Hello! Newbie dreadhead

Hello, everyone! I'm Elle, and after years (literally, years) of wanting dreads I'm finally starting my journey. Originally I was going to backcomb (I have one backcombed dread that I've had for awhile now), I realized that I much prefer "neglect method" dreads, so two or so weeks ago I stopped brushing my hair.

I'm going to ramble a bit now, okay?

It's not reallynoticeable, but I have a few dreads forming in the back (which I ended upseparatingtoday for the first time, so I'm a bit nervous about that because I feel like I undid all the baby dreads by accident). The rest of my hair seems to be taking its dear sweet time, although I can see a subtle difference in parts of it. I am worried I wash it too much, but I work out a couple hours a day and sweat WAY TOO MUCH not to wash it every other day. Also, since I plan on keeping my bangs brushable, I R&T'd three dreads next to my bangs because I kept accidentally brushing them. It's interesting how things will go for all my different dreads since I officially have backcombed, R&T and now neglect dreads forming!

It's been hard for me to accept messy hair, I have to admit. And my mother keeps giving me these looks (I'm twenty-two, but we live together due to health problems on both of our parts). I've taken to wearing headscarves around her because of it. I'm also meeting my boyfriend's family for the first time this weekend and I have no idea what to do with my hair! I feel like it's one thing if I had fully-formed dreads, but transitional newb dreads are another thing entirely. I suppose I might headscarf if there, too.

I'm going to shush now, but: hello!

updated by @elle-faerydae: 01/13/15 09:08:58PM

Hi and Welcome!!! try to keep your hair free as much as possible so it knots up. Washing is good every 2-3 days try. What you wash with is important, I use Suave clarifying shampoo diluted approx 1/4 shampoo to 3/4 water (just mix in an old shampoo bottle) It's cheap and works great for me. Others use BS and ACV, but I haven't done that yet...I don't think I will. You can use sea salt spray to get it knottier (like 1/4 tsp to 16 oz water). For meeting the parents, a pretty headband would be great'] Have fun and God Bless your journey']

if you want you can put a lil aloe in your hair to calm it down a bit if you want to just leave them down. I use aloe a lot for event and school. If you do use the sea salt be sure not to leave it in to long bcuz it can make your hair feel all nasty and gritty after a while, when i used sea salt i would put it in a few hours then rise my hair out and be good to go. to get my hair to knot up i would go in the sun while it was still a lil damp and let the sun dry it and just let it do it's thing.

using aloe will slow progress however its recomended only when u rally need it like a wedding

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Hi, Elle!

I'm roughly1-2 weeks into my journey, too, so we can be dreadbuddies together

Yeah, I'm not planning on putting anything in my hair like aloe, and I don't like doing things that contain it. When I wear a headscarf it's generally very loosely tied and doesn't really stop my hair from moving, it just covers the messiest parts.@Steven: Yay! Dreadbuddies, I like it. How are your dreads coming along?

They're good so far. I have two babies forming in the back of my head , but my hair is only about 10 inches at the top, and probably shorter than that at the back so the dreads are gonna be really small most likely. How are yours?

I have about three at the back of head. The sides have no interest in starting to dread yet, haha. Mostly my hair is just getting frizzy and messy looking.

Hey Dread!!! I'm about 3 months into my journey and boy it's a rough transition. I'm used to getting my hair cut every two weeks so the messy hair is no the easiest to accept. Parent's acceptance, your own and your boyfriend's, is going to be even harder to gain. My girlfriend's parents haven't seen me since I dreaded, but if my mom's reaction is of any indication they'll hate it. So headscarves and definitely tams are your best friend. Hopefully that was of some help. Let me know if I can help you with the very little that I do know. Happy Dreadings!!!!