8 month appreciation~
Slides 1-3 = 8 months
Slide 4 = 5.5 months
Slide 5 = 3 months
Slide 6 = Day 1
Still got a long way to go but at I'm a point where bad hair days aren't part of my hair days 🥰
Feel free to ask any questions
Just about 7 months now and still really loving my hair.
Started off with interlocked 2 stands, followed up with 4 professional retwists but then decided about 5 months in the retwist look wasn't for me or my sensitive scalp.
I guess I'm in the 'semi-free form' camp now. Over the last two months I've followed a simple routine of weekly washes and gently separating after every wash and depending on the roots, a soft retwist to guide loose hairs back into their sections. No products, just jojoba oil and daily misting with peppermint water.
This has worked quite well for me so far, my hair tends to grow with the loc so I don't have too many loose hairs. In fact, some of my locs actual stay curled at the root after washing all on their own (as you may see in the 1st photo) which is less work for me so yay.
Pro tip for people with a similar hair texture (*Hair that has a tendency to marrying easily):
Don't directly mist your roots when doing your daily misting, only the body of the loc - this has been a game changer for me honestly, no more painful popping or separating (thanks to Yannie for that tip).
2 days early but 6 months nonetheless~
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Loving the journey and the frizz!
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Video - post wash with a soft retwist/separation and air dried
Photo 1: Pre-wash
Photo 2-4: Post wash
Photo 5: Month 1
We've come quite a way, happy with the progress so far! Happy to answer any questions relating to my texture/similar texture (type 3 hair)
I've never been a fan of gel or heavy products in my hair. When I started my locs, I knew I wouldn't really like the gel, my hair tends to flake up/product build up quite quickly). I didn't initially know much about the other maintenance methods so I just endured it/I can wash it out on wash day mindset)
The last few retwists I had where too tight, too much tension and too much gel. (Side-note - I'm tenderheaded so when I'm getting my hair done, I notice how much the separation/neatening up the parts hurts. Its much later after my appointment that I'm like oh damn yeah that was done too tight). My last retwist my scalp was not happy, both from tension and the gel plus a style for the first time, yeah not happy. Which leads on to topic of this post.
I would like to ideally continue with self maintenance, so I can control the tension/products in my hair.
What are your experiences, pros/cons of doing the following methods (bonus if we have similar hair texture)
• Retwisting with only oil and water (or natural gels like aloe vera/flaxseed)
• Crochet maintenance (just regrowth) - may go to a loctician initially if I decide to go this route
• Semi-free forming
More context: Nearly at the 5 month mark. Starter locs were interlocked and maintenance has been retwists/palm rolling. Hair texture is all the 3s, fine medium density. Photo is post washing
So I've seen mostly negative views on bunching. I'm referring to locs where the hair, dependent on the curl pattern has shrunk up and folded in on it's self (visually like butterfly locs). There are far more videos talking about how to 'fix' the loc before it locs up like that. Than there are of people embracing the bumpy/kinky look.
To my understanding not a lot of people can differentiate between bunching and budding (based on previous posts on reddit/social media). And embracing or 'fixing' the bunching is more of a personal preference.
Can anyone speak on experience about whether the integrity of the loc (not aesthetics) is affected if leaving the bunching to do its thing or if stretching/pulling/crocheting is better for loc longevity?