No Tools Required (Want to maintain your microlocs & high-fashion locs with just your fingers? Read on)…

Author: Jamie
Editors: Quantum Red, Johnny Elliot, Crystal

Disclaimer: This is a rough draft for a DIY article and video being put together for the March 2016 issue of Hair Hacker Mag. If you’d like to send us your feedback and have it included alongside the final article in print then do so by the 5th of March 2016. :) Since this article hasn’t yet been edited there may be grammatical errors, typos, run-ons, etc — and I apologize for those in advance.

Let’s get started…
Are you stressed about what tool you should use to re-tighten your microlocs. Are you rockin some name brand locs that require you to visit a consultant every 4 to 6 weeks? Do you want to learn how to maintain your locs yourself so that you can taste the freedom of self-reliance, but worried about spending the $$$ on a custom tool?

Welp, you can maintain your locs with a homemade tool if you want…

…or you can opt to maintain, and even install, your locs with just your fingers.

Check out the video below to see me self-retightening my femtolocs with my fingers.

I have a mixture of femtolocs and attolocs. My locs are probably some of the smallest locs you’ll ever see (I won’t say they’re definitely the smallest because you never know :). That being said, there is a myth going around that you have to use a tool when retightening microlocs, but if I can maintain my super-tiny microlocs with just my fingers then you probably can too.

If you’d like to watch the full video, you can request a login for the Hair Hacker site either by email at TheHairHacker@Gmail.com or by getting in touch with us on Twitter @TheHairHacker DMs are open to non-followers.

What’s the deal with tools anyway?
Well, there are some locs out there that are what you might call brand-name locs. These locs are typically more expensive, require patented or propriatary tools, and are maintained and installed by locticians who have been formally certified by the company (note certification by the a particular company doesn’t necessarily mean that the person holds a state license for cosmetology or that a state license for cosmetology is required to perform the service).

Example…
One of the best examples of a brand-name loc that I can think of would be sisterlocks (www.SisterLocks.com). Not all tiny locs are sisterlocks.

Are my locs sisterlocks?
Nope… I get this question a lot — and that’s mostly because people associate all small locs and microlocs with sisterlocks, but there is a difference…

More about my locs…
My locs are smaller than any sisterlocks I’ve ever seen, but they are not sisterlocks since I installed them myself (I’m not a sisterlocks certified consultant) and I use my fingers, not a proprietary tool (sisterlocks requires you to take the re-tightening course to get access to their proprietary tool and the freedom to self-maintain your locs).

In addition, I have a lot — like a lot, a lot — of locs. It took me about 3.5 weeks total time (stretched out to about 4 months of starting and stopping) to install my locs. Also, my locs require about 8 hrs to re-tighten (whenever the new-growth hits 1.5 to 2 inches) which lately has been approximately every 4 weeks.

There was absolutely no way somebody else was going to install my locs for me, and here’s why…

It’s gonna cost how much?
I was seriously thinking about getting sisterlocks installed before eventually deciding to install my locs myself. The main reason I opted for a self-install was $$$$. As I stated earlier, I have very tiny locs and super long hair — it would have been several thousand dollars for me to get sisterlocks (or pretty much any other style/brand of locs) installed by someone else. Nope. Nope. Nope.

More on sisterlocks…
Sisterlocks are expensive, require you to visit a consulant before you can take a re-tightening class (which is required to get the re-tightening tool), and it’s sometimes necessary to travel for hours to find a certified consultant near your area. Nope.

In addition, I’m not sure if you can continue to call your locs sisterlocks if you self-maintain with your hands, a handmade tool, or a nappylocs tool, etc. So I already knew that I was way too much of a rebel to get sisterlocks installed on my head. There is no way I’d have been able to commit to all of the rules… rules… rules, and more rules…

but that’s just me.

Sisterlocks might work great for you
There are many, many, many very happy customers. :)

So, if you’re shopping around for sisterlocks (not just any microlocs) then make sure that the person doing your locs is properly certified. Apparently there’s an issue with scammers. You can learn more about that in the video below.

DIY Locs
If you don’t want to pay for brand-name locs you can still have microlocs without the cost, and other associated hassles — and — you can even do them yourself. :)

Disclaimer: there is absolutely nothing wrong with paying to be pampered… Some people drive beamers and some people drive chevy sparks. It’s all about what’s important to you — so this is not a knock to all those naturalistas who are rockin sisterlocks or other brandname locs. More power to you. :)

If you’re going to do your locs yourself, do your research. Do this even if you’re a licensed stylist/cosmetologist but haven’t dealt with locs in the past. Check out the videos below to get you started on your way.

Got something to say? Send in your feedback by the 5th of March 2016 to be included alongside the final version of this article in the March issue of Hair Hacker.

Thanks for reading. :)