My TnR timeline - update at 25 months

Thanks Yes, I didn't know how much they normally shrink, but who cares I mean, of course we all want super long super gorgeous dreads, but I'm trying to learn to be patient (never too old, I hope ). How long was your hair before dreading?

Vates said:

Your dreads are progressing wonderfully its crazy how much they shrink makin me feel like its going to be years before mine get to my sholders lol

updated by @sissemor: 07/22/15 06:33:19AM

These are super amazing! Your progress is pretty astounding... can't believe it's only been 6 weeks! Congrats on your little dreadies, they are looking great.

Wow great progress! :-D I can't believe how much the locked up...though some of your shark sooo much, its got me scared :-S

Thanks Yes I know, but not all hair shrinks this much, right? It must be because they are getting rather fat. Had to buy a new bike helmet today, just can't get my head into the old one anymore...

Shrinkage is a great sign, and yours are maturing sooo fast! Great dreads!

It's been a while since my last post and my dreads are now a) almost mature, and b) short! :-D Pictures first:

Remember, I started out with mid back length hair and now it's about 6", so I think the shrinkage is about 75-80 %. At 5 mo I calculated that if the shrinkage would stay at this percentage as my hair grows, I would have beautiful waist length dreads in 8 years, when I'm 46 But of course it won't keep shrinking 75%, I know.

A few months ago I got a little tired of waiting for the tips to work their way in - most of them were 2" with 10 hairs - so I cut them. It's probably against the rules, I know But I loved the results. Also, some of the thicker tips were a little bit of a concern. Many of my dreads are very lumpy at the bottom, where they looped up on themselves because of TnR, I think, and much thinner where they dreaded as the hair has grown. In fact, a few of them were so big they were uncomfortable to sleep on - one was a ball 1" in diameter, right at the back of my head - so I cut these above the uncomfortable lumps. This means a few of them are very short, but I don't care

I LOVE my dreads They are so ME! I can't explain it better, it just feels more like me than my old straight Scandinavian hair ever did, no matter what fun things I tried to do with it.

Thanks Yes, I can still tie them back, and I also use headbands a lot. But I have to say I'm looking forward to doing spectacular updo's with long dreads

Yours is probably not completely done shrinking But actually I think most of my shrinkage happened before 4 mo, so perhaps it won't be long!

Wow! They shrunk a lot. They look amazing and you look beautiful!

i LOVE your dreads! i can't wait until mine shrink up. really beautiful:)

Thanks Yup, they really are very short now But it's okay, because now I have dreads! :-D So the journey will not be about getting to the point where they knot, but about getting to the point where they are long And that's okay.

Well, I washed VERY often at first, because I have psoriasis and had to wash every day to keep it under control. But as soon as they started knotting I was a little worried about mold if they didn't have time to dry between washings, so I washed every two days for a while. Now I can go 3 days between washing, and only do bs+sea salt/vinegar washes. Before I used a homemade shampoo.