Dreadlocks?

Who's got them? I am seriously thinking about dreadlocking my hair :o in really fine ones if possible. This has all come about as I SICK of my hair!!!! It used to be beautiful if I do say so myself :redface: and many times I had people reference it to looking like a pantene commercial lol I think it got wrecked by the foils I had in it and then with pregnancy and now breastfeeding my hair is totally gross and knots really easily. I got the idea as it's even started to dread itself! and I kinda think it'd look pretty cool. Iv'e always wanted my hair in the mini brade thingos but it takes so long to do and is expensive to maintain but it looks like my hair would dreadlock itself with a little bit of guidence. So if you have them tell me abou tcaring for them, the pros, cons etc and how I should go about doing it if I decide to go ahead with it. Oh and I have heard that you don't need to cut your hair when you want to take them out... Is this true?

I don't have them, but have thought about them many many times before... I have curly, thick and unmanageable hair. The perfect candidate apparently!!! Here are the reasons I haven't done it...

*They are expensive to get done properly
*They are expensive to maintain if you want them to look nice (I'd want fine ones too)
*From what I know of them, you do have to chop to get rid of them... and I don't want to chop! Please let me know if you don't have to chop!!! :dance:

The reasons why I would get them...
*My hair is truly unmanageable. I can't even brush it when it's dry. Seriously.
*I get natural dreadlocks that take 10 minutes to brush out after a week that look terrible
*Easy to maintain if I had the money to keep them looking nice and professional-like
*Man, they look hot... I seriously think so!!!

I think I'll be getting them as a prelude to shaving my head for the leukaemia foundation.

If it's something you want, go for it!!! But geez I'd almost kill for pantene hair :)

Krystals, on another forum I go to there are a few women with dreads and they have been able to comb them out, but that in itself is no easy task. They have also gotten some pretty manky stuff out of them too.

ewwwww! I bet LOL they woudl be so manky and possibly even smell? I was hoping that really fine ones might eliminate finding soem weird things in them when the are taken out, heck maybe going for the chip would be the best thing! I have to say that I loved my hair and I really devo that it's not so yucky :( I am also really ****ed with my hairdresser for wrecking it with over bleeching. I think I'll go to someone else although I really like her (as a person) and I was happy with my hair until she dropped the ball and fried it. My hair is still really long though so yeh I thought it'd be a great time to try out something like dreadlocks. hmmmm I might let my hair do it's own dreadlock thing and not comb them out to see what happens.

Or you could go for a shorter style and see if that helps the condition of your hair? My SIL had her hair ruined a few years back and she just had a really heavy cut, took it to nearly shoulder length and let it grow back out again and it was fine.

Yes I've had them and it was only about 4 weeks ago I had them removed.

I totally loved them, they take a lot of time to mature so don't expect beautiful dreads instantly.. it takes about 4-5mths. The hard part is waiting for them to mature, you get then done and they look fab and then after the first wash they look a mess but slowly slowly they start to look fab.

You don't need to go to somewhere to get them done, just do them yourself and save the $$. Simply section your hair, slightly back comb and twist and rip (my preferred styled) and don't ever ever use wax. Ever. Otherwise you could end up with mould problems, waxy candle looking dreads.

I had mine removed as they go so heavy and really miss them, I had to cut mine out as they were like so matured but other ppl have combined them out no worries.

If you have any questions why not join up a dreadlock forum site.

Good luck!

Oh and for the record my dreads NEVER smelt, I used bicarb power to wash them and apple cidar to condition them and they smelt beautiful.

Bleach is ALWAYS damaging, unfortunately. Any colour with peroxide in it will affect the quality of your hair. As far as I know, dreds need to be cut out as I've seen the result of combing them out. I would liken it to straw. If your hair really is this damaged, I guess either way it will need to be cut and alliwed to re-grow.

The real question is, cut now or cut later? Dreds would be a way to prolong the inevitable chop, IMO. If you're happy with that then go for it :)

As your friend it is my DUTY to stop this travesty......DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT DREADLOCK YOUR HAIR! You will regret, and your is lovely anyway ;)
xx

I had dreads in high school - I *loved* them! I did them myself (bleached my hair first to 'rough it up' a little, I usually have shampoo-commercial hair and can't even tease it when it's in good nick) and they lasted months. I did comb them out when I grew tired of them but it was HARD. It literally took days of sitting there with a fine-toothed tail comb and bottles and bottles of conditioner to help smooth it out while I combed each dread from the bottom up... and it took a few weeks for my hair to recover from the ordeal. Most people end up just cutting them out as it's a lot of effort and the damage is irreparable in most cases.

I'm in the process of cutting out the damaged hair from bleaching, I know it breaks one's heart to go the chop due to damage but it really is the best way! I've just had another cut today and I'm rocking a really shaggy bob/crop with a big fringe - it looks super cute (if I do say so myself!) and if I maintain it for a few months, I will get rid of the dead hair and can start growing it out again, but with that shampoo-commercial hair I used to have!
Dreads are awesome and I think they look amazing, mine never smelled (and I hardly ever wash my hair, even without dreads it's like, once a fortnight when I can be bothered) and they really were quite easy to maintain. But as I and others have said, it's pretty much prolonging the inevitable - the dreaded chop!

Good luck with the decision... at least it's only hair, right? Grows back and all that... bah who am I kidding, I *love* my hair and hate to see it snipped off! xx

Once upon a time Dh had dreadlocks. I did them for him and they were easy to do. they are pretty easy to maintain, but yup they do take a few months to get them looking great. For his hair which was thick and long, and he wanted smallish sized ones, it took a complete viewing of 'saving private ryan' before they were finished. car wise, he kept them washed and tidy. they never smelt too bad, he worked in a kitchen so they had a bit of a kitchen smell to them that never came out... But you didnt notice that until you smelt his hair up close!

In the end, at DH's request, I cut them out. But I only cut them half way them combed them out using heaps of cheap conditioner. At least that way it was shaved off. It looked good in the end and only took a bottle of wine to completely get rid of them.

GL with whatever you choose to do :D

Many moons ago my DH had gorgeous dreadlocks. He had them for a few years. Then he changed jobs and started working with young children. He got nits. And, sadly, the quickest and easiest way to deal with it was to chop off the dreads.
Good luck with your decision-making.

isn't there a chemical hairdressers use for dreads?? I'm pretty sure it fuses the hair together... anyway you can't brush those ones out XD

My hubby used to have "natural" onces. I brushed those damn things out about 4 times... 4-5 hours each time. So... make sure you're sure cos they're a PITA to get out!

I agree with glam tho, I recently got all my hair chopped into a concave bob. it is much much more healthier now, and manageable.