I started with an attempt at twist and rip method about a month and a half ago and since have decided to start over (especially since i used wax.) I have since let my hair grow another 3 or 4 inches and have now decided to just not comb it and let my hair do its own thing. However i am still fairly new to the world of dreads and am not quite sure what to expect. Any advice or words of wisdom would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
in a lil while it will start to section get lil messy in a beautiful organic way then dreads will form probly start on the side u sleep on most 1st
they will look wild and feral a bit get loopy they can change day to day abnnd always sur[rise you
eventualy they grow up and stop changing so much so quickly they suck in most of the loops but they still look more organic abd alive
and even afterdecades theyre always changing and u find new things u love all the time
Should i wash my hair less or just keep living my normal life and wait for them to do their own thing?
Welcome and congrats. You'll love it.
So, you will be expecting in the first few weeks to see them start to really section themselves off. They won't be forming mature locks yet, but they will start to show you where the sections will be forming.
They will start to tangle a bit, and then will probably untangle again. Then they;ll tangle again and then untangle. This happens. It's forward progress. Everytime they come undone, they are really just finding their own way, and positioning themselves where they feel most natural and comfortable on your head.
When they really start coming together, you will be seeing some serious shrinkage, probably. Many people notice that they lose between 1/3 and 1/2 their original length. At this point, you will be sing bumps and loops and stray hairs everywhere. It's a good thing. Loops and bumps mean that your hair is starting to catch on itself and form knots. Let them be. Just wash and separate as needed. Try to not let them form any huge locks that might get painful later on.
The 4th months tends to be the messiest stage. So when you are around there, and start feeling despair because they are not coming along as you thought, just keep going. Soon after that, you will see some dramatic changes and tightening of your locks.
Check out the timeline pages and see what others are going through. Valerie is still in her forming stages, I believe. She's got some great pics of them. And Heather has awesome pics of the loops in her locks
How often do you wash now, and with what? When they are forming, you want to wash more often than when they are mature. 2-3 times a week is great for baby locks. When mature, you can lower it to 1-2 times a week
wash as u want to not every day is best cause once dreaded theydry slowly
wash with a good dread soap like www.dreadlocksmpoo.com liquid and only scrub the scalp then rince thru the hair or better yet at 1st use the baking soda recipe (both will work fine) which is a no touch method of cleanning just a soak
after give it a sg=ake and let it air/sun dry
lil sea salt now and then can help too
this is a good thread ti read for what o expect
http://www.dreadlockssite.com/forum/topics/the-beauty-of-the-early-messy-stage-of-natural-neglect-dreadlocks#.UCBAEaMkiSo
I can do the baking soda wash from here out, i usually use just basic shampoo with no conditioner or anything special, the kind that would usually dry your head out if used in long periods :P. i'll start cutting back to a few times a week and in between washes just rinse my head, as it gets very hot here and avoiding sweating is just not possible. Since it's only day 4 of no brushing not much has happened so i don't have much to lose.
What have you been using so far? Most normal shampoos leave a residue that might need to be removed
Suave shampoo, i'll probably switch to baking soda washes next time i wash my hair.
