The LOC Method is an acronym that describes the order of products used when moisturizing hair. “L.O.C” stands for leave-in, oil, and cream. Hair is porous and tends to soak up moisture. This method is used to make sure that the moisture is retained.
High-porosity hair has cuticles that remain open and cause moisture to evaporate. The LOC method is best for HP hair types because the oil will seal in the leave-in before applying the cream. Moreover, since low-porosity hair has tight cuticles, using the cream last will not allow it to get into the hair shaft. LP hair would benefit more from applying the cream before the oil.
The LOC Method Steps:
- Leave-In Conditioner: For this step, you want to start with clean hair. First, begin sectioning your hair in 4 and clip or tie the sections with a scrunchie. Then, grab one section and lightly mist it with a spray bottle. After you’ve done that, lather the leave-in conditioner from the top to the bottom using the “praying hands” method. Remember to give some extra love to the ends of your hair as this tends to be the driest.
- Oil: After leave-in conditioner, the next step is to apply oil. Here what you want to do is get yourself an oil that works best for your hair. Just like everything else, this will also be determined by your hair porosity. For high-porosity hair, some examples would be coconut and olive oil. For low-porosity hair, you can use lighter oils such as jojoba oil, almond oil, and grapeseed oil.
- Cream: Finally the last step is applying the cream. This step involves sealing in all of the work we did previously. For this, you will want to use heavier products such as butter-like moisturizers for example. After all these steps your hair should feel moisturized and healthy.