sleeping and morningtime

after you get dreads, your morning routine changes completely. particularly if you're a girl. but fear not!! the beauty of dreads is their freedom. say goodbye to carefully primping your hair in the morning. if you maintain a good wash schedule, your lovely locks will never let you down. :)

baby dreads (1-3 months):
first things first. your dreads probably have a lot of wax in them, and/or you're avoiding washing them to avoid the dreads undoing. so i absolutely recommend sleeping with a headband, hat, or tshirt over your hair. all those oils on your head will clog your pores while your sleeping. trust me, you'll have much better mornings.

after you've risen, and you take out whatever you were using to hold your hair back, go ahead and give your head a good shake. pay attention to how your scalp feels and make sure all your dreads get a nice morning fluff of air.

when you're done airing out, feel free to run your fingers over your dreads, between them, under them, whatever. it's also important in these early months to pull each dread apart from each other. it's common for dreads to start to grow and stick together in the beginning. to avoid this, grab the two that are starting to stick together, and simply pull them apart. this will sound scary, but it's important that you do it. otherwise your hair dreads will start to morph together and create congo dreads.

tada! easy morning.

good tip: if you've been having some itching, put some tea tree oil on that spot of your scalp with a q-tip. it's all natural, and fixes all kinds of itches :)

older dreadies:
i personally still sleep with a headband on most nights, as i have regular bangs. i find (especially with dreads), your bangs will get dirtier faster. if they're really starting to cause you problems, you should wash your dreads more, or just bend over the sink and wash them by themselves. (i use a headband to keep the dreads back and bangs forward.)

chances are, you've already found some sort of groove when you wake up. but don't forget: with dreadlocks, bedhead does not exist! you lucky son of a gun. so as long as you give your head a good shake, you should be good to go.

happy noodles spray in empty spray bottle:
tea tree oil - about 20 drops
water - fill about 3/4 of the bottle
aloe vera - 1 tsp or so

directions: shake together and spray on scalp and dreads.
if it doesn't help with the itching much, put in as much tea tree oil as you can stand. (don't worry, if you overdo it just add more water.)
helps with: hydrating dreads, heals itchy scalp, doesn't smell to bad either. if you like tea tree oil.