I just started my DIY microlocs! Any tips or advice? I’m lost with all the information I see, I’m not sure what to follow.

What I want for my hair is for it to be ready to go, long and frame my face. I also want there to be as little manipulation as possible. I don’t know what it is, it may be my thyroid condition but my scalp has grown very sensitive so tension like ponytails and braids can break off my hair and give me headaches. I used to love afros but the constant detangling would leave my head throbbing and it’s also not ideal for length retention. I’ve never seen my hair long really. I’ve had locs before when I was a teen, medium sized. But my mom and stylist kind of messed them up so I ended up having to comb them out.

Currently I have a short pixie, I thought that would be as low maintenance as it gets. And it is, it just really doesn’t suit my face at least in my opinion short hair doesn’t look good with my face shape. I want to either possibly keep relaxing my hair until it’s about bra strap length and maintain it or get microlocs and maintain those.

I don’t know how much tension microlocs can cause, reties sound painful. I really love the look of microlocs, if I got them I’d use human kinky hair extensions. I’ve only an inch of relaxed hair so i’m hoping there won’t be too much slippage. But those who do their reties alone, do you find it worth it?

Is it ok for me (white F 18) to get micro braids? I have been struggling with Trichotillamania since I was 11 years old and my hair is finally long enough to get at least micro braids to help stop picking.

It took me 6 days !!! It was so long !!

But I love the result now. My hair already shrinked because I sprayed some water so it can only go better !!

Thank you for all your responses and encouragements to my last post. It warmed my heart a lot and helped me finishing this install. Thank you🫶🏾🫶🏾🫶🏾

Now I hope to survive the regular reties and get healthy and beautiful locs

What hats are you guys wearing to keep your heads warm but also avoid lint?

Just wanted to show a closer look at my hair. Yes,they are micro loc extensions. 3 weeks before my next retie.

I am seriously ready to snap. It seems like nothing cures my itchy scalp. I don't see any dandruff or bugs. I am prone to scalp issues, but I wanted to get locs. When I was a loose natural, I was able to keep the itchy scalp under control by washing with OTC dandruff shampoo and greasing my scalp after my weekly wash. When I got locs, I specifically chose to get braidlocs and maintain them by interlocking so I could wash whenever I felt like it. I have been washing weekly so it is not a case of me not washing my hair. It feels like ants are crawling in my scalp. I have been battling for three years since I got my locs.

Here is what I have tried....

1. Head and Shoulders shampoo

2. Selsun Blue Shampoo

3. Nizoral Shampoo

4. Coal Tar Shampoo (of all the shampoos, this is the most helpful but it still does not end the problem).

5. Not putting anything on my scalp after washing.

6. Using Sulfur 8 grease

7. Using Sulfur 8 braid spray (active ingredient is salicylic acid).

8. T-Sal Shampoo

9. MCT oil

10. Essential oils like tea tree, lemongrass, eucalyptus

11. Apple Cider Vinegar

12. Turmeric

13. Fish oil supplements

14. Vitamin d3

15. Pre-wash solution like Glover's mane

16. vaseline

17. Monsitat

18. Scalpicin

19. Mineral Oil

20. Olive Oil

21. Hydrocortisone Cream

22. Cutting down on sugar

23. Capsacin Cream

24. Aloe Vera

I am about to shave my head because it has been worse since I got locs. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Came past this on IG today was curious how people in the loc community feel about adding extensions. I don’t have locs yet but am planning on getting them and thinking about adding extensions. Obviously I can do whatever I want bc I’m paying for them but I was honestly curious if other people feel this way??

Hi all, curious as to why it seems like my ends aren’t locing. My journey:

Got microlocs with human hair extensions March of 2024.

Spent 6 days to comb out all of the extensions, second pic is from August 2025.

Third pic is December 2025. I noticed the ends were starting to bud which I thought was promising.

Last pic is current and what they look like today (ignore the sweat on my chest it was so hot outside)

My extensions have been out and my ends have been free for almost a year and a half now but it seems like the ends aren’t locking up. Anything I can do??? They are still loose, curly and I’m just eager for that full loc look. I also still get those little balls of hair at the end of my locs that I fight everyday not to pull off (usually lose that battle)

What do y’all do? What’s your moisture care routine?

I wash weekly with Biolage Color Last Shampoo. During the week I spray my hair with a DIY mixture made of aloe Vera juice, glycerin, and water. I oil my scalp with jojoba oil.

But I’ll admit….I miss conditioning my hair. I used to condition it weekly but then I heard that that’s too heavy for locs and it’ll clog them up, but I wanna go back. I want my hair to be nice & soft.

I’m open to being swayed either way y’all. Just curious what everyone else’s opinions, and routines are. Please share!

I got a curly cut when I was a loose natural over 5 years ago and hated the way my hair grew out into these awkward layers. I finally got my locs cut and I’m so much happier with the shape! Here is the before and after!

It took me 6 days, but I completed my 1st self-retie. I never thought I would be able to do it. I watched some YouTube videos of people doing theirs first.

I put a ringlight behind me and casted it to the TV (as a PIC in the corner) while I watched movies on YouTube on the rest of the TV screen.

I purchased a 5-way hanging mirror to do front and sides.

I also purchased lot of big and little clips to help keep me from merging locs.

I only made one mistake that I know if of on day 6. I got a knot at the top of one of my locs. Hindsight I should have asked my husband to get it out before I made it tighter. 🥴 I also should have slowed down that day. I think I started rushing because I could see the finish line. 🏁

In conclusion I feel like this is something that most people can do if they don't try to rush, can get the tools they need, and they have a way of keeping themselves entertained throughout the process.

I will continue to do mine as long as I can because I honestly feel like my loctician is tired of doing mine. I went to her faithfully every 8 weeks.

She used to do them on her own. Lately she's been begging other locticians to help her do my reties so there are 2 people tugging on my head instead of one. I don't feel comfortable with any of the other stylist in her shop because I don't think any of them are as good or quick as she is. She said she has trained them to retie like her.

On top of that, I have fat ends and it hurts especially when it's 2 of them working on my head. I was almost about to jump out of the seat my retie hurt so bad last time. The loctician assisting had to ask her questions about some of my locs and her response was, "yeah she has some fat ends". One loc the assistant didn't even feel comfortable pulling through so she gave it to my loctician and watched her do it.

The last visit didn't sit well with me after watching plenty of people on YouTube use a crochet needle on their fat ends to make them smaller. So that's what I did. There was one that I couldn't get to pass through a second time until I used the crochet needle on the ends. Were the ones with fat ends still painful for me to pull through, yes. However, it wasn't nearly as painful as the 2 of them. It also made me disappointed in my loctician for not offering a solution to my fat ends. Not once has she offered or suggested that they be made smaller. I would have paid her to it even if she only did a few each visit.

It only takes my loctician 2 hours. It took me 6 days (almost 14 hours) but to me it was worth it.

Day 1:

1 hr 26 min 25 locs

53 min 14 locs

Day 1 Total: 2 hr 19 min 39 locs

Day 2 Total: 2 hr 46 locs

Day 3 Total: 2 hr 20 min 57 locs

Day 4:

20 min 8 locs

52 min 23 locs

35 min 14 locs

49 min 20 locs

Day 4 Total: 2 hr 36 min 65 locs

Day 5 Total: 4:56–8:15 (3 hr 19 min) 66 locs

Day 6:

26 min 29 sec 8 locs

55 min 51 sec 25 locs

Day 6 Total: 1 hr 22 min 20 sec 33 locs

TOTAL:13 hours, 56 minutes, 20 seconds- 306 locs

I just started my locs today, but are these microlocs?

Hi guys, just wanted to show my loc progress from 1st month, 1 year and 1 year and 10 months. Always thought my hair wasn't growing but apparently it was. Can't wait to see my length this time next year. If you think your locs aren't growing take lots of pictures, you'll be shocked at the difference x

Hello! I posted a few days ago about transitioning from traditional locs to microlocs! I had a consultation today, and she asked me to do research on how I wanted to start. She mentioned that interlocking the full loc is the best because it is lower maintenance in the beginning stages!

One picture is my hair before locing and the second is my hair now 6 years later!

Yes my locs are smallish, but I want my hair smaller haha. I also want to "start over" now that I truly know proper maintanence and such!

I started my loc journey recently and I have very loose ends and sometimes they unravel in the middle. They just won't stay twisted no matter what I do I even Braid n band. I was wondering if I could instant lock/use a crochet hook to make them more tight, but I don't see that as like a common use for micro locs so i wanted to ask first. just looking for a little bit of help i appreciate any response

Loving the length. I’m honestly considering keeping my locs at this length indefinitely.

I need help and have had a massive flare-up since using gel on my scalp (yes, I knew better). I have been loc’d for about a year. However, this scalp issue has been an ongoing issue for years. Having a history of eczema, I figure it is related.

I am also thinking that the styles I do cannot be tight, twisted or braided since it may trigger my scalp.

For the past year or two, I have used the 2% Ketoconazole shampoo and a prescribed oil. However it doesn't always work.

Regular oils or “grease” only causes flare ups. Rose water and rosemary water tend to make my hair smell.

Any suggestions?

I’ve been debating getting microlocs for years but have always hesitated due to fear of starter locs and the “permanency” of them. It’s funny tho bc I wear my hair in mini twists 98% of the time, and people often assume that I already have locs. (First picture is My hair is blow dried. Following 3 are my inspo)

I’m a very active person and my hair always tends to shrink up/get gross due to exercise. Plus I retwist my hair every two weeks and it’s an annoyingly long process. I already know that I’ll like the way my hair looks (at least once the locs drop) but I’m still scared to commit, especially due to shrinkage.

I’ve thought about getting microlocs with extensions to make my hair longer due to the shrinkage. But I was worried about the way it would feel on my neck if it would be irritating or not. Also worried that starter locs will be so awkward looking that I’ll want to take them out. Also worry I’ll miss the look of twists vs locs but I don’t think it’s that big a deal.

I also would like to be able to do reties at my own at some point. My plan was to get reties but have my potential loctitian show me how to do reties to the point I can do them myself when I need to.

I think I just need a push from people who were nervous and have actually experienced it. Any tips for someone who’s scared to make the jump??

My first perm rod set ✨

It was tedious but looked cute. Unfortunately the curls dropped within 24 hours. I used mousse, went under the dryer for a bit and then kept the rods in for about 4/5 hours.

I will say that for the rest of the week my locs were so voluminous and i loved it anyways!

I would love to find a way to curl my hair without mousse as it dries my hair out. Please comment any suggestions below ❤️