Happy Camper Bus
To dread, or not to dread? Big Sigh.
Happy Camperbus over 3 years ago

So, some seven months or so ago, I decided to dread my hair. With the help of some very dedicated friends and 72 hours of nearly constant backcombing (which is VERY painful) I came away with a very nice set of dreadies! Whew!

Now, these months later, they have gotten somewhat ratty, unruly and when washed (every couple of days) they shrink up a bit, which is good because it means the hair is locking up even tighter, but the result is I had far less ‘styling’ options than I expected.

A dash of impulse and a rash decision prompted me to ask Smick to dedicate another 3 full days of pulling and combing…only this time it was to undo the knots that had settled quite nicely by now. My hope was to take out the dreads (yes, I was told this could be done without shaving my head, or cutting it way short…with the right amount of patience, time, help and tolerance for pain) and then make a decision on whether or not I wanted to repeat the dreading process, with some experience under our belts, to produce a neater (but still funky) set of locks. He agreed and we literally hunkered down for 3 strait days, pulling and combing those babies out. It was in a word, madding.
I was told I would lose alot of hair in the process (an understatement) but would be left with healthy hair that had actually grown longer, even though the dreads were shrinking. Hmmm.

Well, I did emerge dread free. I did lose alot of hair. It had grown quite long, but needed severe trimming and it is now shorter than when we began. I am sad. Torn. Undecided. Unwilling at this point to start over because I feel like my head and hair and psyche have been traumatized enough. But I miss ’em.

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome…I am at a loss. To dread, or not to dread?