Invisible locs are fast becoming the new protective hairstyle trend.
The goal is to give off the look of having traditional style locs with extension hair added such as crochet twists, freetrees braid twists, and or kinky afro hair.
The hairstyle has been making its rounds on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest. It has gained more than 50,000 posts under #Invisblelocs on Instagram and 27.8 million views on TikTok.
Tristian Clark, a junior social work student at Florida A&M, says she loves the faux loc trend. She says that before committing to her loc journey, Clark wasn’t too fond of the “ugly beginning stage” and had two reasons why she got the protective style done.
“First, to give me time to change my mind if I decided I wasn’t fond of the look, and secondly, to ensure minimal manipulation to my newly formed locs once I was committed to the process,” Clark said.
The evolution of faux loc began with just prewrapped locs looped into already corned braids and advanced to soft locs, crotched individually to braids and wrapped to hide the client’s natural hair. Faux locs is an analogy that describes fake locs that aren’t naturally loc’d. Since the hairstyle has been revamped in various renditions, i.e., distress bohemian locs, butterfly locs, and soft locs. The style is worn and designed entirely differently to achieve different looks.
Klarissa Appiah, a junior criminal justice major, says, “The trend of faux loc is very impactful to the Black community. It allows people to experiment with different hairstyles without the commitment of loc’ing their actual hair,” she said.
On style seat, an app used to book an appointment in different locations with hairstylists, nail techs and barbers, noted that depending on the type and locale, “faux locs can cost anywhere from $100 to $800, though most commonly, they cost between $100 and $300.”
Faux locs have been styled recently compared to actual locs; soft locs have been styled into space buns, barrel twists, loc: buns, knots, pineapple and even 3D styles shaped hearts and butterflies, to name a few. Each design has been inspired by a Black hairstylist who achieves the likeness of an actual loc’d hairstyle.
“After getting faux locs for a while, it showed me how actual locs are the best permanent protective style for your hair. It made me realize how fast my hair grew from being loc’d, and I can say it did inspire me to fully commit on my loc journey I started last year in September,” said Chelsea Mathis, an education major at FAMU.
Faux locs seem that they will continue to circulate as one of the trending protective styles. As for the new Invisible locs, no information could found on who started the desired style. Nonetheless, it has already reached audiences from Jamaica, Canada and London.
Clark also encourages everyone to continue to support the trend surrounding faux locs and the loc’d community. The positive impact and appreciation toward the cultural hairstyle continues to grow daily.