Hello, from me and my babydreads.

My journey:
Six years ago, I started making/wearing/selling synthetic dreads. I was a) not ready for the commitment of real dreads, and b) at fourteen, too young to be accepted for making such a decision by my parents.
I started my dread journey in March. I had heard all my life to just backcomb and use wax and keep them tightened, so that's what I did. Thankfully, about three days afterwards, I stumbled upon (I believe it was this site actually) a website that explained why you shouldn't use wax. I immediately went to my friend's sink, and washed my dreads three times with dish soap, and twice more the next day when I got home. Thankfully, it was early enough to get the wax out.
I have two small ones on the top layer of my hair, that I put in on April 13. The next friday, the 20th, I dreaded the bottom half of my hair. I'm only doing half because I rather like the way loose hair looks flowing into dreads, as well as to see how my hair dreads before I make a decision about doing my whole head.
I used the twist and rip method to form my dreads. I backcombed the roots because the knots from the ripping wouldn't go all the way up in my hair. I am currently using poly bands (loosely! only wrapped four times.) to keep them separated, because they were migrating and it was easier than pulling them apart constantly.
I decided to get dreads because I've always loved the way they look and feel, the personality in the way they each take their own unique shape, and all the cool decorations you can easily do with dreads that are not so easy in loose hair. I'm also a very cultural person, as I'm a Russian/Native American mix, and for that reason I lead a rather alternative lifestyle. I'm a LaVeyan Satanist who believes in peace, ATWA is how I live my life.

Maintenance/Washing:
As of now, they're a couple of days over three weeks old, so they're mostly loose and the bottom half of most of them are undone. The majority of the top half of them are locking up though, so I'm sure the rest will follow in soon. The two on top are locking up nicely, and haven't come undone at all aside from the tips.
I'm not doing any maintenance or anything aside from tightening the tips every now and then on the top ones. I generally wash them once a week - on Fridays - unless I work out harder and feel that they need washing that particular day.

Me:
My name's Niya (knee-uh) Haven. I'm a 20 year old, living in Lancaster, SC, USA.
I've been dancing for 17 years (ballet is my speciality), I gogo dance for Pop-Scar Industries/the band Astrid Haven. I'm a semi-retired alternative model, and an aspiring Forensic Scientist/Criminologist.
I am a lover of The Used and Charles Manson (I promise, he's not who you think he is.). I spend my days reading (Chuck Palahniuk, A.M. Homes, Dickinson, Poe, Shakespeare, Capote, and lots of philosophers) and with my pets. My girlfriend and I share two lovely dogs, Manson (American Bulldog) and Ringo (Boxer), and I also have an amazing cat, Arshes-Nei. My best friend is 450 miles away, in Baltimore, MD. (Go to Mustang Inn and tip her!)
I have 10 tattoos, and 12 piercings (If interested, inquire).

That's probably more than you care to know, but I figured I'd go ahead and get it all out there.
Happy dreading!
xo

updated by @niya-amity-haven: 01/13/15 09:26:02PM

welcome klet me give y some tips 1st tips leave em alone dont retighten them your only setting back progress when u do

bands lose em being tight is only 1 of a dozen problems the more severe issues =can andwill happen no matter how loose

just lert the loose hair dread itself

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Welcome. I hope you did get all the wax out. Wax isn't easy to remove. It might feel like it's all out on the out on the outside, but there could still be some left on the inside.

They don't have to be, and shouldn't be, tightend all the way to your scalp. There should be some looseness at the roots to allow movement. Otherwise the end up sticking out at all sort of crazy angles. Plus they end up locking better if they can move around more.

It is better to wash more in the beginning. Once a week is fine for more mature locks, but when they are babies, you could wash 2-3 times a week. Clean locks and scalp are always better. I'm a dirty hippie, and hate to shower, but for my locks sake I make sure to wash them often.

Ok, now to the important stuff... Take the bands out. rubber bands end up getting sucked into your locks if you don't pay really really close attention to them, and once they are in there, they can rot and cause all sorts of trouble. Bands also cause kinks and weak points in your locks that don't fix themselves very easily, if ever. So bands are just a bad call. I know it is tempting, but all you have to do to keep them apart is to pull them away from each other periodically. Most people find once or twice a week to be enough.

Good choice of books. I'm not a hugeShakespeare fan, but he;s got a few plays I like. Palahniuk is great. I'm more of a Vonnegut fan, myself. But to each their own.

I'd love to know what and where you've got pierced and tatted. I took all of piercings, out, but have recently become more and more in love with tats. Just finished my back piece a few months ago.

hey guys, thanks for the tips.
most of the bands broke after a few days, and like i said,i only used them to stop the migrating because they were moving to places that were very uncomfortable on my head. they're fine now though.
also, my hair at the roots is different than the rest of my hair, as i frequently change my colour - the knots would stop an inch or more down, so i backcombed a little just to get them to start higher up. mostly to prevent catching the hair with my nails.
i've been washing them a bit more frequently because i work out every day, and even on days i don't wash them directly, they still get rinsed by the shampoo from my loose hair so they stay clean.

piercings:
current:
6x lobes - 1/2", 12g, 12g.
16g lip, 16g septum, 14-12g tongue, 14g navel, 16-14g nipples.
retired:
14g bottom/side navel, 16g nostril, 18g lobes, 16g lip (had spiderbites).
tattoos (chronological order):
V for Vendetta symbol - right wrist.
star - left wrist.
The Used tribute (Wake The Dead + bats + In Love And Death heart) - left side, ribs to hipbone.
nailed-in ballet ribbons - right foot.
spiderweb - left ankle.
rainbow crescent moon + heart chakra - left calf.
ankh + aquarian waves - back of neck.
heart - left pinky finger.
Snow Patrol lyric ("I need your grace to remind me to find my own" ; got it with my best friend) - right arm.
stars - left ear.

I will soon be adding a line of music wrapping around my right thigh in memory of my friend Trey, and a quote by Bert McCracken with his signature along my right shoulder.

Vonnegut is quite good.