Dreads!!!!
I know, I know, they aren't for everyone... I personally have ALWAYS loved the look of dreads. Only, I have never had the guts to actually commit to them. So let me explain how I worked my magic around having to commit to ruining my hair while still getting to have beautiful dreads. So I'll be honest here, I'm pretty crafty. I love to use my hands to create. So I took this natural ability and decided to try my luck with synthetic dreads.
I wanted natural looking dreadlocks so my first stop was YouTube. I found some great videos on how to make synthetic dreads using Kanekalon Hair. This type of hair is different from other synthetic hair that's on the cheaper side. Its a little more realistic looking and less plastic-like. I used the Kanekalon hair because it responds well to the steaming and sealing aspect involved with creating dreadlocks. I bought the hair at Sally Beauty. It comes in a pretty decent variety of colors and one pack is only $2.99 for 48inch and 60grams. I believe I bought every last pack they had of the light brown and a few packs of the darker brown. Ill go into more detail in my "How To" tutorial, but the amount of packs you need will vary on how big or small you want to make your dreads.
There are 3 basic measurements for synthetic dreads. As well as 2 types.
Sizes
1. Pencil
2. Sharpie
3. Highlighter
Types
1. Single Ended (one dread installed at the end of the dread)
2. Double Ended (one dread installed at the middle of the dread resulting in two hanging dreads.)
I tend to like mine somewhere between Pencil and Sharpie, using double ended dreads everywhere I can reach and single ended dreads where ever I cant reach. But we aren't going to get into all that today, for now I just want to explain the differences and the pros and cons I found between Synthetic and Wool dreads.
So I gathered all my things and got to dreading per the YouTube video and OH MY LORDT! It took what seemed like forever to make my first batch. Lots of backcombing, twisting, combing, steaming and crochet hooking. Hours and hours worth. Hair was everywhere! Once I was finished making them I asked my mom to help me install them. (Installation will also be included in my "How To" tutorial). This step also took a good while to accomplish, but if you aren't the greatest at braiding what you cant see then I defiantly suggest you enlist the help of some friends for this step.
Once they were in I was super happy with the results! They looked so good, and they looked so natural. I was in love with the way they made me feel. I left them in my hair for a few weeks. Although the drying time after washing took forever, I found that they were super easy to wash and rinse and they didn't get too heavy when they were wet.
Ok, so I found the downfalls of the synthetic dreads for one was the amount of time they took to make. Which could easily be avoided by purchasing pre-made ones off Etsy or similar sites. But lets be real here, when you're living paycheck to paycheck can you really afford $100+ for pre-made synthetic dreads vs. around $30 and a little time and energy on your part? The next downfall to synthetic is my biggest complaint about them. They got so tangled up with my natural hair over the few weeks I left them in. Now this may not be the case for everyone. My hair, as I've gotten older and more stressed, has become brittle and breaks off about 4 inches from my scalp leaving tons of shorter hairs mixed in with the longer ones. That could have contributed to the tangled mess. But I was not happy that I was having to cut some of these dreads out. It was just too painful to continue to try and detangle. To be honest I haven't even put them back in since I discovered the tangling issue. The last downfall I found after trying the wool ones is that the synthetic dreads are less comfortable to sleep on. So overall the main pro is they are cheap to make, look more natural and are easy to wash.
So lets move onto wool dreads. These are made from wool roving. They are a lot easier to make and about the same price for all the supplies as the synthetics. I found that I only needed about 8oz of wool to do my whole head in Sharpie sized dreads. You can buy wool roving off Etsy or Amazon in different colors or you can even buy it in natural colors that you can dye later if you want. Wool is fun and you can do a lot with it as far as blending colors and embroidery if you learn how to needle felt. They are easier to make as I stated above (even Amory and Leland got in on the dread making process with these) but you will still need to set aside at least half a day for making them and then a night for them to dry. I found that I could install and remove them fairly quickly without having them tangle which was a major bonus for me! I tried to enlist the help of hubby because yes, my guy can actually braid. But he found it too difficult and frustrating to try and incorporate the wool dread into the braiding process. I was forced to figure out a way to just install them myself. It didn't take too much ingenuity, I just took a hand mirror and taped it to the bathroom door so I could use it to see what I was doing on the back of my head. Annoying at first but I soon got the hang of it.
Ok so after wearing them on and off for a month or so here are my pros and cons... The pros start with they are still pretty cheap to make. Due to them being wool, they are very lightweight and soft. Which I love! Sleeping on them feels like sleeping on a nice fluffy pillow. You can get pretty creative with the wool dreads especially if you know how to needle felt or learn how to needle felt. They also don't tangle my hair. So I can take them out and install them pretty quick which is nice. This brings me to the downfalls... washing them while they are in (for me) is so impractical. They get so heavy that they slip in my hair and I'm forced to take them out and reinstall them anyway. So I would rather just wear them a few days, take them out, wash them and my hair separate then reinstall. Since they are made from animal wool they are smelly when wet, which is also a reason I'd rather just take them out to wash them, cause who wants to smell like a wet animal? They tend to collect lint, and hold smells. Which is good if you use a nice smelling soap to wash them, but bad if you're hanging around a campfire all night or are a heavy smoker (I'm not a smoker, but I used to be years ago and I wouldn't want that smell in my dreads).
I also found that with the wool dreads I can only keep them in for a few days. Now this may be because I was working out and sweating when I had them in, or it could be because when I attempted to wash them I didn't get all the soap out, but my head got super itchy after wearing them for a week. Now some people say they can wear them for quite sometime. I just couldn't. The wool dreads obviously don't look as natural but they still look good. Better in my personal opinion.
I started this journey with dreads because as I mentioned earlier, my hair has been thinning out over the years. It started with stress due to life, and I just haven't been able to recover. I've tried to talk to hairstylists and doctors. I've tried the "miracle" shampoos and sprays. I've also tried biotin pills for 6+ months. Nothing has helped. I have recently seen that maybe collagen pills could work but I have yet to try them. Depression and anxiety is a b*tch. That's for sure. Having thin hair kills my confidence. The wool dreads brings it back, and makes me feel so good. I think I pull the look off pretty good too. I'll be honest here, and this is very important for me to say so listen up...
***My husband is not really a fan of dreads, and never really has been, but I have to push that aside and do it FOR ME. Feeling good about yourself is so important in life. Please read that again... Do what you have to do to BE HAPPY!***
I hope that this article inspires you to do something fun with your hair. I hope you decide to take the leap and install some dreads. The nice thing is they aren't permanent and if you don't like them they can be out in the same amount of time if not less then it took to install them. I will be posting the Amazon links to everything you need in order to make your own dreads at home. Just check out my recommendations page to find them!
Thanks for stopping by!!
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