How to make Dreadlocks, A Do It yourself guide

The Reggae legend Bob Marley is widely considered as the celebrity who brought this hairstyle to the limelight even many years after his death. He brought them into the pop culture spot light in the 1970’s but dreads actually do back to the 15th century.

Nollywood’s finest actress Dakore Akande is one woman who knows how to rock the dreads in a clean and attractive manner followed my Iconic musician ASA with a mid-cut dark perfectly trimmed strands of dread and MTV base V.J Ehiz keeps a low but smart looking dread.

Dakore Akande

A common misconception about dreads is that people who have dreadlocks don’t wash their hair, which is untrue in most cases. Most dreads are formed on purpose by leaving long hair to tangle together as it grows. The hair twists and locks which creates thick strands of rope like hair called dreadlocks.
How to Make Dreadlocks
Making dreadlocks is very easy; all you need do is refraining from brushing, combing or cutting your hair and twisting your strand together.
You can hold the ends with an elastic rubber band or bundle to allow the hair knit together naturally into locks of varying sizes.
Avoid washing your hair during the first month, which helps speed up the dreading process so that the virgin hair can become locked. It is also important to sleep with your hair covered.
Salon dreadlocks
Salon dreadlocks are created by using beeswax on the hair, which might damage the hair. Beeswax is difficult to washout because it has an high melting point. Once the new dread reaches the locking stage, the wax can be removed with hot water and strong detergent.

Murray’s Beeswax

Things you should know about dreadlocks
– At first when you’re growing your dreads they probably might be tight hurt you.
– Cover your hair before going to sleep
– Don’t use a normal shampoo, you should use a residue free dreadlock shampoo
– When washing your dreads, soak them well with water in the shower and add a little shampoo and gently work them into dreads
– Make sure you rinse your dreads well
– Squeeze as much of the water out as you can then throw a towel around your neck to soak any leftover moisture and after 15 minutes take towel off and let them dry
– Once your hair is dry, palms roll your dreads. Palm rolling is when you roll the dread back and forth between your palm
– Your dreadlock will knot and tighten easily now with your hair being clean
– Reapply wax once or twice a fortnight always after shampooing your hair.
Watch this amazing video tutorial on making Dreadlocks


Culled from celeb style mag July/August 2014 issue