Wow, the time really flew by... I can't believe its already been a full year that I've been dreading.

I'm constantly getting compliments on my hair, and people asking if they can feel it. I really dislike the stereotypes associated with dreads, but people will think what they want I guess.
Before dreads people thought of me as a "valley girl" I always wear makeup, and I used to spend hours doing my hair... So I get where the misconception may come from.. but now that I have dreads, it seems like people see me as more down to earth and laid back.
I love that I spend virtually no time styling my hair, but as of the last month I've been itching to change my hair somehow.. I ended up dying it a few times, and now I'm wishing I would have just left it alone, I really liked the color it was before.. and now I have to worry about upkeep

Overall its been an amazing year and some really great things have come my way thanks to my dreads.

Every day I feel more and more confident about my hair! and I love that I'm able to do all kind of things with it without using a hair tie!

But on another note... I just found out that you can add music to your profile.. so I uploaded a couple songs..
Check them out

Recently people are actually starting to notice I have dreads (3 months of natural/free forming)
Someattentionis negative, but most is positive! Friends that I haven't seen in a while will say things like "Oh your dreads look awesome! I didn't even know you had them!"
But then there are thosedisapprovingpeople who just don't get why someone would choose to dread their hair. They say things like "whats with your hair?" or "Did you get in a fight with a rat?"
Thus far I've just shrugged off the negative comments and continued to love my locs all the same.

I don't know if you can really tell from the picture, but I've got lots of loops in my dreads, and I love the way it looks right now!
Up until a few days ago I had twoseparatecongos that were pretty huge and uncomfortable... One was two huge dreads into one, and the other was two huge dreads and one small dread combined into one.. Both were in the back of my head.
So I set to work on the congos and eventually I was able toseparatethem.. Although the one that had a small dread added into it I didn't bother.. its pretty well embedded into another dread.
Now that I don't have to worry about those congos I've fallen in love with my dreads all over again. I was getting pretty annoyed that I couldn't do anything with my hair without those getting in the way.. But now that they areseparatedI can do lots of stuff with it and its not uncomfortable.

There are two things that I really want for my dreads!
One is a shower cap.. I've been using a plastic grocery sac and tying it on my head to avoid washing my dreads every time I shower.
And the other is some sort of a silk head wrap that I can wrap all of my hair into.. I co-sleep with my 6 month old baby boy, and he nurses throughout the night so we are constantly rolling to different positions and what not.. and I can imagine that might be why my hair has dreaded up so quickly... and while that can be desirable.. thats why I developed the congos to begin with.. not enoughseparatingand too much rolling around on my cotton pillowcase. lol

Well, this post was mostly just to ramble about my thoughts on how my dreads are doing currently. But I would like to add that I am sogratefulto have found this site!! So I special Thanks to everyone that has commented on my posts and written posts on here.. I really enjoy reading what others have to say about their dreads.

My dad was born in the late 40s, so he has a lot of perspective on all the different trends since then.

He has always been a story teller, and once he told me a story that I will entitle "Earth Mama"
Now bear in mind, I have no idea how realistic this story is.. but heres my interpretation of it.

My dad remembers a time when they started putting out all kinds of mass produced shampoos/conditioners, body soaps, foods and etc. After all these mass produced items were put on the market, there were women who decided that they didn't like all these products that were already put together and so easily accessible, they wanted something with morecustomization.. something where they knew (and could understand) all the ingredients that were in it. My dad came to know these women as Earth Mamas.

I am a mother of 2, and with both of my babies I've chosen to make my own homemade baby foods out of fresh organic produce rather then the heavily processed jarred food. I also cloth diaper my babies, and I use cloth wipes as well.. which is what started my obsession with essential oils.
When my youngest was just a few weeks old he developed a bad diaper rash that wouldn't go away for anything, I tried rash creams, and even some prescription yeast cream to no avail.
One day I visited a little shop downtown Olympia, WA called Radiance. They sell tons of essential oils and the staff there was very helpful and we researched infant safe essential oils for rashes. I left the shop that day with Lavender Oil, Apricot Oil, and Tea Tree Oil.
I went home and mixed those three oils into water and started using them for a cloth wipes solution and soon enough my sons rash went away within a week! I've been using that same combination ever since then and I haven't had too much of a rash problem since.

Then I decided to dread my hair out, it was very long and tangle prone... I'd been growing it out for years and had reached the point where I was tired of taking care of it.
So I did some research and realized that most of the same essential oils I already had could be used in my hair!
I started making my own shampoo by mixing baking soda, lavender oil, and tea tree oil into water and pouring it over my scalp and letting it sit for about 10-30 minutes while I was in the shower.
I LOVED the way my hair smelled, and my scalp felt cleaner then it ever had before! Now... 3 months later I've got some serious baby dreads going and they always smell like some kind of amazing essential oil.
I've experimented with all kinds of other essential oils, my favorite of the season being peppermint oil. (I LOVE the tingly feeling on my scalp... not to mention it smells AMAZING)
Typically I wash my dreads every week and a half to 2 weeks with water and essential oils, baking soda I only add about one time per month to get all the grease out (I have oily hair)
And in between washes... most every day I will spray my dreads with a premade mixture of water, lavender oil and tea tree oil to freshen things up and also because I love the smell

If you've never experimented with essential oils... I highlyrecommendit!