Thank you Knottysleeves!
I will follow your suggestions! AND I think someday when I have money after tree-planting I will buy one of your beautiful dread-sleeves! You're so talented!
I am excited by this next phase of my dreads. I came to a crux where I knew that I could leave the waxy dreads as they were, but their overall health and development would be stunted, or I could take the time to fix the problem I created.
What a love journey.
Hey friends!
I got my dreads made in June, with a ton of wax. I had no friends with dreads, so I had no idea how bad wax could be. By September I realized I had to get the wax out. I was spending way too much time with 'upkeep' which is quite contrary to the whole dread-mantra. I did a hot water/bs rinse a couple of times and thought I had tackled the wax.
Anyways, I hadn't. My dreads kept shrinking, but making themselves into bizarre clumps and blobs. Not natural at all. Last week I started combing some of the worst ones out, to find SO MUCH WAX on the inside... and grunge. haha. Sick. So I've been combing out, gently, as if nurturing an injured puppy. I've redone those ones with the twist and rip method. Should I use aloe to help them tighten? Because as of right now those ones are loose and VERY VERY FUZZY. What should I expect to see in a real, natural, good dread done by twist n'rip?!
When can I condition my hair?
Any advice or encouragement because some days I love em' and other days I hate them.
I saw an old school-mate of mine this past week.
Instead of looking at my eyes and responding to my emphatic "HOW ARE YOU" question she looked me up and down and said with a tone of surprise "YOU"RE SO... OATMEAL!"
hahahaha.
Granola? Is that what you meant? Thank you.
By that you mean that you see I am wearing clothes from thrift stores or hand-me downs or home-mades because I don't like sweat-shops.
By that you mean that you see my dreads in their fuzzy wild glory and know there's no speck of hairspray in there and I am not afraid to be on the outside what my spirit is on the inside.
So I was called Oatmeal. She meant Granola. I've been called Hippie. I've been called Poo-head. I've been called Tree-hugger.
If I were to introduce myself it wouldn't have anything to do with my outward appearance though; just my inner appearance which happens to be reflected on my outter.
Leave em' guessing. There are so many labels out there, which mostly just serve the purpose of putting people in a box.
I had started my dreads with wax... two and a half months in I realised that my 'low maintenance' hair was actually costing me lots of time. I was looping the roots, palm rolling, obsessive about loose hairs.
The wax was Knotty Boy and it started to give me sick back zits. Also, I think the wax held in water because it took them forever to dry.
I washed the wax out several times with super hot water and baking soda. Suddenly my dreads became soft, natural flowing, not contained by the stiffness of wax accumulation. My scalp felt better, my back cleared up, and my loose guys started knotting themselves, slowly but surely.
I'm just about to hit the six month mark. I've adopted the 'no maintenance' motto, only ripping at the roots so they don't become monsters. My dreads are several sizes, shapes, loops and fuzzies.
Life is good on the natural side.
And then you're legit, not just wanna be natural.
Peace
