Beeswax for Dreads: Anything You Need to Know

Since the old times, beeswax has been a staple cosmetic element. It has many skin uses, but can also be advantageous for your hair.

From moisturizing to keeping flyaways in place, the natural formula can achieve wonders for both head and facial hair. Surprisingly enough, it can also promote hair growth and help with hair removal.

Here’s everything you want to know about using beeswax on your hair and dreads:

What is Beeswax?

Beeswax is created by worker bees who build a honeycomb to store honey for the colony.

This essential product has a long medicinal past. In ancient Egypt, it was applied to treat burns, wounds, and joint pain. A well-known Chinese medicine book even placed it as a top ingredient with assumed benefits for diet and skin aging.

Moisturizing vitamin A is obtained in beeswax along with tiny amounts of antibacterial agents. But unlike some fundamental ingredients, beeswax has little risk of irritating or clogging the skin.

Does Beeswax Cause Hair Loss?

There are some issues with using beeswax every day, particularly if you don’t wash your hair. One of the well-known cons of beeswax is the buildup on your scalp, creating problems for your hair follicles if you don’t remove it.

How Does it Benefit Your Hair?

Beeswax can help you take care of your hair in several ways.

Moisturize

One of its most significant benefits is moisture. The vitamin A content in beeswax supports moisturizing your hair, while its overall element locks in that moisture.

Smooth and straighten

Individuals who find their hair challenging to manage also apply beeswax to smoothen flyaway strands, keep styles fully intact, and straighten their hair. It’s particularly beneficial for natural hair and twisted and braided forms.

Seal strands

Its capability to seal strands makes beeswax a great way to cover split ends. Nonetheless, the only way to permanently get free from split ends is to cut them off.

Promote hair growth

Beeswax can also be applied to promote hair growth. A 2016 study discovered that a hair wax carrying beeswax significantly enhanced hair length after daily use for 30 days. However, the formula did incorporate other ingredients, so it’s hard to say if beeswax was the reason.

Soothe scalp conditions

Beeswax can have a positive impact on the scalp, too. Analysis has proved that it can soothe symptoms of skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, and dandruff.

Applying Beeswax to Your Hair

The best method to apply beeswax to your hair is with your hands. Applying it while your hair is still wet or damp also helps.

Here are a few other tips.

• Less is more. Apply as little amount as possible. You can add more to achieve your desired hairdo.
• Rub into hands first. Before using it for your hair, rub it in your hands to get the best possible outcome.
• Try not to use it every day. This will immediately lead to a buildup of products that can be tough to remove.
• Wear a silk or satin head scarf at night. Not only will this lessen how often you have to use the beeswax, but it’ll also keep your hair looking smooth.
• Remove in the right way. Beeswax is difficult to get rid of. However, you can remove it using slightly warm olive oil. Apply the oil to your hair and let it absorb for a few minutes, then rinse your hair with dish soap to remove the greasiness. Follow it with a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner combo. Other removal procedures include diluting apple cider vinegar in water or applying baking soda.

You can purchase pure beeswax or a hair product containing it. If you prefer the latter, look for a natural formula comprising additional vitamins for maximum benefits.

Tips for Using Beeswax for Hair Growth

Try it First

Beeswax won’t work for everyone’s hair. Hence, it’s best to try out and examine beeswax on a small part of your hair to see how it shapes and styles your hair. You may approve of the feel or it may be too shiny and greasy.

Use a Pea-Sized Amount

You don’t need to cover your fingers and hands in beeswax for it to work. Beeswax is smooth and slides over your skin and hair, so you only need a few for it to start working.

Don’t Just Wash with Shampoo

To remove the beeswax from your hair, you need something more powerful like warm olive oil or apple cider vinegar. If you don’t exclude the wax, it will settle in your hair and continue to build up with each use.

Apply Directly to Scalp for Healing Purposes

Do you have concerns with irritation, dry scalp, dandruff, or other difficulties? You should work beeswax into your hair by applying it directly to your scalp, particularly to the most irritated areas.

Like aloe vera and other restorative creams, beeswax can soothe your skin and shield it against further irritation.

Using Beeswax for Dreads

Beeswax can help you maintain your dreadlocks well. During the initial stages, the sticky stuff will handle the dreads in place, particularly when your hair wants to do anything but that.

How to Create Dreadlocks Using Beeswax?

1. Before you start, make sure that your hair has been free of shampoo and conditioner for at least 24 hours.
2. Divide your hair into sections that are equal to the size of the dreads you want. Put a hair tie at the base of each to hold them in place.
3. Next, cover the entirety of all sections with the beeswax by rolling the hair between the palms of your hands. You may also want to backcomb your hair afterward, covering every section with beeswax again.
4. Keep twisting the sections you made in the same direction whenever you can. And don’t wash your hair for about a week to let the dreads become permanent.

Murray’s 100% Pure Australian Beeswax may not be pure beeswax, but it’s still suggested for this procedure.

Beeswax Products for Dreadlocks

Dreadlocks are continually being placed on top of hairstyle fashion trends. Though this hairstyle is amusing and stylish, it demands a lot of maintenance. That’s because dreads are more inclined to dryness, brittles, and hair breakage.

Conventional hair products are not fit for dreadlocks as they are not formulated to take proper care of dreads. Without the right knowledge on which product to pick, people with dreadlocks often end up avoiding their desired hairstyle.

Fortunately, several brands produce wax, gels, oil, and moisturizers that are developed for dreadlocks only. 

Dread waxes are essentially used during the first days to properly groom the dreadslocks. Once the dreads are mature, wax can be applied to maintain them correctly.

Outside of dreads, the hair remains exposed to pollution and other elements, making them dry, brittle, and also conflict with the dread locking method. But applying wax will prevent this from happening and promote a proper dreadlock process.

Click here to view it on Amazon.

Jamaican Mango & Lime Locking Firm Wax

This product has a distinctive combination of essential extracts like honey, beeswax, mango, lime extract, and others. This natural blend supports your dreadlocks with nutrients and vitamins. It is uniquely created to give extra hold for hard-to-lock dreads.

Mango and cocoa butter ingredients lock in moisture in the hair cuticle. Meanwhile, green and lime extracts will relieve the roots while twisting as they also produce antioxidants. They also have antiseptic qualities, ensuring that your scalp is bacteria-free and clean.

This product gives a gentle and soft hold without leaving any oily residue behind. It contains the dreads in place without drying or dehydrating them.

Positives:

• Jamaican natural blend
• Suitable for gray hair
• No build-up
• Moisturizes the hair
• Extra hold
• Non-greasy
• Smells pleasant

Negatives:

• If applied too much, it can make the locks heavy
• Sometimes it can rest in hair even after wash

Click here to see it on Amazon.

Knotty Boy Dark Dreadlock Wax

Dreadlock hairstyle requires more care and attention, particularly during the first year. Luckily, applying beeswax helps to manage the dreads. This is what Knotty Boy Dark Wax does.

This product is a natural combination of beeswax, hemp seed oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, shea butter, and others. All the components from this mixture are sourced ethically. It doesn’t carry parabens, petroleum, or anything that is toxic to the dread locking process.

Knotty Boy Dreads Wax is a non-greasy, non-cakey, and tough holding wax which is easy to use. This more moderate water-resistant formula wraps the hair locks together without dehydrating them. This also enables the scalp and locks to be rinsed normally.

It doesn’t carry any added fragrance, but it still smells pleasant because of the beeswax. This product can also be applied to frizzy or kinky hair, and is easy to blend into dreads with its natural texture.

Positives:

• All-natural formula
• Works well on frizzy hair
• Easy to wash out
• Easy to use formula
• Perfect for blonde to light brown hair, and medium brown to black hair

Negatives:

• Becomes discolored on drying
• Hard to wash out of hair

Murray’s 100% Pure Australian Beeswax

Murray’s 100% Pure Australian Black Beeswax carries the most exceptional imported Beeswax obtained from the Australian Honey Bee. The excretions give a stiff wax that is soft and easy to use.

Excellent for dreadlocks and other styling requirements, it is like a stronghold pomade that can add glow to the hair. Plus, you can use it to hide your gray hairs.

Positives:

• Firm Hold
• Adds Color to Blend
• Natural Beeswax
• Seals Ends and Conditions
• Natural Shine

Negatives:

• If applied too much, it can make the locks heavy
• Sometimes it can rest in hair even after wash

Dread Head HQ Dreadlock Wax

This product includes beeswax, hemp oil, and vitamin E. These ingredients are suitable to hold your hair and let them mature and tighten.

All the ingredients give nutrition to strengthen your hair. A little amount of this wax will keep the dreadlocks together without leaving any residue. This wax is ideal for taming fixing frizzy hair and it demands less effort and minimum rubber bands for twisting the hair into dreadlocks.

The dread head HQ keeps the hair in place, so maintaining the dreadlocks can be straightforward.

Positives:

• Natural blend
• Smells amazing
• Works for frizzy hair
• Strengthens the hair
• Easy to use

Negatives:

• A bit tough to wash it out

DIY Beeswax for Dreads

Organic dreadlock wax holds the dreads together and moisturizes the hair strands. It doesn’t contain petroleum or petroleum derivatives like most commercial waxes in markets.

Beeswax has long been applied in the traditional dreadlock wax recipe as a means of hair care. Now, it is utilized as an aid in locking dreads.

If beeswax does thicken the mixture, hemp seed oil or shea butter has a sticky trait that is beneficial for dreadlock formation. Plus, hemp seed oil has crucial protein content and the combination of these ingredients are fragrant.

Here’s a full homemade dreadlock wax recipe using beeswax and hemp seed oil:

1. Fill half the bowl of water and bring it to a boil. 
2. Add about two grams of beeswax into a small bowl then put it on top of the bow with boiling water. Let the beeswax melt.
3. Add the hemp seed oil, coconut oil, or shea butter into the melted beeswax and let the mix melt together over medium heat. 
4. Transfer the mix into a pot or a container and let it cool for about five minutes or until it reaches room temperature. 
5. Put the homemade wax in your fridge.

Tip: You can add some grams of vegetable glycerin or honey if required.

Downsides of beeswax

While beeswax has lots of upsides, there are still a few negatives to consider.

Waxy buildup

One of the biggest difficulties with beeswax is that it can quickly build up in your hair. Plus, it can be astonishingly stubborn to get rid of.

Beeswax doesn’t melt in water, so any efforts to remove it with a quick shower will fail. Instead, apply the olive oil trick to loosen the wax.

Sticky residue

Its residue is not onl a pain for hair but for clothing and furniture too. Light-colored textiles may easily stain, and removing them can be difficult.

Here’s how to get freed of that sticky residue:

1. Harden the beeswax by putting a bag filled with ice cubes on top of the stain or putting your clothes inside your freezer.
2. Scrape off the frozen beeswax with a butter knife.
3. Put the stain between two piles of paper towels. Iron it on medium heat to soften and absorb the wax.
4. Keep rubbing the iron until the stain has faded. Then use a stain remover before washing as usual.

How to remove beeswax from hair

One of the easiest techniques to extract beeswax that has built up in your hair is with slightly warm olive oil. Apply the oil to your hair and let it rest for a couple of minutes. Then rinse your hair with dish soap to remove any leftover grease. Apply moisturizing shampoo and conditioner afterwards.

Other than that, there are two removal methods that you can also do.

Washing Methods

This method uses several different cleaning goods, but always combines the help of hot water to soften the wax and make it easier to remove.

You Will Need:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Hot water
• Bee and Flower Chinese bar soap (available in Chinese drugstore or online)
• Good bar soap (if Chinese soap is not available)
• ProSolv cleaner (available at Wal-Mart)

Preparation:

1. Fill a sink or bowl with hot water.
2. Combine apple cider vinegar into the water. The volume will depend on the volume of wax and the length of the dreadlocks, as well as the extent of the container. If you are using a bathroom sink, a cup of vinegar should be enough. Add more if required.
3. Set the waxy dreads into the liquid and let it soak for at least one-half hour.
4. Wash promptly with hot water and a high-quality shampoo. It will be needed to scrub the dreads to get the softened wax extracted.
5. Repeat the process until almost all of the wax is removed.
6. As your final option, use ProSolv. This product will eliminate the wax, but will most likely produce damage to the hair. Apply it to the hair with hot water, then scrub and rinse.

Iron Method

This method includes melting the wax out of the hair and should only be performed with the help of a friend while using great caution not to hurt the scalp. If the dreads are short, do not try this process at all.

You Will Need:

• Cotton cloths
• Brown paper bags
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Partner to assist with the removal

Preparation:

1. Have the other person take a seat so that the dreadlocks can be draped over the ironing board.
2. Grab a small section of the dreads and cover a piece of brown paper around them.
3. Use a warm iron without steam and lightly rub it over the paper. You will start to see the wax transferring to the paper.
4. Repeat the process with a clean piece of paper until the wax is removed.

NOTE: Use great caution not to let the iron become too hot or to get too near to the scalp as both can cause serious burns.

Final Thoughts

The most significant piece of beeswax advice? Less is more. Apply too much and you could waste a lot of time trying to get rid of it.

That said, this all-natural element does have many uses. So if you’re trying to look for a product that styles and moisturizes and is free of chemicals, beeswax may be appropriate for you.

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