Henna time!

It’s been over three months since I last used henna on my hair which is just before I had my dreads done. So I decided to take the bull by the horn and henna my dreads today.

I buy the henna I use from Lush, their rouge bar. I absolutely adore the colour it leaves in my hair. It’s got cocoa butter in it which leaves my hair so shiny and soft. It is really messy and does have a habit of getting everywhere. I also wouldn’t do it if I were going anywhere that day or the following day as initially it takes roughly three hours to set but then the following twenty four hours it’s still processing the colour. Also because you want to allow it to continue processing it’s generally not advisable to wash your hair too much after rinsing the henna out so your hair will look like a bit of a grease ball for those twenty four hours thanks to the cocoa butter. So all in all it’s a plan ahead event not a leave it to the last minute dye job.

I tried to take photos of how I did it as this is the first time I’ve ever used the henna on my dreads. Fingers crossed I’ve got myself ginger dreads and not undone a lot of the dreading/locing up. *eek*

This is all the tools I have with me in preparation for the mess. The cling film for afterwards, the essential rubber gloves, the drape for around my shoulders to protect my clothes, ultrabland for my skin at the hairline and of course the henna. I broke the bar of henna into a glass bowl, added boiling water and then stuck it into a microwave for two minutes. I aimed for a consistency of a chocolate sauce. But when it starts to cool down it does thicken up and may need more hot water to keep it warm and easier to apply.

Once everything is ready I then apply the ultrabland to my skin around the hairline to ensure I don’t dye the skin there.

I then applied the henna to my hair. It’s comparable to putting mud on you hair. As you can seen it looks like it too.

Once my hair was coated I then wrapped my head up in the cling film to ensure the henna works effectively. I’ve read somewhere if the henna is covered and your head is kept warm by using clingfilm and a towel it increases the redness of the colour whereas if you don’t cover up the colour is a browner shade. I don’t know if this is true but I’ve always covered my head up with any kind of dye I used so it’s more a habit than anything for me. I use a shower cap to cover the cling film and then set my timer for three hours. In the meantime there is the horrendous mess left over from the application. 😦

Okay so I’ve just rinsed out, or rather tried to rinse out the henna. OMG twenty minutes later and there are still bits of the henna in my dreads! Seriously this is not fun. So, even though I said it was not advisable to use shampoo directly after rinsing I went ahead and used some of my dreadsuk shampoo to try and get the henna out. I shouldn’t have worried, I think I’m going to have to wash it at least one more time. I will leave that for tomorrow. I will take a photo and update this blog entry then as the light is very poor right now and my hair looks like a greaseball.

 

Tired, so very tired

Three days of 12.5 hour shifts… The bags under my eyes have turned into rucksacks. 😕 But at least my dreads are still keeping me happy. My new headband which is from @kodamalife(http://etsy.me/2czOc4H). It’s really comfortable and I love the colour and pattern. I bought 2 and the other one is reversible. Katerina made them herself and the quality is outstanding. Such a lovely lady too. 😊

Two months old dreads

My baby dreads are 2 months of age today 😊 I am still so happy with them. Angie from dreadendz (@aurora_710) did some maintenance work on them the day before yesterday. Suffice to say I need to carry out a bit of maintenance work too to stop these bad boys from turning into one big dread 😅 They feel amazingly light again. Thank you@aurora_710 xxxxx

Latest in the dreaded journey

I have had my dreads in for approx 4 weeks now and I am still loving them. The ends have loosened off a bit from the washing but I just back comb them and palm roll them. They are so much more fluffy now and there are little loops forming which is very cool as I’ve been informed that is part of the locking up process. They were of course made using back comb and crochet hook so much of the locking up and shrinkage will have been done by the crochet hook.

Here’s the latest shot of my dreads.

Loving the sunshine

I am loving the sunshine 🙂 Ray and I have been sat out just sunning ourselves and taking in a few hours of sunshine. I have also just washed my baby dreads so drying them off in the sun was perfect.

Two weeks into my dreaded journey

So it’s now 2 weeks and I have washed them twice. The itch has definitely decreased and I’ve noticed they’re becoming a bit fluffier and it’s much easier to sleep in them. But I found that when I’m in bed it’s often easier to tie them up into a top knot as they do slap my other half in the face. 😀

I bloody love them. 🙂

One week into my dread journey

I am seriously loving my baby dreads. Best hairstyle I have ever decided on having and I have had everything from layers, shaved, braids, bleached and coloured every colour going. The pain in the scalp took approximately 2 days to go but I’m still getting used to sleeping on them. What I am not getting used to is the itch! Man alive they are itching me. It doesn’t look very professional at work which is a concern. But Angie said to not wash them for the first week. I’m washing them tonight so hopefully that should give me some relief.

New dreads

I have dreads and I love them! This is a shot of me just before Angie started creating my new dreads.

Seven and a half hours in total and I am now the proud owner of lovely baby dreads. Here I am standing outside earlier with my brand new dreadies. My scalp is killing me but it’s definitely worth it. I am absolutely delighted with them.