Well, I've been researching on the internet and I've seen a lot of people say that dreads can be VERY difficult in the first couple of months. Can anyone explain why?
No they aint! They are easy. All you have to do is wash your hair, don't touch them and don't worry! Simple as that
I've never had difficulty doing nothing....I dunno man. Maybe they mean they don't look much like dreads during the first few months??? Some people get mad shrinkage. That sucks.
probably because you have to rip them so they don't form a big unidread. I've had mine for 1 and a half month and haven't got any problems (apart from some dandruff that treated with rosemary), but then again it's been only 1.5 months.
Ahhhh the internet can be so confusing Is there any website yall know of that have FACTS about dreads? Since I cant get them yet, I might as well fill my head with knowledge
The only difficulty is in the mind. Locks are incredibly simple... they are what happens when you don't comb your hair. If you concern yourself with a bunch of maintenance crap, then that will be a pain in the ass because... as Ahmad said, some people have issues with the 'being patient and letting them mature' part, and want things to 'look right' right away. This is the type of thinking that leads people to backcomb multiple times, which only serves to damage the fuck out of the hair. I did not find ripping sections to be difficult at all. However, I'm sure hair type has an effect on the level of difficulty.
Honestly i think its talking about rolling and backcombing and things like that. I have not found any info on doing dreads naturaly i thought you had to have them "done" and everything i found online was diffrent ways to make them form. so if its talking about doing it backcombing and palm rolling can be a pain in the butt, i can tell you how many times we got flustered with my daughters dreads the first few months because they were not doing much of anything. Some people rub wool on there head untill they get a few giant matts and then rip the hair into sections and then rub with wool everyday im sure thats a pain. From what i have herd some times they will stand stright up for up to 3 months, that can be a pain if you look mega nicce for some reason or just dont want hair standing stright up on your head. I think some wax people say you need to wax it a lot at first but only with so much. I sure this could be a total pain at first too, your just learning you dont know how to work the wax (from the vids i have seen knotty boy wax looks very ferm like a kinda soft candle) you dont know what your doing for sure. I dont know about going all natural, i didnt know people did this untill i stumbled across this fourm. But i can see how "making" dreads can be a total pain for the first few months.
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=364273&highlight=Natural+philosophy&f=209 some good info there.
This is because the natural 'method' does not make for a very interesting youtube video Besides if you're turning to the internet to find out 'how to get dreads' you're not very likely to listen listen to people that say "oh, just stop combing, slowly start washing your hair less often, and in about 2-6 months you will START to see something happening... in 4-12 months you will feel like you have locks even though they will continue to shrink for another 6-12 months"
As has been said, your hair not looking like mature dreads is about the only downside to it. As far as ripping goes, I did some, and later wished I had not. My taste in locks grew much more eccentric as I started growing them, I stopped ripping somewhere around 7-8 months, now I'm at ten or so, and if I don't have to cut them I'll keep not ripping, there are lots of congos with up to 7+ locks in them, and pretty much everything has ahold of something else, or is too huge to properly suck anything else in.
Take it easy, you don't have to be a master of dreads before you start. It's not complicated and it all works out in the end.
Dreads are hard work if you want them to be even, straight and neat. If you like the look of neglect dreads then it's no problem, just do nothing for a couple of years. The only hard aspect is the patience and resisting the urge to help them along.
WHS. I am a neataholic and the first year I spent lots of time keeping them tidy. It´s a choice you make yourself. I personally could not stand a mess on my head, so I choose to do my best to make pretty dreads asap.
www.dreadlocktruth.com has a nice collection of links depending on what you want to do (backcomb/natural/tnr so on and so forth). Different things work for different people and they do a decent job at giving a good overall picture. Also GUDU on LiveJournal (get up dread up) have sweet tutorials for almost anything you could want to do. Wanna dye your hair? They have it? Make up soaps or something for your scalp? They've got it. It's like an online encyclopedia of locks. It's both fascinating and weird. Locks do different things for different people. Some folks develop dandruff issues that they then struggle with. Some people get rid of dandruff and are happier than pigs in shit. *shrug* I maintain mine and since I would normally style my hair every two-three days it actually simplified things for me. However I'm so over this fucking purple. >_< Where your hair is at and how you go about your locks is going to determine whether or not your hair routine gets easier or harder.
I havent had any difficulties so far with my hair. I guess people just mean because they don't look like dreads right away but thats something you get over and learn to be more patient about. It's worth the wait. Also don't let people on the forums make you feel bad about not really knowing what direction to go. It can be confusing on the internet because everyone is telling you to use different methods! LOL. Either way if you do nothing you'll get somewhere.
