Waning waxing

So I'm coming to the end of my dread wax supply, and I don't have any plans to buy more.  I think the stuff has been helping, but there's no way to be sure if I keep using it.  As it is, my wax-on-wax-off alternating weeks has been reduced to waxing it every other Friday.  After yesterday's application, the first since my dreadful mess, I only have about half of what it takes to do my whole head, and that seems like the right time to move on.

State of the locks: three months and one week

I've already started using homemade dreadlocks products, starting with a replacement for Locking Accelerator.  What's great about that product is that its makers offer a homemade substitute on their site.  Mine includes a bit of lemon juice, but I used less salt so I'm going to up my ratio a bit next time I make it.

Some products don't seem to have a homemade replacement, like the Lock Peppa.  I just don't have a convenient supply of bentonite around town, and that stuff really works.  I'll probably be buying more of that at some point, but I'm not out of it yet.

The wax is another story.  There's good arguments explaining how it helps by compressing knots once they've been tightened, but when you hear that the wax instead inhibits locking by preventing the scales on the hairs from catching on one another, it also sounds reasonable.  Most of my backcombed locks are tightening nicely, but I have a handful that have resisted, and I've backcombed them again (a couple twice by mistake, I think), with little improvement.  Maybe not using wax will help them, maybe not, but I don't see how it could hurt them any.

Particularly since my dreadlocks survived a chlorine pool.

The experiment continues!

Reason #10: dreadlocks are the stuff of legend

Locked hair is deeply rooted in in myth and legend.  Did you know that . . .

• . . . the sacred river Ganges flows through Shiva's locks, so that they might regulate it?  The goddess Ganga brings her flow to earth through Shiva's tangled masses of hair, which can also be seen as its flow down the forested slopes of the Himalayas.
• . . . Samson, the Israelite who slew a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, derived his immense strength from his seven locks of hair?  The Nazirite vow 

Based on how they were depicted, it's reasonable to argue that Kokopelli, Isis, and Medusa wore their hair in locks, as well, which is pretty much what I suspected.  There's even some speculation that Jesus couldn't have wandered in the desert for three years without conditioner and without knotting up.  Clearly they have been respected for their power and mystery for thousands of years, and I can do worse than to carry that kind of tradition on my shoulders.

Poolside manner

Hot day, high humidity, recent swim in pool

The heat skyrocketed this past weekend, so I decided to throw caution to the winds and test my locks in a chlorinated pool.  I'd been warned off by two experienced lockists (one of whom told me that the chlorine would actually unlock my hair), so it took hundred-degree temperatures for me to risk it.  I finally realized in my delirium that the worst that could happen is that my experiment would be prematurely ended; I half hoped to see my hair all floating away just to have something really interesting to report.

So into the breach I went, to the local pool, and I immersed myself in the cooling 97-degree water (yes, it really was that hot).  I swam for the better part of an hour, got out, dried off, went home, and then returned in the early evening to do it again.  It felt wonderful.

My hair seemed none the worse for wear.  The first picture was a day after the pool event, and the second is from this morning, a couple of days after that.  The difference in craziness I can attribute to the fact that it was cool enough for me to fall asleep with my took on last night.  That hat does wonders for keeping my hair under control.  Probably the best lock-control mechanism I've found yet.

The fact that I spend so much time trying to keep these low-maintenance masses under control makes it clear that I'm doing this wrong.  Anyone who seriously will have their lives impacted by a thick lock of hair sticking out from the scalp at a sharp angle probably isn't going to have a low-key time with dreadlocks.

Merely hot day, low humidity, took training

So I guess I do have something to report:  this hair is forcing me to work a lot harder on a decent appearance than I ever have before, and is a whole lot less forgiving than a short haircut or shaven head would be.

Some days I just don't have the luxury to allow my head to look completely insane, so I'm finding myself coming up with shortcuts to save the day when the hair is bad.  Like washing it hard and putting it away wet.  A good, hot shower or bath will get my hair down where I want it, so if I'm in a pinch I'll wring them out and then shove them under the took for awhile.  It works even better if there's some wax in the locks, softened by the water.  (The "tame" picture here was achieved without any wax, though).  When I do that, I still need to get the hat off and allow the locks to dry so something horrible doesn't happen in there.  Did I mention that mildew is a deal-breaker?

Maybe at some point down the line I'll be able to just let the hair do whatever the hell it wants, and see how that feels.  This year, though, I'm just going to have to fight with it sometimes.

Reason #9: dreadlocks teach approachability

Dreadlocks, without a doubt, make me more approachable.

Say what?

It's true, but it's counter-intuitive.  At first glance, they're messy, disheveled, and unkempt, particularly when they're first getting started, so I wasn't prepared for them opening doors.

But what I've discovered is that people will talk to me about my locks; they act like a kind of ambassador, allowing people who have some experience with them to start up a conversation.  I don't think it helps me talk to people who have no experience with locks, but that's why I want to keep them neat and professional anyway.

• People who used to have them, like the village board member I ran into one day who told me about how her life was very different back then.
• Or people who are just starting out kinda small and subtle, like the mom I know who put one (just one) in behind her ear.
• Then there's folks I've been introduced to specifically because I have dreadlocks, like the local Republican who had them for twenty years.

I wouldn't have known that any of these people have, or have had, locks had I not had them myself.  (Yep, I used that word five times in one form or another.)  I call that approachable.

Open source for tangled hair

According to the stats for this blog, 11% of its readers use a Linux operating system.  Rock on, brothers.

Sorry I'm late, I was doing my hair

Self-portrait experiment number 37

The myth that dreadlocks are low-maintenance has been debunked in my mind.  Well, it's probably safer to say that dreadlocks are like political campaigns:  you can put into them as much time and energy as you want to.

The other night I was late for a party because, for the first time in my life, I was held up doing my hair.

Are you kidding me?

I had a collision of priorities, namely:

1. Wash my hair
2. Wax my hair

It may seem simple enough to do both, but it can be screwed up.  I'd put off waxing for an extra week so my wife could focus more on blunting the tips (she felt she had the technique down, but wanted more time to have it on lockdown), so wax was on my mind.  Moreso it was hot and humid and a good waxing makes for a more party-ready appearance.

The washing, like the waxing, could have been put off a day without it being disastrous.  I'm more likely to err on the side of caution when it comes to hygiene, though, particularly since this is my first summer with matted coils of hair on my head.

So I showered, and washed my hair, and only then did I realize that I didn't have the time to let the locks air-dry.  I got busy blow-drying the hell out of them, but this was no time to be forced to master patience!  I hadn't budgeted for that extra time.

After wringing, toweling, shaking, and hot-air drying for longer than I wanted to I gave up with the locks damp, and set to waxing.  I'd have to blow-dry them again anyway.

Waxing dry locks isn't just a good idea - it's damned near the law of physics.  The wax slid off moist hair until I mashed on far more than is good for them, and my next round of blow drying was difficult because the wet hair held the heat, and burned the hell out of scalp whenever I pointed the dryer at any spot for more than about three seconds.

I moved the dryer around a lot, softening but not melting the wax.  My wife noticed, and forced me back into the bathroom where she all but held me down and gave me a stern drying so that I wouldn't look like I was wearing candles on my head.

I think the blisters should be healed any day now.

Homemade products

I started locking my hair using a specific system and set of products, but now I think I know enough to start thinking about homemade alternatives.  Here are some of my half-formed ideas about a home locking kit:

• Dread wax - made of beeswax and paraffin with hemp seed oil, vitamin E, and fragrance, this should be replaceable with beeswax alone mixed with a bit of E and some hemp seed oil, if I can find that oil anywhere.  I've only used two-thirds of the three-and-a-half-ounce container in over two months.



Latch hook and crochet hook are good locking tools.

• Locking accelerator - Purified or natural spring water, some lemon juice, and a dash of non-iodized sea salt.
• Lock peppa - not a clue how to replace this stuff at home, and it works well.
• Dread comb - any good metal comb is fine, but the price for this one is comparable, and it has a ruler on it, which is helpful for sectioning.
• Loose hair tool - crochet and latch hooks are perfectly fine to replace any of these specialty tools.
• Shampoo - got to have something residue-free for washing locks.  I have a recipe that uses water, baking soda, and a drop or two of tea tree oil.  I am not sure if the tea tree oil is too much residue or not, but paired with a vinegar rinse I think it should be okay.
• Rubber bands - any small rubber bands, like the ones used on braces, should work; it's just a question of price because they don't last either way.

Professional engagement

Summer has driven me to take the risk that I knew it would - I abandoned my favorite hat the other night.  I had work to do in public, but it was time.  It's a well-made knit cap, and it's not made for hot weather.  I tried getting a hair net, but no matter what you make a hair net out of, it's still a hair net.

My tour of duty was a planning board meeting where I am known, and no one remarked on my hair.  I doubt they're breathless readers of my blog here.  I watched during the meeting and afterwards, when I asked some follow-up questions for my article, for any non-verbal cures, things like

• eyes drifting upwards to look at the hair, or
• a faint nasal twang to suggest not breathing through the nose, or
• a closed body posture, arms folded and turned away.

I saw no reaction from planning board members, applicants, or other journalists.  Well okay, the one applicant kept looking at me, but I couldn't tell if it was the hair or my journalist pad.  I get the latter anyway.

The following day I spoke to a number of local officials including the county executive, and attended a political committee meeting where I participated in candidate interviews.  My appearance doesn't seem to impact people who expect me to work in a professional manner.

Not sure what it means, but it's interesting.

Reason #8: the wind in my hair

Once you convince a bunch of strands of hair to cooperate as a single lock, having your hair screwed with by the wind is a thing of the past.  Locks are much heavier than strands, and they just resist those pesky breezes.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't get epic bed head.  But it's one variable which I can declare eliminated from my coiffed experience.

So what's natural again?

From what I can tell, dreadlock wearers have different opinions about what it takes to have "natural" locks.  Here's the spectrum that I've seen:

• The neglect method:  just leave your hair to its own devices.
• Hands on:  it's okay to braid, backcomb, twist, and rip, but don't put any products in.
• Nature is as nature does:  use of completely natural products (locking agents made from non-iodized sea salt, for example) is okay.
• Nothing nasty:  commercial products are okay if they're not clearly toxic.

What's left that everybody can agree isn't natural?  The dread perm.

Reason #7: longer, healthier hair

I've never had my hair grow as long as it has since I started my dreadlocks.  Putting them in made the hair a lot shorter, but withing a month it was clear that there was growth, which was not at all what I expected.  Locking and tightening, yes, but lengthening?  Not even.

Seems that all the clockwise rubbing, palmrolling, and waxing has been stimulating my scalp something fierce.  Even my hairwashing is a lot more scalp-intensive, because I kinda scrub between the locks before I wash them.

I guess all this talk about brushing your hair to make it grow has some merit.

Low maintenance hair?

Maybe if my commitment had been to leave my hair completely to its own devices for five years and see what happens, I would have ended up with low maintenance hair, kind of like how letting a field return to forestland is low maintenance.

But alas, my commitment is more like training bonsai than letting land lie fallow.  And, like bonsai, it takes as much work as patience.

So how low-maintenance is this mass of hair?

• For starters, I'm using a blow dryer.  I've done that maybe three times in my life up until I started this experiment, but now I use it to melt wax, as well as to dry my hair if I'm going to wear a hat or it's just really humid out.
• Then, there's loose hair management and blunting the tips.  These are both activities that take teamwork to do somewhat easily, and they also both often have to be repeated.
• Yesterday I rebackcombed a couple of stubbornly loose locks.  I wasn't expecting to have to do that again, ever, but for at least one of the two it definitely helped tighten it up.
• Every day I take a few minutes to palmroll, and days without wax I also do some clockwise rubbing to create new knots.

Here's a video about blunting those tips:

I'll talk a bit about specialty products in an upcoming post.

So no, I'm not finding this to be an experiment in low maintenance.  It's actually one of the longest-term, highest-time-investment commitments I've ever made.

Water, water everywhere, especially in my locks

Humidity brings the Medusa look.

So I've discovered that humidity has as much power over locked hair as it does any other.

I did have a friend (who keeps his hair no longer than half an inch) tell me that dreadlocks repel water much like an Afro does.  That had not been my experience, but I tend not to correct people in public until I just can't stand to keep my mouth shut.

Now that the moistness of the air has shot up for the summer, I'm feeling like I understand how Medusa must have felt.  Never has my hair looked more snakelike  . . . the Gorgons must have had some kind of water snakes for hair.  More on Medusa in a future post

There are ways to keep them tame, but these fierce serpents definitely like to perk up with very little provocation.

• Wax, especially wax that has been softened by a hot shower or bath, makes them malleable.  Even if you believe that wax does not help hair lock, it definitely can help shape it.
• Hats can  also keep hair down, particularly ones like my favorite took, pictured here.  If I want to use this hat to tame my locks for uncovered display, water can again be ally as well as enemy.  Even unwaxed hair, when crammed underneath the old brown-and-tan when partially dry, will yield to the demands of fashion.

No telling what's hiding under here

So water can cure what is causes, but I have to do so cautiously.  First and foremost, my locks need to be allowed to dry thoroughly or I'm setting myself up for mildew, and I cannot to begin to imagine how disgusting that would be.  If I don't ever get a chance to write about mildewed locks, I'll consider myself blessed.

I hadn't thought about how the power of weather can control your hair, locked or not.  This is new, interesting, and from a maintenance perspective, pretty damned annoying.  There are times when it's okay to look wild, but humidity doesn't compromise all the easily.

I wonder what winter will bring to this mane of mine?