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hey there

before i started my locking journey, the color of my hair was a mash-up of a few colors: blonde, red, and light brown. now, my hair seems to just be plain brown. im sure it's just because of the locking process and less light coming off of myhair, making the blonde look dull..i know it's not dingy either...my locks are soft and clean and i wash every 3 days.but i was wondering if making a chamomile tea spray and being outside would help lighten up the color of my locks. i've read places that chamomile tea is good at bringing out the blonde in hair...and i thought it'd feel nice on my locks cuz my scalp gets itchy sometimes...idk i was just curious if anyone has any info feel free to let me know!!!

~peace, love, and dreadlocks~

amanda

Well hello there! Thanks for popping by

So im hopeing to get dreding by the end of the month, twist and rip mainly but possibly a bit of backcoming as well, but more on this later

I have been using baby shampoo for around 3 months now and after lots of research moving on too Baking soda wash soon. but im a bit confused as to a ratio for it. (any sujestions) and why the vingar wash after the BS? just trying to get a better understanding of things that i can before i dive in (and my friends all want to know)

Sum up to my ramblings:

Ratio for BS wash? Why the vinegar wash what does this do?

Please turn a blind eye to all my spelling and/or grammar mistakes

Safe journey till next time Blob xXx

Today marks my 99th day of natural dreading. Aside from a matted spot where too many locks locked together in "H" forms, my hair is coming along nicely. I'm not sure what to do with the matted area, and my husband (who has a much better view of it than I do) is loathe to mess with that section. So for now, I pull my dreads apart as often as needed (about once a day) and hope the back works itself out somehow. Patience, patience.

for quite some time now, my boyfriend and i have been wanting to go on the road. we want to go anywhere and everywhere! see the world with our own eyes we've been doing a ton of research and have been saving money to get ourselves the ultimate van...and as i've searched and read, i've come across a lot of information on rainbow gatherings across the country. my question, to anyone who can answer, is this: do they happen year round? is it possible to travel from gathering to gathering all across the country throughout the year? is anyone has any information on rainbow gatherings, i'd love tohear it i'd like to know anything and everything i can about it...so any information is good information.

if you know anything about living on the road/in a van, i'd love to hear it, too! i'll take all the advice i can get before we set out on our journey

~peace, love, and dreadlocks~

amanda

I initially started my dreads in 2006. A friend spent 4 hours braiding my head. I kept it covered and waxed down due to my job. They locked quickly but I found them to be very heavy. So tyme went on and in search of other ways to cover them I started buying hats. BIG MISTAKE!!!! I bought one at a yard sale. (never buy used) by this tym my locks were down past my shoulders and very very knotty

. My kingman was gone and when i spoke to him about itchy scalp he said "this sometimes happens just keep them covered and oiled if needed.

After 2 months I couldn't take it anymore i went back tp my friend only to find out i had LICE!!!! I went thru 3 months of pure H%$LL trying everything to save my locks, for cutting them to me was not an option. Everything was tried but they just kept coming back, afterresearchingol I found that they were probably laying eggs inside my dreads that couldn't b gotten too with regular treatment. so they kept rehatching.

Finally I let my sister n law treat them with a homemade solution. It was only after it was done that i was told she had injected a weed killer mix into my dreads with a hyperdemic needle. I was shocked a female to a rastaman had used chemicals?! But n the end it did kill the lice it also killed my hair.

Slowly they started falling out they became dry and brittle and nothing helped them. But still i fought to keep them. when my king returned home in 2008 he started treating them and with his help they stopped falling out but could not b healed.

Life went on and so did I just keeping them covered all the time but I noticed no new hair was coming in it was like a dead garden and nothing new was growing. I went back to skewl and got my Associates Degree in accounting. my counselor point blank told me. "you will never get a job in yourfieldwith your hair looking like that, no one will take you seriously"

My kingman told me to ignore her and toper suemy dream after several failed interview I cut my hair n August of 2010. I let my peersconvinceme that they were holding me back. Against my now husbands wishes I went to my daughter and told her to take them off quickly before i changed my mind. Not wanting me to b bald it took her awhile to pick out the front so i would have some hair and she chose the Kate Gosselin cut so that i wouldn't lookbutchered.

I cried like a baby for days i couldn't look at myself in the mirror I just felt plain naked. Like there was a piece of me gone.I take care of his dreads using natural oils when they become a little dry and i have to admit I had started to become jealous of his locks, In the back of my mind I wondered what mine would have been like had i left them alone.

Finally at my husband insistence I stopped going to the salon for trims and just let my hair grow.I keep it in a ponytail or bun because it is so fine and thin. He has been back home for 4 years and i have slowly made my way back into the rastafarian lifestyle, little things like diet and getting back to nature. Finally finding my faith again after denouncing god in 1985. I believed he had turned his back on me so I did the same thing. ( sum pain a 13 yr old child goes thru just can't b healed I struck out at the only person i could and that was god) I also still haven't found a job in myfield (so much for the western hairstyle). But I am working pt..

He came to meSundayand said have you ever thought about regrowing your locks, after a feirce hour arguement of pros and cons. I kept saying you don't have to be dread to be rasta he kept saying it's the only step you have't taken. u know the usualargumentbetween man and woman lol. in the end all i could say is "I couldn't bear to go thru the loss again" Being the kind man he is he simply said "I'm home now and I ill help you take care of them and you won't go thru that again"

10 hrs later there we sat with sore thumbs, tired backs and me with a head full of dreads thanks to the twist and rip method. I feel whole again my hair has so much body and fullness. He laughed when I tried to use a ponytail holder and said "You have way too much hair for that band now" He looks at me in a new light almost and I have a new found respect for myself.

So my advice to anyone with dreads NEVER put used items on your head not hats, wraps or anything else.

Blessed Be The Knatty Lioness

Well it's been one week and one day since I started my dread journey, but not actually. It really started a while ago, when I decided to become a more organic me. I as very sick, and after lots of pain, and finally getting my gallbladder removed, my weight yoyoing, and many many bouts of depresion I knew I needed change. First it started with cutting out the chemicals in my diet, no more soda, or artificial sweeteners. Eating whole foods, not processed garbage laced with preservatives. Then chemicals from everthing no more regular deodarent with aluminum dioxide! Then I cut out meat. Eventually somewhere in there I decided I wanted dreads, started letting my eyebrows grow back in (sigh, that's gona take a while, like 10 years of plucking them completely out and drawing them back on) and today I transitioned from vegitarian to vegan. I feel like I'm in a cave, and I'm finally seeing the way out into the sun. I feel better. My mind is clearer than continuously overstimulated with energy drinks and diet pills. I've lost nearly 50 pounds without a diet, just listening to my body and not feeding it trash. I have more energy than I've had since being a teenager. Even in my short time with my dreads i'm finding amazing. This week has been exciting, dissapointing, beautiful, ugly, wonderful and scary, and I cant wait to see what's going to happen next!

That's how it startedIntelligence replaced by chemic-o dependenceWilling to die just for an instantA simple smudge with sophisticationAlmost nothing left to do, but jump ship.What's the point of wasted potential?Every moment a calculated step to the end.I meant to step, but slipped down that ledgeImpossible, love is simple and easySpent the mental and now you can't see meMy days fusing to critical massI must leave this placeAny change of plans make hasteThe first trip was a pipedreamMirrored and alone, you'll never see my face again.

Recently I have been thinking more and more about combing out my dreads. School is starting back up soon and I don't want to go through my first year of high school getting so much hate. It would make me sad if I combed them out, but I can't imagine going through a year where all the kids hate me because of my hair.

I mean, maybe dreads just aren't for me.

Hmm..where to start.. Oh! Well first id like to say all suggestions and advice would be much appreciated ive got me one babeh dread to see how my mane handles zis lil journey before I move on to zeh whole shabang! I deed TnR and am more than excited to witness nature take it from here<3 meh lil buddie is about 5 days old, still in place nice n tight.. Some loose spots and loopdeees every now and then but they arrange themselves back to tight loose tight loose ya know workin its magic, its really a splendid thing to see :3Well, I started with about two inches of loose hair on both my roots and tips and within these days ive been left with no more than an inch on each end, progressing well I believe ive got quite a few frizzies but eventually these hairs will find a comfy place to call home:D im really pleased with how this is turning out and I absolutely cannot wait to get the rest of em done!But before I dooo zis i have a couple questions on what I caaaan do to keep them at their best health as they move along into adulthood :> (i do not want to give them any maintenance or speed up/slow down the process) because all im doing is TnR to build their lil foundations and let the rest be Wotay!Numero uno: what kinda mixtures do ya reckon would make the best wash for dees lil babies?Numero dos: is it better to sleep with my hair up to prevent as much frizzies and what not as possible? Or down?I wont be wearing my hair up.at any other time and no rubberbands for me, I want to stay away from any kindsa stress or alterations. Im not too worried about any unraveling as zis one seems to be pretty put Any other suggestions are welcome! Thank you all and I hope your days and dreads stay beautiful

I've wanted dreads for as long as I could remember. I never got them for one reason or another... I didn't know how, I was talked out of it, I didn't have time, which ever excuse you could think of is the one I would choose that day. I can't remember what finally made me decide to do it, but, a couple of days before my 37th birthday I was down on the floor with a good friend and my niece ripping and twisting away on my freshly cleansed hair.

So, I guess the first thing I should do is explain why I didn't just cleanse my hair and go all natural. Cause I didn't...that's it in a nut shell, I just didn't.

6 hours later I was beaming with happiness, I was playing with them, rubbing them, I was so happy. I began naming certain ones that were standing out amongst the crowd, (like Loki, my fav dread who likes being the ONLY one that hangs in my face) I had already done my research and knew that even with R/T this would be a journey and I was ready, let the journey begin. I was determined to look "cool"

It never dawned on me the true reason I began the journey.

To give a little history about me, I'm a practicing Witch since '92 and an Energy Healer since '03. This year, 2012, since January, I've taken some major steps of change in my life. I'm currently studying for my 3rd degree HPs in Eclectic Witchcraft, received my 1 & 2 degrees in Karuna/Karuna Ki Reiki and will be receiving my 3rd degree Master/Teacher in September. I've also gone from strictly vegan, to vegetarian, to organic omnivore, buying strictly seasonal, organic, grain/grass fed food to sustain my family. I already work with medicinal herbs and have for a long while. I teach classes, workshops, make organic incense, oils, and other items, and have used this year of study as inner reflection and growth.

Since I received my dreads and started that journey, my hermit days began to end. I had so many Seekers finding me at various places, Publix, the Nail saloon, Facebook, coming to be for teaching and spiritual guidance. My pain in my body began to heal, my temperament began to subside and I began to see my path so clearly. I was thinking things through, breathing, relaxing, and embracing the Goddess and God more closely then I ever have before. I don't think the dreads did it, but, I do feel so spiritually connected to them. Hair is a link to spiritual. The Native Americans wouldn't cut their hair because it cut their connection to Earth. Shamans of the European countries hair was long and neglected because it was their connection to the spirit realm and even traditional physics believe the hair is what gives them that connection. Anyone who has ever "smoked" knows that if they rip your hair by the root for a drug test, no matter how long it's been, the traces are still there. You hair is a sponge, it's a timeline for your life and all you come in contact with. It's your connection with.......

My mother died in '08, my father followed in '10. right before my father died, I cut all of my hair off, down to a very short pixie cut (12 in gone in a snip). My father died a month later. From that time, till I started my dreads, my hair never felt right. I kept cutting, making it worse. I put it in pony tails, bandanas, I hated it. Then, I started the dreads, and now, I'm in love. Why do I mention that you ask? My spiritual self was coping with the loose of my mother, and the quick decline of my father, and my timeline was done, over. I knew my father was going to die, and that was going to be my childhood dying with him. So, I cut my timeline, and began to grown a new one, I found in 5/28/2012.

37 years old, both parents passed away, a new spiritual journey, and a stronger dedication, my dreads are my new timeline, my new connection, my new life that has begun in 2012.

*Dedicated to my parents;

Thomas Lloyd Conwell - 1932-2010

Rebecca Ann Moseley-Conwell - 1946-2008