By Terra Anderson
As for dread care, I find that most of us dreadies have specific routines that we swear by, but we all have the same thing in common: we don't want to do anything to our hair! And that’s good, I say let it do what it does.
Having spent 5 years with two sets of dreadlocks, my bottom line to maintaining solid locks and a healthy scalp is to wash them regularly. My shampooing advice is very similar for dreadheads as it is for non-locked hair: It is not about your hair as much as you might think, but about your scalp.
About once a week, dead skin, products, and general debris need to be scrubbed away using your fingers and warm water. I enjoy using Kevin Murphy's Maxi Wash, a detoxifying/exfoliating shampoo. I follow up after towel drying with Kevin Murphy's Young Again Serum applying at my scalp to rehydrate and protect.
Many of us are learning that most drug store shampoos are too full of harsh cleansers that strip color and much needed natural oils. Kevin Murphy avoids sulfates for this reason and is also color safe. I do encourage people to experiment with alternatives, but just keeping to the plan of scalp scrubbing.
Special Pro Tips
- If your dreads are super locked and established, use conditioner! This Colorado air dries my hair out past the point of being okay.
- Rinse any shampoo or cleansing agent FULLY from your dreads.
- Always let your hair dry completely before putting in a tam, or ponytail, turban or bandana. Failure to do so may lead to mold.
For more information on the benefits of these products and their ingredients, visit the following links:
Maxi Wash
Young Again Serum
Unravel comes from the idea of eliminating the curtain and bringing back stage culture onto the floor.
Through fashion, visual art, live music & dance, the artists will attempt to unravel themselves from performer to pedestrian, while maintaining the integrity of artistic expression and begging the question: is life art, or is art life?
I always say if the eyes are the windows to your soul, your eye brows are the roof on your house. Your eye brows frame your face, coloring them in is a tiny step that makes a huge difference. For those who don't have the right tools, we've got kits to help you cover your bases.
BROW COLLECTION ($45.50)
TOOLS INCLUDED //
Cheat sheet
Tweezers
Angled Brow Brush
Spoolie Brush (mascara wand)
Stencils
Brow powder quad
2 shades of Brow Powders (kits come in either taupe or brown)
1 Brow Wax
1 Highlighter Cream
STENCILS //
Choose a stencil that shows as much of your natural brow in the cutout of the stencils as possible.
Using the angled brow brush, line up from the center of the nostril to find the starting point.
STEPS //
Hold the stencil over brow and apply Brow Powder with Angled Brow Brush
Remove the stencil and shape brow with Spoolie Brush. Tweeze any hair not in defined row
Apply Brow Wax with Angled Brow Brush over brows to maintain shape - use Spoolie Brush as needed to shape brow.
Enhance the arch of the brow and open up the eye by patting Brow Highlighter under the brow bone with fingers. This can be done either on top of or under eye shadow.
BROW POWDER ($24.50)
Kits come in either taupe or brown
Each kit contains two shades of matte powder
Put dark shade on lower line and blend lighter color above
On Saturday mornings, most of us slowly drag ourselves out of bed, either because we had a long night celebrating the end of the week, or because we don’t have to work and therefore cannot motivate. This is, of course, with the exception of those of us in the service industry, who take random days off like Sundays and Mondays, so we can do your hair and makeup, or serve you bottomless mimosas on the weekends. It’s our job to postpone our play dates to serve our clientele, and we do it proudly.
Sometimes on Saturdays, I exit the salon and slip into the social scene, observing trends in style and beauty so I can report back to you, our readers, and also to get inspiration for our stylists. On one such mission, it seemed that I was the only person who had put an entire hour into getting ready, and probably one of the only people not feeding a hangover.
I realized that on Saturday and Sunday mornings, or Mondays for us service industry types, the trend is to put slightly less effort into your appearance. I mean, it is the weekend after all. Give yourself a break and save the heavy makeup for the evening. As far as hairstyles, the top knot seems to be a popular choice for an easy but appealing look, as does throwing on a hat, especially in winter months, but also a go-to all year round.
To pull off these easy breezy weekend looks with little effort and big results, we offer the following advice:
The Hat Head
Spray your locks at the root with dry shampoo, we recommend either Kevin Murphy Fresh Hair, or R+Co. Death Valley Dry Shampoo. These products absorb oil, reduce odor, give volume, and make your hair smell great. After applying, either toss your hair with your fingers to help distribute the product, or lightly blast your hair with a blow dryer. Top with a hat, and go on about your day. You can also throw a few curls in the front after your put on your hat; grab the hair that is showing and curl just the ends.
The Top Knot
Again, it makes sense to start with dry shampoo. If you aren’t washing your hair on a given day, these products help you fake it til you make it. No one has to know your hair isn’t freshly washed. Apply dry shampoo, flip head over, and briefly blow dry upside down. (Drying the hair upside down always increases volume.) While upside down, ponytail your hair on the crown of your head. Then, grab either side of the ponytail and pull the hair outward to tighten. Then mist the ponytail with R+Co. Rockaway Sea Salt Spray and scrunch the product in. Next, using a comb, tease the hair to create volume. The more you tease, the bigger the bun will be. Next, twist the hair around the ponytail holder, and fasten using a couple bobby pins. Then spray liberally with R+Co. Outer Space flexible hair spray, or Kevin Murphy Session hair spray for a stronger hold.
*Note: for those with thin or shorter hair, you can buy a small foam donut to wrap your hair around, or even use a sock with the toe cut off. Cut the toe off an ankle sock, twist what remains into a doughnut, slide it on top of your ponytail holder, and then wrap your hair around the sock. It makes the top knot look twice as big. Make sure the color of the sock is near your hair color in case it peeks out throughout the day.
Minimalist Makeup
Even I, a makeup artist, like to leave the house without makeup on occasion. After all, I’m human. However, as my friend’s mom always said growing up, a little blush and mascara never killed anyone. It’s a tiny step to bring color to your cheeks and brighten up your eyes. When I have a lazy day, at the very least I do my face so my skin looks radiant and clear. If you want to go light on the makeup, and let your face breathe a bit, but still look nice, I recommend a few easy looks:
1. Bold eyebrows + bold blush + chap stick
2. Face powder + blush + lipstick
3. Face powder + blush + mascara
So there you go, a few hair and makeup tips to get you ready for the weekend in 30 minutes. Look good with half the effort, and save that extra time to do something fun with your day.
We cannot control what happens in life, we can only control how we react to it. Perfect example: relationships. When a relationship is over, some people feed the need to evolve, to switch up their look —
cut off a few inches, change the color… maybe even shave it all off in a psychotic Britney Spears moment. But why is it that changing ones hair, or overall appearance, serves as some kind of therapy? (t-hair-apy.)
In the musical South Pacific, a character named Nellie sings in the shower about the fact that she’s over her current love interest, and is going to “wash that man right outta my hair.” That is a line I have always sang to friends enduring a break up, but had never knew its origin. Its funny how once you’re over someone, you want to scrub the scent of them off of you.
I think there are a few reasons that a haircut or color can make one feel like a whole new man or woman. For one, you are literally cutting off the past few days/months/years from your head—
removing unwanted memories. In a way, it represents the erasing of one’s past. You can snip, snip, snip he or she right out of your life.
Obviously altering your appearance, even slightly, is a way of starting over or re-branding yourself. It’s a way to feel renewed; it’s a way to regain your confidence; it’s a way to look damn good on that dreadful day when you two once more cross paths. After all, the best revenge is living well and to do that, you gotta be looking gooooooooood.
So lift that chin up, cut a few inches off your head, and move on. There’s other fish in the sea, and other hairstyles to be had.
