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A little history...

On August 21st, 2013, I started my partial dreads using the TnR method mainly because I wasn't doing my entire head. I wanted a clear line of separation so I could use different shampoo and conditioner on my free flowing hair while protecting my dreads and finishing with a residue free shampoo for just the dreads. This also made it easier to keep the rest of my hair from joining the party.
I did all of the actually twisting and ripping myself but I had the help of my husband and a friend with the sectioning. I started with 3 rows in the back totaling 32 tiny dreads. They were extremely thin because I kept hearing about how much they would thicken up over time. One year later and they've thickened up a bit but not too much. After combining several baby dreads and adding two more rows, I now have 5 rows totaling 40 dreads. I'm considering one more row of 8 but I'm going to sit tight for a while and see how things progress....

8/21/13 - Three rows, 32 total

8/22/13 - Hair down and dreads pulled over my shoulders

8/26/13 - 5 days, after first wash

9/6/13 - 2 weeks, first loops

9/23/13 - 5 weeks, more loops

9/24/13 - 5 weeks

*Sometime between two and three months I added a fourth row and combined several super tiny ones for a total of 36 dreads.

12/8/13 - 3 months, a friend's snapchat

12/11/13 - 3&1/2 months, ponytail using my dreads as a hair tie

12/11/13 - 3&1/2 months, getting thicker

12/11/13 - 3&1/2 months, more loopies

1/28/14 - 5 months, hair up in a bun with dreads down

5/26/14 - 9 months, I added one more row and combined a couple more, 40 dreads total. I also cleaned them up a bit. I had so many loose hairs that were wreaking havoc on everyone and trying to combine themselves at the roots. Hopefully I won't have to do that again for a long time.

7/28/14 - 11 months, dreads wrapped around a bun

8/21/14 - One year! As of right now I have 5 rows and 40 total dreads.

As you can see I still have quite a lot of free flowing hair. I'm considering doing one more row of 8 for a total of 48. I want to get my hair cut first though (not the dreads). I haven't had the rest of my hair of my hair cut in over a year so I'm way overdue. I want to keep it fairly long but do something that will accentuate the dreads. Not sure what that would be... Any suggestions?

Don't mind the maternity jeans... I'm eight months pregnant.

Thanks for checking out my timeline! I'll be sure to update after my haircut.

for a month and a half i've treated my daughter 4 xs for lice with RID, vinegar, alcohol... lathered with conditioner. comb comb comb comb. treated her again today after finding 1 adult and a couple eggs again today. I' found a knit in my roots up front when i treated her the first time and vinegar/grocery bagged my hair. couple days later did the same thing. after she came back with them again I just soaked my roots all i could with RID too. then 5 days later vinegar/grocery bag again. All this time also using a mix of essential oils that are supposed to keep them away on both our heads. right now i've a mix of vinegar/rubbing alcohol on my hair for 30 minutes and it's burning so bad after 5 i'm questioning my sanity. I've all our couch pillows/most blankets/stuffed animals in bags in garage until this all disappears. vaccuuming. changing pillow cases every day and bottom sheets. we both may end up bald after this. I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! Tonight I will bag my hair up and put a hair dryer to it until it makes me scream for mercy. I want to keep my dreads. I don't want to cut, it takes too long to comb out I cannot do it by myself and have no one to help. If anyone is reading this please send waves/prayers of death to the lice. Thank you.

I used the Dreadlocks Shampoo for the first time last night. I'm not sure what to think. I love strong citrusy or flowery smells and they didn't really offer any in the liquid shampoo, so I figured Dragons Blood would be the closest to something I'd enjoy. It's definitely not a smell I enjoy.

But I used it anyway and I was shocked at how conditioning the shampoo was!! I was using a face bar soap from One Hand Washes the Other before and things were really tangly. After washing with this it feels really smooth and is less separated. I'm not sure if I like that or not. I'm considering just washing with it once a month or so, and the rest of the time with my other bar.

I also bought the salt spray and used it last night. Maybe the combination made my hair too conditioned? I enjoy the scent of that a lot more than the shampoo though. I'm definitely spraying perfume on my hair to cover some of the shampoo smell.

The back, and top views. You can see how loose they are. Here is a thought/question...I spent a year washing my hair with only baking soda and ACV. I know you want to stay away from conditioners, and though I know that the ACV is *not* a conditioner like from the store, during that year of using the BS and ACV I had a ton of comments about my hair being so shiny and silky. Granted I have straight, straight hair, but wouldn't this hamper the locking process if the ACV makes my hair all silky? Does it help the hair move, without the build up? Just wondering. I'm still using the BS and ACV, put a bit of tea tree oil in it for good measure. I live in the South, and it is *muggy*!

LWFH

Well, I was trying to put space in between the pictures, but that didn't happen. So this is the start of my dreads. The first 2 pictures are before, the next is of my hubby, lovingly sectioning my hair. This was a labor of love, because when it comes to hair, he has two left hands The next few are half way done. With a bunch of kiddos, and a bunch of animals....well, hair just wasn't the priority. I have about 5 left, so very close. The roots are loose, and the ends, totally loose. They. did. not. want. to. be. TnR! Oh, well, so be it, I will let them do their thing. I counted 64, that's without the last five. I have thick hair, so they are not as thin as I had expected with that count. We shall see how they grow

I tried putting the most current pics in here, would not work, will try another post.

Blessings,

LWFH

Woke up to this today...pretty sure I'll have to do some major separations tonight! I'm excited though because I get to do it after using my Dreadlocks Shampoo that arrives today. 2 weeks, 4 days of neglect!

Today I picked up my new baby, a Baldwin Guinea Pig. Baldwins are hairy when they're born, but then all their hair falls out and they stay bald. They're one of those "ugly cute" pets.

My daughter and I named her Harriet. I was leaning towards Alopecia, or Sinead but my daughter thought Harriet was perfect...kind of like Tiny for a big dude.

So here she is. She's super scared right now because she's only been with her large piggy family but she really doesn't like other pigs. I think this girl is going to be totally spoiled!

Two weeks neglect! Everything has at least a tangle in it-and every piece of hair has found it's own section to nuzzle into. The bottom half of my hair is all one giant mass every morning. I have to separate at least once a day or it gets to the point I have to rip too much.

Ordered my Dreadlocks Shampoo and it should be delivered Tuesday. I can't wait to see what it does for my hair!

I only wear my hair up in a bun on weekends when my mom is around. I haven't broken the dready news to her yet. Hoping to get pretty far along before she notices!

My daughter starts 5th grade on Wednesday! How is it possible that I have an *almost* 11 year old?! I still feel like a kid myself, although I don't imagine that will ever change.

So, here's picture updates!

This, of course, is my favorite picture...it's all dready and tangly! This is before I separated it.

This is my hair (9 weeks and counting)... going natural, 2 attempter own reasons for .

First time round t'n r (about a year ago) but it just didn't feel right so after 3 months or so combed them out just after finding out I was pregnant with my 3rd little lady (laying fast asleep with me in the pic.)

Anyway, letting my hair do exactly what it wants with a lot of separation and soda tea tree rinse, is (for me just perfect. I know everybody has their own reasons for getting dreadlocks, and for myself suffering from anxiety and a health scare when baby no3 was just 6weeks old, this is a way of seeing all the upset and worry be tangled up tight in my hair instead of going round and around in circles in my mind.

going with the natural method as far as I see is by far the best way to go, and ive seen so much progress in such a short space of time.(especially compared to my last pathetic attempt) I have fine straight hair but that so far hasn't seemed to make any difference to their development.

I suppose this is my therapy and a way of moving on and letting go.

So now I can just get on with enjoying all the crazy, wiggly knottiness, But most importantly I can just enjoy my newest little lady and being a mumma to 3 beautiful girls xx