The stages of a loc

A loc does not form all at once. It moves through stages, and each one has its own look, its own difficulty and its own length. Recognising which one you are in changes how the whole journey feels.

At the start, the loc is still just a section. It unravels easily, it slips, it does not look like much yet. That is normal. Then comes budding: the inside begins to tangle, the texture turns uneven, and many people find this the hardest phase to accept.

The teenage stage is where locs go their own way. They swell, they sit how they like, they refuse to hang straight. It is also when most people give up, even though that unruliness is exactly the sign that the loc is building itself.

Maturity arrives when the loc is dense along its whole length and no longer comes apart. It lengthens, it gains weight, it hangs. Depending on your texture and your method, expect somewhere between twelve and twenty four months. Nobody can promise you an exact calendar, and be wary of anyone who does.