My dreads - HELP!

Monday last week i travelled all the way upto London to have my dreads done by a place called Camden Locks, my dreads looked alright to start with but i noticed they look more plaited than anything.. is this a normal way of starting dreads?
Also the ends of them are splitting and the last 2 - 4 centremetres of the 'dreads' are just like normal straight hair.

They said to come back in 2 months for maintenance when they finished them so maybe this is normal? She also said i need to use wax once a week and this spray she gave me called Fudge twice a week, which says on the bottle it is unleaded cement?!?! And i can't have any contact with water for 2 months (which is really annoying me)

Was wondering if anyone has any advice 'cos im getting worried.. especially seeing as i spent a lot of money getting them done!! Think ive made a big mistake.

Cheers,
Matty

 

:'(

 

mmmmmmmm,,, me thinks so too...
why not read some of the other posts in the forum here so it doesnt keep having to be repeated time n again.... there are several sticky threads that will give you much insight on dreads n what to do n not do... as well as FAQ's.....

i do not understand tho why so many folks go n pay to have there hair totally skrewed up by someone that has a license to "dress" hair,,,,when intentions are for it to be knotted

 

dude, you said you had to travel UP to london?
are you are in the SW? if you are, give me a shout, if you get all the crap out of your hair i will backcomb them in again for you if you like, though you will have to get to somerset
i wont charge you a penny, though if you want to drop me a pouch of baccy..... lol!

 

i agree; check out the dread forums and get more info.

 

Well im from yee ol' Coventry (west mids) and my sense of direction is non existant but i think i travelled down to London If my dreads get any worse i might have to take you up on that offer. i wonder what they will do if i go to Camden Locks for maintenance after 2 months?

 

dude get any wax out of your hair NOW. its bad and causes mould in dreads and even stops the dreading process. next, dont use that spray on your hair you cant trust it. check your dreads, if they are pleated etc take them out and redo them if not leave them be. you should wash them after 2-4 weeks they will be fine just dont use any form of shampoo or conditioner, unless its non-residue shampoo like dr bonners,.

if you want something to help make your own sea salt water mix. but sea salt, and a bit of pure lemon. put a few teaspoons of sea salt and a few squirts of lemon in water, put it in a spray bottle, spray your dreads with it. leave it to sit for 10 mins then rinse.

hope that helped dude

 

Im pretty sure they're plaits.. well.. they look partly plaited. I'll have to take a picture of them so yous can see.

http://www.dreadz.co.uk/camden_locks_london.html Thats the website of the place i went to.

Arrrgh im sure half of them are coming apart.

 

Here are pics of my 'dreads'.. Let me know what you think.. sorry about the poor quality.






Dunno if you can even see anything from these..

 

they look like theyre packed with wax dude. if she used wax wash ure hair in the hottest water u can stand and scrub it out. as for plaits...its hard to see. if u think they havent been done rite take them out and redo them urself.

 

they look like plaits/braids to me, i had my hair braided before i dreaded. i undid each braid and back combed it, but you really are going to have to get the wax out 1st hun. if they really are plaits/braids at least they will be easy to undo......

 

eurgh, leave the cement out... that looks pretty gruesome, whatever they did. no offence don't avoid water for two months, in fact wash as often as you can until whatever they put in there comes out again. looks like they sort of plaited it to me, or just twisted? if it all falls out, that's for the better. good luck!

 

they look interesting... if its braided (plaited, whatever) then that bad, but if its just a bunch of knots (it can be interetwined a bit) then youre fine. feel them and look at them closely and maybe try to get a clearer pic (use the macro function on your camera).
in any case, get that wax the hell out of there and dont use any more residuey product. residue is the worst thing for your dreads. sea salt and lemon is good. feel free to get them wet and wash them (i would wait a week or two before washing) and just generally let them do their own thing. i wouldnt go back to that place.
keep in mind that backcombed dreads need to fall out and loosen up before they can even start to lock. there are things you can do to maintain them like palm rolling that work really good. luck!

 

I would suggest to you wash your hair as much as possible with really hot water and try and get some of it out!!!!
Unless you undo what the hair dressers have done and get someone to start again, if Portsmouth is closer than somerset for you come down in the summer and I will happily dread up your hair for ya.
If any of your mates want dreads tell them not to go to a hairdressers

 

Man, those are braids, take em out an start again!!! They look pretty cool but I don't see them as being dreads, not yet anyway : )

 

It just looks like it was constantly twisted into place.

Not really braids though not really dreads.
I would just take up the offer of the dude who wanted to back comb them for free.

 

They do look like twists/braids. But personally I would leave them in and see how they go before you make any descisions to get rid of. I know plenty of people who have had braids put in and had them turn to dreads and some of mine were put in like that at the back and they are some of the best looking dreads i have.

I deffenetly wouldn't use that spray shes given you and whever you use wax is up to you. personally I wouldn't bother. They make your dreads look good short term but in the long term wax is bad bad news. Don't worry to much about having used wax this time though. My mate put mine in with dax wax *eek* and i waxed for the first couple of weeks untill I realised that I really didn't like what it was doing to my hair. I washed several times with real hot water and my dreads seem fine. I doubt havign the wax in them this once will do any damage...just don't make a habit of it.

Don't not wash you hair for 2 month. That is just grim. I would advice waiting a couple of weeks then washing about once a week with a soap such as dr bronners. I rinse mine with a sea salt lemon bicarb rinse too once a month to get rid of any dr brooners i havnt managed to wash out properly (I have hard water).

Bare in mind your dreads will fall apart before they lock up.
Also Don't go back to that place. They dont sound like they know anything about dreading/ There is no matience you need to go back to a hair dressers and have done. Maintain them yourself or just leave them to it. These people are just trying to get at your money.

 

That's all good sound advice. Untill yesterday I never knew that wax was detrimental in any way, although I decided about a year ago that I liked the way my dreads looked WITHOUT the wax. If it feels very dry I will put a very light coating on and melt it in with the hairdryer and it does'nt seem to have done any harm. It's all down to personal choice I guess.

 

I see the plaits... they look braided to me. And did you want a zig zaggy part like that? I don't know... I'm kinda partial to natural parts but that's personal preference. Normally I wouldn't say this but yeah... I would comb out. Wax AND cement (?!)... yikes. The things people do for dreads! They grow naturally ya know

 

ahh! those look more like braids then they do dreads... just get them backcombed by the one person who offered you