Rasta And Dreadlocks Hairstyles 2010

In the opinion of many uninformed people, Rastafarian or people who wear their hair in dreads appear unhygienic as it is assumed that the only way to create such a hairstyle would mean the person would not wash their hair for weeks or months.

It is silly to assume this, and certainly people with dreadlocks must have to wash their hair from time to time. The key rule to follow is to not use a balsam, or a conditioner after washing, as this would make the dreads softer, smoother and easier to comb. The opposite effect is desired – the rougher the cuticle layer of the hair, the better the hair will feel and be perfectly suited for natural growth. In most cases, it is still necessary to support the development of hair by mechanic means. Therefore the cuticle is roughed up with a backcombing comb to stimulate the growth effect one would require with this sort of hairstyle.

In Europe, Rastafarian and dreads are a fashionable hairstyle to wear. Many people with dreads decorate their hairstyle with adornments such as wooden beads or metal pearls. Dreadlocks hair cannot really be considered as a trendy hairstyle to wear in 2010 although movies like The Matrix have done their fair share in making the hairstyle more relevant again. Although the movie is already several years old, there is nothing like an evening of watching the Matrix trilogy in high definition with surround sound.

rasta hair style 2

Custom Rasta Hair Clips for Ace

Rasta Lotus Hair Clip

The Challenge: Create a set of custom hair clips for hip Oakland, CA blogger and photographer Ace (www.elloace.com). She loves the Earthy Rasta feel and was looking for something bold but still wearable.


The Solution: I used muslin fabric, which is natural and undyed, with visible speckled imperfections in the cotton. I hand dyed it the 3 colors of the traditional Rastafari flag- green, gold and red. I used the fabric to make 3 different types of hair clips and incorporated beads from my local bead shop- Beadlush- including a brass glazed ceramic bead that I love. BTW- Ace loved them an they are on the way to Oakland as we speak!


Hand Dyed Bow


Rasta Flower Hairpin

Rasta style

Tel -Aviv ,being the cosmopolitan city that it is , has many kinds of hair styles and hair saloons.

The Rasta style has been adopted by the large Ethiopian community

And is liked by many hip/laid back guys and girls who have just come back from a trip to the east ,

Or else are eager to demonstrate their anti- establishment spirit.
The hair stylist themselves prefer their hair slicked back or to the side ,very very straigh

Hair Artist

Impressive Long Hair Styles

Never thought the Marge Simpson haircut would take off but Amy Winehouse seems to pull it off with her 'big sexy haircut'!







This is some seriously impressive big hair!

The History of Dreadlocks

I've done some minor, light reading about the history of dreads. I wanted to make sure I was prepared to defend myself if anyone ever challenged me to say that I didn't know their origin. The sad part is that despite how many times I've read it I seem to have NO retention of the information, SO, I figured if I wrote about it here it would not only benefit my readers, but help me to remember it as well!

The history of dreadlocks is varied and differs depending on who you ask. This, then, is a summary and compilation of all the different accounts I have been able to locate online.

One account claims that dreadlocks originated in India (unlike most who cite Egypt as their birth place) with the dreadlocked diety Shiva and his followers. It is likelythat this is the spirituality origin of dreadlocks in Indian culture. However, the first archeological proof of people wearing dreadlocks came from Egypt where mummies have been recovered with their dreadlocks still in tact.

Regardless of their origin, dreadlocks have been worn by nearly every culture at some point in time or another. Roman accounts stated that the Celts wore their hair 'like snakes'. The Germanic tribes and Vikings were also known to wear their hair in dreadlocks. Dreadlocks have been worn by the monks of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Nazarites of Judiasm, Qalandri's Sufi's, the Sadhu's of Hinduism, and the Dervishes of Islam, and many more! There are even strong suggestions that many early Christians wore dreadlocks; most notably Sampson who was said to have seven locks of hair which gave him his inhuman strength.

The belief that dreadlocks gave a person power is not unique to this Bible story. Many believed that energy (presumably life force energy, chi, prana, ki, etc.) exits the body through the top of the head and that having knotted hair prevents or retards the escape of energy making one stronger and even potentially imbuing a person with supernatural mental and physical abilities. In many cultures it was and is common for shamans in particular to wear dreadlocks. Dreadlocks have also symbolized the recognition and demonstration that our physical appearances and vanity are unimportant. Another, similar practice is having a shaved head with no hair at all. Others still believe that dreadlocks are the most natural and healthy style of hair to have as hair will dread if left to its own devices.

At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution Rastafarianism began gaining popularity among the Black Jamaican population. Rastafarianism draws its belief from three main sources; the Old Testament, African tribal culture, and Hindu tribal culture. Before it got the name 'Rastafarianism' its followers called themselves 'dreads', signifying their 'dread' and respect for God. In an attempt to emulate the Nazarites and Hindu holymen their beliefs were modeled after, they began to wear their hair in matted styles and this is when the term 'dreadlocks' came into common use. Rastafarianism began to draw attention when in the 1930's Ras Tafari was crowned the emperor of Ethiopia. He was forced into exile and many vowed not to cut their hair until he was released.

The association of dreadlocks with marijuana smoking also began with the Rasta movement which contended that smoking it facilitated clear-thinking. It still holds true today that many dreadheads (caucasian more than Rastas) are pro-marijuana. However, there are other sects of Rastafarianism who believe any sort of mind-altering substance is impure and also restrict the consumption red meat and alcohol. These same purists suggest that Bob Marley and his extreme pro-marijuana stance damaged the reputation of Rastafarianism.

Marley, himself, identified as a Rastafarian and it was his dreadlocked style that brought the style into the mainstream where it has expanded into many other subcultures. They have become especially popular among New Age travellers (Pagans, especially, who travel from festival to festival across the country), hippies, vegans, goths, and cyber goths. Additionally, dreadlocks have become highly popular among the subculture of jam bands, such as the Grateful Dead and Phish,

Dread heads today have varied reasons for chosing to wear their hair in dreads. Some of them are based in spiritual purposes such as suggested above, others because they identify as Rastas, and others simply because they love the look! More importantly than what your reason is, is knowing your reason so that someday when someone asks you WHY you put dreads in your hair you can say without a doubt why you have dreads and what your dreads mean to you!