Comment

bands and musicians Comment by Bali Dread on November 9, 2012 at 12:27am

cool

crafty crafters Comment by Megan Raube on October 26, 2012 at 4:29pm

im with Chels, too.

i work in a salon mostly because it's safer than at home or their homes.  it's also a nice way to help stamp out the myths and prejudices because people are naturally interested in things they don't understand and in the right circumtances this curiousity will outweigh any feelings of defense or anger.

"When any prevailing prejudice is attacked, the wise will consider, and leave the narrow-minded to rail with thoughtless vehemence at innovation.

                                       "MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT, A Vindication of the Rights of Women

I do caution against clockwise root crochet "root flipping" (as well as twisting) and will indead create stress/tensions breaks at the root and ramdomly throughout. I primarily use a crochet hook to pull in strays to enhance strength, managability, flexibility and general "tightness". this is something anybody can do at home, but does take some time, practice, and skill to accomplish without having a "stitched" look.

Knowledge is power:  Your hair is made of protiens and is the same stuff as your skin and nails, like any organic substance it is subject to molecular wear and breakdown.  Shampoos were designed to clean dirt off the hair add necessary proteins back into the hair that life and environmental stressors have damaged.  Like-wise conditioners are intended to improve the texture or condition of the hair, generally reintroducing the moisture that has been stripped out or environmentally wicked off keeping the hair flexible and not brittle.

Be careful to look for all-natural products and avoid the gimicks - truth is most products designed for "dreadlocks" and hair in general don't help, are too drying (stripping the hair of its natural oils), and/or were designed to make money off the wanna-be's.  Avoid over moisturizing the hair as i can cause heaviness(greasy), build-up, or cause the locks to loosen (generally a concern for less curly and caucasian hair types)

i have been locking my hair since 1999, and have heard every mean comment anyone can think of.  I have been harrassed by all ethnicities and individual ignorancies.  I have been turned down for a number of jobs i have been highly qualified for based soley on my appearance, and have been let go from others sometimes because a higher up had predjudice.  I have also had many people ask me questions and leave more informed an more accepting.

Furtermore , No employer can limit your religion but they do have the right to be selective about the people they chose to pay/support as you hold this right as well.  Do NOT be a victim of own circumstances, have integrity and self-respect.  Your life, your choices, how you react in a situation is your own responsibility.  It is never too late to improve and you are never too old to learn.  Life happens, be grateful for it!  There are many paths to chose, but no respect in self-victimization or predjudice. 

"I happen to think that the singular evil of our time is prejudice. It is from this evil that all other evils grow and multiply. In almost everything I've written there is a thread of this: a man's seemingly palpable need to dislike someone other than himself."

ROD SERLING, Los Angeles Times, 1967

This forum is intended to help fellow humans, yes?  Avoid becoming a locked elitist, it's deplorable and self-degrading.

live simply, so that others may simply live :)

Comment by Saraptha on June 3, 2012 at 3:05pm

I went to a salon to start my dreads.  The first trip they sectioned the hair and did a twist and backcomb mix. I adamantly refused the wax, so she put a gel in it and told me to palm roll it. Add the gel lightly if I needed to and not wash it for 3 weeks until I came back for my roots to get twisted. That trip was $175. I went back in two weeks to show where they were knotting and looping in the beginning but the oil was causing them to not dread anymore - was told "it's a process." At 3 weeks I went in for the roots, they washed it, shredded through the baby dreads with a rat tail comb. *shudder* I was turned away so couldn't see the process they were doing.  I realized at one point I had knots of hair coming out and falling to the floor, and asked about it and was told that she was pulling the loops out, that she had put them there so the hair would have something to nap to but it was doing good now so I didn't need the loops.  I told her I liked the loops because that's how I knew it was locking.  She said they needed to be stretched out to keep the dreads straight.  I said something about all the hair coming out and was told it was dead hair being removed.  I hoped that being the professional she knew something I didn't.  When I left, I had no loops or knots, only sectioned twists from that second trip which was $75.  She put gel and tons of hairspray on it that time saying how great they were doing and see how hard and firm they are (lol, from the hair spray I am sure).  I was told to come back in 2-3 weeks and after that I'd be able to wash it on my own if I wanted to, although she said some people don't wash it until they come back in for a retest on there roots.  That was on a Saturday and by Sunday they had gone soft and the twists were opening up and separating.  Disaster, and the hair had been literally shredded from the inside out I'm sure with that horrible comb. I thankfully then found this website and read a lot of information.  A friend came over the next day and we twist and ripped some of the sections that could be saved, about 3 or 4 still had a knot in it that the comb didn't get so we couldn't twist and rip those.   The product that was still on my hair turned our hands brown. I saw the thread with the baking soda deep cleanse recipe so I used it the next morning with the acv rinse and the water looked like I'd given my hair a mud bath :P A lot of the twist and rip I had done even came unraveled, but I hope it still did some good because the sections are holding really well for it to only be a week.  I have used the baking soda shampoo twice now this week and they are going slow but strong. Lots of firm hard knots. 

$250... lots of shredded and broken hair... and a months worth of progress.  It was a small amount of money compared to some I've seen on here so I'm thankful for that but still just a waste, and the damage :( I posted pics of it to try to help deter and encourage others to just stay away. I thought at first my salon experience would be different because the lady was so nice, and she didn't use wax, AND she backcombed in the twists.  It all should have worked fine.  And in the first couple of weeks they actually were knotting and looping while in the twists.  The return trip where she shredded through them just ruined it though.  At least I got rid of the harsh sections because I washed it all out after that :)

Just in the week I've been dreading at home on my own it has been so much better than the salon. SO much better. Everything she did I did at home with my friend in less time and much less effort after she messed it up. I thought I would save trouble by letting a professional do it who knew how and what they were doing. I was so wrong.  My hair already knows what it's doing, I just tortured it :/

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on March 15, 2012 at 4:57pm

chuels its refreshing to see a salon/loctician warning against goingto locvticians

ive seen so much damage from retwisting hair loss  balding  dreads broken.. same from crochet interlocking and ..eww waxing  so many salon disasters

funny thing being some of the more well known ones do the worse jobs

and those who avoid salons and loctiacians all together have amazing dreads

Comment by Chels ;) on June 13, 2011 at 3:47pm

nice! im glad you put this up here! i live in medium size town...i am a stylist and i do work ina salon, i also love helping people start their dreads. I cant tell you how much repair work i have done with people going to other salons. my main goal with bringing dreads into the salon was to educate people the right way on how to take care of their locks. im so sick of scammers giving locticians like me a bad name. its embarassing what these people will do to hair, some of them having been in the hair industry over 15 years.

Comment by Loc Doctor Liz on April 19, 2011 at 11:15pm

In answer to Soaring Eagle;

 depending on what is desired by the wearer and what works best for the hair texture.  Our goal is to start dreads so that they will grow naturally into strong healthy dreads. We rely on lots of elbow grease in starting dreads. In general, we use a refined backcombing technique to form dreads. Some are comb twist, and others are wraps. We DON'T do dread perms, or crochet that damages the structure. We encourage non-reliance on wax, but we respect our clients choice in that matter.  We educate our clients on how to take proper care of them so they are not dependent on us at all. I even do a little hand holding for some during the early rough stages when the dreads are forming.  We do maintenance with the same respect to strengthen, but not disrupt the natural formation of the loc.

 

In answer to Matthew:

Thanks, man.  I began doing hair as an Aveda trained styilist in 1992 and let my hair dread in 2001.  Natural hair and products is what I've been about from the get go.  I appreciate that you are not lumping us in with the "salons that do dreads" because we are more like a group of misfit artists who happen to be licensed hairstylists with a love for dreads and taking care of people.

Comment by Matthew West on April 13, 2011 at 12:32am

Well done, Liz, very informative. My first experience was at a salon and the experience was "unique" to say the least, and I have to say that I walked throught the door and asked plenty of questions (which I don't think very many people do). I'm glad you give complete details about salons in your post it is really important info!

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on February 10, 2011 at 1:01am

liz what techniques do u use

Comment by Loc Doctor Liz on February 10, 2011 at 12:54am

I may babble a little, but I'm excited to find a good dread advice site. There's alot of people out there posting uneducated opinions that send some people off in a bad direction and I'm glad to hear alot of the same things I try to tell my clients.

As the owner of a dreadlock studio (we don't even like to refer to ourselves as salon) who often is faced with the repair/reconstruction of many dread-tastrophies from both people who went to a stylist in a salon or tried to do it themselves or get friends try to help. That's not to say I don't see my share of people who have properly locked hair and we just continue it's journey. Cost is what scares most. We really aren't that expensive, most people say we should charge more. We don't have to because we keep our overhead low by having a home and business under one roof. We are a fully licensed salon & business and employ dreadlocked stylists who know the ins and outs of locs.

I am in agreement with you on your disgust with salon dreadlocks. Previous to opening Loc Doctor Studio I worked for years in an "edgy" salon. I had dreads, alot of my clients had dreads. The high end salon pricing and fast paced "edgy" environment proved to be a bad fit for my growing dread clientele were important to me, so I created the studio in my home (finished garage). I have become known through word of mouth because we do good work and are honest, and pleasant.

We aren't dirty or a scam dread salon. Parents can bring their children here and they do. We are just a group of creative talents who love all things dreadlock. Our slogan "Dreadlocks for all Mankind" means everyone is welcome here. We focus on what our clients want and always open to learning more. We want to know more studios/loctitions like us. You are our community, not our competition and we have plenty of dreadlove to share.

Loc Doctor Liz - Owner
Kenzie Cooper - Best Assistant Ever
Casey Shannon - Assistant Manager/comic relief/mr.mom
Courtney Baker - Stylist

Comment by Violet Lehew-Fletcher on October 3, 2010 at 3:11am

I believe, after reading all of the above, that my "Salon" meets all the requirements of a good "Salon". I do have a business license, but I work from my home. I only use products that are requested and I offer a lot of education.

BTW, Elastic bands can cause damage to hair. Your hair can grow around the elastic, it can break the hair, it can stop your hair from dreading further

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on April 10, 2010 at 3:09pm

your dreads are just babies
how would u lose anything by alowing your dreads to become healthy?
dreads require no work no effort and thats the beauty of them to continualy do a harmful thing to maintain them when its completely unesacary and counterproductive just makes no sence

Comment by Asian Kaleb on April 10, 2010 at 3:03pm

The other half pays up the ass and hopes that person knows what they're doing! I'm seriously considering switching it up, but i don't want to loose what i already have, and i haven't experienced any weak spot yet.....

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on April 9, 2010 at 10:29am

well could get week spots and u said 1/2 what about the other 1/2?

id just stop doing it from here on out and you'll probly be ok

Comment by Asian Kaleb on April 9, 2010 at 10:24am

that's kinda why i said their healthy and i let them go loose. Thnx for trying to answer my question though, faster reply's than other places. And yes I've read that people who generally get interlock done their hair falls out, no argument there but i found that over half of those people have it done by a friend with locks and problems start to occur in a couple of months (rejecting and weak points) because I'm 9months and have yet to find any weak point right now, do i have to worry about weak point developing in dreads that already appear locked. I don't use wax or stay in hair products. Thanx again SE

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on April 9, 2010 at 9:58am

stop interlocking and are you still tnr'ing ? tnr should be done ONCE anything after thats just ubdoing progress
its probly ok to redo the tips once ot ywice if they unravel but more then thats pointless cause odviosly they want to stay that way

interlocking creates weak spots, the more you do it the more weak spoys you get causing a wek dread
often people find they make theyre dreads fall right off (on any given day opur sites found by at least 5-10 people searching terms like "why did my dreads break off after interlocking" or "did interlocking cause my weak roots" etc the "look" isnt worth the risk

your forcing a dread through a gap in the roots, twisting the roots too tightly causing tension and making a weak gap
if you got 9 inches just stop interlocking the more natural growth will be healthy and the worse thing that will happen is someday you loose the ends off some

Comment by Asian Kaleb on April 9, 2010 at 9:40am

That's the thing, and correct me if I'm not right (hear to learn), but the main problem with interlock is that you restrict the movement. I get mine done probably once every 45 days, tnr in the mean time, and my dreads are healthy and strong man, like i can pull on em and have no worries when i go up to my cottage walking around the brush. their about 8-9 inches, i had them done when my hair was just under a foot long. Yes' they're loose, and mainly chose interlock because of the look, i know your all natural but do you have any advise for me, there's little on my kind.

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on April 9, 2010 at 9:19am

just dont interlock anymore i hope its short? if so if the ends fall off someday no big loss
the more interlocked it is (and the tighter they did it) the worse it will be but if its fairly loose it will probly be ok

Comment by Asian Kaleb on April 9, 2010 at 9:12am

hmm, ill try that, but mine's coming along fine and all we have is a salt pool (not chlorine), ill post pic's soon. Im excited that i found such a well put together site, thanx for the insight eagle, i think i need all the help i can get considering ima interlock lol

dread gurus Comment by ☮ soaring eagle ॐ on April 8, 2010 at 10:11pm

how does salt add color unless your using a ton of salt? salts not bad on hair if rinsed off but its lemon juice often added to salt mixes that sun bleaches hair, not salt

Comment by Asian Kaleb on April 8, 2010 at 10:04pm

My salon encourages salt, why is salt so bad. It adds colour to your hair in the summer, if your looking for a natural bleached effect. It's also helps bind a dread without the restricting movement, a problem associated with wax or gels. I understand the whole dry hair itchy scalp concern, but it's called washing your dreads and knowing your head/scalp from your hair.

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