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A woman with an idea for a lifestyle change, armed with a metal flea comb and determination, can be a dangerous combination. With that said and out of the way, i'm sure you have come to the conclusion that this "woman" is me! Ha
A flee comb? Really lady? ummmm yes, afraid so. I was so stuck in the same rut as many American woman are, of wrongfully believing that everything should be uniform and sleek to be beautiful. This is a result of constant brainwashing by the media, billboards,commercials,magazines,reality TV! Ahhhhhh Enough already! So I took my flee comb and bar stool to my bathroom and began what I thought was the right beginning to my "Great Dreadlock Journey"
Journey? You say? Armed with a comb, no no, a flee comb? Wowza. What was I thinking? Oh, right, beautiful locks that all look the same and are tidy and neat! Shhhhhhhhhut your mouth! I'm not finished...lol SO I look myself in the eyes and say, "lets do this" I had read online somewhere, no wait, I had seen on youtube that this girl and her mother dreaded her hair one day in 8 hours. Wow, 8 hours huh? Now if you will know anything about me it is this....I pick up things in a heartbeat and am more than proficient at it if not from the very start, then soon there after. So im thinking, Hell, I can do this myself in 8, NO PROBLEM!! Boy, was I mistaken!!! So three days and probly about 18-21 hours cumulatively, I finish. Which, if you have looked at my few pics (sorry not more) you will see how, armed with a comb of the flee variety, determination and a lot of brain washing, they came out lovely!
I am so used to fixing my hair and it having to be so nice and not a hair out of place that I looked all over online to figure out and learn how to "tidy those locks" All the nerotic twisting and pulling and finger rolling and possible crocheting, I say possible cuz and thank goddess for it too, I couldn't get it right. So after trying all that and some "Knotty Boy" products, I wasnt satisfied. So what now you say? I look for more product! Guess who I find??? Oh yes, you guessed it, Dreadhead HQ!! Now this is, what I now know to be, just another corporate POS company, out for blood! ooops, I mean money! Selling you on the idea that you need all this stuff to be beautiful! Sound familiar? Just like all the rest of the corporate America media....UGH! I bought it too, silly me. What saved me? My awesome fiance, Lucky! He found your site, SE, and told me to read your "Dreaducation" piece, and this big beautiful bright light went off in my head! I immediately cancelled my order for above mentioned companies hair poisons, wait scratch that, I tried to. I called and got a recording that refered me back to my conformation email and to reply back to it for any disputes. Aaaaahahaha MAN, was I dooped!
All is well now. Armed now with a full set of pretty locks and Mr. Soaring Eagles knowledge, I am a new woman. I stripped my hair of buildup using his baking soda cleanser, which I infused with a pomegranate raspberry green tea, most for the wonderful scent, and I didnt have lavender and rosemary yet, and added 10 drops of teatree oil. My once itchy, flaky, screaming foe mercy scalp, is wonderfully invigorated and lighter and softer and smelling...."so fresh and so clean, clean" haha I used rice vinegar cuz I didn't have ACV, it works just fine for now. Seriously SE, I love you man! You saved me from corporate dreadlock suicide!! My tam is off to you, sir!! Now I have locks of love!!
Loving my newly soft locks, and feeling free!!
SHE'S OK AGAIN !!!!
She hadVasculitis in her brain, but it's been sorted out and she's on the road to recovery.
So happy !
Thank you for all your thoughts.
my hair is really frizzy since i havent put any product on it for a few days now... is this normal?
By Erica Thomas, 2011-11-08
my hair is being annoying... lol, please help, i really want to do this right. (natural dreads)
I have had dreads for 3 years, my hair started out huge and light and as time went on my dreads tightened and formed into what they are now, the tighter they got the shorter they got. i love my dreadys but i want some length and my patience has seemed to escape me. I tried tying in synthetics but they just felt awkward thin and light against my heavy thicker dreads and i couldn't wash them! does anyone have any suggestions to make my hair longer/bigger? Any salons or treatments? Thanks friends!
I'm brushing my dreadlocks out. I'm so unbelievably devastated. It's been a beautiful, wild, crazy four months, and I'm so upset that it's ending. In the short few months, they've done so much for me, you couldn't even begin to fathom! I don't even know what to write right now, I'm at such a loss for words. I don't want to say goodbye to them, but more like a see you later, in the next journey. As for all of you, I've come to enjoy talking to you, and everything everyone has done. I'm still going to be here on the site, just with my same, plain, average, normal, straight, un-knotted, hair =\. I don't know when I'm going to start my journey again, but I'm hoping it won't be too long. Losing them is harder than I ever imagined it to be.
So far it has been a journey. Some people make funny faces, while others will complement my dreads.
But over all I am happy with them. I have lose hairs up front, but the back ones are locking up good. I was about twice a week now.
Other things I want to share with everyone....
Check out my church's website heismyrock.com and you can watch every Sunday's message on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/RockPointChurch1?feature=mhsn
See ya later
So tomorrow is my 2nd month of dreads.. I'm really pleased with the progress that My dreads have made. I feel like I can finally call them dreads because they look and feel more like dreads now then they did in the beginning.. I think its crazy because I found a few loops in them and I had no idea African-American hair looped up like that.. it blew my mind.. lol.. I like all the changes it is making in my life and all of the complements I have gotten.. I have decided to change my eating habits and to stop smoking to aid in the dreading process so they will be happy and healthy with me..
My boyfriend is even on board with the idea as well and I think he likes it because he can see my progress and I think that since it isn't happening over night, he can get used to the idea of it.. I'll post pics tomorrow of the ones that are super dreads..
I also think its cool hoe they are choosing to dread, some are starting towards the root while others are starting in the middle and working their way up and down my curls.. just a cool tid bit..
Welp, thats about it for me tonight.. Peep the pics tomorrow or Wednesday..
Much love, CIAO!!
Thought this was appropriate to share here. I came across this poem and instantly felt at ease <3
http://stonetelling.com/issue5-sep2011/lipkin-changeling.html
Well, I did it! I got rid of ALL that nasty ass "dread" wax from DreadHeadHQ! Unfortunately after several attempts to remove it I got fed up with it and cut my candles off! I didn't shave my head but cut each one off individually and I now have about 1-2 inches of hair. This time I'm going all natural with NO was, NO comb, NO NOTHING from DreadHeadHQ or Knotty Boy! I will take and post a picture of my hair now and will every now and then to follow my NATURAL progress!
I disected a few of them and man was it nasty! It was so bad I thought I was gonna throw up! And no, I'm not taking pictures of them! They are already out in the garbage! DreadHeadHQs' website said that their wax would not dry inside your dreads. BULLSHIT! I found clumps all thru several of them that was dried! After I cut them off, I did a thorough wash with Sauve and conditioner so I could pull apart the little bit that was left of the dreads that were close to my scalp and then washed again with Bronners and then sprayed with a sea salt mist to try to get on the ball! The past year was a total waste but now starting over the healthier way!
Hope I'm placing this in the right catagory!?!
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