3 Years Loc’d

3 Years Loc’d

I just realised as I started writing this post that I missed my 3rd lociversary! But here’s my comparison for this year anyway. I can’t say I took last years on the exact day either!

I have been meaning to write a post about my locs for a while! Further more, I had actually wanted to film my loc journey, but alas as I didn’t start exactly at day 1, I went on to decide it wasn’t worth doing. In hindsight, that was a stupid way to think, but we’re here now, no point crying over spilt milk!

One thing I have done over the years however, is taken a crazy amount of  selfies it seems, so below you’ll find a sort of loc montage of my hair’s growth and development over the past three years. I still can’t believe how long it is.

Getting loc’d is 100% without a doubt the best thing I ever did to my hair. If anyone is contemplating taking the plunge, I hope this post helps with your research, and towards you making whatever decision is right for you.

 

Research, research, research!

I started thinking about loc’ing up in 2014, but I didn’t do it until 2016. My biggest inspiration were members of my family who’d had locs, (my uncle and aunt) and online, without a doubt, was the beautiful Danielle Loxs who I drew a few years back.

Over that two year period I was researching, reading and watching everything I could about locs deciding if it was something I could really commit to. The questions that played most on my mind were; Would it affect me when applying for jobs? Could I upkeep it myself? What method would be best to start?

There were a lot of resources out there, and I’m sure I only consumed a small amount of it, but still what I did take in, took a while.

Decision time

I often wore my hair in two stand twists, so with every set my grandma installed, I did think I could just wash it and get going on my loc journey. But whenever wash day came round I lost the nerve, and would begin unravelling my twists.

So what made me take the plunge in 2016? It was moving to Maastricht.

I, quite ignorantly, was unsure how much black hair care support I could expect to find in the south of the Netherlands. I had spotted approximately 5 black people in the city when I first went for interview so didn’t expect the place would be overrun with hairdressers or shops to cater to my hair. And on top of all that, I hated going to the hairdressers in England, so what on earth would it be like in NL? Trying to explain what I wanted in a whole other language?

So that was it, I was moving, and I was loc’ing. There was no better time than then to kick off.

Process

I got my last set of two strand twists on 5th June 2016, and essentially I’ve been wearing them everyday since.

6 July 2016 – Two Strand Twists – Starter Locs

My grandma installed the twists for me as always. Though as she was never a fan of locs, I don’t think I told her that my plan was never to take them out. I said thank you as always and then I was off for the summer to America with Nike for our first ever Comic Con. (That’s a whole other post though!)

17 July 2016

Below in pictures you can see the progress of my hair. Relevant dates and notes will be made in the captions.  

4 September 2016
After first wash since install
30 September 2016
3 October 2016
7 October 2016
29 October 2016
8 November 2016
31 December 2016
27 January 2017
14 March 2017
March 2017
24 March 2017
1 April 2017
9 April 2017
7 May 2017
A fresh retwist
8 May 2017
Take down the following day
27 May 2017
28 May 2017
2 June 2017
28 June 2017
4 August 2017
6 August 2017
13 August 2017
10 September 2017
29 September 2017
22 October 2017
9 November 2017
11 November 2017
17 November 2017
Accidentally started to comb one out whilst trying to remove some lint!
24 November 2017
25 November 2017
2 December 2017
26 December 2017
31 December 2017
9 January 2018
17 February 2018
23 February
15 March 2018
31 March 2018
21 April 2018
Shawn’s loving the progress
21 April 2018
3 May 2018
5 May 2018
16 May 2018
22 May 2018
22 May 2018
3 June 2018
Me, as the honey bun baby
3 June 2018
18 July 2018
25 July 2018
4 August 2018
7 August 2018
18 August 2018
5 September 2018
11 September 2018
20 October 2019
13 December 2018
14 December 2018
4 February 2019
7 February 2019
6 March 2019
29 April 2019
4 May 2019
5 May 2019

Conclusion

It’s been an incredible 3 years! 

There’s been so much growth since July 2016, and that’s not just in the length of my hair. Being loc’d has given me the freedom with my hair that I’ve always wanted. 

I can maintain it myself, it’s also low maintenance and very durable for all activities. I can’t wait to see how much it changes in the next 3 years.

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Charlotte Gray
Charlotte Gray

Thanks for spending some time Up and Away with me!

I’m writing here to keep track of not only my travels to new places, but also my daily journeys through learning, loving and life.

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4 Comments

  1. paulette gray
    August 1, 2019 / 9:57 pm

    wonderful journey your hair looks beautiful it really suits you 🙂

    • August 2, 2019 / 9:27 pm

      Thanks Poll! It will suit you again too! Join me and throw the comb away ?

  2. April 2, 2020 / 1:15 am

    You are so beautiful!

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