Hello there! A big THANK YOU to everyone who read my last post on the stages of dreadlocks/ locs; I really appreciate you guys.
So, this post talks about the types of dreadlocks that are available, and ones peculiar to African hair, using Nigerian hair as a case study.
You know how the "I-don't-know" syndrome sets in when it comes to starting your dreadlocks. You have zero ideas on what type of dreadlocks you want. All you know is that you want locs. While some clients carry out their research and know exactly what they want, some have no idea whatsoever. I believe this is one of the reasons a lot of aspiring loc heads and those who already have locs get to meet locticians with little or no knowledge about their craft.
The fact that your loctician has dreadlocks does not mean that they are well grounded in dreadlocks. You need to ask questions which would act as a litmus test, because the best of locticians are not necessarily wearing locs. When a loctician asks you to come in for consultation before you start your journey, then you are well on the right track.
I had a client tell me that a certain loctician in Lagos told her to use hair spritz ( meant for bonding short hair on caps) on her hair for 3 months consistently so that the hair can loc faster. I cried me a river for the outcome of her dreadlocks, cause her hair had what I call Locs Toxic Syndrome (LTS).
Here are the types of dreadlocks spectrum your locs can fall into
1. Free-form Dreadlocks; this is the OGs of dreadlocks! It's the easiest of all the locs, cause you don't do anything to the hair. All that the hair needs to form locs is time. No combing is required and it is not product driven although it needs frequent washing, oiling and occasional use of locking foam depending on its length.
In a more Nigerian term, just free the hair to be itself. It is mostly carried by guys, but few ladies also carry the free-form dreadlocks without trimming them. Ladies with soft hair type cannot carry it. One major characteristic of this type of locs is that their roots look like Tropical Rain Forest. Free-form is one of the traditional dreadlocks and they come in many sizes.
2.Semi Free-form Locs; This is the second type of traditional locs. It is similar to the freeform locs, but the only difference is that you would wait for like 4 to 8 months before retwisting to the root of your hair and they have a part to a ratio if u look closely. In simple term, jungle no go mature like that before you retwist, this is what most of the Nigerian Artiste and VJs have on right now.
3. Manipulated (or Maintained) locs; this is the third type of traditional locs and this allows you to see the parts or part to a ratio in your hair. It gives you that neat scalp after maintenance and also requires you to frequently visit your loctician. This is product driven because of your frequent visit to the salon for a wash, retwist and style.
I notice a lot of clients fall in between the semi-freeform and manipulated locs because of the interval before their next maintenance, especially when your locs are in the matured stage. Manipulated locs comes in different sizes, depending on your preference. All traditional locs needs good maintenance for it to come out better and grow healthier, especially the semi-freeform and manipulated locs. Your hair needs to be all natural for you to have traditional locs.
The method for maintaining this type of traditional locs varies from palm rolling, interlocking, etc..
4. Sister locs/Micro locs; they are the tiny micro locs that ranges from 350 to 800 strands or more depending on the volume of hair you have. Sister locs is time-consuming, cause you need to be patient and its the most expensive of all the dreadlocks types. It is mostly measured at half an inch per part to a ratio (per cut) and they can be done either by using the following methods;
i.Micro braiding.
ii.Micro twisting.
iii.Micro interlocking. etc..
Sister locs offers a wide range of styling options. They have lightweight and very easy to style. Most importantly, this type of Locs is very unique and complex. If they are done wrong, it results in thinning and breakage.
Sister locs can be done with Relaxed or Natural Hair.
5. Instant locs; This is a new development in dreadlocks and this type of locs is hair type selective. They give instantaneous matured locs by skipping 18 months process your manipulated locs would have gone through. They are time-consuming and very expensive to do and it combines two methods in one using the crochet hook for dreads of 0.55 to 0.08 meters in size to get the instant locs done.
This tool is also used for making handmade permanent locs extensions and attaching the extension to the locs. this technique is so amazing and unique to certain hair type.
Thank you for reading and please drop your comments. For more information, feel free to send in your questions to Ohenhelalocs@gmail.com. The images used were found on google for a better representation of the above-mentioned types of dreadlocks
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