The Hanging Loc Chronicles [November 2021]
The Hanging Loc Chronicles are monthly recaps of my loc journey. See October’s entry here.
I officially hit my 2 month anniversary of being loc’d on Friday, November 5th. It’s been such a whirlwind and I’m super excited to share my experiences so far. October was a really busy month. I found myself spending a lot of time in nature specifically by the water. I went on a hike with a dear friend during the first weekend, combating the heat and sweat. I haven’t done any intense workouts since locing, so I was not sure if I’d have to wash my hair right afterward. I protected my hair by wearing a hat throughout our walk, which helped alleviate the sweat.
I washed my hair on October 11th (pictured). I started to see a tiny bit of growth at my roots and budding at the ends, which affirmed the progress I’m making. It took me a while in between washes, due largely in part to procrastination, but I also wanted to see how long I could withstand. So far, I’ve established a 10 to 13 day cadence, but the former tends to be the longest I could go due to itching. After showering and using my trusty Melanin Hair Care Lux T-Shirt Hair Towel to dry, I stretched my hair by installing 8 chunky braids and letting them sit overnight under my bonnet. A quick reminder that I was advised by my loctician against using any creams or oils during the first 9–12 months of the locing process.
I’ve rediscovered my love of braid outs, something I used to do on my loose natural hair. The curls lasted for about 8 days, as I let my locs reign in their full glory. I love putting headbands and scarfs in my hair to accentuate and add some pizzazz to each loc. At this point, the new growth was coming in with a vengeance. I could pull my loc and see at least an inch or so growing at the roots.
I took a trip to Southern California for Halloween-weekend and was a bit overwhelmed on the days leading up to it. I wasn’t sure how I’d have my hair, let alone which costume I’d be wearing. In the spirit of all of this, I opted to go with the old faithful ponytail. I know; disappointing. One of the many hair accessories I like to use are chopsticks. I have a few “fancy” ones with crystals on the tops of them which add a nice flare to any seemingly mundane hair style. I went with that and called it a day.
Once I was back home, I closed out the month by wearing my headscarf, anxiously waiting to wash my hair until my next appointment on November 6th. My hair was looking frizzy, something I could have simply curtailed by washing and styling it. However, I was not worried about how they looked to others. Yes, they were frizzy and uneven. My roots were overgrown, the nape of my neck had a bunch of “bee-dee-bee’s” and I had a pesky loc that refused to stay down. I was okay with that, as this is all part of the process.
I’m currently going through what’s often referred to as the “ugly phase” of having locs. I entered “ugly phase of…” into Google and the first result was “ugly phase of locs”, “ugly phase of dreads”, and “what is the ugly phase of dreads?”. What the heck is that about; it feels a bit anti-Black to me… The algorithim needs to do better. Jeanette N. of Afrocenchix outlined the stages of locing in the May 2021 article, “Your Ultimate Guide To The 5 Different Stages Of Locs.” The five stages are: Starter / Baby stage, Budding / Sprouting stage, Teen stage / Mature stage and rooted / adult stage. Based on this, I’m in the “starter baby stage,” something often coupled with being the “ugly phase.”
I appreciate the overall hair advice that this and other sites lend when discussing the loc maturation process, but the language comes from such a negative perspective. I know personally that I’d never refer to something I’m cultivating with positive intention as ugly. The word “ugly” is ugly within itself, therefore I’d never refer to myself or anyone else as such. I challenge those who buy into the notion of the “ugly” phase to examine why they feel it’s so “ugly?” Is it because someone said that a hairstyle deviating from anything that’s not straight or “kept up” is automatically ugly? Who said this and where’d that idea come from? I have so many questions and concerns that go beyond that of this article.
I stand by the notion that there is nothing to combat when going on the loc journey. I do not see my hair growth as any sort of battle or war. This all is such a sacred process, and to pass any part of it as “ugly” due to the appearance of something that’s natural does not sit right with me. It’s giving texturism and white supremacy and I don’t like that.
Thank you for reading month two of the Hanging Loc Chronicles. I look forward to coming back next month. As always, say hey over on Instagram or send an email to Opal (at) storynoir.com
