OK yall this is a quick review of a shampoo I just received from Bucks County Soap Factory: Dreadlocks Shampoo. I bought the Tea Tree & Rosemary shampoo bar. Ingredients per their website: saponified oils of organic coconut oil, organic unrefined first press extra virgin olive oil, organic castor bean oil, beer, china white clay, organic essential oils of tea tree and rosemary. Tea tree's benefits are: treatment for oily and dry scalp, dandruff, itchiness, and has antimicrobial/septic/viral properties. Rosemary's benefits include all the above plus it helps stimulate hair growth.

First impression was WOW the scent smelled beautifully and strong, but not overwhelming. It looks like a standard bar of shampoo, but is imprinted with "LOCS". I give the company itself 4 thumbs up for two reasons: 1) A hand written thank you note on the receipt shows the company truly appreciates its customers and 2) They included a free sample of Dragon's Blood.

Like all shampoo bars the lathering of the soap is poor in comparison to chemical shampoos, but that is to be expected and is actually a good sign. Before I washed my hair suffered from small amounts of dandruff due to dry scalp (some dandruff is due to excessive oils). As I washed I could feel the dandruff on my scalp becoming oily again, which means the shampoo was doing it's job to lift dirt/dandruff off and away from the scalp. The first wash didn't seem to do the trick so I repeated. The 2nd time my scalp felt bare of all excess oils/dandruff. The shampoo left my hair feeling oily, but as my hair dried it felt moisturized not oily.

A day later is when I notice negative symptoms of the shampoo. I wake up the next morning and I notice more dandruff on my pillow than usual. I inspect my hair and scalp in the mirror and notice more than normal amounts of dandruff. My scalp also felt noticeably tight, which is an indicator of dryness (in my case anyways). I'm not too sure what went wrong (besides the drying effect of the shampoo of course). Upon further research of Tea Tree oil I learned that it is a strong astringent and if not used correctly it can make dry skin even drier.

Though I am unsatisfied with the results from this shampoo I still am a fan of the company and their other products...just not this one. If you have oily skin this shampoo is perfect, but if you have dry skin use this shampoo sparingly or not at all.

& EDM

- Kid

PS- So "medically" dandruff is not the same as a dry scalp. So I guess what I have isn't necessarily dandruff, but just dry skin, which can be caused by dehydration, excessive washing, washing with water not cool enough, LACK OF SECRETED OILS (common problem in the black community), or change in the seasons.

We've all got one. As soon as we decide to dread an show some dread progress people begin to call us something besides our name. I have been called damn near everything from Marley or Bob Marley, Jesus, and of course Rastaman, but my all time favorite is definitely Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons. I personally don't like nicknames, in general, but the Sideshow Bob made me laugh. I wanted to hear any nicknames people on here have been called.

This was going to begin as a status update, but there were too many words waiting impatiently to be spoken. Yesterday marked five months of me dreading naturally...freeform, whatever have you. Some comments I received are encouraging, while others are very discouraging. In the beginning, several times my morale faltered due to negative comments and I considered cutting my hair especially when the critic was my mother. However, as the days, weeks and months passed I found no need to acquire others' approval for a choice that I made for myself. As I say this, I remember replying to a "why did you dread" post stating that I was looking for a hairstyle that was cheap and required little to no maintenance, being that going to the barber shop was $15-20 every two weeks. I also replied that low maintenance speaks true to my personality, because I am a "laid back" type of person. The latter response, at the time, I gave as a superficial reason to dread, because everybody else said it. Now I realize just how true of a statement it was, but I stripped it of complexity and depth. I am dreading as a testament to me, myself, and I. Dreads in general are associated with people who are laid back, but freeform dreads go an extra step and scream uniqueness. I look at salon dreads and see no difference from one person to the next. Beauticians, locticians, stylist all are taught how to "form" dreads as if learned from a textbook. Therefore salon dreads have a textbook look to them and like textbook answers there is little to no room for the individual to shine. Freeform dreads form based on the person's sleeping style e.g. those who sleep on their left side form locs on their left side faster, the specific manner one washes their hair, and the greatest determinate of a dreads formation is the individual's hair type and pattern. Hair type without a doubt homage to one's heritage/ethnicity, however each person's hair is unique down to the very DNA within each strand. Even each dread is unique in its shape, length and thickness. Some of my dreads are flat, while others are conical. Some are older, therefore longer, while others are newly formed from new growth. Some of my dreads joined at the tips and formed weird loops. Some of my dreads are single, some chose to be faithful and married, while others are freakier and chose to get down and nasty with three four or five other dreads. This would never happen with salon dreads. When I had salon dreads I was unhappy with the parts in my head and the width of the dreads, but when all is said and done I was most unhappy that my hair was a creation by another and I could never be comfortable with this fact. This entire rant was inspired by a compliment I received a few days ago. The lady didn't only say she liked my dreads, but she also commented on how unique my hair was. I'm not sure how to end this, but I guess my point is, if your a new dread and people are knocking you down for the way you decided to begin your dread journey keep pushing. Dreads are part of you, your personality, and your individuality.

- SoulDread

One thing every dreadhead encounters are congos. They're usually very beautiful and organic...,but I have a huge beaver tail out of the back of my head. I haven't separated any of my baby dreads, but I'm not sure about the beaver tail. It dries slowly, it can itch sometimes, and I've seen pictures of beaver tail dreads and they aren't that great looking. On the other hand, they are completely organic and sometimes I feel like separating should be avoided. What do other people think? To separate or not to separate?

After running in the hot, blazing sun yesterday I decided to wash my hair for the second time of the day. I've done this before and previously had no problems besides itchy scalp possibly from dry scalp. Yesterday was different. After my hair air dried I noticed the tips of my dreads were white. I looked closer in the mirror, played with them a bit and noticed they released a powdery substance. Now I'm assuming it's salt from my sweat, but if it were salt it would've dissolved when washed ( I use Dr. Bronner's Magic soap Tea Tree and Eucalyptus). I don't think Dr. Bronner's would leave residue. I'm so confused and upset. I'm black so my hair is really dark and the white tips are really noticeable. Help somebody!!!!