Why You Should Cover Your Locs

February 04, 2023

While wearing your locs out and free is beneficial for young locs because covering them too often and too tightly can hinder the locking process, it will do your hair a great service to cover them while you are out and about from time to time. We all know that covering your hair to sleep is beneficial because it keeps your hair smooth so styling your hair in the morning is easier and it keeps your delicate hair protected from your cotton sheets. (If you have satin pillowcases however, you can get away with wearing your hair out while sleeping more often.) But how is it beneficial to cover your hair outside?

1) Protection from intense weather conditions

Wearing your hair in headwraps can protect your hair from intense cold and intense sun. Both can cause your hair to get brittle. Cold air tends to be dry air. When air has too little humidity, it can cause your hair to get dry as well. While being in the sun is great for your hair to dry it naturally after a wash, being under the hot sun for extended periods of time can have similar effects like using artificial heat such as causing dryness and even breakage. Covering your hair reduces your exposure to these intense weather conditions. 

2) Protection from air pollution and environmental smells

Especially if you live or work in a high traffic metropolitan city, you are exposed to all types of air pollution. While you may not see this pollution build up on your hair, it is there. You can often smell it when you finally wash your locs. This is most apparent when the air pollution is in the form of smoke. Also, cooking foods with strong aromas or being around when such foods are being cooked cause cause smells to get trapped in your hair. While temporary solutions such as hair fragrances like the Love Light & Locs LoCologne are great, they are not permanent cures for air pollution and the smells that your hair hold. Covering your locs more often will reduce your need or desire to over wash your hair.

3) Protection from debris

Many things get attracted to kinky hair textures and due to our natural curl they often get trapped in our locs. If you don't brush your locs on a regular basis, you are more susceptible to experiencing debris build up in your locs. Such debris include lint, dust, leaves, feathers, etc. Covering your locs reduce your exposure to unwanted debris.

4) Protection from negative energy

This may not resonate with everyone reading this but hear me out. Everything is energy. Due to the coil of textured locs, it holds onto more energy. Sometimes we can experience shifts in moods that are inexplicable and this can be due to our hair holding onto energies of people, places and things surrounding us. Washing your hair is a great way to remove these energies and using natural products which are high vibrational is a great way to replenish positive energy into your hair. However, covering your locs is a great way to reduce unwanted energy from getting trapped in your hair.

5) Safety measure

The longer your hair gets, the more likely it is for your hair to get in your way and even possibly cause harm. Not long before I cut 12 inches off of my thigh length locs, my locs got shut in a steel screen security door. Since I was walking quickly, the door yanked me back. I almost fell. If I had fallen, I could have suffered from major hair loss. Locs often get caught in car doors, subway doors, door handles, people sit on them, lay on them, etc. This can cause unexpected yanking which can cause alopecia. Wearing your locs covered in headwraps can prevent ths occurence and keep you safe. This is highly recommended when operating heavy machinery.

6) Versatility in styling

Due to the low maintenance nature of locs, sometimes we get lazy with our hairstyles since it's so convenient to just wake up and go. However both men and women can switch their style up by simply wearing different colored headwraps and styling them in unique and original ways. Check out the tutorials on YouTube for my recommendations on headwrap styles.