Is it not meant to be for me?

I know I've posted here several times about my long unsuccessful attempt to get my hair to lock up. Last time I had a comb or brush in imy hair was June 17 so we're getting close to a year now. I've faithfully tried everything I've read here and taken all the good advice I've been given but so far nothing has really worked. I've bought the products like the dread locking gel and the dreadlocks shampoo. I've used and am still using the BS/ACV wash with sea salt. I leave my hair loose most of the time. I've been using a hair dryer lately to see if that would help but before recently I just let it air dry. I sleep on wool. I did a few TNR's to see if that would help but they just fell out after a couple of days. I have 2 small sections in the back of my hair that I can say are matted and tangled but certainly aren't dreadlocks. I don't know if they count as "baby dreads" or not. The first one I've had for a long time and it hasn't developed any further than when it started. The second one is more recent. Both of them I just discovered one morning when I woke up. I have a couple of little areas in the underneath sections of my hair that are kind of tangled but don't seem to do anything else. I could probably comb them out easily if I tried.

My hair is coarse and thick. I've always been told that it has a lot of "body" whatever that means - for any of you hair people out there. I'm uploading a couple of pics to help you see what it looks like after 11 months.

I'm seriously thinking of giving up. I mean this is ridiculous. I guess I will give it till June 17, which will be a full year and then accept that it just wasn't meant to be for me.

If you can help me I don't want to give up. My partner says my hair looks like it did the first month. That is so discouraging.

updated by @butterfly: 02/14/15 03:49:52AM

i can give u 1 suggestion that u didnt mention

beads

your hairs tryin i think the beads would really helt it alot

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

yea beads be what ya need

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

It's on its way. Let them be for a little longer, and like SE said, beads would definitely do it.

try sleepin without the wool for a bit see if it changes ..i wonder if the combo of body and wool are working against ya

im not sure ..but worth tryin too

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

awwww...i'm so sorry, butterfly i feel for you. i've had a long journey myself. i really believe that i wouldn't have the dreads i have without beads. i bought really small ones and after washing my hair i would grab sections that had separated off and put a bead on it. get the smallest ones you can that will fit as close to the ends as possible and then leave them there for a month or more. once the section starts to knot up and loop take the bead off. i did this for months and it really was the only thing that got knots going in my hair. wearing a tam helps too. skip the shampoo. the more you can avoid moving your hair around the better. do the bs washes but not the acv. acv can be conditioning. add sea salt to the bs wash, too.

when you get to your one year mark are you thinking about giving up or will you do a starter method? there's definitely no shame in giving your hair a kick start with some t&r or backcombing. *hugs to you*

i think a handful of beads and a month will give enough progress to go on from there

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I have put beads in but they always fall out. Where do I put them? In the 2 sections that are kind of matted? I just started sleeping with the wool about 2 weeks ago. I thought it might be helping because the second section happened right after I started but nothing since then. I have stopped using the dread shampoo since it wasn't helping anyway. I used it like the BS wash. I just mixed it with water and poured it over my hair. But it's so expensive I don't want to use it if it's not helping so I went back to to the BS and salt. I put 1/3 cup of BS in a gallon of water with 2 Tablespoons of sea salt. Been doing that for several weeks. I just use a splash of ACV in about a half gallon of water but I can stop if that will help.

Heather I did try TnR a couple of times but they fell out.

add more salt you also just been doing wiool and salt a couple weeks

get a bead with a small enough hole thjt it sticks near the tip

take a thread then make a loop put loop through bead hole wet the tip of the sectuion so it makes a point catch the point in the loop and pull thriugh force upward till it sticks preffereably closer to tips then rots ..really push it up there gripping the tip end of the hair u want it seated so its not likely ti=o fall out

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

From looking at your photos I would say you hair is in really healthy condition. My guess is that your cuticle layer isn't very roughed up. Which could be why it's taking longer. Also, like someone said aboue, I would hold off on the acv. It can very conditioning. Since you tried tnr, maybe you could try a backcombed section. Also the beads really do help to get things going. The sections that I have that have beads on them are locking faster then the others. You can buy small wood beads at a local craft store or walmart and meijer both have a craft section. Make sure they are small ones though, and I recommend wood. That way if you get knotting below where you put the bead at then you can just crack it with pliers instead of having to un-knot your hair to get it out.

I hope you don't give up though, your hair is almost there, I really think the beads will work for you.