r/Microlocs

Hi everyone,

As the title says, I've had my locs for almost 3 years this September. Recently I've considered combing them out and restarting.

In the beginning of my journey, I had a lot of unraveling at my crown and front, making it longer for that area to grown out. It then resulted in these extreme layers. We (my loctician and I) also noticed that the locs in the front and crown was thicker than the ones in the back as well. So she took some down to make them smaller.

Looking at my hair, all I see is extreme layers and varying sizes. I really loved my locs, but as it's gotten longer, it's been an interesting turn out. I

I am also still dealing with slippage in the perimeter of my head where my temples are due to the very short length. It gets frizzy there a lot and is very annoying to constantly twist again every wash day

I guess I just need advice. I genuinely love my hair, and I love locs and I put a lot of money into this set. I just don't know what to do to make me feel better.

Thank you.

I prefer the braid out. It just falls better. It’s been pretty windy lately too and no matter which way the wind blows it, it still looks nice.

The flexi rods add a nice fullness and curly fry curl but it’s also kinda stiff. The wind just makes it look messy to me like I just rolled out of bed. They don’t fall nicely on their own when fresh.

When the curls drop they basically end up looking the same for me. I don’t really wear a middle part so that’s why I had to take a screenshot of the only time I did with a braid out.

I’m almost 3 years in. These are diy braid microlocs.

Pictures from install day to present, coming up on 3 years. I have 335 braidlocs, I interlock every 6-9 weeks (with help from my wife), doing a 4 point rotation. Located in DC if you care. My locs were installed at Braids That Speak (IG: bellemicrolocs). So far it's been the best hair decision for me. I was a loose natural for 10+ years, did every style imaginable but was falling out of love with my hair because of the amount of time I spent detangling and not retaining length. My wash day went from a literal day to barely 20 minutes. I have dermatitis so I wash one to three times a week. I don't use oils, conditioners, or any styling products. I spritz a little rose water every once in a while. My hair is coarse and type 4, but I've been a dyed #27 and #30 since 17 (I'm 40 now). I air dry after washing. I sleep with satin scarf, no lint so far. **Pictures unfortunately uploaded out of order but you can probably figure it out

Hey ladies. I failed miserably with my own DIY journey however my co worker asked me to do her locs back in November. I was hesitant, but we’ve been consistent with reties. I want to state that I am not a loctician or a hairstylist at all. Just a girl who knows how to braid her own hair enough to not have to spend money with YouTube on her side.

Hi! 2 days into my microloc journey, and I'm extremely worried that this size won't give me the volume I'm looking for. I was hoping for around 250-300 locs, but ended up with 218. I have fine, medium-low density hair....I think. I had traditional locs for 15 years, and I had 125 then. I have naturally 4c hair. But my curl pattern has become more 4a-4b due to my use of henna to cover my grays. I've searched for loc inspo on people with lower hair density, but mainly find those with much lower density than mine. Does anyone have 200-230 locs, with medium to low density hair, with volume? Or do I need to have over 250 locs?

So y’all… I’m a little confused about what to ask my loctician for when it comes to loc sizes. I have fine-ish (might be medium), high-density, high-porosity 3C/4A hair, and I think I’m finally ready to commit to locs AGAIN after combing my first set out yearsss ago.

I know for a fact that I do not have the patience or lifestyle for extremely small microlocs (like 300+), not to mention, getting micros installed nowadays is gon cost you an arm and a leg. So yeah, I’m trying to get them as small as possible without going that far… if that makes sense lol.

The first 4 pictures are all of the same girl (@pheonixstouch on TT and Insta), and she’s mentioned multiple times that she has 220 locs total. Based on the appearance of her locs and her parts, I personally don’t think hers would be considered microlocs, but I also think they’re way smaller than what most locticians would call “small traditional locs”, hence why i have no idea what to ask for 😭.

I’m absolutely in love with the way her locs look, and I’m pretty sure we have similar density. Ideally, I’d like to stay somewhere in the 220-250 loc range. Even though I think super tiny microlocs are freaking GORGEOUS, I know myself, and I don’t want them installed so small that I can’t properly maintain them long term.

The last three photos are about the absolute smallest I’m willing to go. (And yes, I’m aware the girl in the last photo has Sisterlocks, but the size of her parts kinda remind me of very small traditional locs. *@ just.riaa* )

So based on these pictures, should I be booking an app. for small traditional or microlocs?

It's been about 2 years since I got my babies🥰 never counted so idk how many but Ive loved every phase I have had here are some beginning pics and texture shots and then my most recent hair pic at the end. I'll post again and show all the hairstyles I've done since getting locs🙂‍↕️

So ive been locked for 9 years before, i combed them out (took me three months) and im ready for a new set.

My locs were not micro, i had about 100. Now im interested in getting microlocs but i dont like going to loctitians so i want to start and maintain myself.

With my previous set i was pretty low maintenance, going 3/4 months before a retwist. My hair texture is 4c maybe 4b in some parts and doesnt lock quickly. Id love to go for 250/350.

Here’s the tea - im a lone parent with 2 young boys,will i be able to manage interlocking by myself 8 weeks at a time? I need this to work with my lifestyle.

Ps. I combed out my locs due to needing a change after divorce, my second child pulling/breaking the hair in his infancy, lint due to a rough 5 years of life that just took its toll.

Pics show my loose natural hair now and my locs before i combed them out.

I felt like my hair was’t getting longer/fuller, but I guess it has been doing some things within the last year!

there's been times i was doing my retie and thought my hair wasn't growing but i'm noticing it has. slowly but surely lol

Just showing off my progress so far with first retie

I was just told by a loctitian that I have micro locs and I was under the impression they were just small. I may restart because I’m not trying to be a grown man with micro locs 😂 no offense to anyone. For reference, I’m 6 months in