Product Advice

Hi, I'm new to the forum after only discovering it yesterday.

I have had dreadlocks for around 3.5 years now.  I think they were created with a mix of twist & rip & crocheting. I had 1 maintenance with the lady who created them for me after around 1 month (this involved crocheting) and I have since been maintaining them myself, crocheting approx once per month to get rid of any frizz / flyaways. 

I normally wash my dreads every 1 to 2 weeks but I find that with each wash more hair becomes loose and they start to look more and more frizzy.  I feel like there possibly seems to be more loose hair than normal at the moment so I started to search for a local loctician a couple of days ago as I thought maybe I need a proper maintenance session to get rid of the loose hairs.  I did a few other searches and came across this site where I have now read how bad crocheting is for my hair

So I am now trying to work out what is best for me to do.  I assume the 2 options are to carry on as I have been doing, crocheting my hair once a month to keep on top of the loose hairs & frizz, but to understand that this will cause more and more damage over time, OR to stop crocheting and take the long road to recovery. I hate the thought that I am damaging my hair but at the same time I really hate when the loose hairs get so messy!

I have a couple of questions relating to products and would appreciate any advice anyone can give.  The only product I have ever used is shampoo.  I am in the UK and started out using DreadsUK shampoo but am currently using Faith in Nature tea tree shampoo.  I saw that  thedreadlockshampoo.com products are highly recommended on here but unfortunately I can't afford this at the moment.  Can anyone advise if the Faith in Nature shampoo is a suitable alternative or am I doing more damage using this?  The ingredients list is as follows:

Aqua, Ammonium laureth sulfate, Maris sal, Melaleuca alternifolia leaf oil, Citrus limon peel oil, Citrus aurantifolia oil, Citrus aurantium dulcis peel oil, Polysorbate 20, Potassium sorbate, Sodium benzoate, Citric acid, Limonene.

The other thing I saw mentioned on here is that it is acceptable to use aloe vera gel to smooth down the frizz, so this is definitely something I would like to try if I decide to stop the crocheting.  So far I am unable to find anywhere in the UK that sells pure 100% aloe vera gel.  The one with the fewest ingredients I have found contains the following: Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Organic), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate.  It is described as 99.9% pure.  Can anyone advise if this would be acceptable to use or not?

Many thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer!

Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about the frizz with crocheted dreads. The crochet hook actually snaps all of the hairs in multiple places so you dread is actually lots of small pieces of broken hair that are all trapped together so they can't go anywhere. What happens is as the hair loosens (it should be loose not tight as crocheted dreads are) the broken hairs then poke out of the dread which is what causes the frizz. If you had dreaded by any other way than crochet you wouldn't get that frizz because all of the hairs would still be full length.

All you can really do is just leave them alone and eventually over time the dreads will loosen up enough that the small frizzy hairs will get sucked in.

Or you can do what I did with my crochet dreads and comb them all out.

As for the shampoo I have no idea going from the ingredients list but all I can tell you is I used DreadsUK shampoo and then swithced to Dollylocks shampoo becasue I didn't want to pay to get the Dreadlockshampoo shipped from the US. Eventually I gave in and went for it and the difference was noticable after the first wash. Honestly it really is worth it and I personally wouldn't use any other shampoo now. It might be worth seeing if anyone else in the UK is thinking of ordering some nd then split the cost of the shipping.

--
I'm on Twitter @FemalePheromone
and Instagram @FemalePheromones

while shippings high its flat rate so you can get 5 or 6 bars  for same shipping fees so most gt a years supply at a time

as for faith in nature  sulphates are generaly to be avoided

it also has alotta citrics, which would make it too acidic i would think, which would be conditioning and potentialy softens the hair through partial dissolvment like acv does.

ofcourse crochet will only make more and more frizz.. the more broken hairs there are the more lil ends can pop out

GET USED TO LOOSE HAIRS AND FRIZZ

you were lied to when you were told there shouldnt be any! in fact having them is normal healthy and looks best!

lets look at some comparisons

so since these are nice and clean each dread has a soft fuzz covering it (when crochetted they can feel rough not soft the broken hairs making them feel ke brillo) also

have hair (and a squirrel) on my head

now salons will make you think this mane f healthy hairs unacceptable and you should have no loose hairs

this obsession with avoiding loose hairs in some cases (crochet) causes 100 times more, making you a slave to constant crochet

or interlocking/retwisting causes balding

here you see both  notice the guy whos doing the crocheting

his dreads are excessivly  fuzzy from all the broken hairs

stiffness is also a issue with crochet that tends to last along time

now heres a few things

1 aloe will smpooth the frizz temporarily.. but, its a conditioner that will prolounge the frizziness ..in the long term making it more frizzy.

frizz is normal just accept it notice the above photos the frizz wasn't as easy to see till i added a larger version.. point is  hat you inspect your hair much closer then othrs  do  LITTLE FRIZZ CAN ONLY BE SEEN BY YOU WHEN YOU LOOK CLOSELY

stop looking in the mirror altogether

use shadows instead if a dreads sticking up weird  you'll see it in your shadow .. what more do you need to know?

depending on the stiffness  you might want to conditon and loosen an d ..in fact increase frizz for the time being

once they are loose soft and flexible  using the liquid instead of bar will help  thm dread (as aposed to being woven) ..you may always have more frizz then sommeone who never crochetted

but just stop looking at frizz as being a bad thing it simply means thy are clean, clean dreads look softer, more cuddly

obsession with loose hairs is what led to this total lack of loose hairs

compare that to someone early on whos more loose hair then dread but still looks beautiful and healthy

yo see how loose hairs actualy make the whole look softer more healthy more natural?

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks so much for the reply.  That's really interesting to hear about the shampoo.  Do you use the liquid or the bars? It looks like the liquids all contain rosemary extract and I can't risk using that as it triggers seizures in our dog

Thanks for all the detailed information Soaring Eagle, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to me.

I have had another look at the dreadlockshampoo site and I would have to use the bars rather than the liquid as the liquids all seem to contain rosemary extract and I can't use this as it triggers seizures in our dog.  Do you know if the bars are as effective?  

Some of the photos you added are scary! Thankfully I have only ever loosely crocheted my dreads so although I'm sure this has still been causing damage, my roots have never been tight like on some of the photos.

That's interesting what you mentioned about the aloe vera, I definitely don't want to overdo it in that case.  Do you think the one I mentioned in my original post would be suitable to use on very rare occasions?  

The liquid is supposed to be better for loose hair but bars better for mature dreads. As yours are already kind of dreads you probably don't need the liquid.

--
I'm on Twitter @FemalePheromone
and Instagram @FemalePheromones

i dont think all contain rosemary only the teatree rosemary, which theres a liquid and a bar

my cat reacted to the nag champa like my dreads were catnip! rolling in them  in a state of bliss

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

That's good to know, thanks!

I'd definitely leave your hair alone, let it recover, it might take a while but it's worth it Listen to Soaring Eagle, he has a squirrel on his head, all the great sages do.

Haha

When I looked the liquids all seem to have ' rosemary & green tea infusion' on the ingredient list..  

I'm struggling to find an affordable sulphite free shampoo in the UK but have found a shampoo bar which isn't specifically for dreads but looks to be similar ingredients to the dreadlockshampoo.com bars.  It's the J.R. Liggett Moisturizing Bar Shampoo and the ingredients are:

Saponified Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil and Rice Bran Oil; Mango Butter, Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Vit. E, Aloe Vera Almond Oil

What are your thoughts on this one until I can afford to order from dreadlockshampoo.com?  Do you think this would be better than the Faith in Nature liquid I am currently using?