Hello everyone! :)

Hai guys!

I am a newbie to the forums and just wanted to say hello and THANK YOU to all of you, without you I would have screwed up bigtime without a doubt - and would probably be both poor and dreadless by now!

My name is Fimbul, and I have literally just started my dread journey after years and years of synthetic horribleness, admiring the locks of others and ultimately chickening out every 5 minutes! I am so so proud of my little baby dreads, and I am loving every second of my journey!

I began 5 days ago, washing my hair with Green people's rosemary non-residue shampoo. I should mention that I am one of the lucky souls of the world who is allergic to soy, and it's in absolutely everything, so I have been using Green people products for nearly a year now, all organic and lovely.

I started to dread my bangs using the twist and rip method. Then, the next morning, when they had all fallen out (ha!) I decided to approach the whole thing differently. My hair is just past chin length naturally, and is natually wavy but the short length means that it hasn't formed into it's kinks yet - so it's quite straight and smooth.

Gradually, each day (while at work!) I worked each section gently with my fingers, almost like backcombing but without the brutality, and began slowly twisting and ripping each bit, one at a time. I now have 14 beautiful little babies, without any wax, elastic bands or other nasties - and I am so excited! What's more, THEY HAVE STAYED PUT!

For the first few days I used a spray twice daily, which I made up from sea salt flakes, water and lemon juice - but gradually my hair started to dry up, so I got creative and made my own spray out of green tea with lemon tea bags, water, and tea tree oil - and I can honestly say its AMAZING! My frizzy roots have tightened up so much and I look a lot less like i've gone through a hedge backwards. I know I am a total noob, but I'd recommend it to other noobs like me

I have yet to wash them, but I can't wait to see what that does too! I am planning on using the good ol' baking soda/ACV wash in a few days, when I feel that they have reached a suitably icky level.

Here is a photo of me so far, taken on day 3! Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated!

x

updated by @fimbul: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

Thank you Britany! Yeah, I did make up a spray with sea salt and lemon juice, but I was worried they would get too dry so I've started using a green tea and tea tree spray instead. The green tea bags have lemon in them too apparently, but not nearly as much.

You're off to a good start! I don't have anything to add...Welcome!! Enjoy the journey.

They're looking great. I see that you have 14 locks. Is all of your hair in sections? 14 will lead to some pretty massive locks. That's just fine if you want fat ones. They are a bit harder to take care of, though. I can help you out with that. I think I have about 17. Once they thicken up, fat locks take much longer to dry. I can give you some pointers on how to help speed up that time.

You'd have to ask Eagle, but the lemon in the tea bags should be better. Tea bags use lemon rinds, not the fruity part. There is still citric acid, but it's much more diluted with the water and the other ingredients.

I'm glad Brit mentioned it. Sea salt shouldn't stay in your hair for more than 2 hours max. It dries out your hair and can over dry your scalp causing it to flake and itch. It's great stuff to help locks progress, but needs to be washed out

Hi Baba,

Thank you for your response! I have only dreaded the front part of my hair so far, gathering a troop of helpers to help with the back!

I have stopped using the sea salt and lemon spray altogether now, will only use it when I can wash it out, thank you for the advice! I was not aware that the salt needs to be got rid of!

looks like a good start i know others probly covered why not to use lemon so ill just add that u shouldnt wait to wash at day 3 is fine day 5 whenever but they dont have to be icky..

they look good on u

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thank you SE! You're posts have been such a great help to me

soaring eagle said:

looks like a good start i know others probly covered why not to use lemon so ill just add that u shouldnt wait to wash at day 3 is fine day 5 whenever but they dont have to be icky..

they look good on u