One of these numerous passions happens to be dread lock maintenance. In the last 2 years, I have had over 150 clients ranging from dread maintenance to hair wraps, full dread creation and new friendships. I love what I do; overall, I appreciate the art of making dreadlocks and working with hair. Continuing the legacy of this natural, exotic, poetic, and organic style of hair is important to me. People have come to me with multiple concerns …..
When I first got my Dreads, December 2007, in Montreal, QC, I used beeswax as I thought this would help form dreadlocks, but over the years of mastering different techniques, I educated myself on different hair-types, and different natural products. To my understanding and experience, beeswax is not supposed to aid in dread creation, it just clumps up and stays there for months, even years at a time. If you were to use Beeswax in your dreads, use very little, and only apply to your whole head once every year or two. Although it is a natural product, I do not suggest it to clients and if they ask about it, I will refer other methods and products that have helped me throughout the years.
Dreadlocks are not really for everyone, it has its perks and its downfalls, and not many people like the downfalls. I like to think of dreadlocks as simply a bigger version of individual hairs,. I wash my hair, naturally as I would normal hair, daily, weekly or monthly with Natural Hand Made Soap.
My advice on shampoos and conditioners: how many ingredients can you pronounce on the bottle? These unnatural amounts of chemical additives block your pours from forming natural skin oil. It is much easier to use the natural products of this earth such as: essential oils, sand, ocean water, and naturally hand made soap (which you can easily find at www.hennaart.ca) It is much easier than we think to maintain a healthy head of hair without these harmful additives.
Itchiness and dryness are very common with dreadlocks, so my advice is to dab almond oil (or any natural oils like Organic Argan, rosemary, olive, tea tree, avocado, etc.) on your fingers, rub them together, and then rub it into your scalp. Moisturizing with natural essential oils is crucial to keeping your dreads, and your head, healthy. Contrary to popular belief, dreadlocks do not stink, nor are they created by simply not washing your hair. They take a considerable amount of work and care to create and maintain a healthy, attractive, long-lasting set of dreadlocks.
Did I pique your interest on this topic? Have questions, concerns, or comments?
Email me: Love@HennaArt.ca
Find out more about me by reading my Artist Profile.