What are Soft Locs?

Soft Locs is the term used to describe locs that are, you know soft. You use natural crochet locs with wrapping hair to achieve the style. The crochet locs will be installed as individuals to create faux locs. Soft locs are normally very long at 30″ to 36″. They are normally longer than hip length. 

Prior to the soft loc evolution when people did faux locs they would normally be stiff and tight. The term can be used to describe crochet faux locs that are normally soft in nature or faux locs that are not stiff.

These new softer faux locs are designed to have movement from the 1st day of install. No stiffness and they are tension free due to their soft nature. Although it is not clear on when the term first appeared or who first coined the term, it is definitely making waves in the faux loc world. 

In this article you will learn about these locs and the type of hair used to achieve this look. But feel free to substitute the hair where you can to try and achieve a similar style. This blog post can act like a guideline and give you the insight you need for this style. If you want to learn how to maintain soft locs with ease, check out our insightful blog post on this now.

 

Hair Used for Soft Locs 

There are a few different ways to create tension free locs that are soft. The key to getting this type of loc is the type of hair used. I would like to break down these softer faux locs hair into two parts, the base of the loc which is the foundation gets wrapped and wrapping hair. As I will be referencing this throughout this blog post.

The hair used to do soft locs initially has been joked about as a closely guarded secret. As Instagram and YouTube lurkers play ‘Blues Clues’ trying to find what hair to use. With quite a few people willing to pay a hair stylist for this secret.

There is nothing wrong with trying to get information to create an exact look that the stylist has created. But if you are looking to create these locs yourself and make them your own, it might be best to experiment with different hair.

The hair used for soft locs is :

• Crochet Faux Locs
• Kinky Wrapping Hair or Afro Kinky Hair
• Water Wave Passion Twist Hair
• Human Hair Blend / 100% Human Hair

The cat is out of the bag, finally in writing on the internet!

 

Crochet Faux Locs as Soft Locs

Crochet Soft Locs can be used as a base for the locs. These locs are an excellent base as you can get the soft locs look without having to wrap your hair down all the way. You can have distressed roots without having to wrap all your hair, saving time. This look is quite popular online, as you get a faux loc bohemian look with less effort.

There are 3 ways to wear your crochet locs as soft locs that I will cover in detail.

• Wrap the locs at the base with the faux loc itself
• Wrapping it as distressed locs at the roots
• Wrapping it all the way down with wrapping hair

 

1. Wrapping it at the base with the faux loc itself

The first option is wrapping the crochet locs at the base with the hair itself. This will give a faux loc look, while still having soft locs. Wendy from Faux Locs London did this faux loc bob look on herself and also a long brown soft loc look aswell (using our long kinky crochet faux locs in 23″ – 24″ in 1B/30 ombre chocolate brown). She unravelled the loc and tightly wrapped it around the roots. The key to keeping this still tension free is not to not wrap too tightly at roots but not too loose either. Be like Goldilocs and get it just right.

 

2. Wrapping it as Distressed Locs at the Roots

The second option is wrapping the crochet loc with hair at the roots to create a distressed look. This will involve either using passion twist water wave hair or distressed locs wrapping hair. I did a tutorial on this, using the long kinky crochet faux locs as a base and passion twist water wave hair to wrap my loc at the roots. My tutorial is easy to follow and beginner friendly. It creates the look in the image below.

 

3. Wrapping it all the way down with wrapping hair

An alternative to this is to wrap the crochet locs all the way down to the bottom. Which is more likely to give you a distressed loc look. I will discuss this more in the next section. These locs are considered soft locs aswell as they are not stiff, but they are more of a faux loc look and normally distressed in texture.

 

Kinky Wrapping Hair or Afro Kinky Hair

These are my favourite hair  for creating a soft loc look. All stylists have their preferences but I really love this type of wrapping hair for soft locs. Simply because depending on the way you wrap it you can get a variety of different looks. It can be used as a base and or wrapping hair for soft locs using crochet locs, braiding hair or marley hair as a base.

 

You can use it to create distressed soft locs when you use it to wrap. Or if wrapped tightly you can use them to create normal traditional smooth faux locs but they will still have a softer feel than using marley hair or kanekalon hair. In the image above we see @TooAliyah using kinky wrapping hair to create distressed locs with our distressed locs wrapping hair with crochet locs.

 

Also this hair is easier to use than water wave hair. As it hugs the hair when wrapped and is less likely to unravel. I would recommend this type of hair for beginners and professionals alike. Think of it as soft curly marley hair. So you have that kinky wave but without the rough texture. As it is quite curly, it may appear to be shorter at 1st but the hair is quite long.

 

 

Water Wave Passion Twist Hair

In the past people just used water wave hair for crochet braids and passion twists. The hair normally results in a smoother textured loc and less distressed than the kinky wrapping hair. To create more texture with this hair you may have to wrap the hair more than once to layer it, if that is the look you are going for.

If you have some experience in wrapping faux locs, prefer a less textured look or just willing to learn to use this hair. Then check out my hair tutorial previously mentioned as I devised a method to easily use this hair with your crochet locs.

 

Marley Hair for Soft Locs

Can marley hair be used for soft locs? The answer is both yes and no, depending on if other hair is used and the method used to wrap. Using marley hair as a base and wrapping hair to get soft locs might not work if wrapping tightly as you normally would with smooth faux locs. The hair will likely be stiff and lack movement for a few days.

 

To get soft locs with marley hair, use marley hair as a base and other wrapping hair to get soft locs. Or mix a small bit of marley hair with other wrapping hair.