A woman has documented the removal of her dreadlocks after wearing the hairstyle for more than three years, revealing that it took her a whopping five days to completely brush them out.
Bell Coleman, a vlogger living in Los Angeles, gave a step-by-step tutorial of the lengthy process in a video shared on her YouTube channel in October. In only three months, the clip has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.
‘I am doing something pretty drastic that is going to bring a lot of change to my life and I am very excited and nervous — but mostly excited,’ she explains at the start of the video.
Then and now: Bell Coleman shared a video of herself combing out her dreadlocks (left) over the course of five days until she was left with a head of curls (right)
Process: The YouTuber soaked each dread in hot water for 10 minutes to get started
How to: Bell rubbed a deep conditioning mask on her dreads before she started combing them
Bell says she has had her dreadlocks for nearly three and a half years, and while she initially thought she was going to shave them off, she decided to take the time to brush them out.
‘I loved having dreadlocks. I just feel like its time, and that’s pretty much my reasoning,’ she says of her decision to remove them.
Before she gets started, Bell explains that she visited a few beauty supply stores to pick up conditioners, combs, and a hair pick.
She says her plan is to soak each dread in hot water for 10 minutes before covering it with SheaMoisture’s Raw Shea Butter Deep Treatment Masque.
Slow and stead: Bell started from the bottom and worked her way up with her comb
Hair loss: Bell showed off the clump of hair that came off just one of her dreads
Getting there: The vlogger shared photos of her progress after she removed a couple of dreads
Bell also added some Paul Mitchell detangler to a spray bottle filled with hot water, so she can spray her hair whenever it starts to get too dry.
After combing out just one dread, Bell is left with a massive clump of hair in her hands, but she says this is to be expected.
‘This may seem like a lot of hair to come out of just one dread, but you gotta think,’ she says. ‘Regular hair sheds naturally every single day. So with dreads, that hair gets stuck in the dread and does not shed.’
While running her hand through her hair, she adds: ‘I haven’t felt my hair in three years, so it’s really cool just to feel my hair.’
Team work: Bell said it took her an hour to comb out one dread by herself, so she enlisted some family members to help her
Almost there: Bell posed with her final dreads, including her ‘favorite’ one at the end
Success: After four to five days of combing them out, Bell showed off her blonde curls
However, Bell has a long way to go to complete the process, and the video includes pictures and footage of her getting some extra help from her mom and grandmother.
Bell explains they eventually started cutting off the ends of her dreadlocks before combing them because they realized a lot of hair would come out of the ends anyway.
At one point, all three of them are working on removing her dreadlocks in the living room to speed up the process a bit.
The YouTuber also made sure to post photos of herself posing with her final dreads, including her ‘favorite’ one at the end.
Moving on: Bell said she loved having dreads over the past three and a half years, but she felt like it was time to move on. She is pictured in July 2017
New look: Bell is now sporting a curly, blonde bob that skims her shoulders
After combing out all of her dreads, she says she headed to Natural Grocers to pick up Seaweed Bath Co.’s shampoo and conditioner for limp hair.
The video ends with Bell showing off a bouncy curly-haired bob, as she admits it took her about four to five consecutive days to fully brush out her dreads.
She notes it really helped to have someone working with her because it took her an hour to get one single dread out, which left her arms tired and needing a break.
‘It almost seems like my curls are more defined after removing my dread locks, which is interesting,’ she says.
‘I don’t know if it will stay this way. I hope so because I have really enjoyed wearing it curly the past five days.’