If you are a person curious about the pros and cons of dreads on caucasian

hair. Will it destroy my hair in the long run?  I can tell you, there is very little that happens to caucasian hair in dreads that does not happen to any other hair type!

It still amazes me the amount of people with little knowledge that express opinions on what happens

with straight hair in dreads.  if anyone leaves their hair for a long time without combing them out, they get dreads/locs.   This includes straight hair.  The texture matters in how quickly it locks but left alone, dreads/locs will form. The things that matter are:

• If the individual makes an effort to maintain them on a regular basis. 
• The hair is being separated regularly so they are not joining together.
• Loose hair is being put in the strands to keep the head looking groomed.
• Strands checked for thin points.
• I have a few instances where the caucasian client had dandruff because they were used to washing their hair daily.   When locking your hair, the daily washing is stopped.
•  If you are using dreadlocks extensions e.g. single or double stranded dreads, the weight of the extensions should be monitored so as not to cause breakage.
•  The method used e.g. rip and tear, will have a different effect on the resulting dreads than say backcombing.
•  If you choose to do free form dreads, in the long term you need to regularly check for thin and broken dreads.

To understand “the pros and cons of dreads on caucasian hair.  Will it destroy my hair in the long run?”, please know the hair will remain healthy if you take care of them as you would if you had unlocked hair.

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

Books:  “Talking Hair”, “Filling My Head” & “Dreadlocks – A Hairstylist’s Manifest”.