How to Wash Locs Like a Professional
In episode 3 of Discovering Black-Owned Beauty, I met with Rayna, owner of Sekai Natural Hair Gallery and a loc specialist in Los Angeles. Below, she explains how she washes and styles her clients’ hair.
How to Wash Locs
It’s really important to keep your locs clean. When deciding how often to wash your locs, consider your lifestyle. Are you sweating and physically active? Then you will have to wash your locs even more often.
To wash, start from the root and work your way down. Let the shampoo work its way in and squeeze the product through. If your locs are mature, you can be rougher with them; but if they are new, you must be very gentle. At home, the shower is the best way to wash your locs. If you go to a pool or beach, try to go to the shower to immediately rinse your locs out.
Apply oils to your scalp
After washing, apply leave-in moisturizer and oil throughout the scalp to seal in the moisture. Don’t skip this step. Apply the oil across your whole scalp. Use products that are “clean rinsing”, which will prevent build-up. Do not use beeswax or anything with petroleum. Stick to natural oils such as grape-seed, aragon, jojoba, or a clean-rinsing gel.
Part & Re-twist Your Hair
When you are styling your hair, make sure your parts are clean to keep them clean and neat. You can use nothing and allow the leave in and oil to moisture and twist your hair. And most importantly, when you get your locs re-twistsed, it shouldn’t hurt. Your hairstylist shouldn’t over twist your locs because they will break off and make your hairstyle look too thin.
There are many different methods to twist your hair, the most popular being the comb coil or the palm roll, but there’s interlocking method, crochet, twist and rip, two-strand-twist, or the single plat technique. The palm roll method is the smoothest, cleanest type of loc, but it’s also the hardest to maintain. The interlock method uses a specific tool to loc the hair so that it will not come loose. It’s even studier than any of the other traditional techniques.
Dry Your Hair
The amount of time that it takes your locs to dry depends on each person, size, moisture, thickness. If your hair holds more moisture, it will take longer.
Starting & Maintaining Locs
To start locs, schedule a consultation with a loctician. Start with two or two and half inches of hair. Ultimately, everything will depend on how you want your locs to look and your own lifestyle. Once your locs are installed, you want to look for thinning at root or the end. This might relate to dryness or heavy weight. Your locticition might need to join them or correct them.
