Meet Asha Mandela...Woman With Longest Dreadlocks

Asha Mandela, who is originally from Trinidad, said she first cut all of her hair off and began growing the 20-year dreads while she was living in New York.  She said she occasionally considers cutting the dreadlocks but she has become too attached to the style to let it go.

"As much as I love it, I get frustrated with it," she said. "But then I realize I'd feel naked without it."

Originally from Trinidad, Mandela started growing her dreads when she decided to stop using chemicals on her hair while she was living in Brooklyn, N.Y.

She cut it all off and, as it grew back, began corkscrewing it into curls that in turn were twisted together into dreadlocks. Before her dreads were long enough to hang down, they stuck out from her head like long black fingers.

She wrings out the water as you would a wet beach towel. When the days are hot, and she takes it out by the pool in the backyard, it takes two hours to dry. When it's humid and cloudy or cool outside, it might take all day for her wet hair to lose its dampness. "I try not to have any errands that day," said Mandela, 46

Mandela says she "used to wash it three times a week. Now I do it once a week. It's very tiring. Sometimes I don't have the energy." It takes one bottle of shampoo and one bottle of conditioner every time she washes her hair.

-->

-->