Natural Hairstyles – Page 2 – 1Stop Natural Home Remedies

Dreadlocks Hairstyle: How I Gave My Long Locs a Short Makeover

Achieving a short sassy look with longer locs is possible. If you are always yearning to try out some of the trendy short hairstyles for locs, but your dreads are on the longer side, there are a few tricks that you can do to wear your hair short, temporarily.

When I just started my dreads, I kind of liked the short messy look sometimes, but still wanted my hair to grow longer so I could do those cute hairstyles that required a good amount of length.

Fast forward to over 3 years of growing my locs, I sometimes wish to have shorter hairstyles, not necessarily short hair, so one day I decided to give my locs a short makeover with the popular petal hairstyle. I like the classy, chic look, that can be worn on any occasion. This is how long my locs was before doing this short style.

Keep Your Long Locs Short With the Petal Hairstyle

Don’t worry about losing your beautiful head of locs if you decide to get this hairstyle done. There is a little trick to achieving this look without cutting a strand of your loc. All you need is a few small black elastic bands and you’re good to go.

The technique that is used for the petal locs hairstyle, is simply bending a strand of loc or a few at a time. If you have smaller locs, you may need to bend multiple locs at a time, then secure them with elastic bands.

If you do them the right way, the elastic bands won’t show. Make sure that you secure them near the roots of your locs. Another thing, if your hair is super long, you can bend your locs multiple times to get the desired length of your loops.

The good thing about this petal locs hairstyle, is that I still got to massage my scalp with my castor oil without pulling out the style.

This locs style is perfect for special occasions like weddings, receptions, parties, etc. If you cover your hair at nights, this hairstyle can last for 1-2 weeks, until you’re ready for a wash. To keep them hydrated and bouncy, spritz some water mixed with natural essential oils.

Protective Style: Flat Twist on Natural Locs Tutorial

Protective styles on locs or natural hair, is a great way to keep your hair protected from damage, while promoting stronger, longer natural hair. The flat twist is a simple, yet versatile natural hairstyle that can be done in the form of small twists or larger ones, depending your taste.

How I Did Flat Twist on My Locs

The longer my dreads are getting, it becomes much easier to do a variety of protective hairstyles such as the flat twist. This style usually last me for a week. The steps are really simple. Here are the steps I used to achieve my natural flat twist on my locs.

I start off with clean locs. If your hair is not due for a wash just yet, but it’s not feeling clean, you can use a herbal cleanse dry shampoo to refresh your your scalp and hair.

I applied a natural hair moisturizer to my dreads and evenly distributed it throughout my hair, paying special attention to the ends. You don’t want the tips of your locs to be crispy and dry.

Separate each section of your hair that you will be doing the flat twist on. As you can see, I did mine in big sections. There are five rows in my hairstyle.

Separate the section/row of locs that you are working on, into two sections. Grasp both sections and start by overlapping each section of locs over the other, while twisting it close to the scalp.

Continue twisting in this pattern until you reach to the ends. I didn’t twist mine all the way to the ends. I used a black rubber band to secure each twist.

Twist the other rows using the same technique you used in the above illustration, until all your locs are flat twisted.

Use a hair elastic to secure the ends of your locs, pulled back to the nape of your neck.

Daily Maintenance of Your Flat Twist

To keep your natural protective hairstyle in place, simply spritz it with some natural oils mixed with water, daily.

Night Time Prep for Flat Twist

Tie your dreads at night to keep your flat twist looking neat for the next few days. It is recommended that you tie your hair with a silk scarf before going to sleep. Some people say that they achieve the same results when they use a satin scarf.

Loc Journey – My 15 Months Loc Update

My locs are slowly getting older, and right now they are 15 months old, going on to 16 months. I have noticed a little growth going on in the roots. What I have been doing these days is just washing and re-twisting the front of my hair. I haven’t twisted the back in a while.

Freeformed Locs Can Enhance Growth

Giving my roots a break from twisting seems to be helping my dreads to grow. Now that my locs are growing, they seem to be smaller than they normally are. If you look back at my older blog posts you will see how huge they were. Right now I am loving the size of them, not too large or too small.

It’s okay to neglect your locs a little, as long as you keep them clean and moisturized. Keep a spray bottle handy with a mixture of oils and water. Spraying your hair daily with this mixture will keep them fluffy and soft.

More Versatile Dreadlocks Hairstyles

The older my locs get, the more hairstyles I can try. Some weeks I’ll do my hair in a certain style and let it last me for the week. The great thing is that my dreads don’t get that fuzzy anymore. I can simply wash them, moisturize, and put on a headband. I don’t have to style my hair every week.

If I don’t feel like wearing a headband, I just keep my hair in a ponytail, using my favorite Loc Tie Dreadlock accessory. With summer drawing near, this will keep my hair upward and away from my neck, which is much cooler. It’s simple, yet classy with a beautiful bead on top.

Other than the above styles, I pin my locs up with hairpins. Last week I did a pin-up style and just tied my hair at nights to keep it neat. The photo above is a simple updo that I did last week. Give this hairstyle a try for the summer. Keep checking back for more updates, hairstyles and tips to keep your locs looking lovely, as they transform each month. See you on my next blog!