My hair is all uneven, will this be a problem? Oh, and some other questions.

Hi everyone

I unfortunately have been waiting quite a while to dread my hair. I decided I wanted dreads sometime last year, shortly after I had shaved the left side of my head. I've been waiting for the left side to grow out to the same length as the right. A few months ago I decided that the left side had grown out enough and that I should cut all my hair to be the same length. The lady I went to refused to cut my hair to the same length as the left side. I got very upset and left with the hairstyle she gave me.

My hair currently appears to all be the same length, but underneath the top left layer of hair, it's about an inch or two (a lot more in some places) shorter than the hair on top. In the very back of my hair the shortest piece is like, two or three inches. All the hair on the right side, and the top layer on the left is about 11 inches.

I've been washing my hair with nothing but baking soda and lemon juice for about 4 months now. I put baking soda in a cup and squeeze a lemon over top of it. I've never measured it. I pour it over my hair and leave it in until the end of my shower, then rinse. I do this about 3 times a week. Usually this makes my hair air dry completely straight, smooth and silky. The past few days my hair has been very dry, tangled, and weird feeling. Now this is my other question: What can I do about it? I know a lot of people use baking soda to wash their hair on here. Should I treat my hair just as I would dreads and maybe put some essential oils in there?

I was planning on waiting a few months to dread my hair, maybe sometime in December. But this tangled, dry thing almost seems like a blessing. My hair is all knotty. I have actually been scared to brush it. Should I just start dreading it? Will my dreads be all weird lengths because of my crazy hair? How should I wash it tonight? Help?

updated by @rose: 01/13/15 09:34:35PM

I hope you didn't pay her to mess up your cut like that. You could have made a complaint. I know most people don't like to make a scene. I sure don't. But in some cases it's necessary.

First, never use lemon juice on your hair. ACV is acetic acid. It will balance your pH back to normal after raising it with the BS. Lemon juice is citric acid. it's much stronger acid that penetrates deep into the hair shaft and weakens it. If you notice any lightening of your hair, this is not just cosmetic. It's chemical. It is weakening your hair to a damagingly brittle point.

If you stop using the lemon, and use a little more ACV for the next wash or 2, you may be able to help fix the problem. The little extra ACV will soften up your locks, and might make them come undone a bit, but it'll be worth it to save yourself from the problems that the lemon juice causes

dont dread it let it dread its already dread=ing you dont have to do a thing just stop oputting the lemon in the wash and after u use baking soda u should use acv

no the lengths wont matter at all

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Baba Fats said:

I hope you didn't pay her to mess up your cut like that. You could have made a complaint. I know most people don't like to make a scene. I sure don't. But in some cases it's necessary.

First, never use lemon juice on your hair. ACV is acetic acid. It will balance your pH back to normal after raising it with the BS. Lemon juice is citric acid. it's much stronger acid that penetrates deep into the hair shaft and weakens it. If you notice any lightening of your hair, this is not just cosmetic. It's chemical. It is weakening your hair to a damagingly brittle point.

If you stop using the lemon, and use a little more ACV for the next wash or 2, you may be able to help fix the problem. The little extra ACV will soften up your locks, and might make them come undone a bit, but it'll be worth it to save yourself from the problems that the lemon juice causes

Oh thank you!

I did pay her. It was my mom's stylist and she really likes her. My mom couldn't have known that was going to happen, and I didn't want to cause my mom trouble. My hair actually looks good, you can't see it's uneven unless I lift up my hair and point it out. I did cry though, because the stylist made comments that upset me. So, I would say a scene was made despite my efforts.

Anyways, thank you again I originally started using lemon juice and baking soda to get residue out of my hair from using Mane N' Tail conditioner. I have some ACV somewhere around here, but I wasn't sure if it would help or make it worse. Now I know, and I'll make the switch.

soaring eagle said:

dont dread it let it dread its already dread=ing you dont have to do a thing just stop oputting the lemon in the wash and after u use baking soda u should use acv

no the lengths wont matter at all

I think I might quit brushing it starting tonight My dad had dreads and when I asked him for his advice he said "Dread your hair!".

I will quit using lemon juice and start using ACV.

Thank you!

it was dreading while u were stil combing/ nice

and remember u dont mix vase and acids use the bs 1st thben rinse then a very weak acv and rinse right away

like a couple spoonfulls of acv per 5 cups water

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I think my hair just wants to dread :p

Thank you for telling me that. I'll remember to dilute it.

Should I use the ACV every time I wash?

if u use baking sida every t8=ime then yes bs raises the ph too high acv will set it back to the normal range but soaking longer or using stri=onger can soften the hair too much when mature u use about the same ammount as bs and soak 3 min b4 u rinse

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

you can just let it knot itself it sounds. i wouldn't worry much about length issues, they will shrink & be all uneven in time anyways, you probably won't be able to tell what was what!

Very true, I probably shouldn't have been so worried