In a previous blog post, I discussed how to wash and maintain faux locs for those who are trying to figure out how to groom their faux locs and keep their faux locs looking fresh. When it comes to maintaining faux locs, it is easy to assume that just because your natural hair is underneath, there is not much that needs to be done on your part. Your stylist may tell you that your faux locs installed are the ‘Lisa Bonet-inspired faux locs’, or they might promote how their faux locs are lightweight. If you still desire healthy hair you need to be able to refresh your faux locs.
Since my beginner guide on how to wash and maintain your faux locs, I have come up with some new ways on how you can maintain Faux Locs. As a stylist, I receive a lot of questions about how to take care of faux locs and “how long can you wear them for?” But, I want you to consider the following things when it comes to refreshing locs.
A Clean Scalp is Your Priority
Oftentimes, ladies will want to rotate faux locs on a back-to-back basis. Yes, faux locs are a protective hairstyle, however, if you are not focusing on keeping your scalp clean, you are doing more damage to your hair. Whenever you have faux locs installed, you want to maintain the hairstyle by cleansing your scalp with a cleansing shampoo at least every 2-3 weeks. Like all protective styles, when you install faux locs, your hair is bound to grow. This growth is called “new growth”.
(There are some affiliate links in this blog post and I may receive a small commision for purchases made through the links no cost to you. These are all products I highly recommend)
Without going into much detail, the way you cleanse your scalp will need to change as the roots of your hair start to grow out. The average the natural hair will grow per month will vary between a quarter of an inch to about half of an inch. That being said, if you used a cleansing shampoo within the first 2 -3 weeks of when you first have your faux locs installed, you would literally only be focusing on your scalp alone.
Why? Because you likely have minimal new growth. I recommend incorporating moisturizing shampoos and deep conditioners once the hair at the root of your faux locs has gotten to about a quarter inch or when you start seeing more hair at the roots of each faux loc. Learn more about when to use a moisturizing shampoo after deep conditioner when the root of your hair is reaching about an inch here.
Track How Often You Wash Your Faux Locs
If I had a dollar for every time people ask “How often should I wash my faux locs?” I would have more than enough to pay my student loans. No, but seriously, one of the most important ways you can maintain your faux locs (whether it’s my signature premium locs, soft locs, or any other crochet locs) is understanding the actual loc itself will not need to be washed every time you cleanse your scalp. What I mean by this is that during your faux locs wash routine, you are focusing more on the scalp and the roots of your hair that have grown out some.
There are daily routines you can do to avoid smelly faux locs and how to prevent lints or unwanted bed particles from getting on your locs. Aside from the necessary scalp cleansing, it is best to wash the actual faux locs with water-based shampoo and a water-based conditioner, especially for faux locs installed with synthetic hair. What this would do is allow you to eliminate any pillow or overpowering smells your locs may have latched onto from the daily things you do as you wear your locs.
You want to be attentive to how often you wash the actual loc by assessing what you are doing on a daily basis. For example, if I went swimming every single day, I might wash my faux locs after each or almost every swimming session because the water might either have too much chlorine or salt in it, which by the way, can alter the texture of synthetic faux locs, such as soft locs. Obviously, the example above is likely extreme.
Most clients that book with me are only going swimming for vacation purposes or they would mention a beach trip and would ask me about their wash routine for faux locs. Another way to track your faux locs wash routine is maybe setting aside a day to yourself once a month to improve your faux locs smell. The conditioner will leave your faux locs smelling soo good. If you travel a lot for work, there are quick low-maintenance routines for keeping your faux locs fresh and clean while on a busy schedule.
How Do You Sleep With Faux Locs?
Suppose you want to avoid having lints on your faux locs. In that case, you might consider not having cotton pillowcases or making use of a reversible adjustable satin bonnet every night.
I believe there is an ideal nighttime routine for faux locs and I will mention that way in a bit. In the meantime, another option on how to sleep with your faux locs is to have a satin pillowcase.
The ideal routine is to have a silk scarf around the perimeter of my head so that my edges are retaining moisture and then I would wear a reversible adjustable satin bonnet if I had bob faux locs, or an extra large adjustable bonnet if I have mid-back or longer length faux locs. Get a cute bonnet, though, if you are married and don’t want the bonnet to look outdated for your man!
Your Locs looking Frizzy Aren’t Always a Bad Thing
I have come across people that say things like “help, my locs are frizzy” or “how do I get my locs to stop unraveling?” as a way of expressing the frizziness they either think they are experiencing or the kind that screams borderline “help me!”.
The truth about faux locs is that they will age as they get older and sometimes, appear “frizzy”. This is a dicey topic in that different people have different definitions of frizziness. I will attempt to nip it in the bud. Simply put, your locs will get frizzy. It is a good thing as long as they appear to age beautifully.
On the other hand, there is also a not-so-good loc frizziness that looks like excessive fly-aways causing your locs to look like a wet mop. These days, I hardly am shocked when I hear about faux locs being frizzy. This is because the extent of that claim being true all relies on how much the individual is careful about taking care of their protective style. Another area to take into account is if the faux locs are done with 100% human hair, synthetic hair only, or a mixture of both. If you are doing all the right things intentionally, then your locs will take on that aged and beautiful yet uniformed “messy” to them.
Make Sure You Refresh Your Faux Locs
As I mentioned earlier, the roots of your natural hair grow between a quarter to half an inch every month. When you wear a protective hairstyle, such as faux locs, it is important to re-wrap or refresh the roots of your hair so that they don’t look unkempt. Now, this idea of re-wrapping the root of your hair while wearing faux locs will vary from person to person.
For example, some people might need to re-wrap their roots after the first 4 weeks of the first installation of your faux locs. Some people might also need to re-wrap after the first 6 weeks of the first installation. The point here is that refreshing your faux locs is dependent on how fast the roots of your hair grow. That is why it is important to know when to schedule a loc touch-up appointment when you notice that your new growth is around a quarter of an inch all over.
If you are someone who either lives in a remote location, you might order loc kits where extra hair is provided for you to touch up the roots of your hair on your own.
Our Premium Loc kits, which are handmade distressed locs created with synthetic and human hair, are easy to install and take down. Check out my Youtube video on how I installed the handmade locs. If you did not purchase our Premium Locs kit, make sure you have vetted your stylist and have discussed their touch-up services if you plan to wear your faux locs longer than 5 weeks. The duration of how long to wear faux locs, however, must be demystified. Read more.
