Loc Lesson #1 Color with Caution

As I continue with my new loc journey, I often find myself reflecting on my first set of locs and all of the knowledge I gained.  I not only expand that knowledge as it relates to my current loc journey, but it makes me feel the need to share it with others.

So the Loc Lesson #1 is "Color with Caution".  I frequently see many people with beautiful locs of all different shades and hues.  Although I have colored my hair in the past, I now have learned that when one has locs, coloring must be approached with extreme caution.

With my first set of locs I colored my hair a total of four times over the five year period that I had them.  I took time and great care to apply the neatly and evenly.  I also washed the color out until all of the hot water was gone to try to ensure that no dye residue was left behind to damage my precious locs.(This was always my biggest fear because I had a friend with locs who lost several because she did not rinse properly and fell victim to over-twisting, but more on that later), so I didn't want to take any chances of suffering the same fate.

But...even with all of the precautions that I took, I still ended up with severely dry locs that seemed to dry out even more as they matured.  No matter what regimen I adopted to combat this problem nothing seemed to work and this ultimately led me (along with the fact that i wanted to comb my hair) to take down my first set of locs.

The problem as I see it in retrospect:  The dryness developed when I colored my hair honey blonde.  Out of the four times that I did color my hair 3 of those times were shades of blonde.  Therefore my advice would be:
1.  Stay away from colors that are several shades lighter than your natural hair color.

2.  Use natural, gentler hair colors such as Naturtint.  I have used this brand before, the only con is that it fades.

3.  Try other even more natural alternatives such has henna and indigo which condition the hair while depositing color at the same time.

4.  Color your hair before you decide to loc.

5.  Enjoy your natural hair color.

Ultimately the choice is yours, just make sure you do your research first and weigh all of your options carefully!