Forum Activity for @amanda9

Loose hairs that refuse to lock up

Dread Maintenance

So my dreads are 1year and 5 months old. I haven't done any maintenance on them since I first put them in. I only use Maylees shampoo.

I've read through the forums on loose hairs and everyone says they will just join up on their own, but mine haven't at all. I have really straight, baby fine hair. And 6" long strands that are just doing their own thing. This is especially bad around my face, ears and back of my neck, but there are others throughout.

The result is a constant messy look that drives me crazy. To add to it, I'm getting married in a week and my hair is sticking up all over the place. I try to tuck hairs in when I have it in an up-do, but they inevitably just come out and stick out all over.

Waiting and washing obviously isn't doing the trick. Any other suggestions?

updated by @amanda9: 01/13/15 09:34:20PM

Roots laying out oddly and thin at the top.

Dread Maintenance

No wax, no gel, no rubber bands. Washing twice per week with Maylee's bar. Other than that I pretty much leave them alone except for when I put my hair up.

And that's the thing. I don't have to separate them. Any stray hairs I have just stay separated and never dread in on their own or form new ones.

I just find it weird and kind of annoying that the roots pull weird and lay down like that. It causes some of my dreads to twist sharply at the top rather than lay out normally. It also makes more of my scalp visible because the hair is being pulled tightly around on the one side or laying flat inside the section of hair at the root.

I haven't done any maintenance on them for..4 months and I was expecting my root growth to be a bit puffier or loose or something. Instead I have dreads that twist themselves up at the root no matter how many times I un-twist them and try to get them to lay straight. And dreads that may be the width of a pencil (they've tightened and shrunk up quit a bit since I put them in) and then their root is pinched down to the size of 10 gauge wire. A few have some stray hairs near them, but not enough to compensate for the size difference.

Roots laying out oddly and thin at the top.

Dread Maintenance

So I have two issues going on right now. I don't have huge dreads and my hair is naturally VERY straight and fine. So my dreads got their bulk from the backcombing. Now that the roots are growing out they are forming super tiny tight dreads since there isn't any fluff to them..just limp strands.

Is there a way to get them to match how the lower part of the dread looks? Everyone keeps telling me not to root rub...so what else is there to fuzz up my roots and get the new dreaded areas to look like dreads?

Second Issue: I didn't do the strict squared sections when I put them in since I couldn't see what I was doing even with multiple mirrors. So my sections are more rounded or oval. They are doing this weird thing where half of the section's roots will fold under the the others and press flat to my scalp. It makes kind of a weird patchy pattern like half the roots have been carefully combed and gelled to my head and the other half of the section is normal.

Maybe this will just fix itself ???

updated by @amanda9: 01/13/15 09:12:34PM

Well my fiance started using my tea tree oil and orange dreadsoap from Maylees Garden (he has waist length hair) and found that it conditions better than his normal shampoo and conditioner. For one thing, he can actually run his fingers through his hair while its wet and it doesn't stay frizzy for 2 days after being washed.
You may try this soap out since it seems to do a decent job of moisturizing and it also works great on my dreads.

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

Ok I will look into a Maylee's bar and order one. No rubbing or rolling, check.

The only itchy place is at the base of my neck on the side I sleep on. Other wise no flaking or anything. The fuzz is pretty recent, too.

I kind of wonder if the color accentuates the gaps, too. My natural color is a light dirty blond and my roots Are close to an inch long so there is a dramatic color difference. My hair has been bleached at one point and I have been dying over that with progressively darker colors (start with pink and let it fade all the way out for a couple months then either touch up or move onto a darker color...up the rainbow so to speak). I've had colored hair for years without breakage and such, but its possible that the dread and rolling combo was enough to push it over the edge.

And I am concerned about my hair which is why I posted in the first place. I did a ton of research on this site and others before and after putting my dreads in to get a general consensus of what people think are the best methods. There is a lot of variance out there for what the do's and don'ts are. I've even been accused of not working with my dreads enough because I refused to wax unless I had a bunch of strands pulling out of the dreads and rolling didn't fix it.

So now I'm hoping this new advise will help my dreads. I really want them, but I've been worried I don't have the right kind of hair for them. ..its baby fine, but not thin or patchy coverage. A "normal" hair pony tail for me isn't very big around.

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

I'll give the baking soda a try tonight since I needed to wash it anyway.

I'll cross my fingers I don't end up just having to shave my head 3 months from now. Thanks for all the help

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

Well I wasn't pinning and coiling. By pinning I meant laying dreads back over gaps and then using a couple front dreads to wrap around like a half pony tail and pinning them in place.

The shampoo is Dread Soap from Dreadheadhq.com and its the liquid one. I also used this the last time I had dreads and I've been washing with it every 2-3 weeks. The wax isn't a dread wax, its a general use hair conditioning wax. I don't have any in right now.

If scalp rubbing is the problem, do you thing covering my head with a scarf wrap will worsen it?

And thanks for the help.

updated by @amanda9: 07/21/15 06:47:03PM

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

Well crap. Do you think that just leaving them alone, wearing a scarf for a few months will help? Or am I just screwed?

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

Not much really. I read a couple of the maintenance pages on here and make sure not to push on my scalp, just fuzz things up. And only 15-20 sec per dread.

I haven't really done anything with them besides wash them in several weeks. The only exception are two that were bothering me. One kept growing into two and since it was a bit big I went ahead an separated it and did some rolling on the two newly separated dreads. I had another super large section near my temple that I also separated because it kept pulling dramatically one direction and created a big gap.

The first few weeks I had them I used the hair wax and palm rolled a couple times a week. I haven't seen issues until the last 2 or 3 weeks though.

Can't wear dreads down without huge gaps

Dread Maintenance

I can try your way