From Swedish Vikings to Egyptian mummies, black culture to white – they've all worn dreadlocks.

And while the hairdo is perhaps most commonly associated with black identity, one hairdresser based in Gillingham is keen to make it widely available to as many people as possible.

Mei Xu believes she's helping to share different cultures rather than damage them through her dreadlock business.

The 24-year-old says she has faced hostility, with some people saying she should not have adopted the hairstyle as a white woman.

But the hairdresser strongly believes that styling the hairdo, commonly associated with black identity, is not "cultural appropriation".

Cultural appropriation is when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.

Mei, who grew up in Norfolk, owns Amzin's dreads, a mobile hairdressing service.

Her interest in the rope-like hairstyle began when she was just a teenager.

She said: "I've been making dread since the age of 14, so about 10 years now.

"They are a form of hair, usually knotted up without any form of product whatsoever and styled into a lock.

"I grew up with a lot of people who had them. It was more than a hairstyle for them, it was a lifestyle.

"I just really liked them. I remember when I was seven a guy was in a swimming pool with his family and one of his dreadlocks fell off.

"For some reason, I wanted to return it to him. I walked up and gave it to him and he told me he could re-attach it.

"I found that really fascinating that he could do that. The more I grew up the more I looked into it."

Dreadlocks can be created in two ways. The first is an organic method where a person stops combing or brushing their hair.

The second is through "rip and twists", which are created by twisting hair strands around each other, which ultimately become knotted and then dreadlocked.

She continued: "When I started doing my brother's friend's hair, a lot of them had dreads. Say five people came round our house, three of them would have the hairstyle, so I started doing maintenance on their hair.

"I'm always very happy at the end of it. It's a very long process – most people who have long dreadlocks, it could take several hours to do, sometimes days.

"So it's a very satisfying feeling at the end of it, seeing their faces especially and their eyes light up."

Mei, who used to have dreadlocks herself, dispelled some of the myths associated with the hairstyle, saying: "A lot of people have this misconception that you do not wash dreadlocks. That is completely wrong.

"I would say as someone who has dreadlocks that it takes more maintenance than someone who is not dreadlocked.

"You usually use a sulphate-free shampoo, as sulphates cause the hair to tangle and conditions the hair slightly, which you don't want as it causes the hair to become loose.

"It usually takes a day to dry, sometimes two days, so you can't wash it as regularly as normal hair."

But while many admire the creativity, the stylist says she has faced some backlash over her dreads.

She said: "Personally, I've worked on quite a few ethnicities. I've never had an issue with that before.

"But I have had hateful comments made to me, that I as a Caucasian girl should not have them.

"My view is that it's okay, it's not cultural appropriation at all. I'm not doing it to hurt anybody, I'm doing it to share their culture.

"I think it's quite amazing what could be done, I want everyone to share each other's culture. We should all be able to do what we wish."

She has explored some of the history of the style around the world. She continued: "I spent several years studying Swedish Vikings, I found that they had dreadlocks too.

"Many years ago we didn't have a lot of hair products and washing wasn't something that happened very regularly, especially with males who were fighting. Their hair grew very long, and it was a way for them to control and style it, so it wasn't loose flaring out everywhere.

"It didn't become greasy because it was locked and maintained.

"There were also several scientific studies of Egyptian mummies being found who also had dreadlocks, I found it very fascinating.

"There's a misconception that it's 'hippie' people who have dreadlocks, but there's actually a wide variety."