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I love my hair now! I love how it looks, I love how it changes all the time, I love that it has begun to dread entirely on its own. I have done nothing to it. Most of my sectionsnow aremostly loopy and crazy, some flat some round. But I have got probably 4 or 5 sections that are perfectly dreaded from the top to about half way down. And again, I have done nothing but let them be (:

Now that you can see my sections a lot better, more people have started to ask me "So uhh... What's going on with your hair?" And that has mostly started within thelast month or so. (Keep in mind, I still have a ways to go before they are mature.) But the minute I tell people I havent brushed my hair since June, they laugh. Not to be rude I don't think at all, but most people think I'm kidding. And once they realize that I am totally serious they ask why and I tell them that it is dreading. Almost everyone has said "well those dont look like dreads" or "dont you have to put wax in to do that?" or "why does it look like that?" or something like that.
This is exciting in a sense that people are starting to notice that something is happening. But in another way it is very frustrating.I have to explain to people all of the time that the way they usually see dreads, the perfectly round, thick, all the same length...Those are not natural and are not real, nor are they what dreads were intended to be. That you don't need anything but to throw away your hair brush. And even still, most people dont understand that this could take years for my hair to look anything like what they are used to seeing.They think its instant or something.
My hair is still very fine and silky. It will take a long time for it to totally knot up and hold. I still have some loose hairs on the sides by my ears and underneath of all of my hair. And then I have some parts of my hair that look totally dreaded. I guess most folks dont realize that this is a process. That any hair type can dread, it's just a matter of time and patience.

Hair care lately has been switched from Bronners to baking soda/water mixture that I keep in an old bronners botter. Basically cover the bottom of the bottle with baking soda, a good layer. Then fill up about 3/4 with water, shake it up real good and thats all I do. Wash with that once or twice a week, depending on how my hair feels and looks. I still have my bangs which arebrushed whenever they need it. Sometimes I straighten them. But other than that, everything else has been left alone.Hopefully I will get some more recent photos of my hair up here soon.

Loving the journey so far. So glad I took the advice I got from this site to just stop brushing. I dont think that I would love my hair as much as I do had I gone about this any other way. (:

Today I just feel like sitting on my couch and taking my teasing comb with the little metal tangs and scratching my scalp. LOL I call it my scratchy comb. Before my dread babies I never really combed my hair that often anyway, but now that I know I can't I think my scalp knows it too.

So I am almost two months into my dreadie journey. I've hunted and have gotten my hands on some glass and also some wooden custom beads, spent some time and taught my hubby how to do hair wraps with embroidery thread. I started off with T&R followed by neglect. I used the locking gel from dreadlockshampoo.com for a few weeks and then gave up on it, I'm keeping it around for times when I might need to smooth my dreads out for a special occasion. I do think it helped them not come out as quick, but besides that really don't know.
Each dread has a good 3-4 inches of undreaded hair at the ends, which I like because it curls and lets my hair dry way faster. Roots are locking up and after only two short months I'm having to make sure that I keep them separated. So needless to say I'm uber happy with my progress so far.
I'm thankful and also happy that having dreads has allowed me to just not give a crap about my hair anymore, no fighting with it everyday to make it do what I want. I gave all of my hair products and left over shampoo and conditioner to a good friend of mine, made her day The bathroom is less cluttered now and that makes me feel better too.
I did have several dreads come completely out at my hairline and have been debating re T&Ring them, half my hairline is a curly mess and the other half is baby dreads that didn't come out.
My friends and family for the most part have either given me positive feedback or kept their comments to themselves. Well besides one of my grandmothers, she felt the need to tell me they look dirty. But this is the same woman that complained because my husbands hair/dreads is down to the middle of his back now. Oh and the reason my son when he was a newborn only wanted mommy and no one else was because I breastfed him and held him too much. Needless to say her snarky comments usually slide off like butter on a hot skillet.
The initial itchiness I had was gone after a couple short weeks, and I haven't been having any problems with dandruff for the first time in my life. Washing twice a week with BS/ACV and EO's; Rosemary, Lavender, Peppermint, and a bit of Tea Tree Oil. LOVE how it makes my hair smell and I usually add a little of the Lavender and Rosemary to my ACV rinse as well. I never smell vinegar in my hair, just my lovely EOs.
I love some of the comments that I got from out local Mom's Group right after I did my hair. Everything from them arguing with their husbands about wanting dreads to people saying that it always seemed like I was supposed to have dreads and that they fit me and my personality so well
Thanks to everyone who has offered their support to far and all the great information and opinions I've found on here ^_^ Blessed Be.

I am so happy with my dreads so far. It's been two and a half months and I'm making good progress. My mom's finally accepted that the dreads are staying, but she pushes me to keep them maintained. Stepdad...not so much. I don't want this to turn into a rant or anything, but damn, he sees it as "a slap in the face to the creator" and says I'm "ruining the gift of beauty" I was blessed with. I don't get how people are so ignorant about dreads. They're not dirty, despite popular belief. I have no plans of getting rid of them any time soon, it's my choice, my body, yadda yadda yadda.

On another note, I'm so glad I found this site because I probably would have ended up with wax in my hair and that would've been horrible. My ex is stuck on wax and his dreads are all hard in the center and hard to maintain.

So, thank you fellow members for your much-needed expertise.

~Love, light & good vibes

Allo all. My name is Taylor, and I'm a newbie at dreading. I've attempted it once, and it went horribly wrong. I was told, and even researched that beeswax would be best. So I used it, along with rubberbands and my dreads stuck straight up and were a goopy mess by the time morning came. I was able to wash the wax out, and save my hair from it. My hair is cut into a mohawk with fringe and bangs. I came here in hope someone would give me some awesome advice on how to backcomb, and get dreads WITHOUT using products.

Is it okay to wash ur hair everytime u shower when ur first starting to neglect ur hair so it can lock up. or should u only wash ur hair like once a week or every other week. once a month?!?!?

i think that if u neglect your hair that slowly over time the ends will tangle and as strands of hair fall they tangle up in the lock of hair.

over time the hair that falls out build up and locks up and ends up turning into dreadslocks.

if im right let me know. cuz this is how i think it happends.

Anyone attending the Bob Marley Bash on 4/20 in MO this sat.. with Josh Heinrichs an Junior Marvin,.,,if you havn't check out Josh heinrichs, S.O.J.A. Skillinjah, Cas Haley, Alcyon Massive or dub fx you totally should wont regret it....

Hello there, I'm mollie and I am starting to dread.

I am sixteen from the UK and so far have a couple of subtle locks on the bottom layers, and one bad boy on top.

I'm still a little hazy on what I'm supposed to be doing, but I'm loving it already.

Question: As I only have three dreads (only a couple of days old -n'aww) how do I wash my hair? I was considering just wrapping those dreads in clingfilm and washing the rest of my normal hair as usual.

Any thoughts?
-M x