After you’ve decided that you’re ready to begin your loc journey, the next step is determining how to part your hair for your starter locs. The way that you part your hair for locs is formally known as your parting system.
Note: You want to take careful consideration of your parting system because it is the foundation for your locs and is essentially the last time that you will be parting your hair— like ever (at least while you have locs). I encourage you to explore each parting system in more detail to determine which technique would be best for your hair.
Square Parts for Locs
The square parting system is one of the most well-known ways to section your hair to start locs, and it’s really easy to do. This parting system can be executed by a professional or by yourself if you chose to start your own locs. However, in either instance, you do have to be cautious of how the squares are placed on your head. If the square sections are arranged in a grid pattern, this will create straight lines for styling purposes, but a significant amount of scalp being shown when the hair is not styled— especially if you have fine hair and/or thicker locs.
Diamond Parts for Locs
The diamond parting system is one of the more advanced parting systems because you’re essentially putting diamonds on a round shape. This parting system must be executed by a professional and it not a DIY parting system. There are several benefits to using the diamond parting system on all sizes of locs. One of the benefits of using a diamond parting system is that even when your hair is pulled back in a simple ponytail it appears very intricate. This makes the diamond parting system a great option for you if you do not like to spend a lot of time with complicated styles and prefer to wear ponytails or let the locs hang down more often than not. Also, as it relates to thicker locs, a diamond parting system will show the least amount of scalp; however because you will have fewer locs the intricacy of the diamond parting system will not be as evident as with smaller locs.
Crescent (Half-Moon) Parts for Locs
The crescent parting system, also known as c-shaped parts, is most common amongst people that want to have a more natural or semi-freeform loc journey. One of the benefits of the crescent parting system is that it is fairly easy to do and it gives a natural fall to the locs regardless of what size they are. This parting system is especially great for women because the locs will fall in a way that frames the face.
Triangle parts for Locs
The triangle pattern generally gives better scalp coverage than the grid pattern and the brick-lay pattern, but a bit less coverage than the crescent pattern. The long/bottom edge of each triangle lines up with an inverted triangle in the row above/below. However, any straight line in sectioning with create less organic-looking results.