kraytheili asked: Hello! To start this blog is amazingly informative and I love it :) Secondly, I've been researching/thinking about getting dreadlocks for about a year now, but I decided I'll hold off until I finish college, but my only issue is that I have VERY greasy/oily hair and face, and if I don't shower everyday it becomes a crazy hog pit. Is there any good way to mask how nasty my hair is getting while I try to go through the phase of getting my hair adjusted to less washing? It's such a vicious cycle!

Excessive washing ironically causes even more oil- even on people with naturally oily skin (myself included)!

Pulling your hair back in a ponytail or headband can hide it a bit (hats will make it worse in between washings). Otherwise, not really… but it can be less obvious if you adjust even slower. 

For example. If you shower every morning now, start washing your hair every other morning. Do this for a few weeks, instead of just one. When your scalp is well adjusted to that, move on to every two days for a few weeks, so on & so forth. The great thing here is that you aren’t in a rush to get started! By the time you’re ready to start your dreads, your scalp should be adjusted nicely. 

Also, if you have bangs…they’re going to get greasy faster. Because you touch them with your hands, & they touch your face, there’s no real way to keep them from getting oily. If you have to, continue washing your bangs as needed. I still wash mine every day or two! & of course, wash your face daily.

Otherwise, keep in mind the reasons you wash your hair less with dreads. Your dreads need to dry completely in between each wash, & your scalp needs to adjust to be less greasy (since the oils will keep it from knotting well). Can you dry out your hair 100% each time, even if it takes you sitting with a blowdryer for two hours? Then it isn’t really that big of a deal if your hair gets wet more often because you’re washing it. Catch my drift?

poetic-lunacy asked: I will be starting a mini dreadventure tonight with a single dread in my hair. I have very thick curly hair and cannot allow myself to go all the way.... Do you have any advice for shampooing/conditioning and brushing around the dread? I normally only use conditioner, but I know the maintenance will need to be different for that section of hair.

The main thing is to make sure if dries after you wash your hair.

If you can easily dry it completely through after each wash, great! If not (especially as it tightens), tie it off in a baggie or the like to keep it dry while you wash the rest of your hair. Only include the dread in the wash around once a week (& then dry it, of course). Regardless of which way you do it, make sure you don’t use conditioner on the dread (obviously, this will cause problems when you’re trying to form knots).

As for brushing, just hold the dread out of the way. Honestly…that’s it!