OK! so I have my lovely natural dreads, which added some permed extensions to cause i'm such a girl and wanted some uber long dreads for a while. I was well aware that they would probably become brittle and break (as permed dreads do) but they were only extensions, so no fuss for me.
However- I feel the heartbreak everytime someone was silly enough to believe a salon dresser and got their whole head permed into dreads, and are told to cut them off and start again when they ask for a solution-
Natural dreads are the way to go, You've all seen soaring eagle's locs, perfect example of why natural is the best best best! but if you're facing losing your whole head of hair and can't handle it, I have a possible save for you.
I tried a salon protein treatment on one of the permed extensions I had lying around, i was expecting it to not really work BUT: it has helped immensely. it might help save someones head of hair someday, i know a lot of people come here after they've made their big mistake so i felt it could help someone rescue their permed dreads so they can grow them out and continue in the natural way.
these extensions had textbook perm damage (once again, perms = evil). the hair was stretchy when wet, and when dry was brittle as shit, and had white dots all over it where the perm had fried hairs at every bend. if this was your whole head, you'd be crying at the thought of losing all your hair you took years to grow over an uninformed decision you made to get salon locs. I applied the treatment, and was sure to get it right into the 'dread'. i followed the instructions, and now those white dots are gone and it's 50% or so stronger when wet- enough for someone to be able to keep their hair and grow it out as natural dreads (you'd want to trim the ends as it grows to get rid of the damaged hair of course!)
I don;t want to name drop and mention the brand, but if you're reading this in tears because you made the silly decision to cook your hair (lets face it, there is so much info online and when you search, the commercial sites come up before any of the natural proper ones so i don;t blame anyone for taking a salons advice, after all, you don;t think at first that anyone would ruin your hair to make a buck (but god, they will!), leave a comment or message me and I'll tell you, just cause i'm not sure if all salon brands are going to work this well (though, everyone's hair is different, why not get some sample packets and test half a dread at a time to see how it goes).
Now I am all about natural dreads, and yes, honestly if your hair is fried from a dread perm, most people will say cut it off- as they're going to eventually snap in most cases, but i'm hoping this will help save someones head of hair one day, i first did my locs when i was 16 and thanks to knottyboy, was sure that dreads were started by wax (took me a week to comb them out because i realized something was wrong), luckily i found out real dreads needed no products etc and now know better- but i don;t think anyone deserves to lose all their hair thanks to bad info. we are all attached to our hair (literally and emotionally) and just because you fried it doesn't mean it's easy to lose it all, especially for girls. So, hopefully this info is enough to help someone keep their hair so they can continue their dread journey instead of cutting it all off and being to afraid to start again.
just remember the salon protein stuff is full of chemicals and residues so you don't want to use it regularly.
SO: in closing, had to share this for you out there who is a wreck because a hairdresser fried your head and you're facing baldness. it's no guarantee, and for gods sake, be sure to share your horror story with everyone you know so we can hep prevent more people doing the same. but hopefully this can help as a last resort.
be sure to trim as your locs grow, you don't want that damaged hair in forever.
make sure you subscribe and donate to this site, because this is where you'll find answers to any questions you have in future.
Oh- and get a bottle of protein teatment and do it yourself, DON;T go to a salon! everything they use there is loaded with conditioners and they won;t know what the hell to do with your dreads. your dreads are YOURS, you need to cre for them yourself, don;t go to salons (though you're probably terrified of salons if you just burnt your hair to a crisp)
Much love, dread natural, learn your lesson, and don;t give up.
xx
updated by @beckbeck: 02/14/15 02:50:12AM
