Apologies for this being so long but wanted to add a few things to consider. I had locs for 22 years for spiritual reasons (Jewish Nazarites wore locs as a form of dedication/sacrifice to God). All of the mistakes this brother talks about in the video is true. I'd like to add from my experience, all hair types, growth patterns and locing patterns are different: 1 person with tight curl pattern (4c hair) can develop developing buds (those knots forming at the tips of the hair) in 3 mths or less while 4a-b hair may take 6mths to form a 1/2 to 1 inch bud. Don't comb or pull out those knots/buds forming at the ends of your locs..that bud is the base/foundation of the loc beginning to form. My mature locs were around the 2yr mark when I could put it in a ponytail and didnt need to retwist after each 3 week shampoo. I used peppermint shampoo to remove any dirt or oil build up and used a light natural oil on my scalp. Locs don't get as dirty as wearing you hair regularly because you're not using a lot of products that form build-up/residual on the hair strands and scalp . Also, many locs are not shiny but have a natural matte (non-shiny) color. Applying light natural oils will help to shine them up when sunlight hits them. I did tie my locs every night and would still do a light re-twist every other day with clear watered down gel or aloe vera gel to keep my locs from frizzing (corporate work place). Aloe vera gel is good to use to re-twist but can also be drying on some hair types. Re-twisting made it easier to maintain my sections/parts after shampooing until the buds were formed, just don't twist too tightly, especially the base of the scalp, this is to keep those wandering trailer strands/hairs in place as they form the loc cylinder. I'd also use clips to hold down the locs while twisting. I preferred a neater look. Important: Don't start locs too thin. Locs will expand 2-3 times the size of the original starter loc (as old hair is shed and wraps around the already formed bud). Use a base no less than 1/2" wide to avoid breaking/snapping between years 7-10 because of the weight and pull of the loc. Normal life of an individual hair strand is approximately 7 years this allows shedding and a new hair to take it's place. My starter loc base width was 1/8" to 1/4" and a few started snapping around year 7 because each hair strand had a different life cycle and had been shedding as time went on. Avoid ALL petroleum, wax and alcohol products! (Read the labels) Alcohol dries out hair and the others will take Forever to remove the residual build up. (yes i tried sunlight and it took 10-12 washes to get that stuff somewhat out) It will save on scalp and loc problems years later. I colored my locs a few times, but found each time, the dye damaged the hairs forming the locs, Yeah they looked cute/stylish but some of the Tips began to snap and unravel after a few years. After shampooing (and if you've re-twisted), get your locs as dry as possible. By year 7, my locs would take 2 days to fully dry which can be a drag in the winter time especially in Chicago. And, some ppl have had problems with mold forming if the scalp and locs haven't been fully cleaned and dried thoroughly. The locs will develop a "musty smell" that comes from shampoo and products build up used in re-twisting. Please wash your do rags, hair bonnets and pillow cases frequently. Clarifying shampoos and vinegar rinses may help to alleviate these problems. Make sure your final rinse for at least 5 minutes to make sure all shampoo and dirt is removed. Lint can build up inside the loc cylinder and overtime becomes matted and embedded in your loc. I'm not a fan of constant interlocing/crocheting. I think it puts to much tension (weight on the locs) as they get longer. I used the twist and palm roll method. My hair was 3 inches when I started twisting my hair and after finishing each loc was only 1/2" long. I have started locs on customers who had hair length of 1" and worked with them until they had 3-4" formed locs and could maintain on their own (approx. 6mths). No longer doing locs for customers, however, am starting my grandson's high-top locs this weekend with 2 strand twist. It will be interesting since he has 3b/3c combo hair and Rona is still going strong. He said he's not in it for the long journey, just a style. His sides and back are already faded. Final thoughts, be patient and understand the reason why you decided to go on this journey. Remember the reason Why you started, remind yourself daily, as you look in the mirror and admire the unique individual loc personalities forming and doing it's own thing, that every bit of this growth process is for the greater good which is in yourself, for yourself, or the higher power that motivated this journey. May God Bless You Always! ~Peace~
This comment is GOLD❣ Thank you for sharing, these tips complemented TP Locks so well!!! I plan on starting my locs in next few weeks and appreciate this❣
@@CrownedxKay Yes..TP did an excellent job with his very informative video and I truly appreciate him for it. Please remain encouraged during the process and ignore/dismiss all negativity. Positivity, encouragement and reinforcement is so important which is why I put that reminder in my original post. There will be days when 1, 2 or more locs will go off on a short journey of their own and will stick up, out, sideways, etc no matter how much you pin, twist or try to redirect them. The Insights you'll gain during this journey will truly be YOUR very personal GOLD reward. The loc journey is as long as YOU determine and not anyone else's expectation. Good Luck and May God Bless You Always!
@@flood808 might try to go freeform that way i can start washing every 3 days or so then slowly work up to like once a week cause my hair is really loose
I had dread back in the 80s, come 90s i dyed my dreads as i DJ and wanted to look a little different. Nobody was dying dresds back then as its was only rasta man and they did not do so. Was i the first. I'm 50 now and posted sn old picture of me with my dreads dyed on facebook many years ago and people was saying look a you blond dreads making jokes. But moving forward some years. Everyone is dying their dreads and i did so 30 years ago. 👊🏾🔥
What I love about my hair, I wake up lookin like a rebel runnin her own life, free of anyone's negative judgement. Don't be hard, journeys always got bumps ✌🏻
Its like a sea of African American women posting their loc journey vids on here. Watch like 3 vids and you will be swarmed with recommendations of those type vids. Many commetors and their followers to are on their journey too. Hell I'm starting my locs in 5 more days! We out hea!
Me watching this 8 years in and locs down past my behind. Stay strong, kings and queens, and be kind to your crown. I literally had no expectations and knew very little about caring for my locs. Educate yourselves and know everyone's hair is different.
just dont die your locs, wash with sunlight soap, a bi-monthly lather in the sun to assist the bleaching process, side note; dreads become soft and cushiony with little to no residual damage at all
Anytime man, if you’re dreading try do it as naturally as possible, they’ve become a fashion statement (in our time) and in some ways that somewhat disrespects the true essence of Rastafari. I’m speaking from experience of doing it for my matric dance and finding myself growing into this crown and deeper towards Rastafari
Yeah I am about the same I do it every 4 weeks/ a month but I think when they’re a little longer and won’t stick up too much after growth I’ll wait longer.
Me too !!! Well I’m 8mo i am pushing it on week 4/5!!! Week 5 i look like a mad lady 😂 But my roots are healthy and i don’t have any thinning/small Locs
I started in May , and I love the journey of locs. Me and my girlfriend is doing this together which makes it even more special. I’m determined not to give up and let my hair do what it do. Please keep making these videos for your subscribers they are so motivational much thanks TP locks!
I’m so happy to motivate you on your journey! That goes both ways! It’s really cool you and your girl are doing it together as well! My wife wouldn’t join me in mine! 😅
I just wanted to say I appreciate you keeping your ads under 2 minutes 🙌🏽. I always want to support the you tubers I faithfully watch, but I’m not sitting here for 5 minutes of Ads 😂
I need to make sure it stays that way! They are sneaky with it sometimes! I’ve got my ad settings on auto as of now but definitely let me know if it’s too much!
Locs are a journey, you learn a lot about the process. A bunch of trial and error but that makes the journey unique and special. It’s dope we have a community here through your channel, keep that good genuine content flowing 🔥
I am still going strong a year and such later and 4 months will be 2 years. TP definitely played a positive role in me figuring myself and MY own hair out. Appreciate it brother and I'm just rewatching alot of your videos. Forever informative and supportive. 👏🏾 👏🏾
No matter how good your hair is, growing dreads, your going to lose some and have to cut some but that's what make them your locs they're going to adjust to your body, and honestly it grows with your mindset
About when you said you twisted your hair too much I heard that somewhere one time and I was so scared my hair would fall out 😂😂😂 I got my hair retwisted every 2 or 3 months
Damnit fam, I did it again. I watched this while my daughter was napping and the "to this day" clip insert took me out!🤣🤣🤣 Next time I'm putting her on a plane and sending her to y'all, sleep deprived and all! #5 is real! What many don't realize is you can't always compare your locs to others. Their 1 year locs might not look like your 1 year mark. So many factors involved; hair texture, length, density, etc. I feel like finally at 30 months my locs are taking off. My 1st set, by year 1 I was already off and running. It's nice to watch others' journey. Have to watch out for that loc envy though!
I feel like Loc envy is the number one killer of journeys! People set the wrong expectations and forget to love their own uniqueness. You hit it all with this comment!! 🔥🔥
9:50 that’s me all day 😂. I definitely would just cut my own hair, unless I really need to get fresh. I don’t have dreads yet. Still waiting for it to get a bit longer. It’s about an inch in a half right now. This will be my second set. Can’t wait. I’m taking my 9 year old son to get his first set of locks. He wants me to get them as well. Definitely will be a dope journey. I didn’t have kids when I had mine. Both my kids have seen old pics of me. Even my 12 year old daughter wants me to get them 😂. Truthfully, I don’t think my son will last with it, but I’ll definitely keep mine going. If he does, he’ll shock the mess out of me 😂.
I’ll be hitting my 1y in November and I’m just so heartbroken. My locs have started thinning and breaking around my edges and I really just want to cut it off and start all over again but today I found your channel and I’m going to keep going and just focus on taking better care of my hair! This journey has been really humbling.
Hi! Might I suggest checking your internal body health to see if something off balance. Our hair can sometimes be an indicator of issues. If you leave your hair alone for a while like 2,3 months and just keep your scalp & locs clean, you can definitely nurse your hair back to health. Scalp health is key! That’s where the hair is growing from. Search Yannie the locologist on YT, she doesn’t call herself a loctition but she does a lot of work helping ppl with damaged locs
Love the tips you give. I'm in my seventh month. And listen to you make all the the doubts go away. My wife doesn't like the fuzzy look but I've learned to accept it.
I started my locs 7 months ago and my biggest mistake was putting in a braided style around month 4. It helped my hair go a lot faster but a 2-4 of them broke of in the middle because my locs weren't mature.
bro, I started my locks about 7 months after you and got my first proper retwist yesterday (been doing everything on my own from your videos). The loctition was impressed with how well kept and healthy my hair is. Thank you :)
Hmm, dyed tips. Another name is "drip tips". Had a couple of them problems so far... Now I found the rythm to maintain my growth balance... So far?? Started in December 2019.
Not da "coastline" bruh?!!! I hollered! 🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭 But seriously, Preciate this video. I already changed my expectations for this very reason. And I also decided right before I got my coils to learn how to cut my own hair. Side note - (And I only gashes it once before I figured it out!) The only info I can't relate to is the coloring. But as always thank you thank you thank the good brotha TP! We need this! We need dem bomber jackets that you making 😉! And the journey continues!
Keep speaking it! I’m working on it family! And thank you for always being a source of encouragement for me as well! Keeps ya boy motivated to keep at it!! 🔥🔥
I twist my dreads regularly out of habit, I've had my locs since 2016. Never had problems with thinning, I had som skinny locs since I used sponge method to get em but I kongoed up the skinny ones 2-3 years ago. But that barber advice was really good, I always cut myself and get a line up and fade at the barber
Man seeing this video was something like a sigh of relief that ive stuck with my locs the way i did. A year and a half in and they are not only forming better than expected but grown even faster. I just let it do what it wanted and retwisted like every 3-5 months or so. Looked crazy as hell sometimes but i just sprayed on my rosewater and kept it moving. Haven’t dyed it yet i think ill give it till the 2 year mark. Got a new subscriber here brotha! Keep up the great content! Stay loc’d & healthy bro!
Derreille Newton well about 4 months into my journey last year i stumbled upon a few videos on people using rosewater as a natural moisturizer and hair growth stimulant. Natural products ive discovered work AMAZING for me where as other added stuff gives me scabbing and flakes. Look around a bit and see if what is said about it sounds like something you’re willing to try. My hair smells great also because of it.
Derreille Newton supposedly the nutrients in the roses act as a hair groth stimulate and moisturizer...think of your hair being the rose when it starts to bud and bloom...i has that kind of effect on my hair. My hair is as long if not longer than my sisters now and ive only been growing it for under 2 years. No bad experiences at all with it either and you can also make your own rose water! Id say if you’re curious give it a go! Very low risk of anything happening except great smelling hair, healthy scalp and hopefully accelerated growth.
So nice to get a guy's perspective on this. I feel like a lot of the locd ladies on RU-vid always talk about the same three things and it's super obvious like "make sure you wash your hair and retwist." And they'll be like "here's my 1 year loc journey" and every image is right after a retwist, like sis wut? lol
My mistake is definitely putting too much oil on my scalp and locs itself. I went swimming one night and the chlorine brought out all the gunk on my scalp. I did an acv rinse the following day and the amount of build up had me running for the streets 😂. Now, I try to oil 2 times a month. Thanks! I loved this video ♥️
Yes, YES on talking about how too much manipulation can damage and stress on your hair. I know I will only be twisting mine only two and a half months. And yes, ditching the wax and other resins are not cool. I do light oils and water mixtures. Love you vids.
I have thought about dyeing my dreads but I’m worried my hair will break because it’s super dark. Also that knit beanie with your dreads is straight 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I truly under stand completely. I cut my locs and wish I didn't. My thinning of a few were be cause of all that retwisting. Doing much better on this set of locs. Thanks for the honest share. I have truly embraced my hair journey. ❤
Had to subscribe man you definitely dropping straight FACTS about the loc journey. Patience is definitely key because some people get their length quicker then others but when you begin to see you getting yours no better feeling!!!
I tried to wash my own starter locks and it didn't end well. I ended up with a fro with buds. Had to restart the process. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. 🤷♀️
I'm really enjoying my journey. I'm about 9-10 months in and I just got some good hang time to where I can shake em while listening to music. Its a fun process
Thanks for the reply that let’s me know you pay attention to your fans. Maybe when she sees the great impact you have on others she will follow your lead🙂
At the early stages,4 months Afro stage, my biggest mistake is constantly sponging and twisting my hair trying to get it to have defined locs, freeforming is harder than traditional
@@musicmeister1313 im free forming about 4 months in rn. Its not dirty and itchy tho. Its hard cause my hair looks crazy and frizzy lol. People that keep theirs maintained look like locs. My hair looks matted and unkempt rn. I have 3A/3B hair (some parts are S shape curls and some are ringlets) tho not like 4C so it makes sense how frizzy it is.
Frizz and root puff are driving me nuts right now. Started mine in May. Lot of unruly ones but a lot are also behaving. I’m really re learning my hair.
This is def type 5 of informative RU-vid videos. When you mentioned you hair being art and to not have high expectations but to take your time. It reminded me of my fitness journey. it took me a while, but I learned a lot along the way and I truly appreciate my body for what it is today.
Bruh I'm in a real problem rn my hair is a mess , half locks , half curly , some locks and thick and some aren't , it's just a mess but i don't wanna cut it tho .
No lie, I said this exact same thing about my locs! Stuck with it and now I love em! It just takes time! My locs look NOTHING like how they did in the beginning lol
Darn you fine! LOL! Ok all jokes aside -- thank you so much for talking about mistakes. I made a few my first set of locs. I tended to think men rarely had lock problems as they usually that NOT been thru so much (perms etc) that we women have. Thank you for sharing your journey!
Thank you for sharing your journey and dos & dont. I’m 6days into my first ever locs. I’m so happy to have found your videos, watching them has made me more confident and less anxious about my journey with locs☺️✌🏽✌🏽
The way I feel about my loc journey when it come to expectations: My hair is growing with me. As I go through ups and downs, my hair will too. I’m not growing out 100% vanity. I care about how it looks, and I do have that “magical date”, but I’m growing my hair as like trophy stages. Example: Whenever I remember this moment, that was when my locs gave me whiplash to shake them. It takes the pressure and disappointment out of those expectations.
I thank you. I'm at a year and its great to know not only women feel this way about their locs. I have a love/hate relationship with my locs. But wanna continue the journey. Thanks again
I hated the ugly phase I went through but I learned how to take care of them and now I love them I used to think maybe locs aren’t for me but I’m glad I did and I never wanna go back 🥰 Edit: as far as coloring I do it once like every 4 months I get scared of damaging it but what I do is use Tea tree and coconut oil on my hair when I dye it I put the oil on the locs then the dye and it protects my hair
You gave a lot of good information . Your lock color is pretty dope. I used beeswax on my 1st set and it made my locs very stiff. Another mistake I made was going to different locticians. One of them even trimmed my fuzzies.
😳 trimmed the fuzzies!! Lock pruning! Yea I’ve heard of this! I didn’t realize that was actually happening regularly! 🤯 I was always taught that’s a no no!
Yea it’s a conflict of interest for them sometimes I feel like. I feel most barbers choose instinctively what will make the person look best in that moment. It could mean cutting a lil higher up to get a fresher fade, or in some cases, could be them trying to cover/blend for a mistake. It’s always a risk working with someone else lol. I’m not tryna looking the sharpest when I do it myself. I just want to clean it up and preserve my Locs most importantly! It’s tricky lol
TP locks yeah I hear that man unfortunately I can’t risk it myself as I have cerebral palsy, gonna have a chat with my guy as I’m 4 months into my journey so gotta be careful
Phill\\Clinton gotcha I definitely understand! Well yea with specific instructions I think it should be fine! A good barber is like an extended family member so having another person who knows how to manage your head can be a plus! ✊🏾
The orange wasn’t bad I just didn’t like it on me! Maybe a slightly darker shade. But overtime I’m just happy to have my Locs with their own unique story.
This was a refreshingly honest video. Thank you 😊 Ive got at least 5 years ahead of me until my locs reach where I would love them be. Until then I just keep em clean and moisturised. I exercise patience without rushing the process or obsessively examining them 😆 I'll say it again - so glad you stopped having the fades.
I appreciate you brother!! Just locked my hair sat and searched for good information. Not knowing what to do and your channel gives me a lot of information.
For sure! Flat Locs are often things that correct themselves naturally over time. They can be caused by incorrect part shapes, laying on wet/damp locks after attempting to air dry, and often times just a natural cause of using compression. In most cases my morning routine and light palm rolling corrected them pretty easily. That and a good wash. The few locks that are flat are ones that I allowed to loc more free form style! They developed without being sectioned securely. They were the pesky Locs that would just always come out and one day I just let em rock and now a few of them are just wide and flat lol. Keeping your parts in order and regular maintenance should help a lot! I’ll look into it more and see if I can make a video for ya! ✊🏾
Hey I am a first time watcher, new subscriber. I loved the honesty in this video. I recently celebrated my 1 year loc’d anniversary and went through quite a bit of the mistakes you made as well. I look forward to watching your journey continue to flourish ✌🏾& ✨
