Myth #3 – You can’t wash your dreads
That’s pretty gross…and so not true. The only time you don’t wash your dreads is when they are twists. Once they have locked, then you can wash them freely without them unraveling.
My husband and daughter waited two months before their first wash, but there are others who have washed before then.
I simply spritzed their hair with water to keep retwisting them every other week.
Then during the first six months, I didn’t use any conditioners, because that could unravel the dreads as well. I now use herbal shampoo and conditioner on their hair.
Word of advice, try not to sweat a lot and do tie up your hair, so that you can keep it as clean as possible.
Myth #4: Dreads grow slower than unlocked hair
This is actually a surprise to me — I always felt that dreads grew pretty darn fast. My daughters hair is now down her back and my husband, who started with a mini-fro has surpassed her! His is almost to his waist.
To me that is fast growth. But technically speaking, your hair doesn’t slow down when you wear dreads, it just isn’t growing freely like unlocked hair is, so it appears to grow slower.
Myth #5: Dreads take a lot of maintenance
That’s a funny myth — especially since dreads have gotten a bad wrap for being a lazy person’s hairstyle. But I guess when you look at the men and women with the neatly styled dreads, it seems to take more work to get them to appear that way. But reality is that it is still a low maintenance hairdo.
Just like with anyone else, you have to wash your hair every week or every other week, and have it retwisted at that time. So if doing your hair weekly or bi-weekly is high maintenance, then I’d love to know what your current regimen is! Unless, you are wearing braids or weave. For men, the only extra task is shaping up their hairline whenever they do their beards.
Myth #6: Dreads aren’t versatile
Dreadlocks and sisterlocks can be just as versatile as unlocked hair. You can dye it, highlight it, braid it, style it and cut it. I find that the skinnier the dreads, the more you can do. I’ve even seen men do nice designs where they shave their heads in the front and leave the back long and locked. The styles are even more versatile and unique, if you ask me.
If there’s one thing I’ll say about dreads, it’s that it takes commitment. When you opt to get dreads, you are committing to seeing it through and once they lock, you have to keep up with it just as you would your hair now.
It’s a long-term style, but is no different than wearing your natural textured hair. And just as we have done when we decided to go natural, we should embrace our dreads proudly. Now, only if I had kinkier hair, I’d get them myself!
Now. . If I could just find someone serious enough to do them. Tried twice-at legit salons-terrible experience. Guess my third try will be Pookie from the Hood lol