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Monday 30 March 2009

Valerie June: Organic Moonshine Roots Music

I first heard about the lovely Valerie June through a natural hair forum many years ago, when she was playing in Bella Sun. She seemed to have disappeared for a while after that before touring solo, and more recently appearing in MTV's $5 cover show. Her voice is organic, roots and refreshing!

What I remember most about this womban was the inspiration she gave me to start freeforming my locs, letting "my plants" be completely free from twisting, latching or any form of new hair growth maintenance. She is a wonderful example of how freeform locs are beautiful, unique, feminine and an easy way to compliment any style!

10 Things To Know If You Wish To Freeform Your Locs:

No matter how you started and maintained your locs in the past, you can begin freeforming at any stage of your loc journey.

Freeform locs will add volume and thickness to your locs over time.

If you don't like frizz and wild new growth, this may not be the path for you.

Freeforming is just as the name points out - Freedom! It does not mean that you will no longer need to keep your locs clean but now you can simply wash and go, a quicker and easier way of keeping your locs beautiful!

If you don't wish to fully freeform your locs, you can also semi-freeform - where you choose to twist and maintain the growth only in the hairline or when you choose to maintain your locs every now and again when it suits you.

Freeforming will still allow you to style your locs as you like.... buns, curling, up-do's etc.

Some freeform locers find that over time, their new growth start to find their own ways of locing ... as new locs or as part of older locs.

If you choose this method, take the time to hand scan your new growth regularly to see if locs are joining at the base, which is a natural process. Some locers like to gently pull the locs apart at this stage and some like to let them join.

You can create new locs out of your new growth at anytime! This usually happens around the hairline where new growth can be loced as new baby locs. This adds more fullness to your locs.

There will be negativity from others - even from other fellow locers who don't overstand why you choose to stop maintaining your new growth. Locing is a persoal journey and it will test you! Stay strong and don't take it personally, you know best and what is right for YOU!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great article! Thank you so much for this.

ingrid lafleur said...

First of all, Valerie June is my new favorite singer!!!

I would love to know how she curls her locs. My locs are almost as thick as hers and pretty dense so I find it quite difficult to style them.

Also, I think my locs fall in the semi-freeform category, in that I don't twist but around 5 times a year and sometimes maintain the hairline. As a woman I receive an amazing amount of complements constantly. People are more open to wild locs than you may expect. Even my conservative father takes notice at how many positive comments I get, changing his perspective on my locs.

Thanks for the information!!

goldenchica said...

Thanks soooo much for the info! I saw Valerie June's locs and instantly wanted to know how I could do that--- everyone I talked to about locs were telling me about Sisterlocks ($$$) and locticians ($$) and I was soo confused, "aren't locks supposed to be an organic process?" This post really inspired me, and I think I will eventually do freeforms-- not now, because I want to have some fun with my loose hair for a while, but I definitely will freeform sometime!

Shay said...

I really needed this! I am freeforming from a TWA and I needed this inspiration to hold on. Thank you!

greentea34 said...

I LOVE Valerie June's hair too but she is NOT a freeformer. She is actually a semi-freeformer. I actually had the opportunity to meet her and I asked her how she started her locs. When she first started out her locs were too thin so she combined them and from there she began semi-freeforming. So for those of you with convention locs, there is a way to have organic looking locs without having to start over. PS: She also used beeswax to twist her locs *gasp*

NESSessary said...

You have inspired me to go down the more care-free route, thanks to your old journal that I found awhile back, glad I also went to this website too. I'm not sure if I'd ever go down that freeforming route but semi-freeforming seems to fit my personality more: laid back, not too nit-picky about maintaining my hair, and overall simple, although once in awhile I want a "manicured" look but not so much that I HAVE to have neat-looking scalp-showing locs every 2-3 weeks.

Zebulion said...

I'd love to find more blogs that give good info, or really, ANY info on freeforming. Ive been freeforming about a month. check out my blog!