Chlorine abused dread babies, in between photos, fallen out dreads, near giving up...life of a red headed dread head. :)

Okay, so I said I would be gone for a few days and I was gone for two and a half. Today I realized that I should show you what my dreads look like right now. My two week is coming up, but I'll take some new pictures for that day, too. However, what I'm saying is that I made a bad decision....Want to know what that decision was? :( I swam in a chlorine pool! It's not the worst thing I could have done, I mean I could have caught them on fire and ran around like the human torch, but, no,...I went swimming. It really took out the color in my dreads, and made them all grainy and sad. Unfortunately, on the day that I swam, it was my 4th day of non-washing, and I had washed it that morning--so, I had to wash it TWICE that day to get the chlorine out. Oh bummer. Since I had to wash them twice, the bottom hairs/dreads came out. That was a total of about six or seven dreadlocks that I lost. I thought that I was just going to let them do what they wanted, and one or two of them started free forming--so I plan on leaving those be, but tomorrow I'm going to put the others back in and let them grow.

Anyway, here are the pictures.

Top view, it was the only way that I could see to get the bottom hairs in
the picture. They have completely come out! I have to put them back in. 

The color has come out very much, and now it very much
resembles cotton candy. :P I think they're cute, though.

I could have rotated this, but I didn't. Anyway, this is a good
shot of my right side of my head. It's the side where the
dreads haven't come out all, almost. I like how they look, and can't
wait until they hang freely!

hanging down and a little bit of flash to kind of high light the loose hairs.

Flash! I like how you can see how animalistic they are...

Okay, well. I hope you enjoyed my display of beautiful locks! I enjoy them very much, even though some of them came out. I put a youtube video up of me putting one in so that everyone could see it. :) I hope that I can eventually put those links up here for you to watch. :D 

~Love the lovelies, Carpe Diem 

Well, Gone for a few days.

My dreadies are doing fine. I am very happy about them. I got to wash them today after waiting four days. I'm enjoying my lovely conditioned bangs, and my smelly-good dread babies. I tried to make a video on youtube from my webcam, but it failed miserably and was acting really dumb. I'll be posting a better one showing you what they look like later.

Youtube: ZombieChelly :]

Well, I'm off to a friends slumber/pool party. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Love the lovelies, Carpe Diem/Noctem.

Just a little philosophy...

I don't know if I'll make it, 

But watch how good I fake it.

I'm not sure how I am supposed to say this. But, people have lots of issues with dreadlocks. I've come to notice that it's not just because of how they look. It's also a racial thing. I have read many letters that others have written in their blogs and things complaining about white people having dreadlocks and how they don't deserve to wear them because it's a "black" hairstyle. First of all, I would like to say that I DO NOT MEAN FOR THIS TO COME OFF AS RACIST, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME BEING RACIST, BECAUSE I AM BY NO MEANS, ...RACIST. 

Now, I just think that dreadlocks have nothing to do with race. Yes, Africans have had dreadlocks for an incredibly long time. A big excuse that the people who are against whites with dreadlocks use is that Africans 'pioneered' or 'invented' the hairstyle. It's a lie. All of it! No one invented dreadlocks. At least, I will never believe that someone engineered the idea of matted hair. It's called knotted, matted, dreaded hair for a reason. If you leave any kind of hair alone for long enough, it will mat and become dreadlocks. White people have to do more work to get pretty, cool looking dreads, yes, but Africans also have to do work to keep theirs maintained. 

I have a best friend who had dreadlocks. She had to roll her dreads every now and then from keeping them looking fuzzy and such. With my past sets of dreads, I had to spray sea-salt spray on it to keep it lock-able. But, if I just left them alone, my hair locked and matted just as easily as with the sea-salt. Now, I'm just letting my hair do what it wants to do. 

I read a letter that some girl wrote, and said that she was "offended at white people wearing dreadlocks". Okay, well let's see, if African American women can wear blonde weave...then what's the difference. Honestly, I'm not here to say what hair belongs to whom, because it doesn't matter. Many people believe that hair is a spiritual thing, and it can hold many magickal, spiritual elements for a human being. Samson, in the bible was said to have had seven large locks. I'm not disclosing his race, but I am just mentioning that it is silly, and downright immature to try and classify someone as a 'wanna-be Rastafarian'. 

I do not want to be a Rastafarian. I LOVE Bob Marley. I love the idea of Rastafarian culture. But I am by no means trying to become a Rastafarian. I am Pagan. I believe totally different than Rastafarian's do. I, however, believe in the spirit, and I believe that my soul is set free when I do not have to focus on what my hair is doing, and let it do whatever it feels like doing. Dreadlocks are for everyone, and I will wear them despite what anyone else believes. 

Dreadlocks, are not for appearance. At least, they shouldn't be. They should be spiritual, and should be taken seriously. Some people don't really pull off the awesome boho look that comes along with having red and green and black and yellow and purple and earthy colored beads in your hair. Some pull off the cyber-punk dreads better than others. (I, for instance, would look like a retard with synthetic dread falls and such) 

Another thing about people saying that Africans engineered the dreadlock style.... I'd like to point out that cave men are often depicted with dreaded,matted, knotted hair. They didn't have combs, or shampoo back then. There was no way that their hair could have kept from being matted at some point. Last time I checked, Cave people weren't all African. Also, the Norse, and Vikings were said to have worn dreadlocks as well--For many of the same reasons, lack of maintenence, or combs. There were some Greeks who also wore them. 

Now, I am not trying to say that anyone's opinion of dreadlocks being better for black people is wrong, I am just saying that it shouldn't only come down to race. It should be a more valid reason to say that someone doesn't need them. Like.... balding, or super headaches because of the pulling at the scalp. Not because I'm white, and you are black. You're not the Thomas Edison of dreadlocks. You're a person, who might have them, and so am I. 

Love the lovelies, Carpe Diem 

Week One

Week One, Dread Babies!

The Summary

 Method(s) Used: I used three methods when I did my dread locks. I used the Twist and Rip method, (which is also called the Rip and Tear method). Which involves twisting the strand of hair twice, and then ripping it down to the root until I felt it lock up. However, before I T'n'R'ed my hair, I used the back combing method, which involved taking a comb and back coming quickly nearing the middle of the root. After I finished Twisting and ripping over the back combed strands of hair, I then took a crochet needle to a few strands. Not all of them. I am basically testing the crochet method. I was never fond of totally destroying my hair, and This will do it if I over use it. 

Date Started: I started my dreadlocks on Wednesday, May 16th. 

Washing Method: I have had dreadlocks before, and the majority of the time when I would write down my washing schedule, I would do it every two days. However, I have stuck to doing it every four days, aside from washing my bangs. I left my bangs loose, so I wash them every two days. I am hoping that I can eventually wash them every two days, but for right now, when my scalp gets dry, I just run ice cold water through it. It kills the itch from dandruff, and feels refreshing anyway. 

Maintenance/Additions added: A lot of dread journeys have mentioned the way that they try to assist their locking up process. Honestly, I just use 1/2 lemon juice, 1/2 water. I don't know why I do it, but it feels like it's been doing the job, it's natural, and it can't be harming my hair. Not to mention, it gives it a soft scent of lemons, which is better than sweat from the summer any day. For maintenance, I mentioned earlier that I often have to twist and rip the ends again, but I don't mind that. I don't want to blunt the tips, because I have read that it can break the hair too much, and that it takes it longer for your hair to dry after you've washed it. Which can be hard for preventing mold and things.  As for additions, I probably made a boo boo. I dyed my hair two days after I put my dreads in. I know that you are normally suggested to dye your hair after three-four months of having your dreadlocks. I suggest doing that. It's better than ruining your hair. I'm not sure that my hair is ruined, considering I take rather good care of it. But even then...I would listen to those who have had dreads longer than I. 

Tips/Things Learned: From my past sets of dreadlocks, there have been many things that I have learned. One of them is to have patience. I can already feel the impatience creeping on me. But, my goal is to get past the four month mark, because if I can do that, then I can keep them. I also know that the phrase "It gets worse, before it gets better." Sticks to dreading your hair as well, and I hope that if you're planning on starting dreadlocks, you keep that in mind, because they will look crappy for a very very very long time! Also, another tip: When washing the shampoo/soap from your hair, in order to make sure that you got it all out to prevent from mold or smell-- rinse until you feel like you have it all out, and then RINSE AGAIN. It works wonders, and often, you get all of everything out of your hair!

Changes from first day: The point of having a dread lock journey is to see what the changes have been since the first day of dreading, right? Well. It's been almost a week (a week tomorrow~) that I've had them, and I can already feel them locking up in the middle and closer to the ends. I have had to twist and rip the majority of the ends every day, but I think over time they will lock on their own.  I know that after your first few washes, they start to decrease in appearance before they really start to lock up. I try to keep a very long time in between my first few washes, so as to give it a better chance to lock up. The roots of my hair are loose, and there at the bottom part of the back of my head, you can see that there is nothing BUT loose hair. About seven dreads came undone in the first three days. I've just decided to let them do their own thing. If they don't lock up or even begin to form any dreads in the next month or two, I'll back comb them again. 

As seemingly independent as the dreads are, there seems to be no controlling them, and part of me wonders if I really would even want to. I can't wait to see what they are going to be like. :)

Love the lovelies, Carpe Noctem 

Just a little about the dreaded one...

Here's a little insight into this ones eyes. I have given myself a few chances to live up to my own standards and make a life for myself. The world outside is beautiful, and disgusting. We are all of two-sided pieces, and we make no sense. I am only here to describe what making sense, means to me. In the muck of nature and industry, I live in the gray areas of wanting to be more like Gaia, and being more like a statue. I am going to try and refrain from meant from this day forward, in fear that I am eating something that once dreamed like I do. I know that my beliefs and the ways that I think and talk make people feel odd, uncomfortable, and very frequently, angry. I read books, looking for something to reach me just as deeply as I attempt to reach people every single day of my life. I find the majority of my feelings in the music that I almost always have in my ears. I'm demonic and angelic, I believe unlike you do, and the Gods watch over me every day, and work with me to make my life a better one, a stronger one, a longer one. I believe fully in Karma and try my best not to turn her against me. I am level-headed, and open minded most of the time, but there are times when I am irrational and loud. I am violent, but loving when I need to be. Life is here to live, even though it may be short, I know that I'll force myself to live as long as I feel is needed, or however long the Gods and Goddesses wish me to live. I have lost many in my life, but I know that I will be fine in the end. They are all well, somewhere in the sands of time, and there is absolutely no point in trying to race father time. I have a certain view of love and life. I love men and I love women. I am a pansexual, for gender or sex does not matter to me. We were all put here to love, and who we love, holds no effect on me.

I am never done with my words, and rants, so tune in for the next one. 

Love the lovelies, eat flesh, Chelsey.