A Hello!

Oh my, what a beauty!😍

Hey Harley, welcome on here! Starting the journey with short hair is not bad at all, it takes a little longer, but on the other hand you don't lose

much length and separating might be a bit easier in the early messy stages of natural dreading. I'm happy that i have started my journey with short hair!

we had a bunch that started from shaved heads

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I am unsure if I want to separate the hair at all, honestly. I like the idea of free form, but I worry about extreme matted clumps. I probably will ahaha.

I have very long hair and it made me afraid of freeforming. I imagined it all knotting in the middle and me being unable to separate it and ending up with a giant beaver tail.🙈 I separated sections and did twist and rip. It's a lot of separating after showers, but I'm happy with how it's coming along.

I don't have any freeforming experience, but I think I would have been willing to freeform if my hair wasn't so long. Seems to me like shorter hair would be easier to separate and manage. I think your shorter hair definitely works to your advantage in this scenario.😊

freeform vs organic freeforms not separated organic is also called semi freeform

I didn't separate 1st set I had 2 horns on yop (along with a long fu Manchu stash) and a neckpillow/beavertain in the back

I loved em I missed em when cut but glad I separated this time for 1st 18 years

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

you can make that decision later on when parts start to knot together. Personally i like fat dreads, i separate just a bit after every wash and allow small dreads to combine. My hair needs 5-6 hours to airdry at the moment, so i keep on separating to avoid getting giant locks and a tremendous increase of drytime. 

Hmm, alright. I miss my long hair, I can't even begin to deny that haha, but I don't think I would have ever made the decision to grow dreads if I didn't chop it all off. I will probably do the semi freeform that soaring-eagle has suggested. I don't mind fat dreads, but I wouldn't want them to clump to a point where it was obnoxious to take care of them.

Also, another question I have, but has anyone here tried Lush products? I am making the switch to everything that is vegan and I wonder if Lush can achieve the same results that the recommended products here can, in terms of dread care. 

many contain sls so should be avoided

the presdent wrote 1 of our members sying tec nicely no lush products are  guaranteed dread safe

some of the more minimalistic ones are used without issues

none will speed dreading the wy dredlockshampoo liquid will

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I can't speak for Lush. I do highly recommend products from https://dreadlockshampoo.com/shop/. Their liquid shampoo is great for freeforming.😊