littlefishink.com hats

My really awesomely talented friend m.cody shelton of www.littlefishink.com made a really cool hat for this fall season that I wanted to share with you all. Go check out her clever crochet,knit and sewing skills.

Freeforming Turned Me Into A Creative Being

I decided to stop doing any kind of hair style with my dreads because my scalp doesn't like to be pulled this way and that. And my dreads like to do their own thing. They don't like me putting my hands in them every 5 seconds to straighten them out. They know what they should look like.

They prefer to move ,twist and turn in their own direction.

So since I don't do any fancy hair do's anymore I have had plenty more time for crafting. I guess some may say putting handmade dread beads on your dreads to be fancy but I call them power beads.

They are fun and you get to be even more of a living work of art. I don't wear the beads all of the time but every now and then I like to put a few in depending on my mood.

I also make cloth art doll using recycled fabrics and materials that are also recycled. Since my journey of freeform dreading began I have felt extremely creative . It's like my anntenae are picking up creative sparks from here and there.

Keeping my hands out of my dreads lets them flourish and be how they want to be and helps me to be my authentic self.

I have learned through the years that the less I do to my dreads the better the do. They get thicker,they get longer,and they are very easy to care for. When you love them no matter how long or short they are they feel it and become healthier and healthier with each passing day.

FreeFormed Dreads Are Free

If you are thinking of going the natural route when it comes to dreadlocks there is no easier way than freeforming.

In my opinion it is the greatest way to give you hair and scalp a permanent rest from all of the manipulation it has been through in the past.

I suggest keeping things simple.

I decided to go back to only using my rosemary,sage,peppermint rinse and forego the any soaps or shampoos or baking soda rinses. Or vinegar rinses.

My dreads just feel better and stronger. If I can harvest some from the river I add horsetail as well.

I have also learned that I don't need oils. I tried olive oil a long time ago and it left a stinky smell on my scalp and hair. I tried the jojoba oil and it left a stinky smell in my dreads. When I don't use oils I have no stinky smell and my dreads feel great without them.

I make sure to let them air dry completely during the summer. So I spend lot of time in the sun. During the long winter months I like to use my big fan to blow them dry.

This works for me but I am not saying it will work for you.

Freeformed dreads are sometimes seperate but I don't seperate mine. I let them congo and marry each other all over my head.

The hairstyle for me was free. I didn't go to a salon to work on it because nature only needs simple things. Air, water,sun,and healthy nutrition.

Freeformer Dreadlocked African American Women

I just wanted to say how happy I am to see more African American women embrassing their natural selves through freeform dreadlocks. I have been wearing mine for 14yrs now and never thought in the beginning of my journey to document it. In a previous post I showed photos of myself before the journey but no month by month or week by week kinda update.

It seems to have also brought awareness to many African American women to take part in a healthier way of living in general I have noticed. I smile everytime I see another freeformer blog because where I live I never see any freeforming women just manicured locs. I am not coming down on the manicured locs it's just not my cup of tea.

I am enjoying the freedom of getting up and not doing anything with my hair accept for washing and go.

I am currently still doing a rosemary/mint/sage rinse on my dreads which I have been doing way back in 2000. I thought of doing it from reading one of my herb books that talk about which herbs are good of the hair. I grow my own herbs to use in my rinse and I collected some fresh horsetail from the river a few days ago to add to my rinse. Horsetail is suppose to be good for strengthen hair and helping with hair growth as well.

I 'll share more on this once my finger heals. I had an incident with my ring finger where it got so swollen I had to have a jeweler cut it off. Anyway happy freeforming all and if anyone has any question for me feel free to ask.

Brightest Blessings

Trina

P.S. The photos is of me at the ocean. About a week ago me and my family went camping at our favorite campsite in Fort Bragg. The ocean air is great for locks!

Be Your Natural self

My message for today is to let go and be simple. Get your ass outside and love mother nature. And then your freeform locks will grow tenfold!!!!

Dreadlocks Hat New

My super awesome buddy M. Cody Shelton of www.littlefishink.com . Made me a new hat for my birthday and I took a few photos of me wearing it. I love her awesome knitting and crocheting abilities. She has inspired me to practice. Not there yet. But you all should check out her site!!!

My Fat Dreadlock Buns Or Bantu Knots

I took three -four dreadlocks and then twist them til the end once I get to the end I wrap it around and then tuck it in. It is truly hard to explain. So when I finally get a video camera I can explain better. But by looking at it you can see it clearly. Here is a photo. If you leave it in all day and sit in the hot sun or use a hair dryer set on low you can take it down and have some curly dreads. I couldn't keep mine in that long because I don't like my dreads up all the time. Just thought I would do something different from wearing them in two ponytails when its so hot or when doing chores or painting.

FreeForm Dreadlocks Inspiring Photos and Videos

Hello all,

I just wanted to mention a couple of freeformers that are very inspiring to me. And I will try and upload a video or two and mention a blog so that you can see that it helps to see other freeformers on a journey similar to your own.

The first one is cupidvalentino1 and he is on youtube. He has a lot of good information in his videos that go far beyond just freeform locks. So please take the time to visit his videos on youtube. I don't want to say much more because I want you to judge for yourself.

Okay for some reason blogger won't let me imbed one his videos in my blog so please just go and visit his youtube.

Another awesome freeformer is on youtube and he goes by the name of hatsdontfit. And he also has a blog and is on tumblr. His tumblr name is Gorilla Loves Hummingbird.

Those two men are awesome examples of freeform dreads in action. It just shows you that everyone dreads will look different.

I think that setting out to have your dreads look like someone else's is not very intelligent. Be you and no one else!

Peace be with you all

Trina

Freeform Dreadlocks 14year Anniversary

I know a lot of people thought this was a fly by night decision when I first embarked upon my dreadlock journey. I had become convinced in the year 1998 that this was the best way to be in the process of becoming as natural as I can be. I let go of the unnecessary pressures I put upon myself to try and fit in and look neat tidy the the world of commercialism.

14yrs of learning how to let myself go and set myself free has taught me that I don't need to poke and prod at my locks and try to color them to look more interesting. I don't need to seperate them to look uniform and all the same. I just keep them clean and let them be.

Because I dyed them 3yrs ago I lost a lot of length to them and my locks suffered from them a bits and pieces have fallen off. But the bits and pieces that fell off were dead

Dreadlockssite

I just wanted let those who don't know of a website that is dedicated to educating all in various stages of the natural dreadlock journey. I have learned so much from them in order to keep my dreads healthy and strong.

The man who started this site is Soaring Eagle. He has had his dreads for over 20 years and in my opinion he provides some great info and resources on topics ranging from dread maintenance,dreadwax removal, and dreadlock adornments.

The site also has a lot of groups to chat about important issues such as sustainable gardening,vegetarian and vegan lifestyles,yoga and more.

I didn't expect to find a wide range of interests here. I found Soaring Eagle on a you tube video and saw the web address for dreadlockssite.com and I decided to check it out. It is a place I use often when I am perplexed about this and that with my locks.

I had purchased a dread wax removal shampoo from a company I found out about through this wonderfully resourceful website. It was really successful but I felt I needed more just in case. So I found out that the makers of this product aren't making anymore at the moment so now I was quite confused as to what to do.

I decided to jump on to this awesome site and found an answer to my question of another method of removing dread wax. I read this story about a woman who had applied a heavy amount of wax to their dreads and used Dawn dish soap to remove it. I tried it and it worked incredibly. Since I don't have much money right now to buy another dread soap I think I may use some of the dawn soap,some tea tree oil and water to make my own dread shampoo.

I stopped using the baking soda rinses because it leaves my scalp flaky and itchy even if I do acv(apple cider vinegar) rinse afterwards I still get that flaky like dandruff. I have read on the dreadlockssite that the hardness of the water can have a lot to do with it. So I have just been using dawn soap to wash,and then follow up with applecide vinegar tea tree oil ,and water rinse. They seems to be working the best for me right now.

I think finding what works for you from each step of the dread journey is the key to keeping a healthy and strong head of dreadlocks. I have been currently using jojoba oil on my dreads after I cleanse them. But I would like my dreadlocks to feel a lot softer so I have decided to look for some shea butter because I heard that it is a great moisturizing oil for people with coarser textured hair. I will keep posted on what it does for my dreads.

I reflect back on the days when I couldn't wait to dye my hair a fun and crazy color. Unfortunately for me the dread coloring journey was a very destructive one. So I have lost some length to my locks because of it. The bleaching really took its toll on my pour locks. So for about 4yrs I have stopped dyeing my dreads with chemicals. I have been using rosemary tea as an alternative. I grow fresh rosemary in my front yard in profusion. So I can use as much as I want. I get a big stock pot and fill the whole pot with fresh rosemary. Then I may throw in fresh sage ,peppermint, or spearmint (which I also grow in my garden). I fill the pot with water and then bring herbs and water to a boil and let it cook until the water is very dark. I let cool and then pour it over my scalp and dreads. And my goodness I feel so refreshed. This kinda treatment is great during the hot summer days. Just a extra minty herbs to take away itchy scalp.

I posting some photos of my dreads now that they have lost quite a bit of length but I still love them no matter what. I am not all about wishing my hair is longer I am all about loving they are getting healthier and stronger. You are never to old to learn something new! check http://www.dreadlockssite.com .

So Here Is The Beginning of the Dread For Me

I am going to keep it short. I started my dread process in July 1998.

In the beginning my hair was very short. I cut my hair to remove all of the abuse caused from relaxers and braided extensions.

Then I had let them start to grow in and got rid of my comb.

As my dreadlets began to form I loved them but was made fun of as they went through their beautiful transformation. I was called Medusa once and took it hard. So I bought some dreadwax thinking that would solve the so called problem of unrulyness and I only used a bit of it.

Unfortunately it stayed in my head til this year. That's almost 14 yrs. I purchased some Dread Wax Removal shampoo and after the 2nd wash my dread are renewed. There is still a bit of wax in left but I know that after the 3rd wash it will all be gone completely.

Anyone reading this and is thinking about using dread wax no matter what stage of the dreading process you are in I highly recommend not using dread wax. It gets stuck in your dreads and traps water in there. And it truly haults the dreading process.

Luckily I found the http://www.dreadlockssite.com/ Or I would not have my locks still. I would have probably cut them out and started all over again. The cover all the basics in dreadlocks and the main vibe is to just go natural. You should definitely check out this site no matter what stage you are in.

It truly helps to have a good foundation!!

I have found that the easiest way to take care of my locks( and it may work for you) is just to keep them clean. I use a baking soda,tea tree oil and water w ash. I let it sit for 10 min and then rinse with cold water. Then I follow it up with a vinegar,tea tree oil, and cold water rinse. I leave this on for 3 min and then rinse with cold water. And that's it. And just watch them grow. I do this every three days. I have found that washing my dreads at least twice a week has made them stronger and healthier. In between washing I have been using jojoba oil based peppermint/rosemary oil that I made myself with using fresh peppermint and rosemary from my garden. I had to let the oil set in a cool dark place within a dark glass bottle for about a month. I think the next time I make the oil I will let it sit for a month and a half for the herbs to sit and get a bit more potent.

Well this is all I will share for tonight! I have a busy schedule and will try and make sure that I write an entry to update on my dreadie journey!

I love my locks and I hope you love yours too!

Dreadlocks The Beginning

So I finally decided to write a blog talking about my personal journey with dreadlocks.

It seems like a long time coming so this will be a short one to start off with.

My little dreadlock message for the day is to love yourself and the dreads upon your head and all of the love will shine and radiate from your being and you will attract what you seek in life.