Over the years, there has been a surge in black women deciding to abandon the relaxers and embrace their own natural curls. There seems to be no sign of the natural hair movement slowing down, and let me tell you…I am here for it! This excites me so much and I want to share with you 5 great reasons to loc your hair.
Reason #1: Time-Saving
Locs have given me my time back. Before deciding to loc my hair, I would spend several hours on a Saturday detangling, washing, stretching, and then lightly blow drying my loose natural hair (or air drying…depending on how I planned to style it for the week).
I found it therapeutic for the first few years, but as I decided to pursue my master’s degree, I knew my time would be super limited.
In order to maintain the health and length of my loose natural hair, there was no rushing the process on wash days.
The fact is, I wanted my weekends back. I needed that flexibility. Locs would allow me to skip several steps on wash day! This was very appealing to me.
Reason #2: No more fear of Water
My hair was the deciding factor for what physical activities I would engage in. Having locs changed this for me.
Before I was loc’d, I didn’t want my braid out to shrink, so I still had to run from the rain. I didn’t want my blowout to frizz up so soon, and I definitely wouldn’t go swimming often because wash days were a weekend-long ordeal.
Locs eliminated that anxiety I had where I had the desire to go for a jog, but decided against it because the sweat might frizz whatever style I had, or just the outside elements were something for me to fear and avoid. This meant that I essentially lived a “water averse life”.
This is NOT healthy, water is sooooo good for our hair, and for our overall health!
Reason #3: Minimal Products
I use the same 3-4 products on my locs, and it makes things so simple for me.
I don’t even have to think about it, and I don’t deal with decision fatigue. I stick with a clarifying shampoo, a cream moisturizer, a natural oil, and a retwisting gel…that’s it.
After shampooing, I towel dry my hair, spray moisturizer on my damp locs, and coat my hands with coconut oil while raking my hand through the locs. I then use aloe vera gel to retwist a few locs around the front row.
Reason #4: You Can Embrace Your God-given, Textured, Afro hair
In a culture where straight, silky hair has been the standard, it feels amazing to not feel pressure to abide by that standard because locs are the perfect medium for low-maintenance tightly coiled hair.
So the fact that I get to wear my real hair, in its glorious natural texture, while still feeling beautiful is liberating. It is the way God intended for us to see ourselves.
Reason #5: Enjoy any length
Even though I enjoyed my loose natural hair for 4 good years, it was challenging to obtain the length that I desired.
This is because my coils can’t tolerate too much heat. I even minimized my heat usage to mostly blow drying with warm air (I would only straighten my hair once a year in the wintertime) and I still experienced breakage/damage before reaching my length goals.
It had become a bit exhausting. I had devoted so much time and effort to caring for my hair, and I was not seeing my hair bear the fruit I desired.
This has not been the case with my locs. They are growing and flourishing to a length I have never experienced with my loose natural hair.
There you go, 5 great reasons why you should loc your hair! Did I forget anything? What were some of the reasons you loc’d your hair? I would love to hear them!
