i believe victor started with combs.  this is week 4 shampoo and week 10 twist respectively.

and the big reveal...

hopefully these photos demo to you that after you shampoo your hair, your new locks can look a hot mess (especially when you start with combs/palm-rolls).  it will appear as if they've come undone completely.  don't panic.  1. it's just a hair style.  2. all hair styles need to be maintained on some level.   3. start twisting and don't let it discourage you from shampooing.  they're supposed to come undone (especially when you have combs, palms) and they're bound to be frizzy.

nocturne1980 offered some sound advice but i want to add a bit more info.  having been locked myself for a decade in april...yay! and 5 years prior to that going natural in adulthood, not to mention having cared for many natural/lock'd heads of hair, i hope i can offer a bit of clarity....

There is no magic product IMHO. You just have to find what works for you. I've been locked for nearly 10 years now and it's been my experience that what works well for some, may not work so great for others. Just find you a great shampoo, leave-in water based conditioner, oils...

actually there is.  i think the best people to listen to are those who have dermatitis (in some form) or those who suffer from conditions such as eczema in adulthood.  reason being, these are generally dry skin conditions and MOST folks with ethnic hair types, whether the hair is in good condition or bad, we all tend to suffer from dryness in some form.  so by paying attention to what those on the fringes are doing, we have a better idea of what to do when you're somewhere in the middle.

any old shampoo won't do.  most OTC shampoos are designed to strip oils from your hair.  reason being, naturally straight hair gets oilier faster than type 4-5 hair.  think about it, what's the first thing you want to do after a shampoo and condition?  add oil!  so you're adding what your shampoo just stripped away and it removed every ounce of oil on purpose!  the shampoo is manfactured for type 1-2 hair and that ain't you!  wouldn't it be better to use a shampoo that cleanses but doesn't strip?  in the end, it'll reduce your need for oils and seal in moisture.

sulfate-free and lauryl sulfate shampoos are best but they're hard to find OTC.  these are mild shampoos that won't strip your hair...leaving it dry and exposed.  within a month of switching to naani's naturals sulfate-free shampoo, my dermatitis went bye bye and i haven't had any problems with it since 2003.  so i'm a big advocate of these types of shampoos for those of you suffer from dry scalp, scratch and/or grease your scalp. 

on a side note...for some reason, in "African" communities throughout the world, we've come to believe that greasing and scratching our scalps is normal.  in reality, this is a sign that your scalp is unhealthy...or worse, that you're allergic to something you're using on your hair.  you shouldn't be doing this.  i offer these suggestions therefore, not to sell you on natural products but to change a mindset that makes us believe that our traditions are "normal."  there's nothing normal about caked dandruff or having to add vats of oil/grease to your hair and scalp.  but i've digressed...

oils are a toss up.  oils, for those of us with dermatitis or dry skin/scalp, is an expensive, ineffective idea.  they seemingly work but there's a better option.  it's the difference between using baby oil and vaseline on your skin.  now the baby oil will do it's job but for some of us, we'll be ashen in a few hours.  so how do you get the effects of vaseline without the greasiness? 

use natural butters.  natural butters seal in moisture and unlike most OTC oils which are best used to add sheen to loose hair that is heat/chemically processed, they lasts longer.  unlike vaseline, they integrate with our skin's natural chemistry better and are less greasy. 

OTC oils are cheaper but for most of us, we end up using them because they smell good and they're cheap.  if you choose a product based on ease, price and smell good, you're selling yourself short.  if you're applying an oil more than once a week, it's not working.  for some reason, most of us don't get that so we just apply more of the product that isn't working. it's madness!

lesson:   the butter is more expensive, but does its job and works longer.  in the end, the cheap comes out expensive.  so use your money and time wisely.

leave-ins are bad for locks.  it's a pretty good practice to avoid using leave-ins when you have locks.  if you're going to condition, deep condition.  leave-ins are designed to leave stuff in and that can cause problems for some people in the long-run.  plus there are better alternatives to leave-ins.

I stick with simple products like organic extra virgin coconut oil (rarely I might put a few drops of rosemary oil in this)

coconut is a light oil that is best for normal-oily hair, skin and scalp.  if you have suffer from dryness, it's best to use a oils that has more....weight to it.   coconut isn't one of them. 

olive is for extremely dry skin for example...but over doing it with olive can lead to flaking.  sesame is great for oily hair and scalp.  jojoba oil works wonders on normal-dry skin. but jojoba isn't an oil you want to use "neat."  like olive, you can get too much of a good thing and decrease the oil's effectiveness because it may end up resolving problem a, while creating problem b.

this is why MOST of the oils you buy OTC are a combination of oils.  when you're making your own concoctions at home, know what you're using and why.  in the end, it's not as if your hair is going to fall out if you're getting it all wrong BUT, you can inhibit growth, you can encourage dryness, oilyness, flakes, etc... 

in the end, you should be striving for "normal."  normal means, your hair and scalp don't NEED anything beyond cleansing and the occassional deep condition.  anything you add/remove thereafter is just normal styling stuff...gel to hold, oils to add more sheen, etc, etc...