Im at one month with my dreads, so I thought Id say hi now that Im established a bit!
Im Kelsey, Im 26 and live in Iowa. I teach health food classes and also do freelance photography. I'm hoping to go back to school to get my Masters in Public Health.
So on to the dreadies--its been a good journey so far. It is liberating to not have to comb my hair!
Like most of you I had wanted dreads for a while. I got an OK from my employer in August of last year, but was still waiting, still researching. Wasnt quite ready to take the plunge. I finally started my dreads on December 30th, 2011. A friend of mine passed away earlier that month, and I decided I didnt want to wait any longer to do things I want to do. Im tired of worrying about what everyone else thinks. I really couldnt care less if I look kinda homeless for a bit. :P
I did twist and rip, and of course most of them loosened up a ton. They were still in sections, but barely, so I put some beads in to help them stay where they should. That seemed to help me. Otherwise Ive pretty much left them alone other than separating. I wash em every 2-3 days with either Dr. Bronners peppermint or the BS/ACV combo, whatever I feel like at the time. I am really embracing the messy, wild look and Im really enjoying watching my hair do its thing.
The only issue Ive had so far is it seems like Ill accidentally skip a day or even just an area of separating, and then I discover a really well formed congo back there. This has happened twice now, and both seemed way more mature/knottier than the other dreads. So Ive split two dreads so far, just because the root base was 2-3. Im trying not to be OCD with the sections, but I would rather separate them now and have to start over a little bit with them than have more trouble with them later on. It makes me laugh that they sneak up on me like that. Surprise!
Thank you all for the info, photos, and experiences on here. I love seeing everyones progress and pictures. Im curious to see how drastically my hair will shrink. I kinda hope it shrinks a ton. My work is requiring me to wear it tied back at all timessoooo itd be kinda funny if I couldnt tie it back anymore. :]
Ive attached a pic of my hair at 3 weeks. l'll try to upload more pictures when I can, but it's not too often I'm on my computer anymore. :]
updated by @kelsey-cliche: 01/13/15 09:18:13PM