Locs R Us: JC and Nara

There are only two hair styles I miss and both of them are natural:

1. Very short hair that used to take me to the barbers shop where I would get patterns cut into my head.

2. Threaded hair as a child and before my mum tied it back it would stick out all over the place on my head like an alien.

I can't remember when I first wanted dreadlocks but I do remember having endless battles with my hair before I did.

I had done it all to my hair from curly perms to super weaves and everything else between.

It never felt right. Partly because all of those styles didn't fully reflect my developing values.

Partly because as the kind of woman who looks in the mirror about once a week, it all seemed like too much fuss.

Finally, the year I was due to graduate as an Osteopath/Naturopath I decided to loc my hair.

It was an arduous process and took 8 months: no wax, no gel, no beeswax. 

Nothing artificial on my head.

No chemicals at all.

Locs were not fashionable then so I went through the usual journey.

My parents unamused and strangers passing judgement.

Still, I felt liberated - I threw away all my combs and brushes and enjoyed a life of washing my hair exactly 12 times a year.

About two years into my locs the wonderful Miss Hilly came into my life.

Miss Hilly chose you and she told me one day that for the next few years she would do my hair.

Never found anyone like her since.

She would wash my hair for half an hour, massage my head for 45 minutes and then work each loc individually. 

When I complained once (after 5 hours of doing my hair and she wasn't done)  of running late - she told me that from now on I would have to take the day off to come and do my hair.

So that's what I did.

Like many young girls I had always dreamt of having long hair and locs fulfilled that dream for me.

My daughter is orange (her term for being mixed race) and she wanted locs from when she was 2 but I made her wait a year.

Looking back I have no idea why.

I got a lot of comments (and still do) that not many orange kids have locs which I find funny because in my head I always equated locs with the orange Bob Marley.

We are philosophical rastas so you can say that with our locs we wear our beliefs on our head.

It means we are pure vegetarian and try to live at peace with the earth and all the beings that we share it with.

Although we occasionally style our locs we never trim or dye them.

It would feel quite at odds with the way we live our lives.

Top Loc Tips

(Touch wood - I have never had an itchy scalp or other issues that many with locs complain about)

1. Do as little as possible to your locs - we retiwst once every three weeks or once a month and unless we swim do very little to our hair in between.

2. Castor oil steam treatments are super nourishing!

3. No dry heat e.g. blow drying.

4. Use natural oils as much as possible.

5. When you are first locing be patient - all the short cuts only damage your hair. My daughter was lucky her hair took only a few weeks. 

6. If you are a fashion locstar do be obliging to those who make assumptions about your beliefs - you have borrowed the style after all :)

7. Even if you are a rasta: be obliging in general: people will always have something to say about your hair. Its a great conversation piece. Enjoy!