De-dreading the do

The cat after staying up all night watching me wrestle with my hair

My dreadies - we were inseparable for 2 years

After cutting them in half

After 12 hours of combing them out

A visit to the hair salon and I'm a new person (and I bet you were expecting me to be bald!)

Before moving to Korea I had dreadlocks and I loved them. After a lot of thinking I decided it would make my move to Korea easier if I got rid of them. In Australia I worked at a university which never had a problem with my hair. Actually they would never dare have a problem with the way anyone looked because that would be unPC. But Korea is a different story. I figured because Korea is a fairly conservative country and because I would be working as an English teacher, I figured my chances would be better if I went back to my usual curly hair. I also figured that eventually the dreadlocks would have to go and in a way it was easier having the decision made for me.

So after my first visit to Korea where the stares were impossible to count and after an Ajuma actually touched my hair, I decided to lop them off before my next trip to Korea. Note: the term Ajuma refers to married women, however it tends to be used more to describe an older woman.

With the help of the Internet, I researched ways to get rid of dreadlocks. It's a common myth that you have to shave your head to get rid of them. From experience I can tell you that this myth is busted and doesn't need to be featured on Mythbusters. I thought about trying to grow the roots but this would take a lot of time and because my dreadlocks were dreading on their own, it would prove challenging to try and keep the roots straight. So with a couple of inches of roots dread free, I wasn't satisfied. Not one to shy away from short hair, I was hoping for a bit more length. So I turned to some de-dreading products.

I decided to use Dreadhead HQ's Dread Zasta. I ordered two bottles and decided on the night I was going to do it (with an appointment waiting for me at the hair salon for 9:00am the next day). I started around 8:00pm with the first part, cutting my dreads to just past my ears so there would be less to comb out (I actually cried a few tears after doing this). Then I followed the instructions on the bottle and wet my hair thoroughly before applying at least half a bottle of the de-dreading solution. I let it sit for an hour and then started combing the dreads out from tips to roots. It was easy at first because the cut ends were frayed but once I got to the middle of the dread, it was hard going. I found it easier to apply a liberal amount of de-dreading solution to help guide the comb through.

12 hours later I had shoulder length hair (although very thin), a comb with 4 tines missing, a garbage bin liner full of knotted hair, a very messy towel and a cat sporting the oddest expression after watching me all night. Needless to say I was very tired walking into my hair appointment but at the same time very relieved. My hairdresser (who specializes in dreadlocks) was amazed by my hair and after a deep conditioner, a few highlights and a new haircut, I was back to looking like my pre-dread self.

8 months on I've moved to Korea, I'm getting a lot less looks and my hair is a little easier to look after. The only thing I've noticed since combing out the dreads is my hair is a lot thinner than it used to be. I'm not sure if this is from the dreads, the combing out process or simply because I'm getting older. I figure time will tell and hopefully my hair will replenish itself eventually.