People, at least when they're prompted, say that they notice a difference between the sides of my head, and they can identify which side I'm leaving alone and which I'm futzing with. I couldn't figure out how to embed the online version.
Here's a quick table laying out what I'm doing with each side of my head.
| Nature side | Nurture side | |
| Lemon-saltwater spray | Yes | Yes |
| Wax | No | Yes |
| Palmrolling | No | Yes |
| Crochet hooking | No | Yes |
| Clockwise rubbing | No | Yes |
| Lock Pepa | No | Yes |
| Rubber bands | No | Yes |
| Split-and-twist | No | No |
| Dread Shampoo | Yes | Yes |
| Separating | No | Yes |
Some things it's hard to do on just one side, like shampoo and the saltwater spray. The latter (lemon juice and sea salt in water, spritz after bathing) is a replacement for a product, and the naturalists seem to like it so I'll stick with it. The shampoo I'm going to use until it runs out, but I have ideas for a more meaningful replacement when that time comes.
I know there's an actual term for the technique I called "split-and-twist," but I forget what it is. It involves parting the unlocked hair at the base of the lock and feeding the entire lock through the opening. I'm holding off on doing this to tighten the bases, as I've heard that weakens the locks and I would rather look into that separately.
Speaking of separately, "separating" simply means cutting or breaking strands from one lock which get stuck in another. I'm curious to see if my nurture locks will start to grow together.
PS - if you desperately need a fix about my dreadlocks and I haven't posted in awhile, check out the Dread Like Me YouTube playlist. From time to time I'm in a visual mood instead of a writing one.
Young locks which are not separated will most certainly thatch together. The whole back of my head did that with my first set. Trying to split thatched locks is far more painful and damaging to the locks than popping a few hairs here and there as you regularly separate. I admire your dedication to science, and I hope you don't end up regretting the decision to forego sepration.
ReplyDeleteThe split and twist you speak of is commonly referred to as root flipping. It can lead to forked dreads, and too much tension on roots can cause all sorts of problems from weakness to breakage to traction alopecia. Definitely be careful with that one!
I'm excited to continue following your experimet!
*experiment. Darned phone. I type faster than it can process, so it drops characters and mangles my words sometimes. Sorry!
DeleteHair is just a vestigial organ, Dianna, and serves very little purpose to humans anymore (with a couple of exceptions like eyebrows and lashes). What's the worst that could happen? I've had a shaved head before (three years with a razor!), I've had hair short and long, coiffed and locked. I can't fathom there being anything I could possibly do to my hair for this experiment which would lead to regret, and I am confident that whatever I discover, it will be based on facts rather than passion or marketing. Nowhere have I seen any actual study applied to these questions. No wonder people are confused.
ReplyDelete