Dreadlocks are a rope-like hairstyle which is maintained by repetitive braiding and wrapping or matting. Although hip, dreads are quite the commitment. Not to mention, once someone decides they no longer want dreadlocks, they must cut their hair, rather they must shave their head as there’s no other way to remove the dreadlocks. Of course, as the title of this very article suggests, it is, in fact, possible to have temporary or faux dreadlocks. Even better, creating faux isn’t as difficult as creating permanent dreads! With time and patience, follow the steps bellow for authentic looking faux dreads!
- Before attempting, it is best to keep in mind that the hair should measure about 3-4 inches in length, this ensures that the hair is actually strong enough to hold the dreads that are about to be created.
- Although authentic dreads typically involve dirty unkempt hair, it is best to begin faux dreads with freshly cleaned. After shampooing, it may be worthwhile to use a dense moisturizing conditioner, then dry the hair normally.
- With a rat-tail comb, separate the hair into multiple sections while will determine how much hair is used in each dread, however, a good rule of thumb is for every section of hair to be 1-1½ inches. The process of sectioning the hair can be done by selecting random chunks of hair, or by selecting a section of hair in a grid-like manner. Whether organized or unorganized, each section of hair should be secured with an elastic.
- Apply a generous amount of hair gel or hair wax to each section, being sure to grab just one section of hair at a time. Whichever section is being twisted and gelled can have the hair elastic removed prior to doing so.
- Before moving to the next section of hair, twist the freshly gelled section around and around, right until it begins to coil upon itself. The result should be a thick twisted dread. As each dread is created, be sure to secure the loose ends with the same elastic that originally held the section.
- Repeat steps five and six until each section of hair had been totally gelled and twisted. Keep in mind, it may be easier to begin with the back sections closer to the nape of the neck and proceeded by moving up towards the top sections.
- Again, grabbing each section one by one, use a blow-dryer on low heat to dry up the gel. This can be done immediately after the end has been secured, or it can be done once all the dreads have been created.
- Now, use a flat iron to set the dreads. Simply pinch the dreads (one at a time) between the ironing plates, and direct the flat iron down the dreads in a slow motion. The key here is to go slow enough that the flat iron is able to heat the entire dread completely, but not so slow the hair burns.
- Once each individual dread has been heated with the flat iron, and given time to cool, remove the elastic from the ends of the dreads. Viola!
