Dready Mamas ~ 2009

[majikfaerie]

: It's a new year! :
Come on in and share your dready wisdom

link to previous thread

[OrganicSister]

Happy New Year to those of you in different time zones! We have about 12 hours to go.

Originally Posted by Blucactus

OrganicSister, did you sucessfully avoid the lice?? EEk..

So far so good. I've treated our house once and our heads twice. I read boys don't get it as easily as girls so hopefully my son avoided it completely and all my effort was all for nothing!

On another note, Month 7 has been interesting. I've gotten caught on hangers and velcro (ouch!) and on Xmas day was sitting in a chair too close to the counter and got food in my hair not once but TWICE (the day after I had washed! Ugg!). I've also noticed some shrinking for the first time and lots of tightening recently.

I'm not sure how the dandruff is anymore. I can't tell if I'm still producing dandruff or just unable to get the old dandruff out. This has been the only thing making me upset with my dreads. : Yesterday I soaked my head ACV and EOs and washed with baking soda, then took a looong hot bath to soak my scalp. It felt *SO* good but about half way thru I realized it could be the winter weather and hot water drying out my scalp and causing the flakiness. So I put a bit of conditioner on the scalp to counteract it. Not that it helped. I just wish it would go away so I didn't feel the need to wear my head wrapped all the time.

I found a new hat and would share a picture but my laptop is being serviced and the photo is on it (I'm sneaking on my son's computer right now). I'm also learning to knit and am starting with a hat, so I'll have 2 photos to share but it will be in a couple weeks.

Also this month my two brothers who don't live near me saw my dreads for the first time. One of them had an incredulous look and said now I'm an official hippie. My other brother - the tattooed and peirced one! - thought I was crazy to do something so permanent! Of course I got the usual questions starting with "How will you take them out?" and "Can you wash them?". My sister chimed in and said she could vouch for their cleanliness. Um, thanks...I think.

I also finally confronted my mom on her comments about them. She always make sure to tell me how beautiful my hair WAS and how bad they look now. She does it teasingly but I told her that coming from her it means more than someone else. I tried to explain the spiritual symbolism they hold for me and the spiritual lessons they've brought me. She made some joke about how the conversation went when Gd told me to dread my hair. My (step/bonus)dad didn't like that and told her she shouldn't second-guess when I said something was spiritual to me. My dad is so cool sometimes.

Okay, I've written a book now. Can you tell I've been offline for awhile?

Happy New Year's everyone!!

[Blucactus]

Happy New Year! We still have a couple hours to go....

[majikfaerie]

Originally Posted by OrganicSister

I read boys don't get it as easily as girls so hopefully my son avoided it completely and all my effort was all for nothing!

I don't actually believe it's a gender thing so much as a long hair/ short hair thing.

anyway good to see you back

[Nemesis]

My DD is still loving her dreadlocks. I think they are 10 months now? Maybe more.. I'll have to look.

She told me she misses mine (even though I only had them a few months!) and that I should try again when my hair gets longer. I suppose I will!

Oh, and my DD2 now proudly grabs at either side of the back of her head and shows her dad that she has "two dreadlocks! Like Grace!" She has more than two, but she doesn't like it when we point that out to her!

[turnipmama]

Happy New Year Ladies!

I can't believe my dreads are almost 4 months old! They are maturing so fast, I have lost a LOT of length in the front, not as much in the back though. DD has tried to rub them for me which is hilarious.: I love my dreads so much and am so glad I decided to do it.

[majikfaerie]

wow, nemesis, i can't believe it's been that long.
my dd seems to not like her dreads any more (not "princessy" enough), but she doesn't dislike them enough to cut them off (that would be even less beautiful ) so dready she is staying.

[MoonStarFalling]

I got a pretty new green wrap

I really wish baking soda didn't strip my dye out so bad! This color I have is nice but it fades so quickly even when I wash with just water and dying two color dreads is such a PITA!

I've convinced dh to let me dread his hawk. He said he'll keep them for a bit and then cut it all off though.

[purplemamaturtle5]

I just recently got dreads......I havent put any wax in it yet. I originally didnt want to, but I have frizzy hair and they arent dreading up that well so I bought some wax to help with the actual dreading. How do you all wash your hair? What do you use? I would really like to know. I am currently using dr. bronners, but I wanted to know if there was anything better. Thanks.

[majikfaerie]

welcome purplemamaturtle5
personally I don't use anything to wash my hair but water and a good scalp massage. lots of people use various kinds of soaps, vinegar, bicarb soda... there's a treasure trove of information on the old thread; there's a link to it in the OP

[Blucactus]

Welcome to the dread thread. I use Dr Bronners peppermint for my hair, and it works well.

Now, for the more seasoned crowd, I have a question. I am wondering if there is just a really simple solution here that is not occuring to me:

The dreads are coming along nicely, but a bunch of them have weird bends and twists about halfway down...and...this is embarassing but I JUST (as in, about five minutes ago) realized it's from putting them back with a ponytail holder. I wear them various ways: everything pulled back in a ponytail with a rubber band loosely around it....everything tucked under a cozy (beanie-style) hat....bandana as a headband in the front....or bandana over everything, tied at the nape of the neck and covering but loose on top.

So....My scalp does the very best uncovered. But I can't stand having my hair in my face, swinging around, touching my face, tickling and waking up my nursing/sleeping baby, flopping in my eyes when I'm trying to do stuff around the house. So I've been putting it back. But now I am really horrified that it's shaping the dreads and making them weird looking. Is there some other option that I haven't come up with that would work for me? Otherwise, O crap....

[turnipmama]

Bluecactus - I rarely wear a wrap or bandana or anything I have wierd twists and "turns" in my dreads. They really have a mind of their own. I wouldn't worry about it too much. As they grow and mature I think they will come out fine. Are they really hard and dry? Conditioning them with aloe might help.

purplemamaturtle5- I really caution against wax. It is nearly impossible to get out once it's in there and I think it just glues things together rather than helping them knot. I would use aloe to condition but the frizzies will keep coming for awhile unfortunately, they need time to mature. Just my opinion though, I am sure other mamas can give some valuble input.

[majikfaerie]

bluecactus: tam tam tam, tammity tam tam tam!
or just have a headband to keep them back off your face.

[helen_emily]

Hey again lovely locked ladies

I was pretty excited to debut my dreads this xmas to my huuuuuuuuuge extended family... I got heaps of positive comments!

Three of my aunts were in raptures over my hair, and told me it looks just like something my dad would have loved and that I look even more like him.
This meant a lot to me because I think part of the reason I got dreads was that I feel like they give me more of a connection to my memories of him. When I was little he would tell me he was a "rasta who wears my dreadlocks on the inside" heheh. So even though he died a few years ago I feel like I am getting closer to him, if that makes any sense. I know he'd love them

I only got one outright negative comment which turned out pretty hilarious, my uncle made a racist comment about my dreads but I know he was just shocked (he's a v conservative farmer) and all his daughters turned around and had a go at him, hahah. I didn't even have to say anything! Those cousins are awesome :


And majikfaerie, the post by you about henna-ing your dd's dreads a while ago inspired me to henna mine up (and make me look even more like my redhead dad hehe).
The only thing was that I didn't end up having quite enough to dye them all properly... and I didn't know you have to wear gloves (other dyes I've used you haven't needed to) so my palms are orange as well! I've been doing a lot of gardening to try and get the orange out!

I'll post some pics of my lovely red dreds soon

[Buddhamom]

I know I am a few days late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! I am still loving my locks, but still wishing they would grow already :

[majikfaerie]

helen emily, i used to wear gloes when i did hennaing, but now i like the orange. it usually fades from skin in a couple of days, but for the fingernails the colour has to grow out. I think it looks cool

[OrganicSister]

BluCactus: What about a loose tie instead of a pnytail holder? I have small strips I've cut from fabric scraps to tie my hair back. I generally don't like them hanging down often either.

helen_emily: LOVE your locks! They fit you well!

AFM: I soaked my hair in ACV again, then washed with baking soda then figured it was worth a shot so I washed with Neutrogena's non-residue shampoo (they kind you're suppose to use to get hair product buildup out of your hair) and did a cool water rinse in hopes of results in regards to the dandruff problem. After getting out and drying my hair VOILA! no dandruff was left trapped in my dreads and none resurfaced for days after. So it wasn't new dandruff being produced, just old dandruff like I thought and now I don't have to be embarassed and keep my head wrapped up anymore.

Not sure which treatment helped the most or if it was a combo of all; I'm just glad it worked. I was about at my limit and ready to call it quits.

[purplemamaturtle5]

So get this...

My 4 year old niece was sitting on my lap a few days ago and was looking at my new dreads (they are still pretty messy looking mind you) and she looked right at me and said (this isnt an exact quote, but i'll try to get it right) " you would look much more pretty without the dreads" and I wont have any friends if I have my dreads.... Can you believe that!! I really hope thats not what my sister-in-law is instilling into her head...that if you dont have perfectly groomed hair your not worthy. (my SIL is very concerned when it comes to her childrens appearence....) I just kindly explained that what she said wasnt true. I was a bit taken back by what she said.

[majikfaerie]

whoa pmt5. I hear the voice of a SIL in that one.

[purplemamaturtle5]

ohhhhh yes. I think you are right!! *Shame...