Wrapping dreadlocks

Wrapping Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks wrapping is the first thing that many dreadheads can not wait to do as soon as they are done with starting their dreads. However, just like anything related to the health and safety of your dreadlocks, there are few points you need to know about locks wrap.

This video tutorial shows you how to wrap dreadlocks :

When should I start wrapping my dreadlocks?
The best would be that you wait until your dreads are fully matured before starting any sort of decoration or accessorizing, let them do their thing, the process is long and needs a lot of patience. And wrapping them will slow down the locking process.
But, you can still wrap your less-than-mature dreads as long as you do not keep them wrapped for a long time. I would suggest a day maximum, like if you are having a party, going to an event or something like that, or if you just want to take some beautiful pictures of your decorated locks.



Types of wrapping:
there are actually no rules and you can wrap your dreads however you want, but there are two major types of dread wraps that you can play with and invent your own style:

Criss-cross wraps: these open string wraps are the best for young dreadlocks, because they do not "choke" or squeeze the dread and allow it to breath, but if you leave the strings long enough on your young dreads, your hair will lock on them and it will be hard to take out the strings afterwards.
How to do Criss-cross wraps: you simply do it by making a knot on the point where you want to start wrapping, then criss-crossing, or kind of braiding the two parts of the strings with the dread, untill you reach the desired final point then secure with a knot. (see tutorial)

Solid thread wraps: these are not recommended for young locks as they choke the dread and stop it from locking and may cause weak spots. But if you decide to wrap your young dreads do not leave them for too long as we said and also try to make your wraps loose, do not squeese the dread.
How to do solid thread wraps: Can simply done by making a knot at the top of the desired area, then wrapping the thread around the dread without leaving any "free spaces". You may use more than one color by attaching new thread everytime you are done with one color, or by attaching threads of all the colors you want from the beginning and start wrapping using one color at a time.. then secure with a knot at the end. (See tutorial for details)

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Palm Rolling Dreadlocks - how to and when to do it

Palm Rolling Dreadlocks - how to and when to do it

Youtube video about dreadlocks palm rolling

Palm Rolling Dreadlocks means simply grabbing the dread between the base of your palms and rubbing it back and forth, along with compressing it with your palms.
Many people believe that palm rolling helps the knots to compress and tighten and therefore to become dreadlocks.
I personally from my own experience don't think so, I have done it when I started my first set and it really didn't do anything to my dreadlocks, It gives you an instant neat look for your dreads but that doesn't last very long since the hair does not actually lock inside the dread, it just lay on the dread from the outside for a while or until you wash your dreads.

But palm rolling dreadlocks could be useful in some cases:

* If you are using wax or cream: I do NOT recommend using wax on dreadlocks, any kind of wax, but I don't judge people who do use it especially organic wax. In this case palm rolling really helps a lot. It gets all the frizzy hair to stick with the dread and gives dreadlocks a more matured look.

* When you are backcombing or twisting your hair: because the dread is still in the process of forming, palm rolling while backcombing or twisting really helps, it does get all the messy hair inside the dread before being back combed by the brush or getting twisted in, that way it stays inside and helps tightening the dread.

* The ends of dreads: palm rolling can also help locking the tip of your dreads when they loosen up, because in that area it is easy to get the hair to lock

* In the lumps and bumps phase: when your dreadlocks go through the shrinkage phase (if they ever do), palm rolling them after washing could help speeding up the process of uniforming.

Again that is just my own experience. The outcome will be different from hair texture to another, but you may try palm rolling and see how it works for your dreadlocks. Sometimes I do it just because I like to play with my dreads
But Remember, no matter why you're palm rolling your dreads, never do it too hard and never do it close to the root, you may break your hair and hurt your scalp.

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Man bun Hairstyle

How to have a man bun hairstyle:

first of all, your hair must be long enough to form a bun, it doesn't have to be very long just long enough, you may use a natural hair cream and blow dryer.. then the rest is quiet obvious, anyway here is a video tutorial on youtube about how to get the man bun or short curly / wavy hair:

What's a bun?

A bun is a type of hairstyle wherein the hair is pulled back from the face, twisted or plaited, and wrapped in a circular coil around itself, typically on the back of the head or neck. A bun can be secured with a barrette, bobby pins, a hair stick, a hairnet, and/or a pencil. Buns may be tightly gathered, or loose and more informal.

Man bun?

The term "man bun" is a term used to describe long-haired men who do not wish to sport the traditional trend of short back and sides. Men with long hair tend to use this style for practicality and heat relief rather than a particular fashion or trend. The style has came under small debate mainly by pseudo masculinis who see the neutral look as rebellious to The Social norms.

But man bun is not a one specific haircut or hairstyle.. there are many hairstyles that that people call man bun the most popular ones of them are:

Full man bun: long hair on all sides, pulled back into a large high bun

Low man bun: Same as full man bun, but the position o the bun is lower on                         the head

Top knot: A smaller back bun using only the hair on top of the head, side                       hair is shaved or just clipped

The pineapple: Similar to the top knot but the bun is in the center of the top                       hair, the pineapple bun is quite small

The undercut: Similar to the top knot except that there's no bun, just a                               smaller shoot of hair that looks like a micro ponytail

Samurai bun: Long hair on all sides but only the top hair is pulled back to                          form a bun, the rest of the hair is left like it is.

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Loose hair tool for thin dreadlocks

Loose hair tool for thin dreadlocks

How to use the loose hair tool (or the Latch hook) for thin dreadlocks maintenance.

I have already posted an article about how to use the Dreadlocks loose hair tool here, but if you wanted to try this maintenance method on thin dreads you wouldn't be able to, especially if you are using a big sized hook. Because it would be hard to get the hook all inside the dread. so it is better if you try doing it this way (see video below)

It is the same procedure, except that instead of getting all the loose hair inside the dread, you keep getting it in and out untill it fits in

I must remind you though that this tool I am using in the video and in the previous one is not the dreadlocks loose hair tool that you could find in dreadhead hq or Dr dreads or any other dreadlocks related shop. This is just a latch hook that is why the tip of it is different, and that is why it is a little bit big in size, it shouldn't be used for very thin dreads.

There are other issues you need to be aware of while using a dreadlocks loose hair tool, a crochet hook or any other maintenance tool:

1)- It is very normal to have loose hair before your dread mature, there is nothing to panic about 

2)- Do NOT use any maintenance tool unless you really have to, using tools on your dreads all the time may create holes and might do some damages.

3)- While using any tool on your dreadlocks, use it gently, do not pull hard, to not be violent to your dreads.

4)- Be patient, make peace with the fluffy frizzy loose hair around your dreadlocks, it is normal to have loose hair all the time that will eventually end up locking itself.

I hope that this Dreadlocks maintenance post was helpful to you.. More coming soon, stay tuned

Peace And Love

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Loose hair tool - Latch hook

Loose hair tool - Latch hook

How to use the loose hair tool (or the Latch hook) for dreadlocks maintenance.

In this video here you can learn how to use the loose hair tool for your dreadlocks maintenance:

The loose hair tool for dreadlocks looks like that:

The loose hair can be a very annoying problem to people with dreadlocks, dealing with it is one of the reasons why dreadlocked people invented maintenance. The Crochet hook is one way that could help you get all the loose hair inside the dread, but crochetting dreadlocks reqired a little bit of skills, I'm not saying it's hard but using the lose hair tool is much easier, anyone can use it on their dreadlocks with no problem.

You can find this dreadlocks loose hair tool in dreadheadhq stores, or you can get a latch hook at any craft store.

How to use it:

A)-On the root:

1. roll the loose hair between your finger
2. find the dread that the loose hair belong to (or the closest dread it could fit in)
3. roll the loose hair between your fingers and thumb to make a small hair ball
4. measure how long in the dread would the loose hair take to fit entirely inside the dread
5. insert the loose hair tool inside the dread slightly above the point you measure (to make sure that the loose hair wouldn't come out when you pull out the latch hook)
6. slide the tool all the way in the center of the dread untill you touch your sculp
7. pull it out, hook the hair ball and close the latch
8. pull it back inside the dread untill it comes out 

and that's it, all the loose hair is now inside the dread and going to lock with no problem.

B)-Anywhere along the dread:

You pick all the loose hair around the dread but only in 2 inches area, otherwise it's not going to be easy to get it inside. The rest is similar to how you use it on the root, pull inside and pull out at the base of the loose hair, hook the hair and pull it back.

You can also use it at the tip of the dread to get the hair back inside and give the tip of your dread and nice round shape.

This is one way among others that can ensure you a good dreadlocks maintenance.. I will post more articles about dreadlocks maintenance soon.

Peace and Love

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How to make cornrows with extensions

How to make cornrows with extensions - quick tutorial

I have recently published a blog post and a video about how to make corn rows that you can read here: http://dreadlocksjourneyblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/how-to-braid-cornrows.html

This quick tutorial I am posting today is about how to add exensions to your braids to make them look longer. Those two posts by the way may not be directly related to dreadlocks, but I just wanted to share with you few hair styles that I have tried while I was on my dreadlocks Journey, the corn rows and the Afro hair style that I have also posted here: http://dreadlocksjourneyblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/afro-hair-style-tutorial.html

Anyway, back to this corn rows with extension tutorial.. The process is simple if you already know how to braid corn rows, as you can see in the video below:

It is better if you get human hair extensions of course, but other kinds of extensions will work fine too especially if you use them only at the back of your hair (like I did in this video) also because you will only have them on for few days.

You may also use extensions from the root of your hair if you want big and thick braids.

Hope that this quick tutorial was useful to you, it is nice to try different things sometimes ;)

More about Braids and Cornrows from Wikipedia:

Cornrows, also known as braids, are a traditional African style of hair grooming where the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to produce a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often formed, as the name implies, in simple, straight lines, but they can also be formed in complicated geometric or curvilinear designs.

Often favored for their easy maintenance, cornrows can be left in for weeks at a time if maintained through careful washing of the hair and regular oiling of the scalp.

Cornrowed hairstyles are often adorned with beads or cowry shells, in the African and Caribbean tradition. Depending on the region of the world, cornrows are typically worn by either men, women or both. Cornrows are known as canerow in parts of the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

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How to braid Cornrows

How to braid cornrows

Welcome to this tutorial on how to make cornrows, or how to braid cornrows, it is a phase that I have been through during my dreadlocks journey it's nice to try different exotic hairstyles sometimes.

This is not actually the first time I do this hairstyle, I have had my hair braided before twice, but I must say, the second time I have had cornrows on my hair was the best, I loved the look of braids on me.

this is how to braid cornrows:

start by sectionning the hair, choose big or small sections depending on the look you want, then divide the section into three small sections, one hand holds two secions and the other hand

holds the third one. the hand that has two sections twists them to make the outter section becomes in the middle then the other hand grabs the middle section, then you do the same thing with the other hand. everytime you grab the middle section grab some hair from the scalp with it, to keep the braid attached to the scalp.

More about Braids and Cornrows from Wikipedia:

Cornrows, also known as braids, are a traditional African style of hair grooming where the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to produce a continuous, raised row. Cornrows are often formed, as the name implies, in simple, straight lines, but they can also be formed in complicated geometric or curvilinear designs.

Often favored for their easy maintenance, cornrows can be left in for weeks at a time if maintained through careful washing of the hair and regular oiling of the scalp.

Cornrowed hairstyles are often adorned with beads or cowry shells, in the African and Caribbean tradition. Depending on the region of the world, cornrows are typically worn by either men, women or both. Cornrows are known as canerow in parts of the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.

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Afro Hair style tutorial

Afro Hairstyle tutorial - How to have afro hair

Many people like the fro look for their hair, or sometimes they want to attend an event or something and they just want to try something new, exotic and different. But their hair is straight and can't get naturally afro, there are few tutorials on youtube that show you how to turn your straight hair into afro, for men and women, and also for short and long hair.

For my hair, it's naturally curly, so I don't have a problem to achieve the afro ish look, using just an afro comb (or any comb that has long teeth) I could even just use my fingers, or you could use a fork lol.

I show in this tutorial below how I could have the afro hair look

I also put on the tutorial video, links to other videos that you can check out if you have straight hair and want to turn in into afro.

More about Afro hair from wikipedia:

Afro, sometimes shortened to 'fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair. The hairstyle is created by combing the hair away from the scalp, allowing the hair to extend out from the head in a large, rounded shape, much like a halo, cloud or ball.

In persons with naturally curly or straight hair, the hairstyle is typically created with the help of creams, gels or other solidifying liquids to hold the hair in place. Particularly popular in the African-American community of the late 1960s, the hairstyle is often shaped and maintained with the assistance of a wide-toothed comb colloquially known as an afro pick.

Another old video of how the afro phase looks like:

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How to make dreadlocks twist and rip method

How to make dreadlocks twist and rip method

I have already posted an article about twist and rip method for dreadlocks here but the video of how to make dreadlocks in the twist and rip method I have posted with it is kinda low quality, recently I have made a new high quality video, with more detailes on the process.

Check out and learn how to make dreads in an easy way, those are kinda skinny dreadlocks but it's not the final version, it's not how the dreads will look at the end, plus you may change the size of dreadlocks by making big sections

First thing you do is that you section your hair into square sections starting better from the bottom of your hair, use rubberbands to secure your sections then split the sectionned hair in two random parts then rip untill your reach the root, then then twist again and split the same section of hair in other two random parts and rip again untill the root, you will start to see knots forming. keep twisting and ripping the whole secion of hair untill you reach the tip of your hair.

But remember twist and rip or any other method you use does not create dreadlocks, you are just helping to define the size of your dreads by forming knots and keeping the sectionned hair together, your hair will lock itself in a natural process, but that will eventually take some time.

you might do some palmroling aswell, it doesn't do much actually, it just keeps the section tidy.

keep twisting and ripping until you reach the tip of your hair, as long as you can still hold hair between your fingers, then use a rubber band on the tip of your hair aswell.

When you finish twisting and ripping all your hair.. You do not have to do anything else, just wait for your dreads to mature.

Patience is the key to having beautiful healthy dreadlocks.

Hope this new twist and rip video was useful to you

happy journey to everyone of you

Peace and Love

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