Forum Activity for @bob-ngarly

you have twists man!! The recomended maintainence is different for people with twists. Typically they dont wansh their hair and they retiwst when they fall out after washes. You can do this if you want, but it is more likely to cause damage. You will still have dreads lol. How do you think most black people get long uniform dreads? by following what you she said.... It may be worth it for you to consider avoiding twisting and allow actual knotting because you are mixed like me. Our hair typcally has a harder time holding twists. however the curly nature of our hair lends itself well to natural methods like twist and rip or backcombing.

I would avoid the wax. I do know that it is common for people with twists to gel them to hold them together. YOu have to make a decision on the type of dreads you want and the method you want to use.

if you want uniform dreads twist, gel, dry, dont wash, repeat. (will only work if they actually will stay in.)
if you want more naturally formed dreads simply wash them and dont retwist.

I recommend the natural route. I love watchign the progress. I do wish i could maintain a neater look through the process but i dont care.

let me know if you have questions. you should always look at both points of view. This site is bad about bashing methods other than natural. and most people on this site do not have twisted dreads nor do they know anything about them other than the horror stories posted on this website. Although twisting can be damaging it will still give you dreads unless you over damage them. The decision is yours. you know the consequences of each route.

-Spencer

so i got my new hemp/wool tam. Im wondering if it will help in the knotting process. I have heard that hemp is not helpful. But this is 60%wool. Also when i got it, it was dusty and its been kind of itchy.

do you think a wash would take care of that? can you wash tams?

it also irritates the skin on my forehead. it kinda feels like the burlap sacs we have all sac raced in.

think i may have gotten jipped on this one. :<

i like it none the less im hoping the texture softens up a bit.

dude you really didnt do anything majorly wrong.

you could lose the rubber bands (i left mine in for a few days without regret but results vary)

your on the right track. Def dont use wax!!!!!!! dont crochet/felt/ or interlock.

your on your way man. Just wash, wait and repeat.

ps. dont be alarmed when your backcombed dreads start to loosen or completely fall out.

thats what they are supposed to do. Backcombing is just a starter method.

Idk man i havent been able to find anything wool yet, but i have a tam on the way. As far as long them up faster i would assume it will help. But honestly simply sleeping is going to help them lock up because of the friction and knots that are created. A tam just exaggerates the effect. If anything i dont think it will hurt.

haha old people can be very hilarious and racist.

So what did you do? did you get the salon dreads? what do you mean by salon dreads a twist??

how did they come out? ive never heard of anyone twisting after going natural but was pondering the possibility just the other day.

makena said:

I can relate to Spencer. I had a similar problem when I was introduced to my fiancees relatives. I had to get saloon dreads after growing ma natural dreads for about 4 months. Even after ma dreads looked neat ma in laws still complained about ma dreads and even threatened that they will not allow me to marry their daughter if I didn't cut that hair off. In Africa, our elder people associate dreadlocks with being a thug, homeless or worse.

Man all you guys made some really good points. I have never heard of that university but i would refuse to go there. I have made the decision as a student that will soon emerge into the work force that i will not cut my hair to satisfy anyone. not an employer, girlfriend, unless i want to do it on my own accord for my own reasons and for right now thats not the case. Also the paper bag test is astonishing. That makes sense. lots of black women have told me that they want to "have my kids" because im light skinned and have "good hair". I can never seem to understand that reasoning. I guess its a long tradition of trying to pass on a better life for your kids started long ago. the lighter the skin the better the life. Its crazy to think that self hate is so deeply in engrained within the people of our society, that we sometimes fail to even realize it.
Kid Ayn Gibran said:

We black folks have long been taught to hate our natural selves. For the longest we had the paper bag test...somebody was only suitable to marry if they were the same color or lighter than a brown paper bag. We've done everything to force our hair to imitate our white brothers and sister's hair. Hot combs. Relaxers. Weaves. Wigs. Wax and gels of all kinds. African hair naturally wants to dread from the moment it shoots from the scalp, but to naturally allow the hair to dread is seen as ugly/bad hair. It's more of a self-esteem issue than anything else.

You hear about the Hampton University Business School Dean state that men must cut their dreads and cornrows to be accepted to the business school, because the hairstyle is unprofessional and bears no [black] cultural value.

I know what you mean, i love rocking the fro when ive had it, and i also rocked braids at one point. I never really thought my hair was too much trouble but i cannot attest for full black people. But its hard to imagine that its that hard to maintain naturally. I think it becomes hard to maintain once you damage it with lots of chemicals. regardless i cant think for everyone and change everyones mind. people are gonna do what they do and thats why the world is interesting.

and yeah i def dont have time to be trying to fix everyone elses ignorance. Ive got my own ignorance that needs to be eliminated. Ill spend my time developing myself to the fullest and if the rest of the people want to be hung up on trivialities, they can do so while i move on to accomplish the big goals ive set for myself. that really makes sense and i was kinda thinking the same thing. I think people really do try to look out for their own kind. Hopefully soon in the future we will realize there is only 1 kind, and are all the same.

Spencer Mcduffy said:

no you were very clear. Yeah people joke about me all the time calling me the confused cowboy. They dont know rather to call me white or black lol.

I certainly wouldnt like to think of my locs embracing the black culture "better" than more maintained locs simply because its not a competition. and i certainly dont want to make it a racial thing. What really got me thinking on it was just the fact that it was mainly black people commenting negatively about my hair. once you brought up those points and i really began to think about it it really started to make some sense.

I really agree with you. What is strange to think about is that i am not really that attracted to black women in general. But when i see a black woman with natural hair be it a fro, or dreads, or even braids i think it is very very sexy. For example erika badhu. Such a gorgeous lady and she wears her hair with pride and seems to just radiate pride for her culture. I am actually convincing my younger sister to grow her perm out and wair her hair in its natural curly state. shes about 80% grown out.

(im hoping i can convince her to dread at some point LOL)

The journey has been very rewarding. I love my little locs and i love to see peoples reactions to the hairstyle. I feel like going through this process will teach me alot about myself and others. Im particularly fond of the lesson in patience i know they are teaching me! IM SO READY FOR MATURE DREADS!!!

Let me know what your friends have to say on the topic id love to hear from them as well.