Starting locs: the honest guide before you sit in the chair

If you have been thinking about starting locs for a year or two, this is for you. Not the rushed-through version that says "just do it." The honest one. The one I would give my sister.

First, the question nobody asks you

Why do you want locs?

I ask every client this and I am not joking. The answers tell me everything I need to know about what method to use, how often you will need to come back, and whether you will keep them in three years.

If your answer is "I want to stop thinking about my hair every morning," you are in the right place. Locs, after the first year, are the lowest-maintenance long-term hairstyle most people will ever have.

If your answer is "I want them for a wedding next year," I will say it kindly: locs do not work on a deadline. Six months in you are still in the budding phase and they look nothing like the Pinterest pictures.

The methods, plainly

There are five common ways to start locs in Nigeria. Each has its own personality.

Comb coils. The smallest, neatest start. A tiny rat-tail comb rolls each section into a tight coil. Best on hair that is at least three inches long and has natural curl pattern. They take about four to six months to actually lock.

Two-strand twists. What it sounds like. Two pieces of hair twisted around each other. Faster to install than coils, and the twist pattern shows in the locs as they mature, which some people love and some people do not. Six to nine months to fully lock.

Interlocking (sister locks / micro locs). A latch tool pulls the hair through itself. The smallest, most uniform locs you can get. Slow to install — eight to twelve hours for a full head — but they need almost no retwisting. The maintenance cost is at the start.

Free-form. No method. You wash your hair, you let it lock how it wants. Beautiful and intentional in the right hands. Looks unkempt in the wrong context. I rarely recommend this for a first-time loc client.

Loc extensions. Pre-made locs attached to your real hair. You walk in with a TWA, you walk out with shoulder-length locs. Different conversation entirely — see the extensions piece.

The timeline

This is where most people are surprised. Real locs go through phases, not stages of "done."

• Months 1–3. Baby locs. They unravel if you sneeze on them. You do not retwist too often (more on that in the retwist piece). They look more like twists than locs. This is normal.
• Months 3–6. Budding. The middle of each loc starts to compress. They get rounder, denser, less defined. They might look frizzy. They are not. This is the loc itself forming.
• Months 6–12. Teenage phase. They stick out at angles. They do not all behave the same way. Some are perfect, some are doing their own thing. This is the phase most people quit. Do not.
• Year 1+. Mature. They hang. They have weight. They start to feel like yours.

What to ask before you book

Three questions, and the loctician's answers tell you a lot.

1. "How often do you recommend retwists?" A good answer is "every six to eight weeks, but it depends on your hair and your goals." A bad answer is "every two weeks." The latter will thin your edges out in a year.
2. "What do you use to retwist?" If they list a wax-based product, walk out. Wax does not wash out of locs and you will be doing detoxes for years. The right answer is a water-based gel or just water + tension.
3. "Can I see a client at the same age as my locs would be?" Anyone can take pretty pictures of mature locs. You want to see the awkward middle.

The realistic budget

For starting locs at Sinachi:

• Comb coils on natural hair: ₦35,000–₦60,000, four to six hours.
• Two-strand twists: ₦40,000–₦70,000, four to six hours.
• Sister locks / interlocking: ₦120,000–₦200,000, eight to twelve hours, often two sittings.
• Loc extensions: ₦150,000–₦300,000 depending on length and density.

Then add ₦15,000–₦25,000 every six to eight weeks for retwists.

What I tell every first-time client

Locs are a two-year commitment to look the way you imagine they will. The first six months you will think about cutting them at least once. Do not. The hair you see at month nine is not the hair you will have at year two.

When you are ready, book a consultation. It is thirty minutes, no obligation, and we talk about your hair and your life — because that is what we are working with. If you have decided which method is right, you can also jump straight to starter locs and pair them with our sealing loc oil for the first month of aftercare.