Dedicate this post to the person who visited me today for a tidy-up, you know who you are :)!

Look, just because you have decided to lock your hair, doesn’t mean you are free of the responsibilities of personal hair hygiene and maintenance.  If you don’t look after your locks, you’ll end up being uncomfortable from them and with them and there is a good chance, you’ll end up loosing them.

Also, when the day comes to go getting them tidied up, it will be painful, will take a lot longer than necessary and time is money, so will cost you more. 

Here’s a few self maintenance tips:

New locks

Best not to wash brand new locks for at least a minimum of 4 weeks and when it is time to wash them, I advise using the Dread UK shampoo.  No, I’m not being paid to advertise the stuff, I genuinely know that this shampoo does what it says on the bottle.  Plus it’s plant based and not tested on animals, RESULT!  Get your new locks, tidied up regularly for at least the first year, it’s what helps to make them strong and to mature nicely.  Put all the work into them in the first year and it gets a lot easier from there.  I now tidy-up my locks once a year and that’s just the roots.

Getting into the habit of lock maintenance

Keeping them clean is a must, I wash my locks every 2 to 3 weeks.  Another must, is stopping the locks from matting together, by simple pulling them apart.  I usually do this the day after I’ve washed them.  I feel each lock with my finger tips, starting from the base, for any hair that has crossed from another lock and then I break the interlocking hair. I then massage the base of the lock into the head so that, only the base of the lock matts, this is similar to back combing, helps the new hair to lock-up and is very helpful for when tiding up with a crochet hook.  My locks are years old so I don’t need to palm roll them, but if they were young, to help keep them tidy, I would palm roll the length of the lock.  Keeping locks clean and separating them is absolutely necessary, so that they don’t smell and to keep air circulating on the scalp.  If the skin is suffocated by dirt and matted locks, the skin will begin to itch, and sores can form, leading to infection and having to have the locks cut away.  Also, with regular maintenance, when it comes to tidying up the locks, this is made so much easier, for you and the loxwoman/man.

Tidy-up

Whether you have a loxwoman/man do it for you or do it yourself, I believe that this is absolutely necessary.  Ideally have a loxperson tidy up the locks for the first 1 to 2 years and then think about being independent/sustainable (Svatantra) and learn how to lock your own.  Any decent loxperson should be more than happy to share with you some techniques, it then actually becomes your personal journey (Sadhana).  Regular tidy-ups also help to keep the locks clean, they get stronger and mature, reducing the regularity of tidying.  And of course, from regular personal maintenance, the tidy-up is done well and is quicker and much less discomfort.