This blog is all about oil retwist.
With almost five years behind the chair as a loctician, one thing I know for sure is the products we use have a huge impact on the health and longevity of our locs.
With thousands of products labeling themselves as “loc-friendly” (very few), I’ve learned that keeping it natural often gives the best results.
Locs are a long-term journey, and how we care for them along the way makes all the difference. From buildup to breakage, what we use matters.
In today’s blog post, we’re diving into the benefits of oil-only retwists and how they’re transforming not only my clients’ routines, but my own as well.
This post is all about oil retwists!
Table of Contents
Now don’t get me wrong, using a gel on your locs isn’t the worse thing you can do. In fact, there are some loc gels out there that infuses beneficial oils like lemongrass and rosemary to help with common scalp issues. The real issue here is what these loc gels’ do to our locs overtime.
Whether you’re using a little or a lot, overtime loc gel causes build-up, leading to annoying issues like dandruff, odor, and unattractive white residue in locs. Keeping things simple by using only oil (and or foam, iconic duo), has benefits that your locs will love every time.
Healthier Scalp
Coming in hot with one of the main reasons oil-only retwists are so beneficial, a healthy scalp is a happy scalp.
About 75% of my clients struggle with severe dandruff. That means every other appointment I am doing some type of pre-shampoo ritual—removing remaining flakes, applying a scalp tonic, etc. Prior to washing my clients locs, I always do a scalp check to see how it has reacted to the products since I last seen them.
Anything other than normal minimal dandruff, I know there’s a deeper underlying issue.
Less Build-up
Because oil is a natural substance, it is able to absorb into your hair shaft and scalp, leading to less or no build-up at all.
One of the leading causes to an itchy and inflamed scalp is an overload of product build-up. And if you’re not washing your locs correctly by clarifying first, you’re not giving your scalp an opportunity to truly be clean.
When doing an oil-only retwist the key is to use lightweight oils. Oils like—jojoba, argan, and sweet almond oil to name a few. These oils can quickly absorb into the hair and scalp, which means less sitting on the surface and less chance for buildup.
Fresher Smelling Locs
Now that we know oil-only retwists helps with less buildup, that means there’s less chance you’ll be walking around with funky locs. We don’t want that now do we?
When using oil to retwist your locs, you now have the ability to add in your favorite essential oils to add even more health benefits! Essential oils do it all—fight bacteria, reduce itching & dryness, stimulate hair growth, and our favorite, odor control.
A comment I get all the time when applying the finishing touches to my client locs is “Mmm that smells SO good, what is that?!” Lemongrass my friend. Lemongrass. I’m obsessed with nice smells so I always make sure my clients leave my chair smelling heavenly.
My favorite essentials oils I like to add into my oil mixtures are tea tree, lemongrass, and eucalyptus. All deliver great benefits and of course smell amazing. Honorable mention—rosemary oil. Rosemary oil is great for stimulating hair growth for those looking to add on a few inches on top of smelling good.
Seals In Moisture
Another major cause of dry and itchy scalp is not properly sealing in moisture.
A common misconception is that oil provides moisture to your scalp, persuading people to overload on oils whenever their scalp feels dry. When the scalp isn’t properly moisturized it can become tight, which leads to itchiness, which leads to flaking. A terrible sequence, but a frequent occurrence (I kinda ate that).
Once you’ve used your water based products during your wash, sealing in that moisture during your retwist just makes sense. So now that you’ve sealed in that moisture right after washing, the need to reapply oil throughout the week becomes minimal. This means there’s progression in your dry scalp journey, yippee!!!
Blog recommendation: How To Oil Locs The Right Way
Suitable For All Hair Types
And I know what you’re thinking, “Oil isn’t gonna hold up the same as gel does”, but what if I told you it’s not about what you use but how you’re using it.
A good retwist doesn’t depend on the product that’s being used. Every palm roll — every loc-smith — every clip placement matters. Once you’ve mastered your personal retwist style, or found the perfect loctician for you, it doesn’t matter the hair type because it’s all in the hands.
From 4c to 3b, I am able to consistently provide polished retwist on every single client of mine, using only oil. Not to toot my own horn but TOOT TOOT!
I take pride in the health of my clients locs. I treat their locs exactly how I treat my own. I’ve watched my clients locs blossom right in front of me, and I can’t help but to feel like a proud loc mommy. Slowly but surely I am transitioning each of clients loc routine to oil only, and soon, they will thank me later.
Personal Experience: My Transition to Oil-only Retwists
I’ve been maintaining my own locs for going on 5 years since I started them back in 2021. And as you can imagine I have made lots of mistakes trying to figure out what works best for me.
I was about one year into my loc journey, trying out a new loc product every other month. This day I decided to ask my older brother who’s been loc’d for a few decades now, for a loc gel that he uses. All I can remember is a few days my later my entire neck and ears broke out in tiny red bumps. They were uncomfortably itchy causing so much discomfort right after a fresh retwist!! After that incident I then tried another loc gel, and the same thing happened.
I ended coming to the conclusion that I just have a sensitive scalp. I thought I had bad luck with loc products and I felt stuck.
That’s when a lightbulb went off.
A few years later, I decided to make the transition to oil-only retwist and I never looked back since. And from there I vowed that the natural way, is the best way.
This post was all about oil retwists!
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