How to Maintain Your Dreadlocks Without Hair Breakage

Many people seem to link locs to massive hair breakage, which isn’t really the case. When your hair is in a permanent protective style like locs, you don’t have to manipulate it often and so you don’t have to worry about any wear and tear on your strands. 

However, locs have become associated with hair loss and breakage mostly because people don’t know how to properly groom and style their locs. We’ll be showing you the best ways you can maintain your locs without any breakage.

Give your locs enough time before retwisting

Locticians recommend retwisting your locs every three months if you’ve got starter locs. Mature locs (older than a year) can be twisted more often compared to starter locs, depending on how fast your hair grows. 

However, how your locs look is a personal preference. If you prefer to have neat locs, avoid retwisting them too frequently as this can result in a type of hair loss called traction alopecia.

Take note that some types of locs like sister locs and micro locs can start to thin out if you take too long before your next maintenance appointment.

Before retwisting, it’s advised to start from a clean slate: wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo to rid it of any dirt and buildup before you can retwist your locs. When it’s clean and wet, you can start the retwisting process. Make sure that the retwisting process does not feel too tight as this is unhealthy for your scalp and could result in major hair loss.

Continuous moisture is key to healthy locs

It’s important to keep your locs moisturized to prevent brittle locs. Additionally, hair moisturizers contain water, which causes your hair to shrink, making your locs stronger.

And the best way to seal in that moisture is with a dissolvable oil or butter. We recommend our Tanzanite Hair Oil.

Avoid wearing tight styles in your locs

As it is with every other protective style, so it is with locs. Having your locs held in tight ponytails and other up-dos on a regular basis will no doubt cause breakage along the hairline. Make sure to wear your locs loose especially around the hairline.

You can choose to do these styles once in a while for special occasions, but you most definitely shouldn’t be wearing them on a daily basis. 

Don’t overwash your locs

Over washing your locs will dry out your scalp, resulting in flaking, itchiness and worst of all, thinning locs. 

Since locs are more prone to dirt, build up and odors compared to loose hair, we recommend that you wash your locs at least once every 2-3 weeks. Dry your locs thoroughly after washing to prevent any odors in your hair.

It’s also a good idea to wait a week or two before you can wash your starter locs. Waiting this time before you can wash them allows them to set and mature for a bit.

Deep condition

While this is a great way to keep your locs healthy and moisturized, deep conditioning is only recommended for matured locs. Deep conditioning your starter locs may detangle them and disturb the parting. 

A good deep conditioning treatment is recommended every 1-2 weeks to keep your locs in the best shape.

If you’re looking to start the loc journey or you already have, be sure to keep these tips in mind so that you don’t experience the notorious hair loss associated with having locs. 

If you’re looking to start the loc journey or you already have, be sure to keep these tips in mind so that you don’t experience the notorious hair loss associated with having locs. And remember…you are a GEM.