My Hair Journey / 4 Years Loc’d
approx. 4 min. read
While cleaning up my camera roll at the end of 2024, I relived the many memories from that year. From summer vacation videos to stay-at-home selfies, I reminisced about the good times I documented through photos. And as I scrolled, I spent a lot of time admiring my hair. In one photo, after washing my locs, I captured a moment of my damp hair in the mirror, showcasing its newfound length and thickness. On my 26th birthday, I have photos of my locs curled with burgundy highlights I dyed months prior. Another photo shows my hair styled with a claw clip, keeping it up and out of my face. And just 6 months ago, I added hair to my locs to create a Marley Twist protection style for my trip to Miami. This simple gallery cleaning led to me digging deeper into my digital photo albums. Scrolling farther into previous years, I was shocked to see the length of my hair, reminding me that my locs grow so fast that it often goes unrecognized until I start feeling tickles in different parts of my neck. Whether my hair was styled, retwisted, or not, my hair told a story and has become a big part of my identity.
After years of experimentation, many women find such pride and beauty in their hair. This is especially true for black women. I can say I’ve had countless hairstyles from my youth to adulthood. I remember sitting in between the legs of an 18 or 19-year-old student, Paris, who would do my hair for some cash on the side. The only comfort I got from the process was a pillow under my butt and the movie playing on the TV that was supposed to make time go faster. She did various complex cornrow styles like braided bantu knots, braided mohawks, and braided ponytails, all with my natural hair. I remember my mom dramatically demonstrating how she wanted my hair to look and Paris, as talented as she was, would do it with ease.
I had my hair cornrowed, twisted with added braiding hair, hot combed and flat ironed, styled with balls and barrettes, or gathered in single or double puff balls. In middle school, I started doing my own hair and mini twists became my everyday style until it was time for a protective one. Eventually, I got my hair permed, a black girl canon event. Perming my hair was short-lived as it was uncomfortable, unhealthy, and damaging. From then through my senior year of high school, I straightened my hair myself or at the hair salon. With the support of my hairstylist at my salon, I experimented with color after winning over the favor of my mom. In the past, I was only allowed to wear colored clip-ins that didn’t blend well with my hair texture.
I got my first sew-in for prom and graduation season in the spring of senior year. That lasted through the summer and though it looked amazing and was low maintenance, I hated that I couldn’t reach my scalp under the weave. My college years were much more experimental. After an expensive trip to the salon, I decided I would start doing my hair again. I did my own Marley twists with added hair, twist outs on my natural hair, and wore wigs from the beauty supply store. I got to be very creative, but I was more focused on what would get the job done for a low cost.
Months after my college graduation in October 2020, I decided to act on my long-term urge to loc my hair. I visited a loctician for a consultation and returned later for two-strand twist starter locs. After going to that specialist for 3 consecutive months for retwists, I decided to take the reins on my loc journey and start doing them myself. Firsthand, I experienced what everyone claimed to be a spiritual experience; my hair transformed like a plant nurtured from a seed planted in damp soil. Once soft, puffy, and fuzzy, my locs developed into long, dense shafts. With time and low-maintenance routines, my hair flourished into something I could never part from.
I love my hair. It checks many boxes for me. Beautiful, healthy, versatile, and unique! I enjoy wash days as a self-care beauty ritual; it’s a loving process. Cleansing the scalp, thoroughly washing, gently squeezing each loc, rinsing, and massaging oil on and between each loc is a spiritual process. The calming scent of the essential oils in my products always lingers for a few days. The fresh cleansed feeling on my scalp revitalizes me. Taking time to cater to myself is vital and intentional and sets the tone for how I navigate life.
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