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| A Little Dreadlock Wisdom |
| Lessons Learned..daez 2007...II |
| When I realized Mark's dreads had absolutely NO lint or debris in them...no buildup what so ever I came to realize quite a few things...it's not WHAT you put in/on your dreads that causes all the problems... it's HOW and HOW MUCH you put on to do it!! IF you SLATHER on beeswax made with petroleum because it holds your locs...if you put coat after coat of it on and then don't WASH your locs...well yeah...you are DEFINITELY going to have some issues with your dreadlocks...because the wax will not only coat your hair shaft and embed itself into your locs...but it will be impossible to remove!! See...the secret of Estella being able to have clients with lush dreads is because she scrubs the hell outta your hair each and every time she does it!! When she's through, it's as if you never had any beeswax in your locs at all...so when she re-applies it, it's as if it's the first time!! Plus your scalp is always clean and healthy...and while you still go thru all the same stages -- frizzies, etc..you won't have to worry about going to a dermatologist to see if you have sebum dermatitis because of irritation!! IF you feel historicially compelled to use beeswax, here are just a few pointers to keep in mind FYI: Use an ALL NATURAL beeswax....back when I tried it, the one I used was called Let's Dread Natural beeswax. It was PURE beeswax with no other ingredients added like petroleum or mineral oil or anything else that could jack up your locs...if you are so inclined, remember to use a MINUTE amount of it...putting huge globs on each loc is NOT going to make your hair matt any faster...people are searching for something that works like glue...to hold the babyloc together...beeswax will help bind your hair, but if you DON'T completely wash it OUT with each shampooing it will build up and cause immeasureable damage along the way...so please PLEASE keep this in mind!!!!! |
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| MARK - 2002 Maintained with beeswax |
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| COREY January 2007 |
| Corey's babylocs are now in their 8th month...he started off using beeswax and then switched to using the Ultimate Hairfood to twist them...he likes using it because it is basically like using pure shea butter...it has the same texure and consistency as shea butter and is thick like shea butter, which is why he likes it...he's convinced that using a heavy thick product to BIND his teenaged locs has helped them stay together...I think another reason he is using it is because he has a tendency to get spots of alopecia from stress at times...you can see in the picture above the thinness at the roots in the upper middle of his head...I'm tracking his new journey and will keep it updated....and I'll be posting more pictures of him on his own page... One thing Corey hasn't fully learned from the time around with his dreadlocks is patience...he looks at my dreads and gets disgusted with himself for cutting his off, instead of making this an opportunity to do it TRULY right this time...he says he's NOT dry twisting, so I'm glad about that at least.... hopefully as his locs grow longer he'll stop twisting them seeing how he already has signs of thinness at the roots...but we shall see...! |
| Dish soap as shampoo? |
| It started almost as a joke...someone...I think it was Mama Aminah (the co-owner) of Lovinlocs Yahoo Group posted about the possibility of using dish washing soap as shampoo for washing your dreadlocks...sure enough someone tried it and reported back to the LL family that their hair had never been cleaner or softer!! Now quite a few people are using it regularly and the reports are all that it's absolutely amazing!!!...Just thought I'd pass it on...My personal preference is Liquid African Black Soap..it's excellent as a clariifying shampoo just in case you want to know what I use... |
| One thing I get a lot of emails about are the little hair balls that form on the ends of your locs in the first fiour or five months...people always freak out because they don't know what is happening to their babylocs... Well don't fret...this is a perfectly normal part of the locing process...it's actually a GOOD thing...a sign that your hair is in the process of locing, and the matted hair is working itself down to the tips... try your best not to cut those hair balls off...they will fall off all by themself!! If you just can't stand it, twist the hair back into the tip the best you can...it will still fall off, but it's best to let it do it when it's ready...this hair is part of what forms the sealed tip on the end of your dreadlocks...the hair ball is excess hair that has no place to go...when you allow it to fall off on it's own the tip will have a chance to seal correctly..pulling it off may not do a LOT of damage to the tip, but it could leave you with curlyques instead of sealed tips...so take that into consideration... |
| One of my favorite things to do is massage ORGANIC coconut oil on my scalp and locs when I want to treat myself...I'm talking about the kind you can eat or cook with...I use it in my products and I use it plain...I eat it because it's good for you...check it out if you can... Well...I know I have more to say, but I can't think of anything right now...LOL...as always if you have any questions please feel free to email me with your questions or post them on the message board... Thank you GOD for giving me another day of life....AMEN ....just me...daez |