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Text File | 1999-03-03 | 32KB | 359 lines

WHAT IS DREADLOCKS?

       Hair being so tangled up that it, by itself, assumes the shape of rope (or clumps, blocks when they go
       thick). A definition of what is dreadlocks and what is not, can be (just like like death is defined)
       dreadlocks = a state from which one cannot get the hair back to "normal" again (without of course,
       cutting it). For instance, if you "have" dreadlocks and they go loose and dissolve or you break them up
       and "disband" them yourself, it means you never had dreadlocks. Once you do have dreadlocks it is (in
       practice) impossible to unravel them. If you sit around with a pair of tweezers and very carefully take
       out each hair (at least 100 000) they'd try to gather up and reform and you'd have to the same thing
       over and over again. In the end, however, it would probably be possible to "undread" them, but only in
       theory. Source: This is my own definition.

       WHO INVENTED DREADLOCKS?

       Different native peoples have worn them since whenever, which is not odd as someone who neither
       cuts or combs his/her hair will sooner or later get dreadlocks. Among others, people of (northern)
       India, the early Celts, several biblical persons (i.e Samson), innumerable tribal peoples of South
       America and Africa are known for being dreadlocked. The reason that not all Stone Age men wore
       dreadlocks is for instance because they combed, cut their hair and maybe because they weren't using
       shampoo to wash it (there's more about shampoo later).

       WHY DO RASTAS WEAR DREADLOCKS?

       The reason that the Rastafarians of Jamaica have revived and popularized the tradition is a combination
       of three:

       1. From about 1845 upto perhaps 1910 a lot of Indians (East Indians that is) emigrated to the West
       Indies and thus also to Jamaica (36 412 ones to JA to be exact) . It was so that the colonial powers
       needed cheap labour (finding it in Asia) after the formal abolition of slavery. An estimation of the racial
       constituence in those days in Jamaica (aswell as the rest of the West Indies) can be 95% Blacks (slave
       descendants), 2% East Indians and 3% Europeans and a few Chinese and even fewer native inhabitants
       (Arawak- or Caribiindians). Anyway, the Indians brought with them their customs and culture, and the
       concept of being a sadhu - an often wandering ascetic holy man often with dreadlocks. It is common
       for sadhus in India to live in camps a lot like the camps which early and still many rastas live in today.
       Often close to nature and a community is ruled by an elder. Dr Ajai Mansingh's article about the
       (possible) Hindu influence on the early rastafarians published the 18th of July, 1982 in the Daily
       Gleaner gives reference to a photograph (dated as early as 1910) held at the Institute of Jamaica. The
       photo shows Indian labourers on a plantation with one wearing long locks. The (east) Indians are for
       instance also generally believed to have brought the marihuana (and its name, ganja) to Jamaica.


                                     This is a sadhu from India.

       2. The bible tells of a holy vow you can engage with the Lord, a nazarite vow, where you, among other
       things (during the time you choose to be the Lord's nazarite) stay away from wine and cutting your hair
       and that makes it a symbol for the testament with the Lord (for Rastas also a symbol for the lion's
       mane). It is a good symbol as you can't remove and rewear it just like that. Click to see a list of
       commonly cited verses that provide the foundation of locks in the bible. During the invasion of Ethiopia
       by Italy (began in 1935) where Haile Selassie was forced into exile, the guerilla warriors of Ras Abebe
       Aregai swore not to cut their locks until Selassie was back again on the throne of David. Photos of
       these taken at Selassie's return to Ethiopia in 1941 and were shown in Jamaican newspapers.


             Ras Abebe Aregai & co were also the first Nyabinghis. This is a another band of singing
         Nyabinghirastas. Go look somewhere else on the net if you want to know more about Nyabinghi.

       3. In East Africa Masai and Somali soldiers fought against the colonial powers lead by Jomo Kenyatta
       (translates as Burning Spear). Pictures of these dreadlocked freedom fighters were published in the
       Daily Gleaner (Jamaica's leading daily newspaper), in 1945. The Rastas of the rasta movement
       identified with these African freedom fighters and started to grow locks themselves. Horace Campbell
       cites this as the main influence in his book "Rasta and Resistance", but, as locks most probably were
       worn by rastas before that (and before 1941) this can't be the ultimate reason, but it is certain it played a
       big role. It is said that the first dreadlocks began to appear in Kingston in 1945, before that the few
       rastas existing then, lived in encampments outside Kingston. The University Report on Rastafari from
       1960 suggests that the lock cultivating began at a certain camp known as the pinnacle.

       Dreadlocks is not something the slaves carried with them when they were encaptured and taken to the
       New World and have kept since. If they had, the slave owners probably wouldn't have allowed
       wearing them. The word, dreadlocks, on the contrary is Jamaican. Dread means threat or danger and it
       has to do with the fact that the first Rastamen lived as outcasts of regular society and people were afraid
       of them. Another explanation is that the wearer of the locks is the fearer. Biblical fear of the Lord that
       is. These days the word dread is a word of several meanings not just denoting the hairstyle of a
       "dread".
HOW DO YOU MAKE DREADLOCKS?

       You cannot "make" dreadlocks, rather grow. Someone having created their dreadlocks from scratch in
       some way (could be comb or crochet) in just a day or so don't have, according to the definition,
       dreadlocks since the hair hasn't assumed its shape by itself (but has been forced together and is not
       stuck together in the same manner) och since you easily (well there'll be some work) can get the hair
       back to "normal" again if only a day has passed. ANYWAY, THE POINT IS TO GET THE HAIR AS
       IRRITATED, TANGLED UP AND MESSY AS POSSIBLE SO THAT IT DREADS BY ITSELF.
       This is however not the whole truth as healthy hair will sort it itself out and untangle itself naturally. It
       is a great advantage to have thick hair, long hair or curly hair (or all three for that matter) simply
       because it gets fussy and tangled up much easier then.

       One often wonders what happens to the new hair that keeps growing - hair grows from the root so it
       will sort of be tied up in one direction and stuck anchored in the head in the other. A result of this is that
       it never gets the chance to sort itself out and inevitably dreads itself. This doesn't happen without any
       problems, in fact "flaps" are a common problem (more about "flaps" and such later) and it takes time
       (half a year - a year, or longer) until it works fully and nicely.

       HAIR IN THEORY:

       Dirt (= unnice chemical substances for hair) and tough goings tear the hair. The hair wants its enzymes
       and protein and whatever other substances so that it won't break and has all its chains and channels
       intact. As the hair each day encounters a lot of "harmfulities" it emits a layer of grease as a barricade in
       order to keep unwanted stuff away. This barricade is of course not an invincible barricade. Once dirt
       lands in the hair it'll keep laying there but it won't reach through to pick on it. And then when some
       more dirt bumps down on roughly the same spot the layer of grease becomes insufficient. So by
       washing your hair you accomplish two things: You wash away the dirt AND the grease. Which means
       right after a wash the hair is very vulnerable without its grease membrane (fortunately, after a wash
       there is neither any dirt left in there to damage it either). And once the grease comes back there is no dirt
       there (yet) so then the hair is very fit for fight. It's easy to think that somebody who washes his/her hair
       every minute will get his/her hair clinically grease-free and someone who never washes it accumulates a
       thicker and thicker layer each day. I'm afraid it's not that simple; the hair adjusts and adapts very well.
       Someone who washes his/her hair every day gets oily hair every day and somebody washing it only
       once a month has a hair giving off as much grease in one month as the other person's does each day.
       Cause and consequence can get mixed up here, one can hear people say "Well, my hair is so oily I have
       to wash it each and every day". The reason she/he gets oily hair that quickly is because she/he washes it
       that frequently. It would change if she/he started washing it every third day instead but for a certain
       period of time (for changes to come) she/he'd have to cope with walking around with (obvious) oily
       hair. So there are pros and cons about washing one's hair. Either if you want the hair of a top model or
       dreadlocks. Then there's a little more about hair washing that hasn't really to do with grease and dirt
       but we'll get to that.

       MORE HAIR IN THEORY:

       One hair lives 5-7 years, then it dies and falls off and a new hair will start to grow at a random spot of
       your head. So the hair gradually gets substituted all the time - one drops about 50 - 100 hairs a day.
       The new replacing hair doesn't necessarily have the same characteristics as its precessor. It can happen
       that one as young has curly and blond hair but straight and fair as a teenager. As a hair doesn't live and
       grow forever there is a limit of how long a hair can get, it is usually somewhere by the waist. The
       inevitable question then, is of course: How can dreadlocked people grow hair longer than that? Well
       normally when a hair falls off it ends up on the grounds and "disappears" like a banana peel or
       something. This is not the case with dreadlocks, it still hangs there (forever) which awakenes the
       thought that it's just dead hair stuck hanging there; but all hair is dead, it constitutes of dead cells
       whether it is connected to the root or not.

       And how much the hair grows is NOT identical to how much longer it gets since the ends of the hair
       get torn and become shorter. The reason for the "wear and tear" is a little of everything a bit like erosion
       of mountain peaks. The ends are weak and fragile and become "split", it is also difficult for the grease
       (coming from the root) to reach as far as to the ends. Hair grows from the root and is, when it gets out,
       completely intact. Therefore it is the hair closest to the root that is the healthiest, then it gradually
       becomes more torn and weak the closer to the end you get. (As the hair grows from the root you can
       think that after a while the dreadlocks gradually "lifts" from the head with normal hair at the bottom,
       this is explained somewhere above). Hair grows about 1-2 cm (one inch=2.54 cm) a month but it
       varies a lot between different people and the current season (grows the quickest in summer). The ends
       of a healthy and strong hair can cope with the strain and won't lose a lot of length each month. The
       opposite is true for dreadlocks, locks lose a lot of length. Ends clearly get more torn if the hair spread
       out at the tip of the lock than if the tip of the lock is like a clump and most of the hair-ends are not
       exposed. Every hair in a hair are not worn and torn equally as much so after a while the length of the
       hairs vary a lot. That's when you usually go and see the hairdresser and cut the ends making it even
       length and to prevent further "blunting". Hairdressers like to say "the ends eat off each other", but how
       good is that for an explanation ? This thing about splitting ends (can happen recursively, a branch of a
       split end can split again so that after a while it sticks out) and the continued further splitting can be
       compared, in an exaggerated way, to a zipper where you can't "get it apart" without having got apart
       what is above and ultimately what is at the top.

There is not much connection between the human races and their thickness of hair and hair growth
       speed, but there is a connection between colour and the number of hairs but I can't remember the
       average numbers. It takes 20-30 years to grow locks down to the feet. Often you hear people saying
       that it isn't possible to grow locks of certain hairtypes. It isn't true, there are Chinese, black, white,
       Indians etc with locks to their feet. It is of course be more or less difficult for one race or the other. The
       world's record holder of hair length is of course a dreadlock. He's a Thai man (named Hoo Sateow) of
       87 years and hasn't cut it since 18 years of age (Source: CNN in late Nov, 1997). The length was
       measured to 5 metres and 15 centimetres (17 feet). To see the a quicktime movie of the hair click on the
       desired resolution.
       2.6M/33 sec./240x180
       1.2M/33 sec./160x120






       Barri from the USA is another example of hair of man-length. The pictures are from his CD, Lovelight
                                            Shining.

       THE NATURAL WAY:

       It can take quite a long time (and you'll look like a witch during that time) for the hair to dread by itself
       if you just leave it alone (stop cutting or combing). There are a few things one can do to speed up the
       process, but they all have their side-effects so the best way is to go about like normally without cutting
       or combing, at least if it is important to be "genuine" or ital. I suppose going around twisting your hair
       all time with your fingers can't do any harm, only if you do it excessively (easily turns habitual) you
       may disturb the developement so to speak. I.e once the locks start shaping up then further "fingering"
       is negative. It is never too early to begin with a method, even if it won't do much good it'll at least do
       more than no good at all. Say that a person who has hair of 2 cm (one inch = 2,54 cm) stops combing
       his hair. Maybe it then takes eight months for him grow locks. If he instead waits two months for the
       hair to grow a bit and no earlier than then stops combing his hair maybe it takes him only seven
       months. In the second approach the total time was longer (2 + 7 months) but the period of time when
       you look like hell was shorter - only seven months compared to eight in the first approach. Don't take
       the time values of this example that seriously.

       WHAT DOES SHAMPOO/HAIRWASH DO + quitting to cut & comb the hair ?

       Shampoo removes dirt and fat, it both tangles up and sorts out. A Conditioner only sorts out and
       "strengthens" the hair and is absolutely wrong if you want locks. For short hair a hairwash will sort out
       more than it tangles up and gradually the other way the longer hair you have. It usually dreads first at
       the back of the head, cause one often has whirls there, the hair is thick (and long), one turns and rubs at
       the back each night when you sleep etc. As you can guess the
       quit-cutting-combing-but-continue-washing method is more effective the longer hair one has.
       Sometimes, whatever method one is using to grow his/her locks, it is useful the ultimate "hair-wash
       frequency" (how often to wash) for his/her hair. The only fair answer I can give is to try and then try to
       see whether the wash did any good or bad. If your hairwashes seem to entangle more than untangle
       then it is positive, and if your "locks" disband upon a wash - it was negative. If it was negative then
       postpone the washing if you want your locks at the very soonest time possible. It doesn't take a whole
       lot of experience to simply tell whether a hairwash did good or bad. Lastly, one should add that there is
       one exception to the rule of not using a conditioner. Coloureds' (or amazingly curly haired people)
       locks can get extremely dry and eventually break, but it's very rare. Only then a conditioner can be
       used, never otherwise.

       WAXE:

       Waxe is probably the most common and most well-known substance people apply to the hair. But you
       shouldn't use just any waxe you find down at the beauty parlour. To my knowledge the right kinds of
       waxe can be found in all large cities, aswell as in smaller cities in the UK, USA and perhaps France.
       (For Swedish people I can be more specific, so ask in case). There are several different brands, but
       what you need to look for is pure beeswaxe and I don't think the producer is of any importance. At the
       Bob Marley Museum in Jamaica a waxe called Let's Dread is sold. It's produced by Spectrum Inc, P.O
       Box 254, Springfield Gardens NY 11413, USA. In the USA a can (about the size of a man's fist) is
       about two or three dollars, double or triple that for a country like Sweden. As for other countries I am
       not sure (can only guess). But one can is enough for quite a while (it sort of depends on how much you
       use too of course). Don't confuse this beeswaxe with the solid form of beeswaxe used to make candles
       and such. It seems the term (pure) beeswaxe is used for both the soft and hard flavour in at least
       Swedish and English. I heard of someone using the solid thing after melting it but I do not encourage it
       since I am not sure it will work the same way. The technique however is very simple, use your fingers
       to get a lump and then bring it through a "cylinder" of hair you want to dread. Waxe doesn't work like
       glue and you still have to wait for your hair to dread up, but not as long. It won't take more than half a
       day (usually less) for the waxe to dry up or be "absorbed" by the hair, but until then be careful when
       leaning your head onto something! Experience shows that waxe is pretty good for the dreading
       process, in spite of being greasy. To get the maximum out of the waxe, let it sit until it is absorbed.
       Washing it out before that means you will have "wasted" x amount of waxe. Other than that, about
       washing, check the general hints on how often to wash explained somewhere above. You won't get
       locks after waxing your hair once, so you have to use it continually until you can tell something is stuck
       together and the whole thing is on its way (a guess is that it will take _at least_ a month). Once you
       realise you have serious locks coming on you should stop adding more waxe. If you do you might
       cause an "overload", which in its worst case will cause the hair to break and you wouldn't want that. A
       middle stage here is that you can catch a glimpse of something white-grey-yellow somewhere inside a
       lock if you look carefully. But even for this to occur you have to put a lot of waxe in there. Waxe
       smells a bit, but it doesn't really smell bad.

       HONEY:

       Honey is a bolder alternative to waxe, it is stickier than waxe and in addition has a greater "dirt factor"
       which has its disadvantages (and advantages). It also takes a day (to be on the safe side) for the honey
       to lose the stickiness so either you take it in the morning (same technique as for waxe) or you sleep
       facing the pillow. Honey smells like honey so it is in fact not really the smell you want your hair to
       have. You can use a moderate amount, use spray or forget about the smell as you can't sense it unless
       your nose is close. Waxe doesn't leave any traces, honey does. After a while (say about two weeks - a
       month) the honey has become absorbed (= has totally disappeared) but left is a gray mass that reminds
       you of condensed dust. This is absolutely something you want to wash away and that works fine
       unless you've come too far i.e you have a proper natty fuss thing where the hair is stuck and tangled up
       and won't release the dirt that's stuck in it to a hair wash. What you do then is take something like a
       pair of tweezers and pick it away if you seriously want it gone, in most cases it won't do any harm (and
       is only visible if you study certain segments closely) but when too much is in there it will great damage
       - the hair will break. That's why it's important to stop using honey once you notice a decent mess. It's
       the tangliness and the fussiness that prevents the gray mass from being sucked away by the hairwash,
       and we know that tangly and fussy hair = fragile and irritated hair that will break at a certain point of
       exaggerated "damage". Maybe all this talk about the gray mass is what's exaggaerated but I thought I'd
       mention it once too many rather than too little.

       COMB:

       This used to be the most common dreadlocks-in-one-day until the crochet was introduced. (In case you
       don't know what a crochet is, (Stricknadel in German) it's like knitting but you only use one stick and
       it has a "thing" on the end making it suitable for grabbing loops). The technique is that you fetch a big
       enough tuft of hair and use a comb to really press it down in the "wrong" direction i.e towards the head
       but not just comb the wrong way you have to really seriously press, squeeze and carve the hair. Then
       when you've seen the result the tearing gave, you get the point. It is called to toupe or to backcomb.
       And yes, it can hurt a little (some say it's supposed to hurt) but it's ok. Some people hurt more than
       others if you pull their hair. To get a better effect you spray some hair spray (to make the hair porous =
       shapable) just before you bring through the comb. A licecomb (sp?) is very dense and ought to yield a
       better result, but it is, as mentioned, very dense and if you get a too thick bunch of hairs you won't get
       anywhere. It's easy to start thinking it's going too well but find out the following day that it all has
       loosened and sorted itself out and that's why you should jam it up really badly from the beginning in
       order to get something out of it. Surely you should spend six hours for an average male's hair, and it's
       necessary by the way that the hair has a certain length (say earlength) for it to be meaningful. You lose
       a little in length through this procedure but it's compensated in thickness: It's probably only positive
       that they are a bit thick before they get to dread themselves. The bad side of this method is that
       dreadlocks don't like to be divided up in sections and forced together, see also below about "flaps".
       Bad part number two is that no matter how well you've managed to rag your hair up it's going to
       straighten out! The question is how much. You always have to re-tear it when the ends sort themselves
       out but as long as the bottom sticks the futural growth prospects are bright. Now the case is that you
       have actually forced the hair together which was not the long-term plan we said. The point is that the
       hair now will in time go dread itself (you can easily tell the difference) and if not, at least be on the
       way. A good philosophy ought to be: Normal comb & spray with adjustments with a licecomb, fasten
       the end with a crochet and then some waxe and in addition fewer hairwashes. A hairwash will probably
       have more a sorting out effect than tangling up in the beginning. At least wait with the first wash but
       later on wash ahead all you like.

CROCHET:

       Crocheted locks are common these days especially with the younger generation who wants locks a
       short time and don't have the patience for the natural process. Usually they also listen to hardcore
       (crap) rather than reggae. Go to any store where you can buy textilers, wool, knitting sticks and such
       things and buy a crochet. It costs about two dollars but be sure to get the right size. 0.75 mm (1
       inch=25,4 mm) is small enough, a number bigger or smaller is a matter of opinion. A smaller one
       yields more work but better results. It's kind of difficult to explain the technique, just get in there and
       tangle up. There is no model of correct technique, simply try to nest up and form the round sausages
       and it won't take long before you get the hang of it. The fun thing with this method is that it stays _a
       lot_ better than with a comb, and it must be possible to combine the comb and crochet (and for instance
       waxe) with success. The negative parts are quite serious, it is hair forced together that looks like
       dreadlocks but is, in reality, not. Although there are some skilled crocheters around these days. An
       experienced eye can easily tell, mostly because it looks "straggly" and single hairs can stick out.
       Crocheted dreadlocks can however, as time goes by gradually become genuine dreadlocks. As the hair
       in stuck together in a more ineconomical manner you lose in length and thickness and it may well look
       thin and with a lot of gaps (sort of uncool). You rather want a big thick thing. In addition you have the
       problem with the hair divided into sections, there's more about that later on. I suggest postponing first
       hairwash here aswell.

       SOAP, WASHING-UP aka DISHING LIQUID AND DETERGENT aka MACHINE
       DISHWASHING POWDER:

       As an alternative to shampoo you can use for instance soap. Soap is alkaline and therefore has a higher
       pH-value than skin and hair. Skin and hair have a pH around 5 and if you wash yourself unreasonably
       often with soap during a short time you can get dry skin just because of that. Nowadays there is also
       soap with a skin-friendly pH available. The point with soap is however to dry the hair out and in that
       way make it irritated. So simply, instead of shampoo use soap instead, preferrably liquid soap
       otherwise it's a bit of a hassle. The pH of washing-up liquid is not extremely high but on the contrary it
       dissolves fat very efficiently! It is possible to let the liquid lie in there several days without washing it
       away to let it have more effect but watch out because the skin right around can get irritated aswell. Your
       eyes get a little red after a washing-up liquid wash but there's no danger to it. I imagine if you wear
       contact lenses it can't bring any good though. Detergent or dishwashing powder (not sure about the
       correct names in English, the powder you use for machines is what I intend in this case) is quite
       extreme and has a very high pH (11 - 14) and you probably shouldn't use a lot (no more than a
       teaspoon) and mix with the shampoo, soap, liquid or simply water. On the back of the package it says
       you should rinse through cold water for fifteen minutes and call a doctor in case you get some in your
       eyes and that it's hazardous (even corrosive) to the skin. I've never heard of any trouble whatsoever
       but there must be some reason for that text to be there.

       PERMS:

       A very good alternative is getting a so-called afro-perm. The hair gets both curly (like hell) and porous.
       The cost depends on the country on live in I'd guess one is about 50 (nah probably less, I'm just
       guessing) dollars in the USA or UK. But be sure to tell them you want a heavy-duty curly perm or
       afro. You can't have the situation where your hairdresser chooses to do you a normal perm instead, and
       afterwards when you confront her/him about it he/she answers "No, if I had done that, I would have
       ruined your nice hair!". A normal perm is no success, of course better than nothing but sometimes the
       locks get tendencies towards being crooked and ugly. You have to pay for a hairdresser but you can
       experiment yourself at home with the perm-liquid. The perm-liquid is about five dollars (my guessing
       again) and then you want the curlers too or not bother about them and just use the liquid (making it
       porous and shapable) and then use a comb or a crochet so that the liquid ever does any good. You have
       to rinse the liquid out (you get instructions when you buy it) because it smells funny. See also below
       about hairdressers, they may well do what they call dread perms. It's also ok to colour your hair - both
       colouring and dyeing involves the use of ammonium (dyeing uses som other chemical I can't remember
       the name of at the moment) which is quite rough to the hair. I have to little empirical experience to give
       any details though.

       BRAIDS aka PLAITS:

       Braids are an alternative but it's not the most efficient and has certain restrictions. It'll take a couple of
       hours to braid a whole hair, make sure you make them tight in the bottoms (by all means so that it hurts
       a little, but just a little) if not it can get ugly at the bottoms (in time) which isn't necessary. The hair gets
       worn and torn by being in braids of course but there are ways of accomplishing greater "damage" using
       other means, but with braids it won't look as bad for the time being. If you want nice looking braids
       it's not really good to wash your hair, once you run them through water they can get tufty and rough
       here and there. Later on when the new hair grows out and so to speak, lifts the braids it will look
       un-neat. Sure you can redo them but then again you hinder the tear and wear effect. When you've have
       braids a while, say four months to half a year (or more), you can take them out and let the natural
       procedure take over. If you've come this far it usually ends up well. For the braids to stay people
       generally use rubber bands that break and have to be replaced all the time. It's can be a hassle to find
       small rubber bands and dental rubber bands (really small, used for braces), if you bother about trying
       to find such, have, despite what on would think, proven themselves to break easier than standard ones.
       One thought is to crochet the ends to make them stick and avoit the rubber band nightmare. In the West
       Indies the street vendors use tin foil and beads to make the ends stick. It looks cool but I find it unstable
       in time.

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