Need honest opinions and help asap

I am 17 with thick ,little longer then shoulder length hair,considering dreadlocks,I already decided on going to the salon then maintaining them myself(i'm going to a salon thats with knotty boy)they have great reviews,small place with honest and kind staff who are educated about dreads(I was to nervous to ask them these questions,social anxiety etc). I know a lot of people here are against going to the salon,I know the risks,costs, horror stories etc,but it's how i'm going to start them.So my concerns are;

1.) will I look okay with dreadlocks? Seriously,im a fat kid,not extremely fat or anything but bigger than your average girl,I got pudgy cheeks man .__. I was told by some stylist that I should always get a haircut that frames my face,have any of you seen a bigger person with dreads,how did it look?

2.)how long will the scalp show after you get them?

3.)How long till they look good and not springy(done tightly at a salon but not to tight)

4.)best natural products for them such as shampoo (hopefully something suited for oily hair,I have seriously bad oily hair) etc

5.)any recommended face framing styles?

6.)how to deal with the discrimination I will surely face with them(I live in a small town and I have never seen anyone with dreadlocks in all my 17 years here,a lot of people here are closed minded and old fashioned)

I know this may seem like im getting them only for the look but I have my personal reasons for perusing and wanting them.Do any of you have dreads that frame your face? Any of you have your dreads parted at the side? Il put up pics of my hair currently if anyone decides to answer and wishes to see my pudgy face,also,id love to see pics of dreads that frame face,with fringe etc. Thanks for reading

updated by @autumn-young: 02/15/15 05:45:27AM

Hi not to come off as rude, but why would you want to go to a salon when you've heard the horror stories? I mean, it truly is a waste of money because you can start them by yourself. Not only that, but the only way dreadlocks will ever look perfectly neat is if you spend a lot of time and money on forcing them to be neat, which is bad for your hair. If you want them for cosmetic reasons then fair enough, but they won't look good when they're thinning or snapping off or etc. Again, sorry if it comes off as rude, it's just good to make sure someone knows what will happen when they go down such a route.

I can't really aswer your questions, to be honest, except do what will make you happy. There are lots of bigger people with dreads, and to me, dreadlocks make someone look even more beautiful than they already are. But to others, they think the complete opposite. So, if YOU think you'll look good with dreads, go for it. More importantly, if you go on a slower, less immediate route (eg natural or twist and rip or backcombing with no products), you'll learn to develop more patience and confidence. I have massive social anxiety issues and was always self-conscious because of how I look. Now I walk around the shops with my ridiculously messy hair (I mean, serious bird's nest kind of thing lol) and feel fine about it. So no-one here can answer that question for you, but I think if you gave it a chance as a journey rather than a hairstyle, it'll give you that confidence in how you look, how they suit you, etc.

As for the discrimination...just know that narrow-minded people aren't worth feeling upset over. Some people are ignorant, so you can educate them and help change their misinformed opinion. To the other ones that are hateful idiots, just laugh at their idiocy and hold your head up high knowing that you don't need to conform to society's standards to be yourself. Best advice I can give, really.

Oh yeah, and the scalp question. Well, if you want to keep them perfectly neat and have no stray hairs, you'll probably always have some scalp showing. But if you let the loose hairs chill, they'll start to cover the parts of the scalp where the sectioning is.

And also, there's a shampoo at dreadlockshampoo.com which is completely natural and has fantastic reviews. I'd get it myself but I don't live in the US, too expensive. Also, slowly start to decrease the amount of times you wash your hair until you get down to two or three times a week, and that might help with the oiliness.

Dreads are the best look for everyone because that is the natural state of hair on a human. I bet you've never seen a bird, and thought, "well, those feathers just don't suit her". But, if you are forcing a look, who knows, my honest opinion is be careful of the salon, start your dreads, sure, but don't listen to them regarding maintenance, don't let them put wax or gels in there, they will make you feel like you don't know what you are talking about, but be firm. I think if you research properly, as much as you can, you will probably change your mind. I hope it all works out for you.

peace and blessing

tim

stay the hell away from the salon that ids the worse mistake u can make and you will regret it guaranteed

1 everyone looks great in dreads

2 if u dont get them it wont let them dread instead

3 crochet dreads will take a year or more to lose the harsh crochet look natural or tn4r look good every step of the way

4 www.dreadlockshampoo.com but 1st baking soda no acv a week or 2 to corect the oiliness

5 just let em flow where they want to fgo stop listening to hairdressers and listen to the hair itself

6 pay no attention to it dreads make u stronger to not be affected by it

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

thanks everyone that's answered,its nice to get advice from people who are competent,I have been saving money up for a while to go get dreads done at a salon but I guess I can use that money now for hats and shampoos etc c: now I just need to find a few friends willing to learn how to back comb and help me start my dreads,I'm going to Job corps to learn nursing and I don't feel the natural look would be suited for my career choice,once i'm out il just stop the maintenance and let em go

You'd be able to tie them back (loosely) for when they're looking messy. Backcombed dreads will look just as messy during that stage, you know. I started mine via backcombing, and basically, I looked like a palm tree for a few days, then they loosened (which is normal and part of the process) and started dreading like natural dreads. So you still go through that phase, you can't really avoid it if you want truly dreaded dreads. As opposed to, like I said, perfectly maintained, perfectly neat dreads that end up with you losing a lot of your hair and dreads because of the level of maintanence and damage involved.

You could always ask someone about dreads in your career choice, but I think tied back it'd look absolutely fine, because all of the loose hairs and dreading sections will be tied back, so it'd look low-key

use tw=ist n rip not backcomb natural dreads are the only dreads guaranr=teed by law to be accepted in any job becouse dreading for spiritual or religios reasons (your only legal deffence) requires you to go natural therefor no job can require maintenancde

but if u tnr u can do it youeself easily

but do no maintenance after

Autumn young said:

thanks everyone that's answered,its nice to get advice from people who are competent,I have been saving money up for a while to go get dreads done at a salon but I guess I can use that money now for hats and shampoos etc c: now I just need to find a few friends willing to learn how to back comb and help me start my dreads,I'm going to Job corps to learn nursing and I don't feel the natural look would be suited for my career choice,once i'm out il just stop the maintenance and let em go

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Hey there! I've seen people who are overweight rock the dreadlocks. I had concerns about it too, since I'm rather large for my shorty body. This is going to sound very cliche, but it really is just about getting into the right frame of mind. Now, that's easier said than done!

I have a mohawk and I'm starting the journey to naturally dread. A dreaded mohawk on a 5' 2" girl that weighs almost 300lbs, a lot of people would think I need to get a better hair style, something that hides my double chin, etc. but it's really about what you want.

We all have the chance to really live our lives to the fullest and do what we love. It's not easy, but once you adapt that frame of mind, things get easier from there. I wish you the best of luck and hope that whatever you decide turns out amazing for you.

If anything dreads balance out a bigger sized person, i think the worst thing for abigger person to do is have a short hair cut, really i find the dreads make me not look like a pea head when i'm over weight, ( i can imagine your now giggling)! Being an X hairdresser i know the only reason hairdresser say your should 'frame' your face is too balance out the ratio of hair/face look, but dreads naturally balance out the amount of hair to the size of ones face. Honestly just go with your gut feeling, it never leads you to the wrong path.