Just saying Hi
Introduce Yourself
Hi Natty! I totally understand that feeling of growing into oneself. I'm 46 and I feel more like ME now than ever before. I'm only a little over 3 months into the journey and am loving it.
Hi Natty! I totally understand that feeling of growing into oneself. I'm 46 and I feel more like ME now than ever before. I'm only a little over 3 months into the journey and am loving it.
You've received some excellent advice. I'm at a little over 3 months and some of my loops are insane. there is one on a dread at the back of my head that feels like a Celtic knot! This is an excellent site for questions and support.
I have to separate mine daily because they cling together like kudzu vine. I'm afraid if I skip a couple of days they'll all congo into one. LOL
By just washing your hair with water, you aren't getting rid of most of the hair oils your scalp naturally produces and that could prevent your hair from getting knots.
Her use of the "R" word is very sad.
Have you tried to explain to her about your choices? Perhaps she doesn't understand? Or, perhaps, she's just your sister and is just trying to start crap like siblings do.
If you've tried to be reasonable and explain to her and she chooses not to understand or accept your choices, then perhaps you should just ignore her. I know that can be difficult to do, especially if you happen to live in the same house, but you should take care of yourself. If these choices were made freely by you and you are happy with them, then you shouldn't let it bother you.
I do understand that relatives can hurt us more than most, even if they don't mean to.
Love the picture! Great hair style. I think your parents will appreciate the fact that you are trying to make yourself "presentable" for them and should be pleased with how nice you look.
Koko Earthling said:
Standing up for your friend is an awesome thing.
As for the girl with the nasty comments, ignore her. I know, easier said than done, but people like that feed on negativity and are only doing it to get a rise (or a fight) out of you. If you just ignore her, there is hope that she will eventually tire of it and leave you alone.
Sorry I haven't replied sooner. I started washing the wax out the same day I put it in because the smell was killing me. I used a combo of Dawn, baking soda, cider vinegar, etc., multiple times. I wouldn't say its 100% gone, but it feels like its almost all gone, and my husband agrees (he couldn't stand the feel or the smell either). One way I can tell is that my hair dries a lot faster now, compared to when there was wax, which is a relief.
One unexpected benefit of this journey is that it has encouraged my daughter to take better care of her hair. We no longer have to nag her to comb her hair daily. LOL
I've been hanging around here for a couple of weeks and thought I'd finally introduce myself and my dread journey.
My name is Kerry and I live in Jacksonville, FL. I'm a married SAHM with 3 kids and 3 cats. My 2 sons are grown and are in the military and my daughter is 13 and in middle school. The cats are just lazy. We had a dog but she passed recently at the ripe old age of 14 - we are having some grieving time before adopting another.
How & Why Did I Dread? Well, I've wanted to for years (for personal & spiritual reasons) but my husband seriously disliked the idea with all the usual excuses. To make a long story short, we ended up in a dare/argument and I ended up going ahead and doing it. It took him a couple of days to adjust but he swears he likes it now, or maybe its more like "if it makes me happy, he's happy" kind of deal. All 3 kids and my mom like the way my hair looks now, which surprised all of them. My friends have been positive about it as well.
Yes, I started off with the old sectioning with bands, wax, & backcombing, but it's pretty much all gone by now, and am continuing "naturally." I have very wavy hair and many of my dreads look like rickrack (zig zags) because of it. Between the frizzy halo, some straight hair refusing to join in, and the insistence of some dreads wanting to grow together daily, I did have a few minor freak outs until I found this site and started checking out all the pictures and reading the threads - thank goodness its all normal.
I would like to thank Soaring Eagle and his band of ninjas for this site, it has really helped me out and educated me. You all have the best collection of pictures of Caucasian dreaded hair I've seen. So many pics elsewhere of dreads are professionally done and way too perfect to make one feel good about it.
A long while ago, I had the epiphany of "its just hair." Maybe you can talk to your mom about that? No matter what you do to your hair, it isn't permanent. It can be undone when you want to. As long as its clean, all the other problems can be dealt with. If she wants you to look groomed (like if you were going out to dinner), and you are kinda fuzzy that day, use a decorative head wrap or tam. Look at all the pics on this site, there are many ways to style your dreads to make them look less "shaggy." Maybe if you find a pic and ask for help recreating that style, she might come around a bit?