The first one appeared 11 days after I stopped combing my hair. On a warm day at work, with the windows wide open, an afternoon wind off the river swayed through the newsroom and ruffled my hair. As I smoothed it down my hand brushed over a hard, rough patch on the back of my head. What the hell was that??
A dreadlock.
The next day another one appeared. It’s now six weeks since I last used a comb or brush on my hair and I think – although I’m not completely sure – I have about 10 thin, tapered dreadlocks starting, all on the top layer of my hair. There aren’t many of them, and they’re only baby dreadies, so they’re not very noticeable yet.
It wasn’t my deliberate intention to start dreads. The decision to stop combing and brushing was just another experiment with my hair. There have been a few experiments over the years, beginning with shaving my head when I was in my late teens. That experiment lasted the best part of 15 years and began because I was sick of trying to deal with my snarly, unmanageable hair. The combing, the brushing, the washing, the conditioning, the detangling, the drying, the styling ... how boring. I couldn’t be bothered with it.
The dreadlocks are another experiment, I guess. I stopped shaving my head at the end of 2006 and I've been through many changes since then. I’m a lot more comfortable now with the bird’s nest that is my hair, although I went through a phase last winter of having a tidy haircut. It looked pretty, and took more work to maintain than I was willing to put in. So I’ve been letting my hair do its own wild thing. Finally, late last year, I threw away my brush and comb and waited to see what would happen.
I’m fully prepared for the process to take several years, especially as my hair is still quite short for dreadlocks. I’m using what’s commonly known as the neglect method of dreadlocking. I prefer to call it the natural method, as I’m not neglecting my hair at all. Most people start their dreads using the backcombing method, which is great, and a lot quicker than the natural method; it’s just not what I want to do.
A dreadlock.
The next day another one appeared. It’s now six weeks since I last used a comb or brush on my hair and I think – although I’m not completely sure – I have about 10 thin, tapered dreadlocks starting, all on the top layer of my hair. There aren’t many of them, and they’re only baby dreadies, so they’re not very noticeable yet.
It wasn’t my deliberate intention to start dreads. The decision to stop combing and brushing was just another experiment with my hair. There have been a few experiments over the years, beginning with shaving my head when I was in my late teens. That experiment lasted the best part of 15 years and began because I was sick of trying to deal with my snarly, unmanageable hair. The combing, the brushing, the washing, the conditioning, the detangling, the drying, the styling ... how boring. I couldn’t be bothered with it.
The dreadlocks are another experiment, I guess. I stopped shaving my head at the end of 2006 and I've been through many changes since then. I’m a lot more comfortable now with the bird’s nest that is my hair, although I went through a phase last winter of having a tidy haircut. It looked pretty, and took more work to maintain than I was willing to put in. So I’ve been letting my hair do its own wild thing. Finally, late last year, I threw away my brush and comb and waited to see what would happen.
I’m fully prepared for the process to take several years, especially as my hair is still quite short for dreadlocks. I’m using what’s commonly known as the neglect method of dreadlocking. I prefer to call it the natural method, as I’m not neglecting my hair at all. Most people start their dreads using the backcombing method, which is great, and a lot quicker than the natural method; it’s just not what I want to do.
Let me clear up one false idea most people have about dreads. Dreads do not equal dirty hair! In fact, my hair has never been so clean and healthy. I wash my hair once a week – usually after my weekly swim – with Piazza Verde's rosemary shampoo, made in the Pohangina valley. Rosemary is good for dark hair and this shampoo certainly makes my hair shine. Once every two or three months I dye my hair in Lush's black henna. It might feel like allowing cow poo to dry on my hair for four hours, but the results are so much nicer than commercial dyes. Black henna seems to enhance the natural colour of my hair rather than disguising it. That’s all I do to my hair now – apart from moments of obsessing over the progress of my dreads. But I reckon my hair looks great, if a little messy first thing in the morning!
The dreadlocks might not last. Maybe I’ll get sick of them, maybe they won’t suit me, or maybe they’ll be more trouble than they’re worth. But I want to give them a try. I’d hate to be 80 and still wondering if I’d look good with dreads.
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This photo was taken just before the first two dreads appeared, in December 2008. That isn’t a dread in the photo – it’s a plait. I had a few of them in my hair at the time; now they’ve become dreads. I’ll post more photos as the dreads progress.
4 comments:
So THAT'S how dreads are formed, Anne-Marie? I'd always had visions of getting them started by hours spent with curling tongs, or else a bedtime ritual of winding locks around a finger and then tying a rag through the resultant cylinder, the way my grandmother sometimes did to mine to make ringlets.
Rosemary seems to be good for any hair. After I've washed mine, I dunk it in a basin of rosemary rinse. It seems to act as a conditioner and lessens the frizziness I tend to suffer from, apart from also giving shine and leaving a very pleasant smell. Bring a handful of sprigs to the boil in water, then let it steep for a while before straining it. It's useful to have a rosemary bush in the garden!
As for getting to 80 and wondering if you'd look good in dreads: are you sure that would be too late to try?
Peregrina, there are many, many ways to start dreads. Some are pretty bizarre. One method has you rubbing a woollen garment over your scalp to form knots which you then rip apart into clumps to form dreadlocks. It may surprise you to know I wasn't keen on that idea. Backcombing is the most popular way. That's where you separate your hair in to sections and backcomb it in to dreads; it takes about four hours. But the natural method is, if you like, the original method - and the slowest.
I wouldn't mind having dreads when I was 80 - but I wouldn't want to start dreads when I was 80. If you see the difference :-)
I've used that rosemary concoction on my hair before. It's nice. Rosemary is probably good for all hair; but it does add a certain shine to us brunettes.
Dreadlocks are NOT about fashion. In may cultures throughout history dreads are a sign of the devout and Holy (Hebrew, Rastafari, Ethiopian Orthodox,Hindi,Aztec,etc.) regardless of the religion or "way of life". If it is only about vanity, then don't bother cuz you're just a blood clot fashion dread and you probably don't attain the conviction and patience it takes to grow a true covenant of faith between you and the Almighty. Burn the wicked man whom tries to assume the appearance of the faithful.
dreads used to be only about religion. now its about both, fashion and/or religion. dont push your beliefs on others when im sure they dont wana hear it or care.
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