New girl here.11 months-ish. Need some advice.

I can't believe i didn't find this place sooner! Over nearly the past year, I've been looking all over the internet at timelines and what not for inspiration. The thing that bugs me the most is that on my timeline, I'm never even remotely close to looking as awesome as others. My dreads seem to look more like shirley temple curls that haven't been brushed in a month than they do dreadlocks. It's just a loopy, curly, frizzy, poofy mess, and at almost a year! Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of days where I am absolutely in love with them, but those are far a few in between as of lately.Just a background: I actually dreaded for the first time a little over a year ago. My hair tended to do it naturally, and I love the way it looks, absolutely beautiful, so I went with it. I originally backcombed, but they fell out after a couple of weeks. So I ended up just letting them do their own thing naturally. No wax, no rubbers. I pretty much just wash (sometimes I salt soak every couple months to get them real fresh feeling), and every couple months I might have a couple of them try to join together, and I rip them back apart. They're already pretty big, don't want them getting any bigger. xDI also have probably 2 or 3 little braids in there, too. I always thought that was pretty.Basically, I've had a hard time dealing with them lately. I've been very patient, through the good times and the bad. Problem is, everyone keeps saying "You're almost there! Just 2 or 3 more months!". I've been hearing this since month 2 though. LOL!What I'd like to know is whether or not the way they look is normal for their age. I've also had a TON of growth since I started. I started them off at only 3 or 4 inches worth of hair, and they've grown what would be equivalent to shoulder length undreaded, if I account for the shrinkage.So, I've got a few pics posted here. A couple full front pics, and some close ups of what I'm describing with the whole curly, loopy thing. Every dread looks like that in some fashion or another. I've also got a bunch of flat guys in the back, I'm guessing from the fact that I always sleep on my back, and I never roll or twist them into shape.I'd like to keep them natural, if I can. I just don't know if they will get any better without "maintenance".

updated by @mandy2: 02/14/15 09:11:07AM

well in my opinion they look great, dont worry so much about the time..everyones hair tends to maturely dread at different lengths of time...i remember seeing this 1 guy on youtube who did dread updates and it took him around 30 months to mature but he had some great lookin locks, he did no maintence except wash...but anyway you just have to be patient and they will come on their own time...Bless*

Thanks.I really just needed to know that it was normal at that stage. I know three people with dreads and they're all between 5-12 years of maturity so I don't have anyone to look at that isn't already amazing.I try not to be picky with them. I actually consider myself a lot less picky than may people I have met. It's just hard when all the pictures you see that are around 1 year and you're just like Wow! Why don't mine look like that yet?

i think they look really cool! i don't think they look 11 months old, maybe 7 or 8? but does that matter really? i don't think they look abnormal or weird at all and i really love the texture of them.

hmn yea i know what ya mean, im glad to have helped in some way...im only in my 4th month so i have a loooong way to go but when i comes to naturally letting you hair dread its all about letting go and enjoying the journey as it happens = )

I honestly think that if it weren't for the area I live in now, I wouldn't have even noticed, or been bothered by it.I moved to a pretty conservative part of town several months ago, and I'm constantly getting asked about my hair. Every so often I will get a compliment on the dreads, but it's usually somewhere along the lines of "What did you do to your hair?" When I respond telling the person that I'm letting my hair dread, the reply is usually somewhere along the lines of "Oh! I would have never guessed those were dreadlocks! When I see them on African Americans, they don't look like that..."le sigh....

i would definitely know they were dreads!

You have dreadlocks. As Owen stated everyone's hair turns into mature dreadlocks at different lengths of time. The thing you may need to remember is the fact that a dreadlock is section of hair that is matted and knotted.

I am very well aware of what a dreadlock is lol.I guess then I should have rephrased my question as "When will my dreadlocks mature?"It's mostly just the fact that the only information I have on dreadlocks at this stage is from the internet, and most of that information is from people who actually "made" or "maintain" their locks rather than just letting the hair do it's own thing. So unfortunately my idea of what my locks might look like at this point is kinda skewed. Like I said, I know a couple of people who have very mature dreads, but they've all pretty much told me they don't even remember that far back lol...I just didn't know if there was something I should be doing to them other than what my normal routine is. But I'm happy to know now that it isn't the case.

I agree! 'Normal' is a setting on an appliance! xDSeriously though, all dreads are going to be pretty unique in how they develop, be it how many loops you get to how long it takes them to mature. For a long time I was under the impression that after a year, your dreads magically become perfect and all is right with the world... but this is far from the truth! I'm at about 14.5 months now, and while my dreads are pretty mature, they still have a long way to go! At least they've mostly stabilized and now are just trying to gain some length... then again, there's no telling when another dread might twist or split...it's always an adventure! Just give them love, and know that you and your dreads are perfect and just as they should be right now.

Knottysleeves said:

Welcome! I think your dreads look GREAT, they really suit you. That length is adorable.

There's really no "normal" with dreads. Some people's hair knots up fast, others take a long time. I think yours are still loopy because your hair was so short when they were started... loops are basically knots that are in the process of forming, and your hair probably just wasn't long enough to form big weavy tangles at first, so they got stuck in the loopy stage and are just staying there awhile.