Should you trim the frizzy ends of your locs?
The short answer, it depends on where you are in your loc journey.
NO, you should not trim the fuzzy ends off of your locs. Especially, if you’ve just started your loc journey, within the last 24 months, or if you have fine or loose curly hair. The fuzziness at the very ends of your locs is a sign that the loc is actually locking (yay!), meaning the loc is forming the “bud”. The bud at the end of your locs is what will hold in all the shed hairs from the root down, thus allowing “locs” to take shape. Also, as the locs begin to mature they will be fuzzy, at least with most hair textures, and fuzziness is normal. Keep in mind, that the majority of the fuzziness during the beginning stages will be pulled into the core of the loc to form a solid foundation, but if you cut the fuzziness around the loc off before it’s ready then you’ll weaken the loc. Your locs will never stand a chance against all the manipulation to come in future years and will start breaking off. You don’t want that!
However, there are exceptions…
YES, you can cut the ends of your locs if you’ve been loc’d for at least 2-3 years, or don’t mind waiting for your locs to form another “bud” at the ends, or if you’re just ready for a new haircut (yes you can cut locs into hairstyles!). However, don’t just go cutting off your loc’d ends on a whim because there is a certain method to cutting locs so that they don’t begin to unravel or “blow out”. I recommend visiting a Loctician that is trained or certified in hair locking for a haircut.
Hopefully, this helped you to understand why fuzziness in locs is sometimes a necessity. If you are curious about the various stages of the locking process, check out that post and video about “The Stages of Hair Locking“.
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Blog Comments
Sophi
November 10, 2014 at 3:48 pm
Hmmm…I’ve always trimmed the fuzz and I’ve never had a negative experience from it. Those little balls at the end get snipped and I also prune -snip the fuzz along the locs.
Jocelyn Reneé
November 20, 2014 at 11:30 am
You many not see an immediate impact but overtime your locs will be weaker because those hairs would have otherwise embedded into the loc’s matrix to make it stronger.
Renee
March 26, 2015 at 3:21 pm
What happens if you have fuzzies at the roots of your locs. I’m almost three years into my loc journey and some of my roots are not combined into my locs no matter how much I put it back.
Jocelyn Reneé
March 28, 2015 at 11:31 pm
I am partial to embracing frizzy hair, especially with locs. But if it is really bothering you, check out Chescalocs tutorial for threading stray hairs: https://youtu.be/s7bkhd6TlfY. I hope this helps! 🙂
Brenda McDermoth
August 21, 2015 at 9:06 am
happy to join the group
Siovhan
December 29, 2015 at 12:39 pm
About the second time I went to the stylist that started my locs, after washing and retwisting my babies, she just started to snip at them with the scissors. I stopped her immediately and asked her NOT to cut the loose hairs, because I knew from researching this issue that they were too young to start ‘loc pruning’. She was surprised, said they would look neater (yeah, they would in the short term, but long term???). She also wore her own hair relaxed, and that in itself has made me swear to never let a non-loc’er do my locs! Yeah, my loose strands DO drive me crazy, and I have to constantly work on separating them from neighboring locs and herding them back into their original locs (wrapping around the loc), but I’ve got my eye on how I want my thick locs to look 5 years from now, so the sacrifice and extra work now is worth the end results down the road. Patience!!!
Locs Under a Microscope | CurlyNuGrowth
January 3, 2016 at 3:50 pm
[…] Trimming the Frizz from Locs […]
Shan
January 23, 2017 at 7:31 pm
hello , i’m trying to grow thicker dreads . i’m approaching my 4 year loc anniversary . around 2 or 3 years ago , my loctician trimmed my locs with clippers :(((((( (this is because i was getting a curly style and my locs were extremely frizzy at that point) and they’re not as thick as they used to be . what can i do to help them grow thicker again ?
Jocelyn Reneé
February 14, 2017 at 8:07 pm
That’s so unfortunate that they “trimmed” your locs like that. Technique can control frizz NOT buzzing the locs, but as far as where you are now the only solution to correct the damage that they caused would be a loc repair with afro-kinky hair to replenish the thickness of your locs.