Forum Activity for @patience

Patience timeline - one year without brushing.

Member Journals and Timelines

Thank you April!

I've been really blown away by how fast everything keeps changing. It's slightly odd that one side is going so much faster than the other but I know it will catch up in the end. Also I'm a littleperturbedby how much shrinkage has already happened - and hoping I will have some length left at the end of this process...

April Brown said:

What a fantastic timeline! I'm slightly jealous as to how well your hair is naturally progressing If I could start mine over I would let it go natural. Your seem to be going perfectly!

Patience timeline - one year without brushing.

Member Journals and Timelines

I stopped brushing my hair on 18 January 2013. Here it is 2 days later as I didn't take a before photo

and by 10 days it was already getting enthusiastic and I had amazing tangling at the back...

lots and lots of separating needed as the whole back of my hair wanted to be one great felted mat. Here are some of the tangles at 17 days

When I took some photos in sunshine at 19 days I suddenly realised that I had beautiful hair - for the first time ever I was really happy with how it looked

by 1 month stuff was really happening

and I had about a dozen babies like these

and another dozen or so like this one

here's one from 7.5 weeks. I love feeling so much texture in there

and this is at 8 weeks, before separating, taken to show how much shrinkage is going on already. The patch of frizz in the dark bit here needs separating at least once a day...

Two months today!

From the start I was wondering about my very straight parting which didn't want to shift but in the last week or two it's been tentatively partying I've also decided to grow out my fringe and see if I like the whole lot dreaded - big step as I've always worn a fringe but I could always cut it again if I don't - so this photo is tracking the start of progress with fringe and parting

And a couple of photos comparing the uneven progress between each side - left

and right

So far I have no idea why the advice is to stop looking in the mirror - there's no way I'd want to miss a moment of this process - it's a wonderful amazing thing!

This morning as I separated I counted 80 sections which have anything from a tiny patch sticking together up to being a proper baby dread. Some are teeny and some that are shrinking seem quite fat in comparison but I'm happy to welcome all sizes - it'll be fun to see how they end up There's also still some loose hair underneath on the rightwondering what everyone else is up to and whether it ought to join in!

I haven't updated in ages so here's a photo from 16 weeks

And one from 5 months

It's now nearly 9 months since I stopped brushing my hair so probably time for a few more photos...

This is how I wear my hair when it needs to be vaguely tidy - and this is how long my fringe has got now. It's very annoying and I hope it will start dreading soon...

Just about a year now so time for an update

and an upside-down one

The bits that are growing out fringe are wrapped at the moment mainly because this winter has been so wet that I got fed up with constantly having a sheet of sodden hair plastering my glasses. There is some dreading starting above the wraps now which is a useful side-effect! I am still gob-smacked about the amount of shrinkage I've had so I'm hoping the next stage will be growth...

updated by @patience: 02/14/15 04:42:15AM

slow maturing... hair type?

General Questions

From the timelines I've seen I think the mad loopy thing you've got going on now is the bit right before they mature and start rounding out and some in the back on the last photo look as if they're getting pretty close in some parts :D

Hitting this stage at 11 months sounds pretty average as usually between 1 and 2 years is quoted for dreads that "look like dreads" to the untrained eye!

I only want a couple dreads!

General Talk

Not crazy at all. My original intention was to tnr a few dreads underneath at the back and keep the rest straight to hide them.

(...but then I started reading all the info on this site and looking at the amazing and beautiful photos on natural timelines and decided to let the whole lot do as it pleased...)

Whichever way you go enjoy your journey - and don't forget to show us some photos

Do I like them? I dont know

General Talk

I think they look lovely and over 100 seems like a great number - they'll look amazing when they mature. If I wasn't loving going natural I'd want tnr's just like yours lol

But as with what everyone else has said it's really down to what you think. It must be a bit strange to suddenly have different hair one day - if that's what you've been feeling then you could comb them and try going natural to see if that makes the difference. If not then looking far enough ahead to imagine how they'll mature is a very long time to contemplate. Perhaps give yourself a few more weeks - try not to worry about how they look - just take the time to feel them and get to know them and then decide if you love them and want them to stay. Try to let the choices take their own time - nothing needs to be decided now

Found my first 2 dreads!

Member Journals and Timelines

Yay congrats! Going natural is so much fun - now you've got the first ones something exciting will happen every day :D

Separating sucks...

Dread Maintenance

It is a bit of a pain isn't it! I separate every day at the moment as otherwise the two biggest frizz patches just swallow up the nearby baby dreads and if I leave it it's a struggle to rip them out again. I have to use a mirror because lots of the babies aren't well enough defined to feel yet - they're like loose hair but with an inch or two dreading a bit - and they're so fragile that if I pull loopy ones from the bottom it straightens out their loops - aaaaargh!!!!

I'm really looking forward to when I can separate less.

Thin natural dreads!

Help! Save My Dreads

I've heard that but when I tried to see how big the scalp sections were I found that a lot of them overlap with each other - ie hair to all different dreads is growing all mixed up in the same area. I'd imagine that's pretty normal if you let it section naturally - especially as a lot of mine started dreading by tangling near the ends - so it's difficult to say how big they really are. I think I shall just have to wait and see!

the Barrellady said:

Hi Patience. The mature dread will be as thick as where that section meets the scalp. The size of the scalp section will be the size the dread.

Patience said:

Lots of my natural sections are very thin too - like yours but much longer! I agree that to start with thinner is better as later on it will be much easier to get some to congo than it would be split mature dreads. I'm just going to see how thick mine get as they mature and then decide how I feel about the size.

Thin natural dreads!

Help! Save My Dreads

Lots of my natural sections are very thin too - like yours but much longer! I agree that to start with thinner is better as later on it will be much easier to get some to congo than it would be split mature dreads. I'm just going to see how thick mine get as they mature and then decide how I feel about the size.

Congo problems

Help! Save My Dreads

Just seen your reply. So sorry to hear that

I hope you've got a passable haircut now.and when (I'm guessing that's not if) you start dreading again just remember every dayto check if you need to separate anything. Good luck!