Forum Activity for @niko

I need some tips about henna!!

Dreadlock Styles and Dread Styling

Often if you use a totally natural henna, you can play around with the colour by using different teas and oils. Henna dries your hair out quite a bit. Before having dreads I would henna my hair, wash it out, then spend that night or the next with a concoction on my head of plain youghurt, egg white, coconut oil, citrus.... anyhow, you get the picture.. this nasty recipe on my head to condition it (and it really works!). But since you DON'T want to condition dreads, I guess just use henna and maybe smooth a little bit of coconut oil for the day. There are a ton of sites for henna (hair, tattoos, dyes, etc), I'm sure you'll find one that can help you

I need some tips about henna!!

Dreadlock Styles and Dread Styling

Hey there, before dreads I dyed my hair with henna all the time. Here's what I used, for copper-ish hair, but this brand has all of the natural hair colours, made of henna:

http://www.theincensestore.com/online_store/henna-hair-colouring-powder-copper.cfm

I recommend it,I love the colours that this product (and its other colours) produce, but my hair stylist once told me not to because the colouring has added metallics (for the colour) which aren't necessarily good for your hair.

So it's probably best to use real, fully natural henna (which can turn your hair from shades of light brown to dark maroon, depending on your hair type...it's kind of an experiment every time).

I haven't tried henna in my dreads yet because I'm worried that since it is such a grainy, powdered substance it will be harder to wash it out. I had a hard enough time trying to get the tiny grains out of my NORMAL hair, haha, and would spend at least 45 minutes in the shower...and then some.

I hope this helps a little...let me know how your henna experience goes, I'd love to know!

Hello there+ Questions!

Introduce Yourself

haha Okay I will, next time I go swimming!

Hello there+ Questions!

Introduce Yourself

Excellent! For the pool, I am concerned because my head looks and feels like a bird's nest after swimming- it is rather unpleasant and impossible to manage (like a great wet ball of knotted yarn, haha). But I'll be more careful about this and be sure to sort through the little dreads and whatnot.

Thank you SE!

Hello there+ Questions!

Introduce Yourself

Hi, I'm Niko

I've spent all week looking through this site and learning about dreads and everyone's experiences. VERY helpful, thanks! But I have a few questions that I can't really find any specific answers to....

-When washing my hair, it's being said here to soak it (with baking soda, oils, etc). Does this mean I shouldn't put my head under the shower and instead use a bucket or something? What about working through my hair with my fingers, as is always done? Can I finger-comb it a bit, since I can't use a brush afterwards?

-Will swimming (in a chlorinated pool) negatively affect the natural transformation of my hair? My hair gets EXTREMELY knotted and unmanageable after swimming- I don't know how I could NOT brush it somehow...

-I have very thin, very curly-unruly hair. Will having thin, fragile hair (and not a lot of it, at that) make weak dreads or ones that don't hold easily?

I am so excited to finally be starting this exciting experience, thanks!

Niko

updated by @niko: 01/13/15 09:09:37PM

How did you start your dreads? All in, did some tester dreads, did one dread first, etc?

Dreading Methods

I've always really liked dreads. I'll see someone with dreads and my mouth will go :O

My hair's curly so my dreads are starting relatively quickly I think, but I have put in a few tnr dreads for fun, and to compare the difference. Maybe I'll stick to one or the other, maybe both, I don't know yet. I'm just having fun with this whole experience- despite what others say to me....but at least my roommate says I'm "cute as a teddybear" when she sees me sitting in front of my mirror, examining my little knots with a smile...

i'm pretty set on starting my natural dreads, but it just seems too easy...

Dreading Methods

woaaah, scary! I don't want that to happen... Okay I am taking them out right now! I will try to find some beads...Thanks SE!

soaring eagle said:

ninono no elastics at all evder

bad idea

just seperate anything that tries to join it

elastics after just a ciuple days will undo knots in a week they can become swallowed entirely they can melyt they can rot if u must ue anything use a bead never elastics

thety can cause indentations that are weak points too

take em oit right away

i'm pretty set on starting my natural dreads, but it just seems too easy...

Dreading Methods

Is it a good idea to put those mini hair elastics around the sorta/baby-dreads that are formed? There are some locks/baby dreads that I really like, in size and location etc, and I want to keep it that way, so I've put an elastic on each to keep them. Bad idea?

scalp issues

Dreads Hair and Scalp Health

Out of the 2-3 times that I was my hair a week, only once do I do my mix of baking soda and tea tree, because I find that the tea tree dries my scalp and often the bs stays put even though I rinse thoroughly, and it makes my head itchy and bs falls out like dandruff -.- the other times I just use water and vinegar, and then spray my hair with a teeny bit oflavenderand jojoba. Loooove it