Hello Everyone, Jony666 Here

Hello to all the dread-heads!

First of all, I hope anyone reading this is feeling great today and healthy and sane in these crazy times!

My name is Jony and I'm from Israel (originally from the USA). I had dreadlocks that I made by myself using twist and rip and they matured really nicely during a 3 year period, I only waxed them once when they were in their first week, they were really beautiful dreads but I had to cut them off when I turned 18 and had mandatory drafting into the army (IDF). When I removed them they were very filthy, I didn't shampoo my hair for the whole 3 years, yes you heard right, and I also almost never got them wet. So they looked awesome and I always kept the roots nice and tight but they were filthy!

I remember filling a hotbath after cutting them off and shampooing my hear for the first time in 3 years, the water turned black! Also the wax that I had used 3 years earlier (sex wax / surfboard wax) was visible in the middle of each dread, in the parts of the dreads that were 3 years old. The newer growth only had buildup (mostly dandruff) because I never washed!

Needless to say they were also kind of stinky!

SO

Today i'm 31 years old and have decided to get new dreads in! This time I went to a salon because well, I didn;t have the time or patience to do it all by myself like last time and I also had a feeling that doing it at a salon would loook better and also that they would mature faster.

This time around I wash my dreads with water almost daily (when I shower) and also lather them up with soap and rinse about once a week just so I know i'm not walking around with a dirty set of dreads. 

I also use the following natural products:

1) Grape seed oil

I have found that oiling my dreads and scalp a little on a daily basis keeps way dandruff, moisturizes the dreads so they feel and look healthy and also keeps away any annoying itching scalp sensations. This time around (unlike when I was a teenager) I have had a rel issue with itchyness, I don't remember having itchyness as a teenager but this set of dreads itched like CRAZY before I found the grape seed oil.

I have also found that daily rinsing keeps my scalp moist, and keeps away the itchiness, but it takes 2-3 hours for my dreads to dry up which is annoying, So some days I use only the oiling.

Itchyness and dandruff is a real issue for me. The grape seed oil and just regular rinsing with water is my cure to all dandruff and %95 of itchyness.

2) Aloe vera gel

Helps with frizzyness, I have natural organic aloe vera gel, and use it once in a whiloe when the dreads get really frizzy, they are still only 3 months old and have not really matted up yet.

3) Eucalyptus / Lemon Essentian Oil Extract

Sometimes if I go to sleep with my hair still moist i'll get a bit of a moldy smell in the morning, so I put a couple drops of extract in my hands and rub it all over my dreads, making me smell really good and fresh.

My favorite product: I think the best product I use is the grape seed oil, I tried a few different oils such as olive oil, but they all have a scent and color which I don't really like. Also the grape seed oil is absorbed really fast into the dreads and scalp and after 2-3 hours there is no grease, unlike other oils. It also leaves no residue whatsoever. It has done wonders! I have zero dandruff and %95 less problems with itchiness. 

Salon Maintenance?

I was really obsessive about salon maintenance until now, in these 3 months I went to the salon for maintenance and crotchet of frizzyness on all the dreads and roots 4 times, which is obsessive I know. I'm going to stop with the over obsessiveness now I hope!

Last But Not Least

Wax? 

This time around I have not waxed, but the frizzyness, as I stated just now, is getting to my head! I ordered dread wax on the internet and will do 1 and only 1 course of waxing, to reduce frizzyness and will try to get the my dreads de-waxed using a hot air hair dryer and / or de-waxing products once they really mat up and the frizzyness gets better after a few months. I only plan to wax once, to help with frizzyness and so I don't have to go to the salon for crochet every 2 weeks and to get the frizzyness off my mind.

So this is my current dread-journey of 3 months, summed up, into one post! Hope you enjoyed reading it and or learned something new. I'm happy to have signed up for the forums here and am looking forward to any comments you may have to my post,

Thanks and take it easy,
Jony

nooo do not use wax not once not ever cancle the order

the frizz is entirely caused by breaking hairs with the crochet hook

you wil need to leave them alne a long time to recover from the hook

but wax..wax is dread death its a scam it will prevent them from dreading

the salon and crochet was a huge mistake adding wax to it and the dreads will be ruined

your best way to dread is juswt wash..and thats it let them dread themselves naturaly

the brute force dreading the so called pros do break thousands of hairs, and drasticl delay dreading! wax, 1 use, will prevent any dreading at all

and..it will still be in there keeping them filthy for decades to come

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

also, obessing over keeping the roots tight, causes balding

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

best advice

stop looking in mirrors!  why obsess over frizz ..ignore it, nobody can see it but you (well now i can remember in my 1st comment i asked did you crochet, the obviosclue you crocheted was the extreme frizz

that was caused..by the crochet!  you broke thousands of hairs thats 10 times more hairs to pop out   and be frizz

dreads are not meant to be perfect, the beauty is in the imperfections in the uniqueness.

and..in the frizz

you already drasticly increased the frizz because you were worried about it

don't make more mistakes like wax  if you tame the frizz with wax it simoly glues the hairs down

if you remove the wax.. what happens they come unglued and return..you mad zero progress cause the frizz culd not move could not suck into a dread.. you stopped progress dead

now crochet

to recover faster you want them to loosen up, and indeed get more frizzy

until they loosen there will be no dreading (6 months is typical) it can take 3 years to lose the stiffness and scratchiness (( crochet dreads feel like steel wool so thats probal why you itch)  when they soften up, and begin to dread correctly they will rcover  but crochet recovery is slow, its frizzy,  it a process you have to go trough, unless you start over properly (either just let it dread itself or use twist and rip)

gentle gentle gentle..no brutally poking with hooks just a breeze, or  gentle finger manipulation

nothing more aggressive hen that

and absolutely no products that glue down frizz and pevent dreading

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks for your many advices brother, some of what you have wrote has helped me understand what I should do. I really like your dreads! I think you have misunderstood some of the things that I previously wrote though. I havn't used any products, only natural oils, the frizzles is because my hair is very smooth and straight and not because of the crochet, no hairs were broken! I specifically asked the woman who made my dreads to take her time and work slowly and not break hairs and I didn't hear any "ripping" sounds during the crochet work. It is actually possible to crochet new dreads without riipping hairs if done slowly and carefully. The "frizz" hairs, If I pull on one of them they can come all the way out to almost the original length of my hair, meaning they are not broken, the "frizz" hairs came out of the dread (about last 2 inches of each hair strand) and because of the twist and rip method each strand of hair is positioned in a different point in the rasta. I previously had dreads for 3 years, only waxed once when they were new but did not maintain proper washing and this time I plan on %100 better hygiene. This time I am rinsing my hair daily and keeping my scalp and the dreads really clean and healthy. It will help them mat up better I believe. I already ordered the dread wax and it is already on the way so I can't cancel, but I might just let my dreads lock up naturally over time instead of waxing, even if just once, I don't if I want wax in my dreads or not yet... If I do wax, it will be only once and lightly to get the hair strand tips that have escaped out of the dreads less frizzy. Saying "dreads should be like this" or "dreads should be like this" just because YOUR dreads are that way is not the best way to give advice in my opinion @soaring-eagle, there is no 1 way to go about things and if someone likes their dreads in a unique way that is different from yours it does not mean that they are mistaken, it just means that they are different than you are in the style that they like. I actually really like my dreads the way they are, frizz and all, but  am also a perfectionist and am looking for a way to get them less frizzy.

My profile pic is 2 month old dreads, how do they look?
They are now 3 months old and look a little more mature...
I'll try to upload a new pic soon...

As someone who went through having crocheted 'dreads' my advice is comb them all out and start over.


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I'm on Twitter @FemalePheromone
and Instagram @FemalePheromones

no way jose, they are fine the way they are

no there is ,iterally no way to crochet without brewaking hairs

but you will nit hear breaking hairs unless its hundreds at a time

take a single hair, make a loop, and pinch he 2 loose ends firmly

use the hook to try to pull it from your grask

its almost guaranteed to break

crochet always breaks hair and theres no way to avoid that

but whats done is done.. many do decide to start over but thats your chice to make not ours

but the wax..thats really a scam and dread killer and whether its on its way or not you can cancle it and demand a refund

or

use it to start fires, waterproof tents boots or whatever, plug holes in leaking water bottles, you can mix it with oils and use as a lip balm

just do not put it in ur hair

don't worry about the broken hairs that re already there  that can't be fixed. instead wash with the liquid shampoo and they will dread fast the loose hairs shck in...but will never trely be gone, yu will always have frizzs..forever

so just don't worry about it dont try to control it just accept it

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

To each their own. Just giving my opinion from someone that went through the same thing.

I'm glad I combed them out and started again from scratch. Yes I have a long road ahead of me but I much prefer my hair how it is now (nearly 3 months in) to how it was before I combed it out.

As SE said your hair will eventually start to dread properly but you will always have those crocheted bits at the end. Personally I knew how much that would drive me mad.


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I'm on Twitter @FemalePheromone
and Instagram @FemalePheromones