got a picture? but it sounds like the tips are just blunting themselves
Okay, so I don't really fuss much over my natural dreads, but there is a trend I am noticing here....nearly all of my dread tips are hooking up like a fish hook and then attaching higher up on the dread, which kinda creates what looks like a really thick elongated ball at the end of the dread. There is one in particular that it is really noticeable, and this one is also very flat, so it kinda reminds me more of a matted cat's tail than a dread. My question is, is this normal in the natural dread process? if not, what should I do or should I just not do anything? It's causing my hair to be much shorter than it already is (by at least 5-6 inches) and I don't want to worry about my babies, but this is just weird....especially since I JUST celebrated one month with my dreads. Oh...and if there are any suggestions, I need something other than beads. I live in a small town and can't find beads to fit my dreads.
I have hard water and have no issues when using this stuff. I experienced everything from gummy dreads from Dr. Bronner's to breaking dreads from purifying shampoo and snowy hair from baking soda. Been using this soap for a month now and not one complaint...not one!
soaring eagle said:
this stuff works perfectly in any water www.dreadlockshampoo.com
The bar itself is $10, and then the U.S. pays shipping of $3.99, which I thought it was a little pricey, considering the fact that I only pay $5 for a bar of Dr B's, but I have been using mine about a month and I was my hair about every other day (I smoke and hate the way it makes my hair smell) and I still have about half a bar left. You can order it from here: http://www.dreadlockshampoo.com/page5.html
I had the same problem with the Dr. Bronners. Now I love, love, love Dr. B's and use it for almost everything around the house, including bathing my kids and their hair, but for my dreads, it just builds up gunk inside. I don't notice the same issue in my kids' hair, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the Dr. B's stays inside of the dread. Dunno for sure though. Anyway, I switched to bs/acv for a while and that caused my hair to become very brittle. Started my dreads over and now I use the organic dread bar everyone is raving about from Bucks County Soap Factory. It is, by far, the best thing I have ever used on my hair. I still need the acv for rinsing because there is a tiny bit of residue, but it rinses right out with the acv rinse. I have really, really hard water. Like, you can actually SMELL the chlorine coming through the faucet. (And yes, city water is infamous for hard water because of all of the chemicals they use to treat it) My suggestion, go for the dread bar. They don't have the same philosophy issues as DreadHead HQ and they provide a completely organic, vegan, earth friendly option that cleans dreads better than anything I have used. My fave is the Nag Champa but I also like the Dragon's Blood. Hope that helps.
Lavender is expensive, so is rose oil and tea tree oil. It really depends on the scents that you go for. Even locally, I pay almost $12 for a one ounce container of lavender and about the same for tea tree. Bergamont, Eucalyptus, Camphor, Grapefruit, Lemon Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Orange, Lemon, and Wintergreen tend to be a little less expensive. Camphor and Eucalyptus have an almost Vicks kind of smell but they are great for wintertime with the onset of cold and flu season. If none of those appeal to you, go for one ounce bottles or half ounce bottles. You usually don't need very much and by ordering the small bottles, you will have your brew but also a little time to save up for the bigger bottles.
I am still so in love with this as well. I have voiced my issues with dry and breaking hair the last time I did my dreads and the frustration of dealing with residue. I am happy to say that my hair has never been healthier! It's not dry. It feels healthy and there is no sign of residue. I have been using my bar about a week now. I know that's not as long as SE, but take it from a person that tried EVERYTHING - this soap is amazing! Oh and the smell really is heavenly!
Again, I am thinking about your description of the "dirty" look and the fact that we have similar hair. I don't know about the whole split end thing. I know elastics are damaging to hair, but I am worried that the issue is more than just split ends and hair type or hard water might be playing a part. I tried BS wash, I tried Dr. B's and then I tried a purifying shampoo. All of which further dried out my hair (the purifying shampoo was the only thing that didn't make my hair look "dirty" but still resulted in breaking ends and pieces...in fact more so, probably because shampoos strip your hair of natural oils and I already have really dry hair.) I don't know yet how the new bar will work out or if you have dry hair, but I will let you know after a while of using it. If it is just split ends, I have noticed the trend is just leaving them alone. Other than that, I would go with whatever SE recommends. He's like the go to guy when it comes to dreading naturally. <3
Rachel Dee said:
Thank you for your reply. No I didnt backcomb or rip or anything, I didnt know about the elastics before I found advice on here, so I thought they would help. Is this what split ends looks like then? I have not had a haircut in about 2 years so my ends are not in the best condition... anything I should do or just ignore em? Ta x
soaring eagle said:hmm says u didnt backcomb sscratch that but still sounds like split ends
I did tnr and still had a lot of breakage, but I was looking at the "looks dirty" part. That's kind of how I would have explained my hair with the BS. I have curly, dry hair...so I was just thinking maybe it is the hair type???? You definitely know more about this stuff than I do SE, just mulling over it and what my dreads looked like with tnr, BS, etc.
soaring eagle said:
hmm says u didnt backcomb sscratch that but still sounds like split ends
Oh, and I don't think it's necessarily something you're doing wrong. It could be your water or the type of hair you have. I have slightly curly and very dry hair and I have hard water, so I don't know which one was the problem.
