High top dreads combine shaved or faded sides with a dense crown of locs on top. This haircut offers a sharp contrast that keeps the scalp cooler while letting your hair make a bold statement. It's a versatile look that bridges classic loc culture with modern styling, giving you plenty of room to experiment with length and thickness.
If you're thinking about starting high top dreads, you need to understand how the sectioning works, what maintenance looks like, and how to avoid common pitfalls like thinning roots. Let's break down everything you need to know about getting, styling, and maintaining this popular hairstyle.
What Are High Top Dreads?
High top dreads refer to a specific haircut configuration where the back and sides of the head are shaved, faded, or closely cropped, leaving hair only on the crown to form locs. This style is sometimes called crown locs or a half-head loc setup.
Unlike a full head of dreadlocks, which can feel heavy and hot during warmer months, the high top version reduces weight on your scalp. This reduction in tension is a major reason why many people switch from a full head to a high top style. It's also popular because it requires less overall hair volume, making it accessible if you're working with medium-length hair on top.
Origins and Cultural Context
The roots of locs stretch back millennia across various global traditions, from ancient East African and Egyptian cultures to ascetic practices in South Asia. In modern times, the growth of loc culture found widespread global visibility through the Rastafari movement in Jamaica during the 1930s.
The high top variation evolved more recently out of urban barber culture and hip-hop aesthetics. As barbershops began pairing traditional loc-growing methods with modern fading techniques like skin fades and drop fades, the high top loc emerged as a clean, structured hybrid. While traditionalists sometimes debate the modern aesthetic against historical norms, high top dreads remain a powerful form of self-expression for people embracing natural hair textures.
Choosing Your Starting Method
How you start your high top locs dictates how they mature and how long the initial locking process takes. You have a few standard methods to choose from depending on your hair type and desired look:
- Two-Strand Twists: A favorite for coily and kinky hair textures. The hair is sectioned into squares or diamonds and twisted in pairs. Over time, these twists swell and mature into solid locs.
- Comb Coils: Ideal for shorter hair. A rat-tail comb is used to spin small sections of hair into tiny coils. This method creates clean, uniform cylinder shapes as the hair locks.
- Instant Locs (Crochet Method): Using a fine crochet hook, a Loctician pulls loose hair inward to lock it instantly. This method gives you immediate locs without waiting months for natural maturation.
- Freeform: Allowing the hair to tangle and matt naturally with minimal manipulation. This results in organic, varied loc sizes and shapes.
Maintenance and Upkeep
Maintaining high top dreads requires a consistent routine to keep your scalp healthy and your edges clean. Because the sides and back are faded, you'll need regular barber visits to keep those lines sharp.
Scalp Care and Washing
Don't skip washing your locs out of fear that they will unravel. Wash your hair every one to two weeks using a residue-free clarifying shampoo. Buildup from heavy oils or thick shampoos gets trapped inside the loc core and causes unpleasant odors or mildew. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and ensure your hair dries completely.
Retwisting and Interlocking
Depending on how fast your hair grows, you'll need to maintain your roots every four to six weeks. You can use palm rolling with a light locking gel or cream, or choose interlocking if you have an active lifestyle and need your roots to stay neat longer. Avoid pulling the roots too tight, as high top locs take the full weight of the top section and are vulnerable to traction alopecia if overworked.
Popular High Top Dread Styles
Once your high top locs have some length, you can style them in several distinct ways:
- The Ponytail or Bun: Gathering all the top locs into a high ponytail or wrapping them into a neat bun keeps your face clear and highlights your fade.
- Half-Up, Half-Down: Letting a few locs hang loose around the forehead while pulling the rest back adds dimension to the look.
- Barrel Rolls and Braids: Twisting your high top locs into cornrows or flat barrel rolls across the crown creates intricate geometric patterns.
For more styling inspiration and professional hair care guidelines, check out resources from NaturallyCurly.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Starting and maintaining high top dreads comes with a few traps that can damage your hair:
- Over-Twisting: Twisting your roots every week weakens the hair shaft and leads to thinning or breakage at the base. Stick to a 4-to-6-week schedule.
- Using Heavy Waxes: Waxes leave stubborn residue that attracts dirt and lint, making your locs heavy and dull. Opt for lightweight water-based sprays instead.
- Neglecting the Sides: Letting your fade grow out too long blurs the clean geometric contrast that defines the high top look. Keep up with bi-weekly edge-ups.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for high top dreads to lock?
Natural methods like comb coils or two-strand twists take anywhere from 6 to 18 months to fully mature and lock, depending on your hair texture. If you choose instant crochet locs, they are locked from day one.
Can anyone get high top dreads?
Yes, high top dreads work on various hair types, including straight, wavy, curly, and coily textures. However, straight hair requires more maintenance and specific techniques like backcombing or permanent locking methods to hold its shape.
How often should I get my fade cut?
To keep the high top aesthetic sharp, plan a visit to your barber every 2 to 3 weeks to clean up the back and sides.
Do high top dreads cause hair loss?
They only cause hair loss if the roots are twisted too tightly or if the sectioning puts excessive tension on your scalp. Proper maintenance and avoiding heavy extensions protect your hairline and crown.
