How long does it take?

I'm not asking impatiently, I'm honestly just asking. How long did it take for your dreads to look "good"?

I've had mine probably 3 months, I can't remember. I loved how they looked right after I did them. But since then washing them and normal wear, they look so much different. There's stray hairs and the ends are curly(I have naturally really curly hair). The way I did them was I backcombed the roots and twist and ripped the rest. Anyway, here's a few pictures...And just, yeah...how long does it take?

The day I did them:

How they look now.

updated by @madison: 02/14/15 08:05:20AM

Speaking from my experience, it takesmaybe a year to mature once they have formed. Just let them be and before long, a year will have passed...

they look great! its only been a few months so they are probly still loosening from everything you did so that they can soon tighten more naturally. how are you and how often do you wash them? have you tried using a sea salt spray yet?

Well.. They look exactly as they should look at this point. Maybe even a little better.

Mature locks take, on average, a year to form. I'd say they start looking neat around 8 months. But there are 1001 factors that go into how locks form. There's noway to tell when your's will look neater.

Check out the timeline forums to see others with curly hair. Look for Rache NattyDee: http://www.dreadlockssite.com/profile/RachelSmith

By forgetting how old they are, you are already on the right path. Don't think of yourself as that girl-with-locks. Just think of your self as yourself. And you just happen to have locks. The less you obsess over them, the faster time will go and the less you will mind how they look

I wash them once a week with baking soda and peppermint oil.

Haven't tried sea salt, what does it do?
Where can you even get sea salt lol

Castaway Jesus said:

they look great! its only been a few months so they are probly still loosening from everything you did so that they can soon tighten more naturally. how are you and how often do you wash them? have you tried using a sea salt spray yet?

exactly the less u pay attention to how long it takes the more it will seem like it took only weeks years from now u wont even remember a transition period in fact u may have trouble remembering a before dreads period it will seem like they just always were

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

i couldnt have said it better than how baba just put it.

Sea salt help tighten locks. it dries them out. You should only use it no more than 2 hours before you wash. You don't want it to sit very long.

You can buy it at any grocery store. But look at the ingredients. There is just about always an anti caking agent in salt. Potassium Ferrocyanide releases a toxic gas when exposed to a strong acid. ACV isn't very strong, but I'd avoid it if possible

Is there a link or anything on how to use the seat salt?