Locs in Philadelphia
Philadelphia's locs scene runs mostly through its African hair braiding studios rather than dedicated loc-only shops. The 17 salons in this directory that list locs as a service also tend to offer braiding, twists, and other protective styles, so a locs appointment here is usually booked at a shop that does a range of natural hair work rather than one that focuses on locs exclusively. That's common in a city with a strong braiding tradition, and it's worth knowing before you start calling around.
How to Choose a Loc Specialist Here
Locs are a long-term commitment, and the salon you start with matters more than usual. A service tag on a directory only confirms that a shop offers locs somewhere in its menu — it doesn't tell you whether that's the bulk of what a stylist does or one line item on a broader braiding menu. So ask directly: how many loc clients do they see in a typical week, do they handle starter locs (interlocking, two-strand, comb coils) as well as retwists and maintenance, and can they show recent photos of locs specifically rather than braiding work in general.
If you're starting locs from scratch, also ask how they plan to work with your hair texture and what retwist scheduling looks like for the first several months. That conversation is usually a better predictor of fit than a star rating alone, especially since the salons here range across ratings and review counts.
What Booking and Ratings Look Like in Philadelphia
Across the 17 Philadelphia salons in this directory that list locs as a service, every single one has a rating on file — full review coverage, which is unusually complete for a directory like this. The citywide average lands at 4.53 stars, a useful baseline as you compare options below.
Booking is the bigger gap: only about 35% of these salons take online booking through the platforms we track. For the rest, you'll need to call or message directly to get on the schedule — worth building into your timeline, since loc appointments, starter sets especially, tend to run long and fill up fast.