By Christy Hyman

I was a loose natural for 4 years and I enjoyed that journey from start to finish. I enjoyed the twist-outs, braid-outs and occasional faux pas’ I had from time to time with my natural hair. Between looks of astonishment from passers-by to catcalls of “Soul Sista!” and “Erykah! Jill! Or Angela!” the loose natural I donned was rocked with the utmost pride and confidence.

Contemplating the Change

As my life goes, new experiences breed new worldviews and levels of inquiry for me. I was in my second semester of graduate school in history, and as I pored over primary sources of runaway slave ads, I could not help but notice the graphic references to enslaved runaway’s appearance, “She was bacon colored with a lip inclined to curl”, or he was “pop-eyed” and had a “downcast “ look about him. Oh how could I forget Harriet, who was “rawboned, light and moved like a cat”. It astounded me how, the most idiosyncratic features could prove an unwelcome circumstance for an enslaved person trying to secure an escape. As usual this information would affect me greatly and I thought of my own appearance. I wondered how I would be described. I then thought about the contemporary lense that many people look through with regards to the gaze of black men and women today. How having locs sometimes is enough to get handcuffs thrown around your wrists and your person or vehicle searched.

Locs themselves in some locales are enough to “fit the description of a perpetrator” sadly. As I pondered this, I decided I would embark on yet another iconoclastic journey. I wanted to break this image that many people have that locs somehow represent criminality or deviant behaviors.

Now before anyone thinks that I believe all people attribute locs to negativity, I will share with you about a time I met an elderly European American gentlemen who, after admiring my cornrows proclaimed that “many blacks have dreadlocks and most of them are either drug dealers or drug users”. I informed him politely that, many blacks in academia also overwhelmingly sport locs and they most certainly are not inclined to criminal behaviors nor drug use within their social milieu. He studied me briefly afterward and the conversation tarried to another course. And then there was also the unpleasant time my ex-husband was detained while walking down the streets only because he had long locs…..he had not committed any crime, but he apparently “fit the description”. He was released from the police car but forced to walk back to my house as the officer followed him in the policecar. He never did get those black-n-milds.

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Saleemah of HydraTherma Naturals is currently rocking synthetic locs. Check out her explanation of how to apply, style and care for them.

Why did you get synthetic locs?
S: Honestly, I love the look of locs. I think that they are gorgeous. I’ve always wondered what I would look like with them. I love the look of my loose hair so I never took the plunge and made the commitment to lock. In August, we started the Hydratherma Naturals 20 week protective style challenge. I needed a great protective style that I could wear for a few weeks and this was the perfect opportunity to try the temporary protective locs. I absolutely love them and I think that locs may be in my future one day :)

Where did you buy the hair?
S: I bought the hair from my local black owned beauty supply store. I used regular kanekalon braiding hair. (3 bags for $10) to braid and synthetic Marley braid (about 5 bucks per pack) for the wrapping of the braid. Both of these hair types can be purchased from your local beauty supply store or online. The braid can also be wrapped with human kinky hair. It is much more expensive ($30-50 a bag). If someone is planning to leave the locs in permanently, I would suggest using human hair because it will lock with your hair better and will give you more of a natural loc’d look.

How do you put them in?
S: It is very simple but time consuming :) It is basically a two step process that consists of braiding and wrapping the braid. First, you have to determine the thickness of each loc. You can make the loc as thick or thin as you want it. Your base braid will determine the thickness and length of the loc. After braiding the hair in box braids, it is time to wrap each braid with the Marley braid hair. The Marley braid hair comes separated in strips. You can use the strip ‘as is’ or separate the strip further for a slightly thinner loc. Begin wrapping the Marley hair around each braid from the base of the braid to the end. Be sure to wrap the hair tightly around the braid to prevent unraveling later. If the hair strip that you are using runs out while wrapping just add another strip of hair and continue to wrap until you get to bottom of the braid. Once you get to the bottom, begin to wrap upward (to the base) until the hair runs out. You can burn the tips for more security but it is not necessary. You can experiment with different colors to give the appearance of highlights. I used #2 and #4 colors. I mixed the colors for every other loc and it gave me a very natural look of highlights. For those who like visuals, here’s a video tutorial

It took 8 hrs to braid and 10 hrs to wrap! I probably could have finished sooner but I took many breaks.

Are they heavy? Do they weigh on the follicle?
S: I must say that the only con to this style is that fact that they are a bit heavy. You can always add less hair to each section to lighten them up a bit.

How long do you plan to keep them in?
S: I plan to keep them in for 6-8 weeks. I don’t suggest keeping them in longer unless you want the loc extension hair to mesh with your hair permanently. I must say that the longer you wear them, the better they look. It has been a little over a month since my install and they are looking more frizzy and realistic :)

How do you style them?
S: Because the hair is wrapped and protected, I don’t have to sleep with a head scarf at night. Needless to say, this style gets points from the hubs simply because of that. When I get up, I finger comb the locs, moisturize and seal with the Hydratherma Naturals products. I pat the moisturizer and oil through the locs and they soak up the moisture. The moisturizer penetrated without a problem. Typically, I wear my locs hanging straight down. I have been experimenting with updos and braid-outs.

If anyone is thinking of trying this style, give it a go! It is so much fun!!!!

Great explanation Saleemah! What do you think ladies? Would you give synthetic locs a go?

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Introduce yourself :)
S: I’m from FRENCH GUIANA but I currently live in Martinique studying English Language and Civilization at the French West Indies University. I am native of F.G, my parents and grand-parents are also native from there.

What’s interesting about French Guiana?
S: At first sight, when you arrive in F.G. you are amazed because it’s very green. Actually, we are a part of the Amazonian forest. We have various species of birds, wild animals, fishes and colourful flowers. We have very large rivers and wonderful falls. F.G people are blessed because we don’t suffer natural disasters.

We have a unique carnival led by women dressed in “touloulou” (a character representing the bourgeois women of the 18th and 19th centuries, in their Sunday best, dressed from head to toe.)

The most interesting about F.G is the ethnical diversity. We have Amerindians, Haitians, Dominicans, Brasilians, Surinamians, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, and descendants of African slaves. All of them mix. They are friends and lovers, they are neighbours and colleagues at work. There is no ethnic segregation or social stratification like I’ve noticed in some other countries. I stop here because I can speak all day and all night about my country!

Why did you go natural?
S: When I was a child I was already wondering why black people transform their hair in a Caucasian way, and the contrary never happens. Then Lauryn Hill arrived in the music industry. She had gorgeous dreadlocks and I said to myself; that is definitely the way I want my hair to look. At this time, my parents disagreed with this hairstyle so I had to wait until I was living by myself to start my dreadlocks. Now they love it and have learned that dreadlocks can be feminine, stylish, clean, trendy and much more.

When did you transition into natural hair?
S: My parents never relaxed my hair. They used to put it in plaits but later when I entered high school every girl’s hair was relaxed. I decided to do the same because at this age you are searching for your own personality so you try many things until you realize what really fits you. I didn’t like my hair relaxed so I quickly cut it very short and start over with my natural hair. At last, in 2006, when I started living by myself – in my own place with my own money – I started my dreadlocks.

What’s your regimen?
S: First of all I protect my hair from smoke. I cover my head to go in some clubs where people smoke a lot inside because smoke carries a lot of dust. I also avoid pool water because the chlorine damages hair seriously. I do a shampoo once a week. I don’t use specific products for dreadlocks. I mostly use shampoos with avocado, coconut, or other elements which hydrate hair because I live in sunny places (French Guiana, Martinique, Jamaica) and the sun dries the hair. After each shampoo I let my hair dry naturally then I twist my locs with shea butter or cocoa butter to feed them. When I twist them I use a very strong gel named “Sculpture”, the brand is “AG premium brands”.

What mistakes have you made with your hair that you’ve learned from?
S: When I started my dreadlocks in 2006 I had the terrible idea of coloring my hair in blonde!!! I did it myself, and that was the worst decision I ever made with my hair! A real nightmare!! I left the product on my hair too long so the colour was too bright and my hair was completely damaged. Soon my locks started to break! I had to cut them very short and start over. Even today I have regrets because my hair would be twice as long if I didn’t make this mistake. Trust me, if you want to color your hair and you never did it before, do yourself a favor and go to a professional hair salon!! Personally I will never color them again, even to hide white hair, dwl!

Where do you buy your products?
S: When I started my dreadlocks I was living in France so I used to buy my gel (Sculpture) in Paris at Château d’eau. This place is well-known for black hair salons and products. But recently the gel was discontinued. I have a few boxes left but I don’t know what I’m gonna do when they’re done. Otherwise my products vary because I travel a lot. I change products each time I move.

What would you like to see in French Guiana in terms of haircare?
S: French Guianese people are very fashionable, they take great care of their appearance, and hair is treated very carefully. I am very satisfied with the new generation because there are more and more youths with natural hair, especially dreadlocks. The only thing I wish in term of haircare is a decrease in prices, lol! Products and hair salons are very expensive!

Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
S: I have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/enjoylifeninja.

Anything else you want to add?
S: I congratulate the excellent initiative of the Black Girl with Long Hair Facebook page. The page shows fantastic examples of natural crowns which reinforce black pride.

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By Ernessa T. Carter, author of 32 Candles

I don’t know many other women who have been through not one, not two, but three big chops, but I can pretty much guarantee that even the ones I don’t know, like me, had different reasons for undergoing each of their chops.

My first big chop came at the age of 17. It was the 90s, I was both political and lazy, the perfect attitude for undergoing a big chop. I decided that I would no longer be a slave to fashion, no longer force my parents to spend their hard-earned money on making my hair look more “white.” I transitioned for six months with press and combs and then big chopped with the righteous fury of a militant 17 year old feminist, who thought she knew EVERYTHING.

Mind you, this was before YouTube videos and sites like BGLH, so my hair looked, how can I say this … pretty bad. I picked it out every morning, and wore it in a somewhat matronly short afro that I soon came to hate. However, I had grown too used to not having to spend 30-60 minutes on my hair every morning, so how did I solve the problem? I big chopped again at the age of 18, and this time I kept my hair very short, as close to my head as possible w/o going completely bald and wore big earrings.

I adored this hairstyle and probably would have kept it, except that a little over a year later my mother died very unexpectedly. It’s hard to explain the decisions that you make in the wake of a loved one’s passing. But a year later, I decided to grow my hair out and have it twisted into dredlocks, which I kept for 12 years.

For half of those 12 years, I was an emotional mess, but then I slowly began pulling my life together. I got an MFA, moved to Los Angeles, went into therapy, met my husband, landed my first full time writing job, and got married. If you’ve never had really long hair this might seem like a bizarre thing to say, but I carried ALL of that: my mother’s death, the emotional trauma of grief, every major break-up, and both the bad and good things that had happened to me over those 12 years in my hair. There really is something about this particular hairstyle, it just seems to hold your history inside of it.

August 2008 was a difficult month for me. My husband and I hadn’t been able to conceive in over a year of trying, and our first round of IUI had failed. I was also beginning to become unhappy about the stress of my job as a radio writer. I loved what I did, but the sometimes 60-hour work week and the stress of an ever-changing schedule along with our fertility issues were starting to take their toll.

My hair had been feeling heavy for a while at that point. I loved the length and the look of it, but the emotional weight of it – it felt like too much. Then one Sunday I washed my hair, and I just couldn’t bring myself to retwist it. This was a strange feeling. My vanity and my emotion warred all week, while I wore hats and scarves to work. In the end, my emotion won out. The following Sunday, I gave my husband a pair of scissors and told him to cut my dreds out.

The feeling of freedom that came afterwards was so amazing, that I remained in a terrific mood for the entire week. But then strange things started happening: Beforehand, I had merely been dissatisfied with writing for others as opposed to for myself. But that dissatisfaction ballooned after I cut my hair. Less than three weeks later I quit my job. And less than two weeks after, we began the process to undergo IVF.

In many ways it felt like letting go of my hair allowed me to let go of my job. It didn’t get in my way while I went about the grim business of preparing for an expensive procedure we weren’t sure would work. It was my first act of bravery in what would turn into a year of taking chances. Chances that included finally sending out the novel I had been working on for two years out to agents.

By August 2009, I had landed my book deal, we had moved house, and we had welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our family thanks to IVF. I have never received so many good wishes as I did in the year that followed my third big chop.

I keep my dreadlocks in the second drawer of my writing desk as a reminder of all the magical things that happened when I let them go. And I often joke that if I’m ever in need of another big infusion of luck, I’ll big chop again.

Has anyone else had the experience of going from locs to loose-strands? What were your reasons?

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