My Dreads/ My Work

Matt, Divided hair, and starting the first dreads

Matt's Baby Dreads (1 day old)

Leilani (7 Months)

The Dread Family

Maintained the blond Dreads on the Far left, helped make the other 3.  From Left to Right: 6 years, 14 Months, 7 months, 14 months

My Dreadies (About 6 months)

How to Backcomb

Backcombing is quite simple.  Grab the hair that you want to backcomb.  With a comb (I use flea combs because the metal bristles are stronger than plastic) start brushing backwards, starting at the root and working your way down to the ends.  DONT start at the end of the hair and brush up.  You dont want the ends to be combed up to the roots.  This will create a total mess of chunky dreads.  Keep the strokes short.  After you have done this, palm roll and repeat until the dread is tight.

Note: backcombing is great for fat dreadlocks, but will result in the loss of length.  If you are looking to keep your length, refer to my post on how to crochet. :)

What to expect when dreading

The first month of dreadlocks will probably be the hardest (physically).  You're probably super stoked on your new dreadies.  After hours (days if you did them yourself) of putting them in, you can expect some discomfort due to pulling by the rubber bands.  This will go away after a few days.  If it becomes too unbearable, its OK to loosen the bands a little bit.  Refrain from cutting them out.  Cutting them out too soon will only mean more work later (this can lead to congoing of massive proportions).

You can also expect your scalp to itch quite a bit.  Try not to itch, as difficult as it may be.  This will probably be the hardest part of the dreading process (for me anyway).  This is why it is key to prepare beforehand by skipping washes until you can go at least a week without washing (the longer the better).  If the itch becomes too unbearable, its OK to wash it with some really good dandruff shampoo (Neutrogena's Tgel works really well).  Make this wash count, and really scrub with the pads of your fingers.  Make sure you rinse good too.  You want this wash to last you as long as possible.  For me, it took about 6 months to finally get a handle on the dandruff.  I used the Tgel with every wash for the first few months.

The first few nights of having dreads may also be a challenge.  Newly tightened dreads can feel like sleeping on a pile of cords.  The best thing to do for this problem is to sleep on your side.  Eventually you will get used to it, and they will soften a little bit over time.

REMEMBER!!! Be PATIENT!!!  Dreadlocks take about a year to fully mature.  This means you will have at least a good six months of bad hair days.  Every dreadhead goes through this phase.  Keep your eye on the prize.  It helped me to look a pictures of mature dreads when I was frustrated with how horrible my hair looked on some days.  You WILL get there, and when you do, the satisfaction is oh so sweet. :)

Review on Tea Tree Shampoo

Hey guys, sorry its been a while.  I thought I'd return by writing a review on Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Shampoo.  I bought a small bottle from my local drug store the other day for about $10.  It's a little expensive, but I only wash my hair about once a week so I don't mind spending a little more money.

Smell:  It smells great.  The tea tree is very strong, but I feel like with dreadlocks, I need to have a good smelling head to show people that I do wash my hair.  Not to feminine or masculine, so it will work well for anyone.

Suds:  It suds up great, unlike some other shampoos.  I find that I don't need to use too much because it soaps up nicely.

Cleanliness:  The BEST part of this shampoo is that the tea tree leaves your scalp with a tingly feeling.  Tea tree anti fungal, so its great for preventing dandruff.  It leaves my head feeling squeaky clean.

Overall this has been my favorite shampoo.  It takes care of dandruff and smells great, two of my biggest concerns when it comes with being a dread head.  Though it is a little expensive, I expect the small 10.14 oz bottle will last me at least 4 months.

Dandruff?!

Baby dreads will have dandruff.  You dreads are pulling, collecting oil and being washed far less than its used to being washed.  You'll probably have dandruff for the first 2-6 months, after which your scalp will be used to whats going on.  Until then, here are a few things you can do:

1. Get a GOOD dandruff shampoo.  I used Neutrogenas T/Gel.  I've heard that head and shoulders is NOT good for dreads, so keep to the stronger shampoos, like the T/Gels, Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree Special Shampoo or Selsun Blue.  I usually mix my T/Gel shampoo with my dread shampoo (Dreadhead shampoo) because it's pretty strong.

2. Rosemary is great for dandruff.  I've tried boiling some rosemary and spraying the water on my head.  It works pretty well for mild dandruff and stops the itch for a while.

3. Wash your hair more?  Though it is recommended to wash your hair once a week during the first stages, being a dirty, stinky, itchy dreadhead is no fun.  If it gets bad, wash it, but try and hold back as much as you can.

You can help reduce dandruff torture by preparing before you get dreadlocks.  Start skipping days a month or more in advance.  Practice washing your hair when it feels dirty, not because it's a routine.  If you can go over a week without washing (with normal hair) then you should be pretty set when you do get dreads.

Congoing?!

Congos are my biggest problem.  They're painful to rip apart, and involve more maintenance (even after cutting).  New, small dreadlocks are usually the ones with this problem.  I find that this is a big problem for people with lots of dreads (more dreads =  more maintenance).  I have heard of people sleeping on silk pillows.  Silk prevents friction between dreadlocks.  I sewed myself a scarf for sleeping.  With my dreads wrapped in silk, they stay tight after maintaining and reduced congoing BIG TIME.

I will be selling these scarfs for $20 soon.  I know $20 seems high, but silk can run up to $10 a yard at the fabric store.  I will be posting a picture soon.  If anyone is interested in buying a sleep scarf, please let me know.  Im not sure how it will sell, and I don't want to invest money in silk if they wont sell.  Much Mahalos.

Dready Misconceptions

If you have dreads, you WILL get bugs.
Nope. No bugs in my hair, or any other dreadhead that I know of anyway.  If you wash your hair a few times a month, avoid sleeping with flea infested animals, refrain from rubbing heads with someone with head lice, abstain from using lice infested hats/headbands and withhold from placing them in your hair yourself, you should be OK in terms of getting bugs.

Her dreads look pretty clean to me!

Dreadlocks are made by not washing or combing your hair.
This is true, but not all dreadlocks are made this way.  Most of the dreadheads I know put them in after hours of crocheting/backcombing/twist and rip.  I suppose it is true to an extent that you don't wash your hair, because you don't, at least not every day.


Asians can't have dreadlocks.
As long as theres hair, it can dread.  Though "Asian hair" tends to be a thicker strand, it will dread.  I've given asians dreadlocks myself, and they look great!


You have to shave your head when you want to get rid of them.
I combed out my first set of dreadlocks with a comb and a bottle of conditioner.  With time and patience, it can most definitely be done (NOTE: if you looped your roots, its a lot harder to remove by combing).  You can also cut your dreadlocks short and comb the rest of the hair out.  


Dreadlocks damage your scalp.
It may seem like that when you first get them, because they probably will itch due to pulling and lack of washing.  Over time this goes away.  My head hardly itches anymore, no more than it did when I had straight hair.  You scalp does not get damaged.  In fact its healthier for your scalp to not wash it so much.  The oils your scalp produces is there for a reason.  When you wash your hair every day, you strip your scalp of these oils, forcing your glands to produce new and more oil every day.  When you don't wash your hair every day, you let the natural oils condition your scalp.  As time goes on, you'll produce less oil on a daily basis.  This is because your scalp doesn't have to replenish every single day.