Locs Tag

Short and sweet, I thought I'd try my hand at the classic 20 question locs tag that frequently floats around on Youtube. Enjoy!

1. Do you remember the specific moment you decided you were going to dread your hair? Where were you and how did you feel?

I was probably at home looking at dreadlocked YouTubers and I felt pretty convinced I wanted to do this. I had very vivid visions of me with thick red locs, long and thrown back in a lazy ponytail and that was that. I was ready.

2. What method, if any, did you use to start your dreadlocks?

Finger twists, rubber bands and three-strand-twists were put in by a hair dresser before they were restarted at home with comb coils. Some of my locs were later restarted with two strand twists.

3. How old are your dreadlocks?

My locs are 2 years.

4. What is the length of your longest dread? And shortest?

 My longest dread is 5 inches and the shortest is just over 3 inches.

5. Do you have any dreads that are especially unique, strange, or awesome?

I have few that are just so fat and plump and I love them. I also have a couple of congos (two locs, one base) growing in.

6. How many dreads do you have currently? Is that the same number you started with?

I have 55 locs which is less than half of what I started with.

7. What shampoo or other products do you use on your dreads?

I've been using Cream of Nature's Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo and raw virgin coconut oil for over a year now.

8. How often do you wash your dreads?

I wash my hair  once every 4-12 days.

9. Do you do any regular maintenance on your dreads?

Maintenance has become quite irregular over the past 5 months. I want my roots to remain thick so I only maintain them on occasion.

10. What are your favourite beads or other decorations?

I occasionally wear silver cuff beads on my dreads.

11. If your dreads had their own personal motto, what would it be?

Haha. I suppose they'd follow my motto in general, as quoted by Usher: " A lady on the street and a freak in the bed".

12. If you could start a new set of dreads, would you do anything differently?

I'd make sure my hair was over 4 inches long before I started and I'd make sure the partings where staggered (brick-lay pattern) so I didn't experience such prominent partings.

13. Is there anything else unique about your appearance other than dreadlocks? (tattoos, piercings, etc).

I have 8 piercings but no tattoos.

14. How many people do you know personally with dreadlocks?

I don't personally know of anyone who has dreadlocks. Apparently my uncle used to have them but I was too young to recall.

15. Have any employers turned you down for having dreads? Any wanted you BECAUSE of your dreads?

I've never been turned down or offered work because of my dreadlocks but I did maintain a job whilst having them.

16. Whats the WEIRDEST question you've gotten about your dreads? DUMBEST? FUNNIEST? Most common?

"How do you do your hair like that?" was pretty common in my first year but I rarely get asked about them these days. I notice people tend to comment on the colour more than anything.

17. Have you ever had a freak accident or an embarrassing moment involving your dreads? 

Fortunately not. They're pretty hazard free at this length though every now and then I'll get them caught on either mine or someone else's glasses, especially as don't retwist my roots as often.

18. Do you have any dreaded role models? If so, who?

I've never had a dreaded role model, I  take inspiration from hundreds of loc wearers

19. What dreaded YouTubers could you see yourself hanging out with in real life?

oceangrins and meroekhalia.

20. Who are you going to Tag?

Everyone reading this questionnaire and I'd really like to get a link to your answers too.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

Year 2

Current Hair Stats:

Colour: Dark Red

Big Chop: 5th January 2012

Loc Birthdate: 3rd April 2012

Current Length: 5 inches

Starting Method: Comb coils and two strand twists

Number of Locs: 55

Maintenance Method: Palm-rolling

Current Shampoo: Crème of Nature Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo


An account so far:

Day 1: I started out with braids, twists and, rubber bands put in at a salon.
Day 3: I removed the rubber bands and installed comb coils.
Months 1-3: My locs started to form.
Month 4: I had an issue with build up (Organic Root Stimulator Loc & Twist gel) and had to trim my ends and combine locs.
Months 6-7: I started the palm-roll method.
Months 8-9: I experienced severe unravelling.
Month 10: I had my locs professionally maintained at a salon.
Months 11-12: I combined more locs.
Months 13-14: I used the crochet method.
Month 15: I coloured my locs.
Month 16: I did no maintenance.
Months 17-20: I started palm-rolling again and reinstalled some of my locs with two strand twists.
Months 21-24: Growth!

The most difficult part of my journey was between months 8 and 12 when my hair really struggled. I've since learnt that locs, and especially the thicker locs I was trying to attain, need regular maintenance to assist with their formation in the first year or so. I realise that  low maintenance locs have their drawbacks, at least in the beginning, such as greater shrinkage and much slower maturation. Nonetheless, my locs did reach maturity around month 18.

I had noticed that around month 20 my locs were slimmer than they had been at around months 12-15 and I did wonder if this is normal condensation. I've since learnt that frequent retwisting will make locs thinner over time. Having cut back on maintenance over the last 4 months they have thickened up to a size I'm really happy with.

In terms of how they feel and behave, currently they don't have any stretch beyond the root (which thankfully limits shrinkage), and they feel dense and compact. They also hang instead of stick up and frizz isn't a problem any more.

Although my two strand twists in the front are completely entwined they behave in a very different way to the older locs. They stick up a lot now and require more maintenance. They're also a lot slimmer and more stretchy. Being only 7 months old now, they'll most likely take another year or so to reach full maturity.

(click to enlarge)

roots grown out since
last July

a little progress with the
ponytail

I cannot wait for the next 12 months of my journey.


Click here to compare with year one.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission.**

Update/Tips: Two Strand Twists, Frizz & Baby Locs

Just a quick update on how my two strand twists are developing. After shampooing for a second time they are really starting to frizz and knit together. I wouldn't say the two strand twist pattern is fading it's just becoming less obvious under the frizz.

I haven't started palm-rolling my two strand twists yet but I will once they develop some more as I already palm-roll my locs.

They've got a long way to go but I trust they'll form nicely. I have an inkling that budding will be starting in the next couple of months. I'm intrigued to see/feel how they develop in two strand twists compared with comb coils.


Frizz

Experiencing frizz is a brilliant stage to reach for anyone new to the journey and wondering how to deal with their newly developing fuzzies. It can happen in as little as two weeks after installation depending on your hair texture and is usually induced by frequent washing.

From what I can deduce, shrinkage and frizz are the first steps towards developing baby locs and with two strand twists frizz is even more desirable as it will progressively transform the visual appearance of two strand twists into dreadlocks.

Frizz isn't the same as loose hairs but can occur simultaneously, especially with comb coils. Loose hairs are often found coming from the roots and in between the locs themselves. Frizz forms across the shaft of the loc and those hairs will interweave over several months whilst hairs on the inside combine to thicken the loc and solidify it's structure.

To form neater locs you can start palm rolling your frizz, training it to form cylindrically, to your liking. I recommend starting no sooner than three months in or when your locs start to firm up (when you can't reverse the two strand twist).

(Week 5)

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission.**

Month 17

Hello all,

As some of my locs made one year and five months today I'll continue with the photos and updates I was planning to share with you.

Aside from my unloc'd roots, shrinkage didn't seem as prominent as it had been which was allowing my locs to appear longer and making styling a little easier. I'd been comfortably wearing my hair in the following style for days at a time - click here.

Five months ago I wrote that I was going to avoid trimming my locs to be able to see as much growth as possible and I'm glad to say that since my ends had sealed I was been able to do just that. The one thing I did feel the need to do was groom my locs via pruning (trimming stray hairs along the outer shafts) in order to control frizz. I found that palm-rubbing wasn't effective enough due to how frequently I was washing my hair.

(photo take in mid August).


when will the ends stop curling up like this?

(photos taken a day before combing out my locs).

retwisting with coconut oil

The overall condition of my hair is quite good at the moment. As the weather in August has been modest compared with July's hot spell, here in the UK, my hair has been able to retain its softness between washes. I've just been infrequently spritzing my hair with water and applying my raw coconut oil.

Remember that time I was so frustrated with my "unravelling fro" that I sort advise from a loc'd guy I saw on the bus? Well recently it was my turn to give advise, on a bus no less. A lady with slim, probably shoulder length locs (that were up in a ponytail at the time) asked for advice on minimising damage when colouring her hair. I was ogling her locs at first so I was slightly taken aback when she chimed in with her question. I directed her to the products I'd used to lighten my hair with considerably less risk/damage than when I'd experimented with bleach. She seemed keen to give it a go and got off the bus shortly after, but not before asking whether I was free-forming and then complimenting me on how bright and thick my locs were. That sort of made my day.

 (photos taken a week before I started combing my locs out - click here).


I'll leave it there and get back to everyone once I've decided what I want to do with my locs and two strand twists.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission**

Length: 12 Month Comparison

Moments in a dreadlocking journey where you wonder if things have really changed all that much.

Day 1

Month 5

Month 12

Day 1

Month 5

Month 12

Day 1

 

Month 5

Month 12

Amen for progress!

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission**

Month 11

Exactly three weeks shy of my one year dreadlocking milestone. My locs (at various progressive stages following my last entry) are awkwardly but certainly developing. I don't know how I feel about it all recently. They're nothing like I'd imagined them to be. I feel sort of disillusioned by the whole process and again the focus falls on thick dreads. My research up until this year had mostly covered how thinner dreads are formed and my anticipated time scale for progress for thinner locs has skewed my vision a little now tha they're thicker. There's not the same amount of information and personal documentation for thicker dreads, they just seem to happen.

February in London (before combining)

March in Slovenia (after combining)

A few days later back in the UK

But in reality it's not that simple and thick dreads are incredibly boisterous, epecially when started on short hair. I keep reminding myself that all dreads tangle, matt, shrink, swell and condense and that non of it occurs linearly. I keep telling myself that if I leave this untamed, unruly mess of hair alone for just another day it'll get better. It does get better, slowly. Whether I watch my hair or not it's still happening slowly. But at least it's happening. It's strange to observe the subtle changes. My newly combined locs feel and look different to the others. The others feel more...established. And the fact that I can tell says a lot for how far they've come.

This month I washed my hair like before; spray bottle of diluted shampoo to the roots only, gentle agitation, a soak and even gentler rinsing. I could only wait 2.5 weeks this time as my scalp was too dry and dirty from my travels. Shrinkage is still lingering but as I only wet my hair once a month it's manageable. As my bottom row gets longer I'm having to remove lint that attaches to the tips). Although I have gained length I've also reached that first growth stage where it never seems to pass your ears.

I still adore dreadlocks so I'm going to wait it out.

retwisted in February

retwisted again in March

Oh and does anyone know where I can find unique wooden and/or metal dread beads online? I've scoured Etsy and although there is a generous selection most cost a fortune with p&p. Thanks.

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission**

Combined: Twelve Became Six

The thing about this constant "adjustment phase" that I'm going through is that when I started out last year I was incredibly impatient. I wanted to start my dreads immediately after cutting my relaxed hair off and the 1 inch I started with didn't make it ideal to be choosing section/dread sizes and partings and what not. So I started with a set I didn't know I'd be unhappy with because the majority of what I've learnt has been happening during the journey. Looking back it wouldn't have been possible to create the thick deads I have now with the length I had then anyway, also getting them done at a salon didn't give me full control. But all alterations aside, I am glad that a year later I still want dreadlocks. The important thing is that they'll loc up when they're ready.

I went a head and combed the 12 dreads out and lost a good amount of shed hair but I retained most of the length.

They look huge by comparison but as no one has noticed, even though they're at the front, I think they must blend quite well. At current count I have 57 dreads.

D'you know, the minute I combined them I worried that they were too big...

...days later,

I love 'em.

Newbies:

combined the two in the back

DREADLOCKS ARE A LIFESTYLE

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DONOT use without permission**

Washed Locs: Pictures

Here are the pictures for Washed Locs and a Product update. I was very happy with the results using this cleansing method. As you'll see I still had a "unravelled fro" appearance afterwards but I think it photographs worse that it actually was. They'll probably be this way until they mature.

During

shampoo at the roots

After

 

soft and clean

Retwisting

 

air dried

Finished results

 



the clips flattened my dreads a bit

DREADLOCKS ARE...

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DO NOT use without permission**