Welcome. I'm glad barrellady posted my vid. But it may be easier to see the damage in a bigger window. You can check it out on my page, or under the "featured vids" link.
And like said before, going to someone who "knows what they're doing" isn't usually a good call. Most "professionals" don't have a clue about how to grow healthy locks. They only know what they learned from others who go to salons. Which is bad advice. People who go to salons to "create" locks only know the methods that will damage their hair and cause themselves to go bald quickly. Even though just about every one of them will deny this fact.
Check out the dreaducation page, and the timeline pages to see what the process should look like.
Then, look through the recovery forums to see what others are going through after using those destructive methods
Hi Emily, welcome to the community and to your future journey. As Soaring Eagle (founder of this site) said, salons are bad for dreads. So many members who have gone to one regret not having the patience to grow their own, they don't have an attachment/love for them the same as having them grow with time and patience. Most salons (even if you say not to) will add wax or gels, they will all of a sudden pull out a hook and tidy up their work. This causes the locs to have no strenght. the gels and wax cause water to be retained inside of them, causing smells and mold etc. If you only want dreads for a short while, then what the heck, go that route but no they won't last, they will break off and smell. Palm Rolling also damages roots, Look at what happen to Baba Fats because he palm rolled in the beginning stages, see his broken dreads:
You can grow your own, just start off by not brushing any more, in a few days or a couple of weeks you will see your hair has sectioned where it wants to be. Then you can decide if you want to let them dread freeform, by not doing anything, or by doing the Twist & Rip (T&R) method which is the second best. Backcombing dreads is damaging to the hair, I don't recommend this way but many have used it. But whatever method you use, let your hair separate naturally into sections first. Where the hair meets the scalp will be the size of your mature dreads. So a one inch section will be a one inch thick dread in the future. Letting them separate on their own will give you random sizes too. Anything larger than one inch will be fat congos, so you may want to divide any if they are larger than that. You have hard water where you live, so your choices of a dread shampoo or bar is limited. A member, Vickie, makes fantastic shampoos that work in hard water, DreadlockShampoo.com. Dr.Bronners will leave a residue behind, as will many others due to your water type.
So what do you need to do, regardless of your method? Wash 2-3 times a week, separate any sections that are trying to join on to each other and sit back and enjoy the ride you will be on. If you have any questions, just ask us.....Peace
Welcome. Check out the dreaducation page first. Then look through the timeline forums to see what the first weeks/months should look like.
In case you aren't aware, it takes about a full year for locks to mature. The first 4-8 months will be extremely messy and unruly. So don't freak out and think you need to force them to tighten. They will do so on their own. Anything you do to force it to happen actually does excessive damage, weakens your locks, delays progress, and in the end, shortens their life.
whew so glad we saved ya in time
Welcome. I'm glad barrellady posted my vid. But it may be easier to see the damage in a bigger window. You can check it out on my page, or under the "featured vids" link.
And like said before, going to someone who "knows what they're doing" isn't usually a good call. Most "professionals" don't have a clue about how to grow healthy locks. They only know what they learned from others who go to salons. Which is bad advice. People who go to salons to "create" locks only know the methods that will damage their hair and cause themselves to go bald quickly. Even though just about every one of them will deny this fact.
Check out the dreaducation page, and the timeline pages to see what the process should look like.
Then, look through the recovery forums to see what others are going through after using those destructive methods
Hi Emily, welcome to the community and to your future journey. As Soaring Eagle (founder of this site) said, salons are bad for dreads. So many members who have gone to one regret not having the patience to grow their own, they don't have an attachment/love for them the same as having them grow with time and patience. Most salons (even if you say not to) will add wax or gels, they will all of a sudden pull out a hook and tidy up their work. This causes the locs to have no strenght. the gels and wax cause water to be retained inside of them, causing smells and mold etc. If you only want dreads for a short while, then what the heck, go that route but no they won't last, they will break off and smell. Palm Rolling also damages roots, Look at what happen to Baba Fats because he palm rolled in the beginning stages, see his broken dreads:
You can grow your own, just start off by not brushing any more, in a few days or a couple of weeks you will see your hair has sectioned where it wants to be. Then you can decide if you want to let them dread freeform, by not doing anything, or by doing the Twist & Rip (T&R) method which is the second best. Backcombing dreads is damaging to the hair, I don't recommend this way but many have used it. But whatever method you use, let your hair separate naturally into sections first. Where the hair meets the scalp will be the size of your mature dreads. So a one inch section will be a one inch thick dread in the future. Letting them separate on their own will give you random sizes too. Anything larger than one inch will be fat congos, so you may want to divide any if they are larger than that. You have hard water where you live, so your choices of a dread shampoo or bar is limited. A member, Vickie, makes fantastic shampoos that work in hard water, DreadlockShampoo.com. Dr.Bronners will leave a residue behind, as will many others due to your water type.
So what do you need to do, regardless of your method? Wash 2-3 times a week, separate any sections that are trying to join on to each other and sit back and enjoy the ride you will be on. If you have any questions, just ask us.....Peace
welcome but nooo do not use knottyboy dont palm roll either
u sauy u want to go on a journey to be natural so why wouldnt u drwad naturaly/
but knottyboy is a scam and destroys dreads i hope u didnt buy a kit if u did send it back get a refund!
Welcome to the community, you sure came to the right site to learn all about dreadlocks the proper and healthy way....Peace
I was the one who told him to join the site lol. welcome to the site David
Welcome. Check out the dreaducation page first. Then look through the timeline forums to see what the first weeks/months should look like.
In case you aren't aware, it takes about a full year for locks to mature. The first 4-8 months will be extremely messy and unruly. So don't freak out and think you need to force them to tighten. They will do so on their own. Anything you do to force it to happen actually does excessive damage, weakens your locks, delays progress, and in the end, shortens their life.
welcome howed your freinds start be sure to read the dreaducation page 1st
how were u thinking of starting
natural is the best way by far
Welcome to the community, you sure came to the right site to learn all about dreadlocks the proper and healthy way....Peace
I was the one who told him to join the site lol. welcome to the site David