Ellen in NYC

Yep, it's that time again. Time to put away the seriousness and let your hair down. Well, maybe. See, I grew up in the Caribbean, living in and traveling through wonderful places like the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. Of course, as a kid, the dreadlock was reserved for the island outlaw. Now, seems like everyone has a friend or grandmother with dreadlocks. So, I decided it's time I educated myself on the techniques of "locking" hair. No, I can't get away with it myself. Being married to a hairdresser has limited my choice of hairstyle to whatever my beloved wife chooses for me.  But I can always dream...

Ok, so I seem to be drifting for a minute. Sorry. The topic of this post is 5 things I didn't know about dreadlocks. Perhaps they might surprise you as well.

1. There are several methods for creating dreadlocks. Wow. One dreadlock methodology would have surprised me, but several? Astounding! I admit, I thought if you just stoped washing and combing your hair and let it get really dirty, you'd get dreads. Wrong! So, the several methods are: Backcombing, Twist and Rip, Twist and Pin, Twisting, Brush Rubbing, Dread Braiding, the ever famous clockwise rubbing method, and Neglect. Ok, the last one I already instinctively knew (as anyone encountering the "less than sanitary" panhandling denizens of NYC subways. )

2. You need clean hair for best results in getting hair to lock. Hmm. So, the whole dirty nasty unwashed hair assumption is blown out of the water. Yep, clean hair locks faster than dirty or greasy hair. So grab a bottle of shampoo and get ready to scrub scalp.

3. Using most conditioning hair products with dreads is BAD for you. Apparently, thebuild-up can cause all sorts of nasties, like slowing down the locking process, give you dandruff, and even cause your hair to mildew and smell. Yuck!  So, this means you should wash, right? Wrong. Now I'm starting to get confused myself, but apparently  you actually need to take MORE care of your hair to get dreadlocks, using shampoos that are residue free, and no wax or hairspray. You should probably stock up on specialty dreadlock shampoos and stuff (but not the Wax, the jury's still out on wax!)

4. There are plenty of websites that will teach anyone how to grow dreadlocks. Apparently, even the fine, straight, silky hair can be dreaded, but it just takes a lot longer.  In fact, there are even wigs and hair pieces for the baldies amoung us! So, if you really are all about going native before your Jamaican vacation, check out the links I'm providing through out this article.

5. Ok, the grand finale. You can do this! And once you have, you can actually go to one of the many hair salons dedicated to the dreadlock. Yes, do your own google search for your local area, and you'll find some. Or, go to theDollylocks website and see if they have a friend in your area.