My Loctician, April can do amazing things with locs! Little did I know when she told me to save my locs, there was a bigger reason. When I lost my locks in 2010, she cut them off and the barber shaved my head. At that time my locs were about 7-12 inches long.

I wanted to throw them away, but not so, Gunga Din. She told me to “Keep them.” “What?!?!?” I didn’t really want to, but I reluctantly put them in a Ziploc bag and stuck them in the back of a drawer.

Locs On, Locs Off
I tried other hairstyles, after being bald, but I finally realized I wanted my locks back. I really like hairstyles that are easy. So I started the process all over again! “Sometimes locs don’t grow as quickly as you want them to grow.” That’s part of the process. “You have to go through some changes as they grow out.”

I thought about the loc growing stages. You’ve got that teeny-weeny stage, but you can twist and untwist them then. The issue there is “When will they lock?” Then it’s when you can’t wait until they are longer, so you can put them in a pony-tail or a nest on top of your head. But that mid-length is probably the worst. “I couldn’t make anything work.” So, I bought (looked at) magazines to give me ideas. Then I remembered, I still had my old locs! Yep, and that’s when I called April.

Making it work!
At first, I thought putting them back on would make my hair look thicker. But, no luck, you can’t sew them onto the scalp. (“How was I to know that wasn’t how it worked?”) At that time, I had a nice length. It wasn’t past my shoulders or even to my shoulders. But with the ones she added, “Now we’re talking.” Of course, I had to wash them thoroughly before they went back on. And since I am a little compulsive, I also separated them by length and thickness. That kind of thing made it easier for her to sew them in.

Well, lo and behold, three years after chemo, she sewed the old locs back in – one at a time. Yep, she reconnected them to the locs already on my head. It does take a fair amount of time, but I think it’s worth it. The earlier locs were blonde when they fell out and now my hair is dark brown (blackish) with touches of grey. So, I had that ombre look. In style and no one could tell they were sewn in. Today, I have maybe only 3-4 inches of those blonde locks remaining, because I don’t want my hair to get too long. So, I cut it from time to time.

What counts? Overall, the process was a little expensive to me, but well worth it! I am the only one late to this party, because the process is not a new one, just one I didn’t know. Talk about a skill set! The sound you hear is the hot comb, curling iron, etc. hitting the floor. The Loctician Magician has left the salon!