Reader Dreadlocks Styles: Yasu's Natural Locks Journey

by Yasu
(Toledo, Ohio)

I began wearing chemical free hair in 1997 after my 2nd daughter was born. I quickly embraced the texture in all of its fluffy, soft, coily splendor.

I always knew I wanted to start growing locks, but I said I would do it when I turned 30, around the time the children were older. So just before my 30th birthday, I started my natural locks with finger twists. All I did was shampoo my hair, add a leave-in conditioner, then use an alcohol free gel to coil sections of hair around my finger. It took me 20 hours over two days to do it, so the official birthday is August 10th.

I began maintaining my locks by simply palm rolling them with a light cream. I did that for a little more than a year when I learned how to maintain my locks with a latch hook. I chose that method as it was better after shampooing my hair, not having the locks unravel or frizz up near the scalp.

3+ years in and after my son was born, my hair thinned a little, then further thinning took place after a medication had adverse affects on my hair and skin. It took nearly 11 months to overcome the illness created by medication.

This summer, I decided to do something different when it came to locks care. I let my hair grow out, organically with no tightening. I combined several thinner locks to create a slightly thicker lock, and allowed them to grow together. I am now in the process of tightening the new growth and will post pictures of it when I am finished.

My locks are now 4.2 years old and I am pleased with them. They are versatile especially due to their smaller size. They are not Sisterlocks or Nappylocs, they are truly traditional locks that I maintain on my own.

I shampoo my hair once a week, and I use a leave in conditioner after each shampoo, as locks don't do very well with heavy cream conditioners. I also use coconut oil on my hair and plenty of water spritzes to refresh my hair from time to time.

My locks are now past my shoulders and almost reaching the wonderful "bra strap" length (BSL). I suspect they will do so by next summer, as I have seen how locks shoot below the shoulders after their 4th year.

I am in love with my hair, and I am always excited to see others' journeys. I follow MANY blogs and visit MANY websites to become inspired over and over again. My locking journey has been charted on my website, http://thekitchensalon.com/ There are plenty of other natural hair related topics on the site, but my journey is part of it as well as my 9 year old daughter's lock journey.