The difference between soft locs and faux locs is the type of hair used, method of install, tension, length, hair flexibility and the finished look. Soft locs are a type of faux locs that use crochet locs hair and afro kinky (distressed) wrapping hair at the roots while traditional faux locs you would normally use marly hair.  In our blog post, we will give you give you a guide to both when it comes to faux locs vs soft locs.

Soft Locs Hair Extended by Jorie Hair

Hair Used

We briefly touched on the type of hair used for soft locs and faux locs in the paragraph above. To get more information on the type of hair used for soft locs and the results check our blog post on this here. For soft locs, you use crochet faux locs. You can use our line of natural crochet faux locs or our upcoming Soft Locs Hair. As seen in the 1st image above. But to achieve the soft locs look you have to install them as individuals and use wrapping hair to wrap the roots of the locs. We have a more in depth guide on the hair used and how to achieve the soft locs look in our previous blog post.

You would require around 65 – 80 locs and half a strand of wrapping hair for each loc, depending on the thickness of your own hair. Although you can wrap the locs with marley hair we recommend softer hair in order to prevent stiff locs. For faux locs, you would normally use marley hair for the base of the loc and also wrap it with marley hair.

Faux Locs on @Aqousuah20

Method

The method of install for faux locs is different than that of the softer crochet locs. Although for both you can plait your hair individually before adding the hair. For faux locs you need to wrap the hair from the roots until the end of the hair. But for the crochet locs you will only need to wrap from the roots to where your natural hair ends. Wrapping the roots of your crochet locs to just where your hair ends means a quicker install than traditional faux locs.

Length

The great benefit of faux locs is that you can customise the length of your hair. You can make it as short or as long as you want. But with soft locs the length will depend on the original length of the crochet locs. If you get 18″, your locs will end up being 18″ in length. You can always increase the length of your soft locs by extending it. Our extended soft locs hair was created, so you don’t have to go through the tedious process of doubling your locs to add extra length.

Flexibility & Tension

With soft locs your hair should be flexible from day one. When done right there should be very little tension to your own natural hair. There should be movement in the hair. You will be able to put your hair into a bun from the first day. Although a good professional hairstylist should be able to minimise tension regardless of the style. Faux Locs would normally have more tension that soft locs. They are stiffer and you will likely not get movement from the hair for a few days. Faux Locs Hair would normally be dipped into hot water to reduce the stiffness.