A time line. 9 months. No products. No tools. A bit of partial preliminary T&R. Seperation as needed.

Bit of encouragement for you people just starting.

before dreading

Day 4, back in November

Week or 2 later

14th December. Post Twist and rip frizz ball!

January. Loopy crazy birds nest :P

OK, these were my dreads at about 4 months old. Just starting to tighten up. At this point I was able to stop separating every day.

April

Around about May

Yesterday, at 9 months. They are still very very loopy and I am seeing a slowing of progress now. I think they are starting to do some shrinkage as some keep migrating further and further up my face. I love them though. I did get a rather negative comment the other day however from some fool.......

"hows about get fucked my dreads look a shit tun beter than your shitty matty mess.......!"

This coming from someone who has doused em in wax, kept elastic bands in for 10 months, palm rolled, root rubbed, interlocked, folded them in half AND crochet'ed and has spent the entire journey complaining that they look shit/they hate them and want to shave them off, while lamenting their old glorious swathes of shiny long hair.

I lol'd. Because I have had nothing but pleasure from this here journey. It has been effortless and a great lesson in freedom. Doing my hair now consists of washing (if it needs it) and putting it up in some way. I feel a lot more confident in my appearance now I have embraced my hairs natural tendency to be a mess (it never liked styles or straightening, it always rebelled!). I now only have to wash it once a week cos it just doesn't get greasy any more and that means no worries about many lank greasy hair on camping trips and what not. I love them, and I look forward to watching their continued organic, beautiful evolution.

updated by @fay-brotherhood: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

awesome i always loved your dreads so umm whos this guy i wana have a talk with him haha

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I feel a lot more confident in my appearance now I have embraced my hairs natural tendency to be a mess (it never liked styles or straightening, it always rebelled!). I now only have to wash it once a week cos it just doesn't get greasy any more and that means no worries about many lank greasy hair on camping trips and what not. I love them, and I look forward to watching their continued organic, beautiful evolution.

tru dat!!!!

Ha ha, they replied to a post of mine the other day which I made in November. To which I responded pointing out they had previously been anonymous and now everyone could see who I was talking about and the message promptly disappeared. Considering the amount of money this person owes me, and the fact I am paying for property damage caused by them, I think it's pretty cheeky to leave such a post. As I no longer have enough respect for this person to provide anonymity. Names Godbowling on here . I'd be surprised if they haven't deleted themselves in an inability to escape their sea of wrongness............

so beautiful! this is inspiring to anyone that wants dreads or maybe concerned about how their own dreads look! they are so organic and since ive had mine i love my hair even more too! i wish i was brave enough to try full natural but i did RnT! it still has been amzing even so and i know it will even get better! thanks for posting and for that fool all i can say is wow! He doesnt even understand the journey of dreads so how dare he say such rudness! YOur dreads are so beautiful! i love how everyones look different!

Love the pictures!

thank you for this! just started yesterday so this is helpful

=D

Well, yet again I have not updated this in quuuiiiiiite a while. I am now, having started my dreads on the 14th Nov 2010, on 18 months. Where has all the time gone???? It is very strange looking back on how much they have changed from their tentative bird nest beginnings. I still love them very much. I have had zero problems with them. There were a couple which decided recently that they would rather be two than one so I split them. They are mostly mature now, but they are still doing a lot of changing. I have a lot of zig zags and loops still to finish doing their thing but I really like the messy look of them. I don't think I would suit really neat ones. I am not a neat and tidy person :P I still maintain they are the best thing I ever did, and since growing them I have felt more like myself than I ever have done. They also mean that on stage I can make of my head a work of art, filled with feathers and what not and they have become somewhat of a stage trademark, with me becoming well known for my feathery locks I am currently in the process of buying some dread extensions of funky colours, because I am a big fan of visual detail and want to add more colour... greens and what not to the the whole rustic kind of image. I get constant compliments about my hair now which is something that never happened before I grew my dreads.

To you beginner dready people at this point, I would say always persevere and try not to worry about the birds nest/flat locks stages because they really do go away in the end. Neatness, is not a norm to which one should aspire if one wishes to be a dread head

updated by @fay-brotherhood: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

they look awesome i miss wearing feathers in my dreads

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1