So... this seems to be a point of contention/confusion for a lot of people so I thought I'd try and make a thread for everyone to have their say: What makes dreadlocks "natural?" Do you consider natural and neglect to be the same thing? Have you heard any other terms to describe the process? I certainly have my own thoughts on the matter, but would like to hear yours.
I believe natural means no backcombing, no T&R,and no wax or other similiar substances. I dont like the term neglect...cuz it makes the natural route sound narsty. Plus...even natural locks require some maintenance, unless you want one big congo. Natural maintenance to me just means seperating dreadies as they lock up. No palm rolling, crochetting, root flipping and whatever else there is. Can ya dig? =]
Oh I can dig it. Thanks for the perspective. What about washing? Would you (directed at anyone really, but feel free mandy) consider doc b's or baking soda to be natural or not? why?
I would agree with this, except I have a problem with the term neglect, I don't find neglect locks disgusting, it's just way too hardcore for me, I don't think I could do that. Natural and neglect are two very different things imo. Neglect means beaver tail eventually if grown for long enough.
Personally, I'd say that natural is no chemicals or wax. Backcoming and t&r give a little headstart but the rest is all natural if you don't crochet or.. I dunno, maintain loads. BC and TR only use your hands or a comb.... No chemicals. Dread perm is nawt natural xD and is silly ^^ BC and TR are different from total neglect... But although my lawks were BCed I ignored them and let them do their own thing for the last year, so I like to think they are natural... xD I'm sure many will disagree lol but for 80% of my dreads lives I've ignored them, totally left them alone. When it comes to shampoo, I guess natural ingredients is the best, but practically those are sometimes hard to get and quite expensive. Although normal shampoos or DHHQ aren't natural shampoos, I wouldn't go as far as saying they don't make my locks un-natural. Kudos to those who don't use shampoo
I always thought natural dreads were anything not made by chemicals, extensions or anything artificial. Methods are methods, but I think all dreads made with your own hair are natural.
I dunno about backcombing... I find combs to be a bit un-natural... even though they've been around for days they are still man made. Also the BC and T&R process is initially damaging to the hair right? Are the resulting sections natural? but whatever... Maybe that's why the term "natural" bothered me. For most of people it is almost impossible to be 100% natural in most of the things we do, but we still use the term natural to mean something along the lines of "less un-natural." I occasionally thread loose hairs into the center of a dread with a needle and I used to separate my fatties into smaller locks (something I regret now, but we lives and learns)... so I think of my locks as being somewhere between wild and tame, but certainly not domesticated. Thanks for weighing in.
I think debating if BC and T&R are somehow less natural than neglect is like arguing over plants grown with or without fertilizer while everyone else is walking round with plastic tree's.
That gave me a good laugh pypes, but it's exactly my point... and I'm not trying to have a debate or an argument, just a little talk regarding ye olde semantics schmantics
Lol you may not be looking for an argument, but you'll sure get one eventually xD Lawl pypes, its so true.
For me natural means without maintenance. So if a dreadlock was started with backcombing or T&R, I would consider them natural if they were left to do their own thang afterwards. Neglect means ignoring your hair and perhaps ripping apart pieces, but that's all. I do not factor in the washing process when considering them neglect or natural.
In my eyes Natural = Born with dreadlocks aka NOBODY! Neglect = Hair not touched at all aka uni dreads Anything else = not natural or neglect
I think Natural = Convincing yourself you dont have hair and forgetting about it, then one day realizing you have dreads Backcombing is sorta natural in my eyes, that is ofcourse if theyre done loosely and then just left to dread up for months and years blah blah blah
If dreads are naturally maintained for a year or so then you cant tell if they were BC, TR or Neglect anyway.
