Dreadlocks

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:10 pm

[Warning: I'm talking about hair and it's upkeep; ultimately a boring conversation; also talking about not using shampoo in hair every day seems to bug people]

I've been growing my hair out from a shaved head for just over two years (2 years this past summer; august I think) now and it's gotten to be pretty long (on average it's about 11-12 inches (30-ish cm)).

I really din't take care of it that well for the first year (I mostly just used cheap shampoo), so it was stuck around my ears/neck, then I started using a conditioner to straighten it out b/c it was always getting tangled and not growing as quickly.

Fast-forward through a year of using straightening shampoo and conditioner regularly and now using conditioner mostly with shampoo every 2-3 days depending how greasy my scalp/roots feel.

This weekend I was coming back into the apartment condo that my family lives at with my brother and sister and caught a partial reflection of myself in a window which sort of looked as if I had dreadlocks.

Now, I'm looking up dreadlocks on the interwebs.

Some of them look like poo attached to hair, while others look a lot better; I'm thinking that it's a personal matter when determining how clean/filthy your dreadlocks will look.

Does anyone here have any dreadlock stories? or even have dreadlocks themselves? (the last one seems like an extreme strech, but w/e).

Fortunately there are methods that caucasians can use to get dreads that aren' the neglect or ... wool-rubbing method, because honestly, I don't want the dreads to be all uneven or drastically varying in thickness.

Some sites that I'm looking at:

http://www.dreadlocks.com/
http://www.dreadheadhq.com
http://www.perfectdreadlocks.com/
http://www.howtodread.com/

Not decided on dreads, but yeah, I think I might do this.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:41 pm

There was another volunteer with a dew-rag and dreads down to his waist this last weekend. He looked totally professional and awesome.

I assume that there needs to be much care starting the dreadlocks than one might think, and then you have to make sure things don't get stuck in them.

-Crissa

Calibron · Post by **Calibron** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:27 pm

Fellow long-haired dude here, and while I don't have any dreadlocks stories, nor any advice short of the fact that dew-rags definitely do go well with them, I'd be happy to compare notes.

What do you find the benefits of not shampooing with every shower are? I'm pretty oily so I shampoo every time. Blow dry, towel dry, or air dry? I towel dry very thoroughly, but if my hair gets much longer that's going to turn into a real chore.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:42 pm

Yeah, I'm thinking at least a whole weekend dedicated to getting them done if I go for the backcombing method. Which looks like it is probably the only thing that will work with fairly straight but slightly wavey, very slighly wavey, hair.

Lots of small neatly combed dreads that are of relatively uniform appearance are what I'm looking to get, I don't want shit-locks. At all.

Partly b/c I'm still in school and I have to shower (and if I'm going to work I'll need to be able to clean my hair still). That and I don't like the look of the uneven dreads at all. I know that they're natural, and done for certain ritualistic reasons, but I'm doing it for my own reasons (1) I got a wierd reflection in a window and saw myself sort of with them, 2) a relatively maintenence-free way to take care of my hair and have it keep growing).

Anyway, I'm finding out that 1) dreads can and should be kept clean; 2) most shampoo is garbage full of residue that gunks up your hair and 3) there are a lot of ways to do make your hair into dreads.

Ok, for long hair:

1. I've got slightly wavey hair that loves to stick to itself, so I use a straightening/smoothing conditioner (garnier fructus something-something, with an organge symbol). Once I started with conditioner, I noticed that I don't need to shampoo as often.

2. Use a wide toothed comb for long hair; myself, I use an afro pick, b/c I can fit it into my pants pocket, it's not going to tangle my hair easy, and I don't do much with my hair aside from making it go backwards or into a ponytail if I'm eating something that involve me having my head bent down (like pasta, and even then not that often); mostly b/c I have a massive hatred for ponytails on guys*.

3. Drying, don't do it throughouly, you'll probably just tangle it more. Especially with a towel. I just press my hair, get all the water that I can out and then comb it; the hair air-dries fine and I don't have to spend forever detangling the hair (on a side not rubbing a piece of wool fabric is a way to get your hair into dreads; really sloppy ones, but still dreads; towel-drying is sort of the same thing, it twists the hair together into random groupings.

*: Honestly, if you're a guy, and you regularly wear your long hair in a ponytail, I want to curb stomp you, with a sledgehammer, or a hatchet, because I would probably have one over a sledgehammer. Ponytails are just lazy and they don't make you look any different from any other douchebag with a ponytail. Ponytails are an other reason why dreads are appealing to me; I'm actually doing something with the hair instead of just tying it back like a cretin.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 12:20 am

I tie my hair back alot, but I love having a long stream of hair and had really long bangs when I was a teen but that's a really hard look to manage.

But I've been finding things to put in my hair; streamers, clips, even plastic springs look pretty neat.

I wear it down when I'm not working or it's not windy. But that's really rare. Like, when I sit down to a movie or class or something. Hair goes right back up when I start moving outside again.

-Crissa

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:36 am

I had dreads for three years (straight caucasian hair). They worked out OK; I used back-combing and wax to help hold them together. They didn't look like shit (wrong color, too pointy

), but they weren't perfect either. I did them completely by myself. You'd probably get better results having them professionally done, but that probably costs a lot and may require professional maintenance.

Oh, and they're not coming out once you put them in. You keep your dreads or you cut all of your hair off.

Count Arioch the 28th · Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:44 am

I use Redken shampoo and conditioner on my hair, wash it about every 2-3 days. I towel dry because squeezing the water out doesn't work for me, my hair drips and takes literally all day to dry if I don't towel the living hell out of it. (I tried blowdrying, with limited success, it takes way too long to do that. Ever hold your hands over your head for forty-five minutes? Harder than you would assume.)

I only tied it back because my boss literally sends me home without pay if it's not tied back. Never mind that he doesn't do that to the other guys with long hair, or the women with long hair. I don't know what the fuck his problem is though, and it's not worth making a stink over in an EOW state.

I also use a detangling conditioner after washing my hair, I find it helps, as my hair is prone to tangling, being moderately to severely wavy.

My mother gives me hell about it, and my brother says I should dread my hair up because it would really work like that, but I don't want to. I haven't cut my hair besides having the ends trimmed down for the past 4-5 years, I'm not going to do it now.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:00 pm

CatharzGodfoot wrote:I had dreads for three years (straight caucasian hair). They worked out OK; I used back-combing and wax to help hold them together. They didn't look like shit (wrong color, too pointy ), but they weren't perfect either. I did them completely by myself. You'd probably get better results having them professionally done, but that probably costs a lot and may require professional maintenance.

Well, I don't mean in terms of colour or shape, I mean in terms of appearance, lumpy, of uneven width and/or thickness; basically what what neglect/natural locks look like.

I don't know if they'll need a lot of maintenance, but I know that it will take 15-20 minutes per dread; and at 30-40 dreads (possibly more)... that could be a while (450 -800 minutes (7.5 - 13.3 hours)).

And you're right about the cost if I got it done in a salon; first I'd have to find a place that has someone that would be willing to do it; then shell out 20-30$ an hour to get it done.

The soonest that I could do them would be the winter break; maybe get my sister to help me. When I said it aloud she thought the idea was interesting and she has the patience to straighten out her hair everyday before she goes to work, so she would be able to help me with that.

Of course, at 13 hours, I'm looking at doing the dreading in sections, probably no more than 2-3 hours long each. Probably a lot of that time will be spent watching movies.

Oh, and they're not coming out once you put them in. You keep your dreads or you cut all of your hair off.

Not a big deal; I've shaved my head before and when I decided to stop cutting my hair it was only a few millimetres long. I've read that you can get away with as much as 2" when you cut the dreads off.

Talisman · Post by **Talisman** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:42 pm

Judging__Eagle wrote:*: Honestly, if you're a guy, and you regularly wear your long hair in a ponytail, I want to curb stomp you, with a sledgehammer, or a hatchet, because I would probably have one over a sledgehammer. Ponytails are just lazy and they don't make you look any different from any other douchebag with a ponytail. Ponytails are an other reason why dreads are appealing to me; I'm actually doing something with the hair instead of just tying it back like a cretin.

Bring it, pal. I've got a ponytail and, sitting here at my computer, I'm within easy reach of a long-handled hatchet, a Swiss wood axe, an ebony-hafted African spear, a katana (possibly fake) and two big-ass knives, one of which I made myself. Out in the garage I've got more axes, several sledgehammer, a maul, three sickles and "ditch bank blade" that's basically a glaive on an axe handle.

Or does the fact that I braid my 'tail shield me from your wrath?

shau · Post by **shau** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 9:42 pm

I don't know if this is the sort of advice you are looking for, but the one white guy I knew who had dreadlocks seemed self conscious about them in the workplace. He always seemed to think his boss hated them and that he was unfairly judged by them. I would suggest you don't go with dreads if you have a job interview or anything coming up.

Judging__Eagle · Post by **Judging__Eagle** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:07 pm

((This was more an analysis of where I am and what I have seen than a response. So it's a bit long and rambling.))

shau wrote:I don't know if this is the sort of advice you are looking for, but the one white guy I knew who had dreadlocks seemed self conscious about them in the workplace. He always seemed to think his boss hated them and that he was unfairly judged by them. I would suggest you don't go with dreads if you have a job interview or anything coming up.

That's a good and valid point.

I'm not too worried myself since I expect that I'll be eventually working somewhere in the 3D animation industry in the next two years.

Looking different slides so easily when everyone in your industry can be expeted to meet people that are drawing or modelling/texturing/rigging/animating in 3D naked women, monsters, demons, tanks, guys in batwings and skulls gear, sci-fi heroes etc.

Some of the wierder things that I've done so far include:
-drawing a demon city with a mish-mash of architechture styles (in hind sight, i should have kept to the blood-jello and giant-bone buildings and not used pyramids and smoke-bleching factories)
-creating a muscles and bone study of a made up creature (or furry) (for life drawing class; I made a mish-mash of feline and bat parts; humanish and bipdeal as a creature, lion/tiger musculature and bones for most part and the arms being the bat-like part)
-create a nazi polar bear character and their penguin femme fatale partner (seriously, what else can you do when you're given the names "Blitz" and "Cheesecake" and told that the names are for a Polar Bear and a Penguin character duo)
-draw up story boards for a shot-list about a movie where a young couple on a picnic get their potential for being intimate in a park get interrupted by a horde of plastic pink flamingos that attack and bruttaly kill the couple (some of my proffs have some wierd ideas for stories)

Having dreads is barely going to matter; my instructors run the gamut, from tattoos, ponytails, wearing sandals year-long, pot smokers or just being rabid about results and being perfectly all right with corners being cut, so long as the final result looks good.

In one of my classes in first semester (traditional animation) we got to hear stories about the "Carebare Murder Wall" and the "Wall of Wicket" that one of our instructors was a part of when he worked at Nelvana. Basically corkboards full of sketches made by Nelvana animators that needed to desperately blow off steam about drawing Carebears or Ewoks all the time, and thus would have drawings like carebears gutting each other or wicket being shoved into a metal milling machine or whatever.

The above proffesor's favorite newer animated series is "Happy Tree Friends". He love is both for content (brutal murder, injury and death) as much as technical reasons (excellent anticipation, timing, movement of motion etc.). We actually watched a lot of HTF dvds in his class.

I seriously doubt that something as minor my hair will really matter in my industry of choice. My portfolio and attitude and timeliness of assignment hand-in are much more important. Of the three, the last two are really important, and the third is very important. Mediocre stuff on time is always more valuable than good stuff late, because the crap stuff can always be fixed or had time asked for or re-submitted, since you met deadline.

-----

Really, I'm, not the murderin' type. Afterall, rage doens't induce people into murdering; apathy does. When I get bouts of apathy, I'm hardly going to go out and kill someone, I'll probably kill some time reading, painting in PS, intoxicating myself or playing a game.

I just hate the "idea" of ponytails on guys. The people that tend to wear them are usually people who think that they look different b/c they have a ponytail.... they really don't. They just look more like everyone else in their 'counter/sub culture' demographic.

Also, there's no real thought involved in a ponytail. A ponytail is what you do to keep your hair out of your way, it's not really a style. A ponytail has got as much style as a short parted to one side haircut on a guy from the 1940's.

I've got more resepct for the skinny guy in my program with one half of his hair peroxided and all of his hair in a faux-hawk; one half black, the other pale yellow-white. He looks like himself.

Something that I've wanted to do with much shorter hair than I have now, something along the lines of 1-2" long hair; is to dye it all black, peroxide stripes along the hair and then dye the bleached stripes either red or blue. So short dark hair with blue and red stripes along it.

On the other hand... if everyone looked different, it would probably be too much. The foreground needs a background to stand out against and all of that is also very true.