The LOC and LCO Methods

If you have recently entered the world of curly and afro hair care, you have most likely started to come across new terminologies indicating characteristics of the hair (for example porosity and type ) and procedures to be performed.

One of these is certainly LOC METHOD, the name of a routine that I undoubtedly define as "life-saving" for curly hair, especially if it is afro hair.

It consists of bringing hydration to the hair and ensuring that it retains it for a long time by "sealing" it with two components to be applied in succession: oily and creamy-buttery (or vice versa).

Since excessive dehydration is the number one cause of breakage and loss of length, your first goal should be to find ways to keep your hair hydrated.

Through this method you can get the most out of your hydration routine, ensuring that your hair has long-lasting softness, elasticity, body, strength and shine.

How to perform the LOC method

In practice it consists of applying the three components in succession, on hair divided into sections:

L = moisturizing agent, e.g. water or leave-in moisturizer ;

O= oily agent, e.g. pure natural oil or spray oil (homogeneous or mixed);

C= creamy buttery component, e.g. natural butter or rich cream .

With each application, manipulate your hair well to ensure complete distribution of the products, watch this video to see how I proceed.

Based on the texture and porosity of the hair it is preferable to choose some elements rather than others and if you have 4A - 4B- 4C hair I recommend that in phase L you use both the vaporized water (1a) and the moisturizing leave-in lotion in succession. (1b).

If you have slightly porous hair , therefore with low absorption capacity, some textures may not be able to penetrate making the hair heavier, so you should opt for light textures.

On the contrary, for those with high porosity, full-bodied products are suitable because they are able to better fill the hair fiber and stay there.

To understand if your hair is more or less porous, do the test :

In general I recommend using:

• Leave-in moisturizers spray or lotion, mousse, styling milk, almond oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil and cocoa butter for low porosity .
• Moisturizing leave-ins in milk or light cream, medium-bodied styling creams, avocado oil, coconut oil and shea butter for medium porosity .
• Moisturizing leave-in creams, very full-bodied styling products, gels, castor oil, coconut oil and shea butter for high porosity .

You will notice that coconut oil is always present, this is because being extremely penetrating it can bring benefits in all three conditions.

With regards to oils and butters, I would like to tell you that the indications given mainly concern use without rinsing, while if you operate hot or in the intensive treatment phase to rinse it is possible to exceed the limits of use due to the lesser or greater heaviness of the components.

In this page you will find useful information on the characteristics of the main raw materials recommended for the care of curly and afro hair.

HERE you will find the POROSITY BOXES , ready-made kits that I have designed to get the most out of the synergy of the active ingredients of the products.

The LCO method

There is a variation of the LOC method, called the LCO (liquid-cream-oil) method , in which the cream is applied before the oil.

The change in succession depends on the heaviness ratio between C and O, so the fuller product is applied first.

Generally, those with low porosity and/or fine hair opt for this procedure because they find themselves using light sprays and creams, so oil (O) is the best agent to close the procedure.

ATTENTION!

Not all hair needs to perform the three steps, in fact as the curl loosens and moves towards wavy:

1) Water retention capacity increases;

2) The hair fiber likes more lightness both in terms of product consistency and quantity.

However, the principle from which we must not deviate is that the moisturizer must be followed by a sealant, therefore L and O remain indispensable factors. It remains obvious that both take shape in the products most similar to the specific characteristics of the hair .

Now all you have to do is experiment and if you have any questions don't hesitate to write to me at academy@naturangi.it !

Good work!

TO.