How Loc’ing My Hair Unleashed My Sexy

During the summer after my freshman year of college, I went to my hairdresser friend and asked her to just cut it all off. I wasn’t afraid to let go of my long hair. At that point, it felt like a burden. I wanted a fresh start, and the chance to see what my real hair felt like.

I wore my hair natural in an ever-growing afro, two-strand twists, or cornrows for two years before I finally took the leap and decided to loc my hair.

I was in Southern California and visiting a new church. When I entered the church, I was delighted with how colorful and joyful the atmosphere was but also with how many of the attendees wore their hair in locs. From the reverend and his wife to rambunctious children milling about before Sunday school, there were beautiful locs all around me. I resolved then and there to take the leap into locing my hair.

Six years later, I am loving my locs and finally have hair that I love. I started out depending on others heavily to do my hair, whether it was a friend or a hair stylist. Once I realized that I was replicating a lot of the expense and stress of the hair drama I used to go through with straight. I decided to take charge and do my own hair. I’m no natural hair diva like the YouTubers but I do what works for my hair and lifestyle.

I keep my haircare routine and hairstyles simple and easy. I try to use products with ingredients I can pronounce. I wash my hair every 10 days or so with Hair Chemist Macadamia Oil Revitalizing Shampoo (it’s clear and smells nice), then give myself a hot oil treatment with Queen Helene Jojoba Hot Oil Treatment oil, wash that out, and then twist my hair with African Royal Hot Six Oil. Once a month, I use apple cider vinegar as a clarifying rinse. With the exception of the ACV, which I get at Whole Foods, I get all of my haircare products from Sally’s Beauty Supply.  And I’m not married to any of the products. I just like them because they are inexpensive and I can find them in almost any city while traveling. I try to keep my loc style as close as possible to “no fuss elegance.”

Some of the biggest benefits I’ve experienced from locing are how much more womanly and sexy I feel. Since I can choose at any point to take two hours to wash and twist my hair myself, I no longer have “bad hair days.” Every man I’ve ever dated since I’ve had locs has expressed his appreciation for my hairthe length, the fact that it’s “real,”. He is free to touch it (and pull it if he’s lucky!).

For photo shoots and special occasions, I roll my freshly washed hair on perm rods for long, layered spiral curls. I can braid my hair while it’s wet to achieve a fun, crinkled beach babe look. Most days, I just wear my hair long and straight, in a ponytail, or most often, with the front locs pulled back from my face in what I think of as princess style.

I know how serious hair can be to whether or not you feel sexy. When my locs are freshly done, I feel a lot more calm, confident, and ready to take on the world. If you’ve been looking for a way to take over your own sexiness, you may want to consider transitioning from relaxed hair to locs”“or taking charge of the locs you have and never having a bad hair day again. Once I became my own stylist, I let go of the hair drama and stepped into the sexiness that I’d always suspected was my birthright.