Photos of My Locs: A Journey

By Monica Leftwich on August 10, 2014@moleftwich

Started my loc journey as braids using Afro kinky braiding hair to get the kinky look. I latched-hooked my new growth – May 2011

I have always had a love hate relationship with my hair in its natural state. One minute, I loved my ultra-thick curly kinks. The next minute, I can’t wait to chop it all off. In fact, I had several “big chop” moments in my hair life!

It was not until mid-2011 that I actually started to take my natural hair seriously. I had not had a perm for several years before that time. I always managed to rock an itchy wig or another protective style.

But, like most other black women, even the creamy crack did not stop my hair from falling out. For work, I simply had to wear it in a conservative way because of the industry I worked in. Pulling it back in a simple ponytail or bun was wearing thin on my edges, especially in the back towards my neck. I was constantly dealing with partial baldness back there.

How could I allow my hair to grow without the stress of protective styling? Even without having permed my hair in over 5 years, my tresses still seemed to not want to grow very well.

So then, I came across a lovely picture of a woman wearing something called Sisterlocks™. I had never heard of such a type of dreadlock. I had no idea that there even were “types” of dreadlocks!

I decided to remove all synthetic hair from my head and started my loc journey au naturel! – Dec. 2011

I was even more surprised when I found out how much those Sisterlocks™ cost to have done. I remember comparing Sisterlocks™ cost that of my rent AND car note!

But they were gorgeous! Very uniformed and neat, I knew it was something I could get accustomed to. Even better, the more I researched the Sisterlocks™ technique, the more I realized I could do them, or a similar technique, myself, which was nothing more than a latching hook, interlocking method.

So, I started my dreadlock natural hair journey! The more I read about the very little maintenance that came with dreadlocks, the more I loved them. That was another reason my natural hair and I did not always get along: it was too much of a routine to maintain!

Finally able to pull much of my locs up! – Early 2013

A coconut oil or olive oil massage every 2 weeks or so and an occasional wash and re-twist sounded excellent to my lazy behind! And clearly it has paid off, from my pics below.

Take a peek at my natural hair journey photos below to see how nicely my locs have progressed since the summer of 2011 to August 2014!

Summer of 2013 my locs had a major growth spurt! – August 2013

I was curious about how long my hair was in its natural state so I combed a loc out. This is incredible considering much of the back of my head use to be bald! #pow – August 2013