Hi everyone!! Omg, Long time see or hear right??

I got a couple of questions from someone who apparently stopped by the blog and I thought that I’d answer it here as it might be questions that others may have who are considering getting Braidlocks.

“….Comment: I wanted locks for 12 years now. I didn’t know there was so many kinds of them. I do like the Mircrolocks.I saw a ad online there was also Braidlocks. I like them much better.
I wanted to know when they lock do you have to get them every 4 -8 weeks? I been without a relaxer for 12 years, I don’t want to go back.

With Braidlocks do you have to wait 3 months before you wash your hair? I check out a book on dreads it said that in there, I said that is so nasty…

Let me first say congratulations for being without a relaxer for 12 years!! Bravo as that is worth acknowledging!!! Also thank you for the questions as I am using it is an opportunity to come out of (thought it may be brief) my hermitage in terms of writing. lol

Ok, now let’s get to the rest of the comment/questions.

Microlocks, Braidlocks, Sisterlocks, Traditional, Freeform, etc…they are all dreadlocks/locs. However, in the last 12 years or more actually, there are many more methods/techniques to start and make dreadlocks than there were in the past have come about and in my opinion, that’s a good thing!!

Now Braidlocks specifically, is a method for starting dreadlocks by sectioning off one’s hair,  but instead of twisting the hair into comb coils as in the case of Traditional locs or interlocking the length of the sections as in the case of Microlocs, the hair braided and left in that state to lock up. As time goes by the braided section will do its magic, looking less and less like a braid and more like a loc until they fully mature and get to the point where no one will be able to tell that you started your locs with braids. As the hair grows, in other words the new growth, is maintained using a method that suits the hair and the person’s lifestyle. This leads me to the next part of your question.

How do you maintain the Braidlocks?

The new growth can be maintained using a variety of methods ie freeform (no maintenance of the new growth aside from pulling them apart to maintain a certain size if desired),  using the same twisting method that folks with Traditional locks use, or interlocking which is my method of choice.

I interlock my new growth because my hair texture is very fine, thin, soft and loosely curled in many areas of my head.  The frequency will be very personal to you, according to your hair growth and density. If you have a lot of hair that is quite dense, you may need to interlock the new growth every 4 weeks. If your hair texture is similar to mine and is slow-growing, you can go 8 weeks or maybe more. It also depends on how small or large your locs are as well.

The last question; Do you have to wait 3 months before you wash?

The answer to that question is a big fat NO!! That is one of the advantages of braidlocks as the hair tends to stay braided and therefore together during washing and so the hair is encouraged to lock. This is a great thing if you have fine and/or loosely textured hair and if the braidlock comes undone, you can easily braid that one or the few back up yourself without having to wait until your next trip to the loctian if you are using one. Also washing encourages the hair to tangle, merge and, marry with the shed hair, which is what dreadlocks essentially are. So you can wash you hair as much as you need or want to.

Now I am by no means an expert, nor am I a loctian or cosmetologist. What I am telling you is based on my experience of having braidlocks for almost 10 years.

Wow, it does not seem like it has been that long.

Thank you again for the questions and I hope that this post answered them. For my long time readers, thank you so much for still hanging with me and new folks to the blog…I will try not to stay away for so long. 🙂