The fashion industry is constantly changing, and picking up on new trendy hairstyles every day. Although Faux Locs and Bohemian Locs have been around for a long time, now everyone is leaning towards the beautiful Butterfly Locs hairstyles.
This hairstyle can be diverse as it can be fused with a lot of contemporary styling features. These features include hair colors, accessories, or even styling patterns.
It is quite normal for someone to get lost in the details. Or you may want to casually explore Butterfly Locs ideas and basic styling guides.
To satisfy all your needs, we present to you this article that covers a very wide ground. It includes styling techniques, DIY guides, hair routines, and care guides.
It also instructs you about the products you may require, the un-doing process, answer some of the FAQs, and exhibits the most tastefully-picked hair styling ideas just for you.
So, in short, it basically tells you everything about Butterfly Locs – starting from the basics to the post-styling care routine, so don’t stop scrolling till you reach the very end!
Contents
0.1 Basic of Locs0.2 Butterfly Locs: A Brief Intro0.3 Hair Types for Butterfly Locs0.3.1 Are Butterfly Locs Protective?0.4 Butterfly Locs at Home: Easy DIY Tips & Tricks0.4.1 List of Products You’ll Need:0.5 Butterfly Locs Styling Process0.5.1 Preparation Step:1 21 Butterfly Locs Hairstyles1.0.1 Long Butterfly Locs with Brown Tips1.0.2 Long Midnight Butterfly Locs1.0.3 Midnight Bob Butterfly Locs1.0.4 Butterfly Bob with Blonde Tips1.0.5 Blonde Tips Butterfly Boho1.0.6 Platinum Butterfly Locs1.0.7 Butterfly Locs with Buns1.0.8 Big Bun Butterfly1.0.9 Butterfly Blonde Bun1.0.10 Scarlet Butterfly Boho1.0.11 Long Butterfly Locs with Accessories1.0.12 Messy Bob Butterfly Locs1.0.13 Faded Crimson Butterfly Locs1.0.14 Knotted Butterfly Locs1.0.15 Bunny Butterfly1.0.16 Bohemian Butterfly Locs1.0.17 Butterfly Locs with Chains1.0.18 Distressed Butterfly Locs1.0.19 Sapphire Toned Butterfly Locs1.0.20 Butterfly Locs with Shades of Blue1.0.21 Accessorized 3-Colored Butterfly Locs1.1 Renew Your Butterfly Locs1.2 Butterfly Locs Care Guide1.3 FAQ: Butterfly LocsBasic of Locs
Before we dive into the details of Butterfly Locs, you might wonder what locs or locks are.
Originally known as ‘Dreadlocks’, popularly it has now been referred to as ‘Locs’ or ‘Locks’ in recent times.
This style is named in such a way because of the main process this styling requires – locking of hair into place.
The history behind this type of hairstyle is culturally rich and significant, thus it translates beyond just a hairstyle as some claim it to be a form of lifestyle.
Creating Locs requires a lot of time and patience, as it is a lengthy process which we’ll describe later in this article.
Butterfly Locs: A Brief Intro
Among many popular Loc styles, Butterfly Locs are the most versatile and visually appealing.
Butterfly Locs are similar to Faux Locs in terms of the styling process. The basic principle of this hairstyle is the mixture of your regular braided hair with hair extensions.
Initially, your original hair would be braided into sections and using the Faux Locs or Crochet method the extension hair would be woven and wrapped around each of your braids.
The outcome of this process is known as the Butterfly Locs, and this hairstyle is named after a butterfly for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is pretty basic. As this style mostly works with bob-sized hair, the voluminous nature of Locs keeps the hair on each side puffy.
This renders a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing sight, like a butterfly spreading open its heavenly wings.
There’s another reason behind its name. This reason is metaphorical, in the sense that weaving of a cocoon is required for a butterfly to be born, much like the creation process of Locs from strands of hair.
Similar Post : Everything You Need To Know About Micro Locs: From Styling to Caring
Hair Types for Butterfly Locs
Butterfly Locs mostly suit people with naturally curly/kinky Type 3 or 4 hair.
It is suitable for these hair types because braiding requires lots of rolling and twisting, and natural curls help a lot in this process.
But you must keep in mind that the twists should be made toward your natural curl, otherwise it’ll end up damaging your hair.
If you have Type 1 or 2 straight or wavy hair, you can still get it done but it will require a bit more time.
Your braids will require a little more volume of hair to form and sprays to set them in place afterward.
So in short, almost any type of hair can achieve Butterfly Locs, just the time and effort varies based on the curly nature.
Are Butterfly Locs Protective?
Butterfly Locs are like most other locs, they tend to strengthen your hair. This hairstyle in particular wraps extensions of hair around your original hair.
This wrapping ensures the robustness of your original hair and braiding simply adds to that.
So YES, Butterfly Locs ARE protective hairstyles. They will prevent your hair from damage and breakage, while you flaunt your tasteful styles out in public!
Butterfly Locs at Home: Easy DIY Tips & Tricks
Although Butterfly Locs are time-consuming to get done properly, and the workload may seem to be hectic, it can still be neatly done at home, and all by yourself.
We are here to offer you an in-depth guide with all the tools and instruments you could possibly need to help you with the process.
So buckle up and read through the section, because by the end you’ll know exactly what you have to do to get your desired Butterfly Locs at home!
List of Products You’ll Need:
Doing Butterfly Locs requires a couple of tools and products along with the most vital hair extension. So we’ve made a list for your ease which you can follow:
Synthetic Hair Braids FreeTress Water Wave (6-8 Packs), you can pick the color according to your desire, but it is advised that the color should match your original hair color WooCrafts Crochet Hooks with hooks of different sizes SoftSheen-Carson Let’s Jam! Shining and Conditioning Hair Gel is something you should use for the ease of braiding and locking process, and as an added bonus it works as a shining gel too so that saves your trouble of applying additional shining agent! [optional] The Beadery 6 by 9mm Barrel Pony Bead is a large supply of beads you can use as styling accessories [optional] Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie can be used before you start the styling process [optional] GOT 2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray for sealing off the endsButterfly Locs Styling Process
We have divided the Butterfly Locs styling process into 6 steps and one preparation step to help you understand exactly how you should be doing it at home. The steps are as follows:
Preparation Step:
Before starting the braiding and locking process, it is ideal to shampoo your hair properly with deep conditioning, because you won’t be able to properly shampoo your main hair due to the locs.
After your shower, use the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie made from a coconut base. Separate your hair into smaller sections and apply it gently. It’ll smooth up your styling process and make your hair more durable.
If you don’t want to shampoo but still want to keep your locs for months, then use a leave-in conditioner the night before. It’ll give you a huge boost during the entire process.
1. Braiding:
This is the first major step in this process. Braiding is an integral part of getting Butterfly Locs, so this is something you cannot avoid.
You can start your braiding process from the back of your head. You should divide your hair into two parts and create 2-3 rows of braids on each side.
You can go for the square-shaped rows because this would help you organize and also look good with Butterfly Locs.
Once you’re done with the back of your head, you should do the same with the front part. Remember, the front part would be seen more than the back, so you should invest more time and care while doing this part.
As soon as you’re done with the back and front, create rows of braids with the leftover hair in-between the front and back. Ideally, you should have a total of 38-42 braids, 19-21 on each side. This will vary of course based on the quantity of your hair.
With this, step 1 should complete and we’ll move to the next step.
2. Unpacking:
This is the step where you’ll unpack your FreeTress Water Wave hair. After you get it out of the package, you should pull hair strands apart in small sections. You have to be extra careful while doing this because rushing might just end up creating a tangled mess.
This pulling apart will serve you two purposes. One, it’ll add a distressed, Bohemian vibe to your hairstyle. And two, pulling apart actually helps the hair lock into place better.
[Note: If you don’t want to perform the following Faux locs Method with Hooking and Wrapping, then you can follow the Crochet Method.For this method, you’ll need Crochet Braids that you can buy from amazon. Using a crochet hook, you need to hook the loop of the Crochet Braids through the root of your braid.
Once there, you’ll need to slide the entire braid through this loop and pull it to a tight knot. Merge this with your braid, follow this process and you’ll end up with Butterfly Locs.
This won’t hold as well as the Faux Locs method, but it’d be easy to apply and remove. After doing this, skip to Step 6 for finalizing this hairstyle.]
3. Hooking:
After separating the FreeTress Water Wave hair, it’s time for you to utilize your crochet hooks.
Read CAREFULLY. You must insert the hook at the ROOT of your braids, not pierce the braids. This is very important, otherwise, your locks will fall apart soon after.
Once your hook is through, you should pick some FreeTress Water Wave hair and latch it onto the hook. Then carefully pull the hook back with this lock of hair.
4. Wrapping:
With the lock of hair that you’ve pulled through, you have to get it halfway in. This means, half the length of the pulled hair locks should be on each side of your braid’s root.
When you’re there, you have to use both of your hands to start the wrapping process. One end of the FreeTress Water Wave hair must be aligned with your braids, and the other end should be used for the wrapping.
You have to wrap this hair by wreathing in the same direction. REMEMBER, if you wrap in opposite directions, your Butterfly Locs will come off very soon.
Your hair needs to be wrapped tightly at the roots, loosely in the middle for the distressed look. In the end, you can use your thumb to create a loop, and wrap the remainder of the hair back up.
5. Sealing:
Sealing is an important part of this process. Because you don’t want your ends to come off after spending hours in the wrapping process.
Use your GOT 2B sealing spray on the ends to lock them in place. This removes the chances of accidentally unraveling your hair.
6. Finishing:
Once your sealing is done, you should divide your locs not down the middle, but on one side of your head. This division completes the Butterfly Locs look and adds some aesthetic value to your hairstyle.
Edge-control is an important thing for the Butterfly Locs to work. Once you’re done with the styling, you can use a toothbrush and some hair spray to brush & style the edges that fit your style the best.
As an addition, you can follow this video to learn the basics of Butterfly Locs and how you can do it yourself at home:
21 Butterfly Locs Hairstyles
Though Butterfly Locs follow a common philosophy of styling, there’s room for customization based on hair length, color, and styling pattern. We’ve picked some of the best Butterfly Locs for you that you can choose from for your everyday hair.
Long Butterfly Locs with Brown Tips
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Your Butterfly Locs can often be long, so long as up to reaching your waist or even beyond. Although styling and maintaining such long Butterfly Locs can be a challenging task at times, this results in one of the most beautiful hairstyles.
You may have to use brown colored hair extensions to achieve this look. One half of black hair from the roots, and the remaining half colored Brown, this hairstyle is very fascinating to look at.
Long Midnight Butterfly Locs
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Midnight Butterfly Locs are usually the preferred classic color for these hairstyles. And having longer locs with this color just adds a layer of depth to this style.
Like the previous one, this style too might require additional hair extensions. And it would be quite a hectic task for you to unravel or clean such long hairstyles in locs.
Midnight Bob Butterfly Locs
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Midnight Bob Butterfly Locs are the most ideal for this hairstyle. Concise in length, it would require less time to style as opposed to the long hairstyles.
Hanging just over the top of your shoulders, you can do both Faux Locs or Crochet methods while doing this style. Black hair fits this style perfectly, and you can wear this low-maintenance style on any occasion!
Butterfly Bob with Blonde Tips
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If you feel the Midnight Butterfly Bob is too vintage for you, then you can spice it up by coloring the tip of your locs blonde.
To get this done, you have to pick blonde hair extensions and make sure to wrap seamlessly on the latter half of the hair. When properly completed, you’ll get these amazing Butterfly Bob Locs with tips colored blonde!
Blonde Tips Butterfly Boho
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Butterfly Locs with blonde tips are worth dying for, and when you add a distressed, Bohemian touch, it altogether takes this style through the roof!
You need to create Butterfly Locs with blonde extensions at first. During the locking process, you’ll need to wrap the extensions loosely and keep loose, wavy hair at the end.
And voila! Your Butterfly Locs now have Bohemian aesthetics with tips colored blonde!
Platinum Butterfly Locs
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If you want your Butterfly Locs to look edgy, then you can opt for a platinum highlight. Your actual hair needs to be bleached and colored before you start the styling process.
After highlighting, you have to pick extensions with the same color. For a seamless finishing, you can purchase bleached extensions and color them along with your original hair.
When you’re done coloring and styling, you’ll end up with an edgy version of Butterfly Locs that’ll speak your inner-self for you.
Butterfly Locs with Buns
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Make your Butterfly Locs exciting by adding a couple of buns over your head! Convenient for movement and maintenance, this hairstyle will save you a lot of time and hassle in every corner.
Style your hair according to classic Butterfly Locs, then pick 4-5 locs on each side of your head. Use them to create buns, secure them using clips, holding spray or hair spikes.
Once done, you’ll have two beautiful buns that complete your Butterfly Locs look! This is suitable for casual purposes including traveling or even going to classes. So why not surprise your classmates with a new look tomorrow!
Big Bun Butterfly
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If you feel two buns with your Butterflies look more casual, then go for one big bun in the middle of your head.
This style is elegant and you can wear it on formal occasions. You may also decorate it with ribbons, chains, or even simple hair spikes. Pick your classiest outfit with this hairstyle and turn all the heads towards you!
Butterfly Blonde Bun
Want a flashy and edgy Butterfly hairstyle? Then this is the style specially made for you! Long blonde hair wrapped into Butterfly Locs, opens up the door for some remarkable customization.
Twisting and tying the locs on top of your heads, you have to create a high bun. You can use small hair spikes to hold it upright while being concealed. Getting this extravagant hairstyle will stand you out from the public, and make you the star of any party that you go to!
Scarlet Butterfly Boho
Butterfly Locs are diverse hairstyles, and one of the reasons is that they can be fused with other trendy features from the contemporary world of fashion.
Speak your personality with long, scarlet Butterfly Locs with a touch of Bohemian aesthetics. This style will not direct you towards others, rather it will attract others towards you for the vibrant persona it’ll help you radiate.
Long Butterfly Locs with Accessories
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Long Midnight Butterfly Locs can be styled in a number of ways, which includes adding a wide variety of accessories.
Usually, accessories with golden shade work well with deep black Butterflies. You can add golden rings in-between the locs to make them look elegant. Also, you can experiment with beads of different colors that suit your taste the best.
Messy Bob Butterfly Locs
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Messy, distressed looks are currently some of the most trendy hair styling features, and you can apply the same approach with your Bob Butterfly Locs as well.
You can achieve this by not creating distinct hair sections, rather overlapping locs from one side to another. You can also leave a couple of locs hanging over your forehead to add to this look.
Faded Crimson Butterfly Locs
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If you want colored Butterfly Locs but don’t want to feel edgy – then this is the hairstyle for you. Bob-sized Butterfly Locs with the faded crimson tone, this style can be worn casually on a regular basis.
You can build up your dress-up style around this hairstyle as faded crimson hair compliments apparel from similar color palettes.
Knotted Butterfly Locs
For a diverse approach towards your medium-length Butterfly Locs, you can choose not to create neat dividing lines on the side of your head.
Instead, you can divide them down the middle, collect the locs on the top of your head and tie a knot around them to make them stand upright. The height depends on your taste and desire, a lower height would be more subtle while a higher height can make it look blunter.
Bunny Butterfly
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If you want your shorter Butterfly Locs to look different than the classic, and want them not to hang about loosely, then this is the style for you.
Collect all of your loose locs and create a huge bun out of them by tying them together. Do this with your Butterflies, place them over your head like a tiara, and get treated like the princess that you truly are.
Bohemian Butterfly Locs
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Go full-blown BOHO with your Butterfly Locs. With medium-length hair, you can easily achieve this look and feel fabulous about yourself.
All you have to do after getting your Butterfly Locs done is to let the ends of your locs loose, and make them into waves. As an addition, you can add subtle silver or platinum highlights to your hair. All of these together will complete the Bohemian look that you desired!
Butterfly Locs with Chains
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Have an upcoming party on your calendar? Or a family gathering, or a get-together? Then gear your Butterfly Locs up with some additional styling kits.
Adding some chains and wrapping them around your locs should help you in this purpose. Be it gold or silver, loosely or tightly tying chains can enhance your locs like nothing else. You can also add rings of similar color to your locs, or at the dividing roots of your locs.
Distressed Butterfly Locs
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Distressed locs are some of the most popular and adored hairstyles among fashion enthusiasts these days. All you need is some loose strands of hair around your locs, and you’re good to go!
Distressed Butterly Locs are at the peak of styling ideas, and you can achieve them better after you’re 2-3 weeks into your locs. At that point, instead of tying more hair extensions, you can just let it loose a little, and you’ll achieve the distressed look quite easily!
Sapphire Toned Butterfly Locs
If you think you’ve seen ‘em all, think again! These sapphire-toned Butterfly Locs can beat any hairstyle on any day. Made with bleached and colored locs, this hairstyle can give you a drastic transformation in the looks department.
Edgy, vibrant, and lively – adjectives will do no justice to this form of Butterfly Locs. The energetic aura catches the eyes with ease and attracts anyone within the radius. So don’t think twice before getting this hairstyle done for you!
Butterfly Locs with Shades of Blue
Butterfly Locs with shades of random blues is a unique hairstyle, not only because of the coloring pattern but also for the hybrid nature with double buns.
For this style to work neatly, you need to plan ahead and have a good understanding of what you intend out of this hairstyle. We prefer you to get it done by professional stylists, but if you believe you are an expert or want to experiment, then you have the green signal.
Once planned, wrap blue hair extensions at your desired lengths, and make them into locs. Make two buns on each side, knot them up and lock them in place. When all is done, you’re ready to rock the world with these significantly beautiful Butterfly Locs.
Accessorized 3-Colored Butterfly Locs
This hairstyle is the epitome of fusion hairstyles. A hybrid of three colors and accessories, this hairstyle is simple yet gorgeous and can be worn on any occasion.
Colors of black, brown, and blonde go into these Butterfly Locs. With initial dark hair and colored extensions, you can get this hairstyle to work. Once completed with the locking process, you can add accessories like rings or chains based on your taste.
Finally, you’ll be wearing magnificent 3-colored accessorized Butterfly Locs, and we hope it’ll last you for the longest time.
Renew Your Butterfly Locs
Your Butterfly Locs need to be refreshed quite frequently to make it look as good as new. There’s a debate whether you can wash your Butterfly Locs or not. The answer actually depends.
If you want to keep your locs for months, which a lot of stylists don’t recommend, then you should gently wash them with shampoo and condition them.
But if you feel that you’ll keep your locs as high up to 3-4 weeks, then experts don’t recommend shampoo-washing them. Because it would be a hectic process for something you’re going to be removing anyway.
If you belong to the first group, then you have to start by washing your hair. You can shampoo and apply conditioner to your locs, because keeping them clean is very important. Once your hair is dried, you can apply oil to your scalp.
Oiling is necessary because your scalp needs moisture, and if it’s deprived then you’ll see your hair falling off as it fails to get the required nutrition. After the oiling process, it’s time for the refreshing step. Take your SoftSheen-Carson shining gel and apply it on the locs, roots and edges of your hair.
You should take smaller quantities of gel and make sure not to overuse it because then it would be quite a challenging task to clean it off properly.
You can also take smaller strands of your FreeTress Water Wave hair and wrap them tightly on at the bottom of your locs. Doing it to each of your locs should ensure a fresh look and add longevity.
As you’re done with these procedures, your Butterfly Locs should look as good and fresh as new!
Butterfly Locs Care Guide
As you already know, Butterfly Locs are protective and low-maintenance styles. Not performing everyday care gives this the intended distressed Bohemian look that you opted for.
Let’s take a look at a few caring tips for your Butterfly Locs that you can follow in order to keep your hair healthy:
You can use a silk or satin hair cap, or velvet pillowcases for your hair. This reduces fractions and keeps your hair healthy. It also mitigates the chances of hair breakage.
Oil your scalp regularly. Because proper moisture will ensure your hair’s health and reduce hair damage. It’ll also help your new hair strands to grow properly.
Use shampoos once in a while to wash your hair. If you feel that shampooing is a hectic process, then you can choose a dry shampoo.
Leave-in conditioning is a great way of moisturizing your hair. Because your hair needs to breathe as we do, and a leave-in conditioner will allow that.
Apply sculpting foam, mousse, or oil every week to keep your hair healthy and shining.
If you follow these steps properly, you should have some healthy Butterfly Locs for the longest time!
Removing Butterfly Locs
Removing your Butterfly Locs can be a challenging process. Because after months of wearing it, your hair will seal itself in place with the residue that forms over time.
Usually, people pick the easiest method and cut off all the locs from the root. This minimizes a lot of trouble and ensures the growth of your newly born hair at the root.
But the downside is that you’ll require months for your hair to grow back up. So you can try out a couple of the following methods.
The methods here will help you remove Butterfly Locs without cutting your hair:
The first method is the untangling method. You have to cut the hair extensions at the root of your braids and the point of the loop.
After cutting, you’ll have to carefully try to unravel these extensions. You can use water spray or hot oil to ease your process.
Using this process will cause the least damage to your hair, and you’ll be able to retain your hair at full length.
Another method is by cutting the extension twists, from the top all the way down to the bottom. This works better than the previous method as untangling becomes more difficult over time.
But the downside is that your actual hair will face some of the cutting as well. So damage control doesn’t remain at the minimum.
So these are some of the methods and tricks you can apply while removing your Butterfly Locs. You can try out any of them based on your necessity.
FAQ: Butterfly Locs
People often have a lot of queries about Butterfly Locs, its pros and cons, its styling process, or have some general curiosity. We have tried to answer some of them in this section of our article:
How much do Butterfly Locs cost?
Answer: Cost of Butterfly Locs can vary based on a lot of things. If you want to do it yourself at home, it shouldn’t cost you more than $50-$100 based on the products you use.
If you choose to visit a stylist to get them done, then it would cost you around $180-$250 depending on your area and the demand of your stylist.
If you choose to do additional stylings like hair extensions or longer Butterfly Locs or add accessories, then it can cost you up to $300.
How long do Butterfly Locs take?
Answer: Doing Butterfly Locs is a time-consuming process. The duration depends on the length of hair that you are going for.
Usually, for short to medium Locs, it shouldn’t take more than 3-5 hours. And if you want long Butterfly Locs, then it can even take up to 7 hours.
Do Butterfly Locs grow your hair?
Answer: Butterfly Locs don’t hamper the natural growth of hair. But it doesn’t facilitate it either. So even after you’ve done your locs, you still have to maintain proper scalp and hair care regularly.
Do Butterfly Locs damage hair?
Answer: Butterfly Locs are hairstyles that protect your natural curls and curves. They help your hair retain strength and minimize hair loss and breakage. So the answer is, NO, Butterfly Locs DO NOT damage your hair.
Can you swim with Butterfly Locs?
Answer: Of course, you can swim with your Butterfly Locs! Splashing locs into water doesn’t damage them, you’ll only have to make sure that there isn’t any chemical in the water.
What’s the difference between Crochet Locs and Faux Locs?
Answer: Crochet Locs are usually installed into your natural hair as extended locs. On the other hand, Faux Locs are extensions too, but they wrap around your natural braided hair which makes up a firmer grip than the previous.
So Faux Locs are supposed to last longer than Crochet, but the takeaway is that Crochet Locs are easier to remove.
What are Bohemian Goddess Locs?
Answer: Bohemian Goddess Locs are basically Faux Locs that are styled with a Bohemian touch. These styles are usually unconventional and casual-looking but aesthetically soothing. Butterfly Locs also embody Bohemian or Boho aesthetic values.
What is the difference between Butterfly Locs and Goddess Locs?
Answer: The major difference between these two lies at the end of the hair. Goddess Locs contain wavy hair at the end of every Faux Locs, while Butterfly Locs have concise and uniform ends.
Are Butterfly Locs Crochet?
Answer: Butterfly Locs can be made using the Crochet method. The positive side is that you’ll require less time styling and removing, and little care since this would be a temporary style.
The negative side is that this will protect your hair less than other Butterfly Locs methods, it’ll last less time and it might accidentally come off if pulled roughly.
Final VerdictYou’ve reached the concluding point of this article. We’ve delicately composed this article so that it can cater to your every need and satisfy any queries you might have regarding the Butterfly Locs.
Our verdict on Butterfly Locs is very positive because this is indeed a low-maintenance hairstyle with beautiful styling outcomes.
It is also a hairstyle for every occasion, and you can easily decorate your existing style for parties or big events. The only downside would be the removal because it often turns out to be a hectic and lengthy process.
Overall, the Butterfly Locs are delightfully charming and appealing styles that we recommend you to go for, regardless of your hair type and length.