Dreadlocks are made from strands of matted hair, and people use different methods to achieve the formation of dreadlocks; dreadlocks can be called dread, loss, or jata. Dreads can be created from natural hair or extensions and can be styled differently depending on the hair texture. Dreadlocks have a history dated back to ancient African, Greece, Germany, and India, who, through drawings, artifacts, and scriptures, were depicted wearing dreadlocks and had a connection with cultural or spiritual reasons.
Modern-day dreadlocks are a result of the Rastafarian religious movement that began in the 1930s. The late Bob Marley introduced dreadlocks culture in the 70s. The style represented a biblical view rather than fashion, although, in the current Time, dreads may be a representation of fashion or act as freedom of expression or personality. People of a different race, age, gender can put dreadlocks and hence have become universal.
Pros of Dreads
1. Time Efficient: Once your hair matures, you spend less Time maintaining and styling it. With the correct method to start your dreads, it may end up proving easing and time-efficient to maintain. Dreadlocks require little or no preparation in the morning or night.
2. Different Styling Methods: Dreads allow a person to be creative and versatile in styling different methods to achieve different looks from classy to elegant depending on their hair type, making them more appealing, stylish, and unique.
3. Cost-Efficient: People with dreadlocks incur minimal costs on maintenance and upkeep of dreads once they matured. Locs help you save money used in buying styling equipment and constant saloon visits.
4. Permanent: When you decide to keep dreads, and they turn out exactly how you wished, you may end up maintaining them permanently due to the easy maintenance, good looks, and great compliments you may receive. Also, dreads help preserve the strength and moisture of your hair.
5. Clean: With the proper maintenance and styling, dreads can turn out very neat, clean, healthy, and give you appealing looks. Dreadlocks need one to be cautious with the products they use to achieve a decent look.
6. Growing Acceptance: With the fading of stereotypes associated with dreads due to positive deeds performed by people with dreadlocks, it has become more acceptable to the community and professional world. Moreover, many celebrities have embraced keeping dreadlocks; this has a massive significance in how the general population views dread.
7. Promote Hair Growth: Since your hair is in locks, which are suitable for moisture and strength, this is a protective style with minor wear and tear, allowing your hair to grow and thrive.
8. Creates a Fashion Statement: Dreadlocks create a fashion statement that articulates your style. Locs make you look neat, sharp, and calm regardless of the attire you wear.
9. Boosts Confidence: Dreadlocks enable a person to be bold enough to express their personality and individuality, thus creating and boosting an individual’s confidence.
10. Maintenance: When you have dreadlocks, you don’t have to worry about maintenance since they are very user-friendly to maintain, and you don’t need to wash them often or constant visits to a locktician.
11. Different Hair Types: Dreadlocks are universal and can be set up regardless of your hair type since there are different methods used on various hair to come up with dreadlocks.
Cons of Dreads
1. Permanent: Natural dreadlocks are permanent, and taking them down may be a tedious process or may involve cutting down all hair. In cases where dreads don’t grow out as you wished, then one may be forced to cut their hair.
2. Maybe Deemed Unprofessional: Acceptance of dreadlocks in the corporate world is challenging, whereby it relates to untidiness and unprofessionalism. Some people may end up struggling to get hired due to the dressing code in different organizations.
3. Discomfort: Dreadlocks may be bulky and heavy for the head, creating discomfort as you engage in various activities or sleeping.
4. Neglect: Since dreadlocks, once matured, do not need too much maintenance, people will neglect the dreadlocks, leaving them unkempt n dirty, portraying a negative image. When not cared for properly over a while, Dreads may have a mold build-up and end up being smelly and unhygienic.
5. Costly: Once you decide to keep natural dreadlocks, it may prove costly, especially during the early initial stages of growing them, requiring rigorous care and maintenance. Some dreadlock styling may be expensive since they need a professional with excellent skills.
6. Time Consuming: Dreadlock can be time-consuming to start because of the constant maintenance and repair to achieve that great look. People may take the wrong approach when deciding to start keeping dreads hence more Time before they mature.
7. Stereotyping: With dreads, people may create stereotypes and associate you with a particular kind of group or behavior, while others may be ill-informed that you do not wash your hair, thus stinky hair and a dirty person.
8. Hygiene: Maintenance of dreadlocks needs proper and strict hygiene since you can’t wash them to avoid build-ups and have dirty, smelly hair. Dreads require you to have the right products to keep healthy and clean dreadlocks. The density of dreadlocks makes it susceptible to absorption of harmful fumes and dirt; hence people are advised to avoid such conditions.
9. Requires Lots of Patience: If you aren’t a patient person, you may have difficulty when starting to keep dreadlocks since it takes lots of Time for dreads to mature and achieve the perfect look you may be looking to achieve.
10. Unwarranted Attention: Because dreadlocks are associated with stereotyping, you may always be the center of attention, whether in social or professional gatherings. Dreadlocks could warrant negative attention from authorities who stereotype people with dreads to crime.
11. Drying Time: Dreadlocks consume up to three to six hours to completely dry. Leaving your dreads dump may cause build-ups and foul odor.
12. Limited Styling: Depending on the size of your dreadlocks and the nature of hair, you may have limited options in styling dreads. Larger bulky dreads may prove a challenge to style.
