out a few months ago due to a bit poor maintenance. I was told by her that she could definitely reattach them, but in order for it to permanently stay, she would have to use “Jamaican Locs”. At first I was a little hesitant because I figured it was someone else’s hair just from the term alone, but she proceeded to say that it’s just synthetic hair strands created and shipped from China that would be used in the interlocking process when reattaching some of my locs.

When she stated this info, I then loosened up, but immediately after telling me, she also asks, “So are you okay with having someone else’s hair in your head?”, which immediately made me comprehend that question as, “Jamaican Locs” are actually real human hair(maybe mixed in with some synthetic hair) from other people.

In all, this leads me to the question, are “Jamaican Locs” synthetic or real hair from actual people? I really want my few locs permanently reattached, but if Jamaican Locs are real human hair(even if it’s mixed with actual synthetic hair), I’m not really comfortable with having hair from actual people head intertwined and locked in my head/hair.

Hi, so I recently contacted a local loc specialist to see if I could get a few(only 2 locs) locs that thinned out a few months ago due to a bit poor maintenance. I was told by her that she could definitely reattach them, but in order for it to permanently stay, she would have to use “Jamaican Locs”. At first I was a little hesitant because I figured it was someone else’s hair just from the term alone, but she proceeded to say that it’s just synthetic hair strands created and shipped from China that would be used in the interlocking process when reattaching some of my locs.

When she stated this info, I then loosened up, but immediately after telling me, she also asks, “So are you okay with having someone else’s hair in your head?”, which immediately made me comprehend that question as, “Jamaican Locs” are actually real human hair(maybe mixed in with some synthetic hair) from other people.

In all, this leads me to the question, are “Jamaican Locs” synthetic or real hair from actual people? I really want my few locs permanently reattached, but if Jamaican Locs are real human hair(even if it’s mixed with actual synthetic hair), I’m not really comfortable with having hair from actual people head intertwined and locked in my head/hair.

I hate that I didn’t know this Reddit existed before today, because I asked this question in another Reddit a few months ago and was referred to some products that I was pretty iffy on from the start, due to the fact that I felt like it wasn’t for my melanin skin, and the individuals referring the products wasn’t that of melanated skin tones. Some of the products included Paula’s Choice exfoliator, which actually irritated my skin more and caused acne after using it(mind you guys, I’ve never struggled with bad acne, only a bump every couple months maybe if I did get any).

In all, I’m getting into skincare and was wondering what were some good exfoliate/toner products that helps with keeping my skin clear, glowing and keeping an even skin tone?

I was also wondering what were some exfoliate products that if I did get acne, it would tackle some post acne dark spots.

Lastly, what are some good serums that help with glowing my skin and keeping an even skin tone? And would I be able to use these serums within the same routine as the exfoliate/toners, due to me knowing that some serums used right after some exfoliate products in the same routine could possibly cause damage and irritation to skin as well.

Sorry for all the questions, I’m still getting into skincare, so hopefully you guys can assist me with this.