Forum Activity for @cody-harder

Natural/Neglect Dreadlocks Timeline, Fine and Wavy Hair

Member Journals and Timelines

It'll be a bit before I have photos ready for this, hold yer britches LOL

Natural/Neglect Dreadlocks Timeline, Fine and Wavy Hair

Member Journals and Timelines

Hello, folks of the dready internet. I've been off the comb for just over a month now. Been taking pictures of my progress at about weekly intervals. I must admit it has been a fun, exciting, and rewarding process for me so far. I honestly didn't expect to see so many changes in my hair in a month's time.

Here is me after one day of no combing, before my first shower of my nappy no-comb natties.

Later that same day, after showering. I was using Dr. Bronner's tea tree liquid soap diluted 1:12 with water in the initial weeks.

4 days in. I'm excited about every little change! LOL

Day 6 even... I'm also paying too much attention to my hair at this point. It was at this point that I started to suspect that the Bronner's soap I was using was not rinsing out with my water.

2 weeks. I finally switched from Bronner's to the baking soda and acv rinse. A lot of the "progress" that I had seen with the Bronner's came out very quickly, I suspect due to residue build up from that soap. My hair does not feel tacky to the touch anymore.

3 weeks. At this point, after numerous goes at the baking soda and apple cider vinegar rinse, my scalp was in rebellion: dandruff, itchy, bumps, sore, ugh. I finally gave in and decided to use Vicki's Just 4 Dreads soap from now on. This was a good choice!

I had also put on about 12 small wooden beads in the previous week. By this point there were still a few left, but most of them had just fallen out.

Here's an example of the sectioning going at 3.5 weeks. This is just shortly after washing.

1 month. Wow, time flies. At this point, I am simultaneously less worried about what my hair is doing as well as fascinated with the amount of change that's taken place in this seemingly short amount of time. I notice that the most visible progress or change is noticeable some days after washing, and then with each washing the progress seems to come undone briefly, but then changes more noticeably before the next wash etc. etc.

At this point there's not any noticeable knots or looping, but my sections continue to become more distinct. Some of the roots of my sections were getting very friendly with each other, and I found myself pulling a couple awkwardly attached sections apart.

Here's before doing a lil separating

And here's after

This is an example of the sections that are going on all over my head. No noticeable knots, just hangin out.

2 months 10 days! Hello all, here's an update at last. I've been through a number of things since my last update that may or may not have anything to do with where my hair is now. I did a 10-day meditation retreat and have gone camping and have been generally enjoying a lazy sunny summer. Overall, I would say there's not much visible difference between this update and the last. Even knots that I can feel one day might disappear the next. Things seem very impermanent and in flux at this point.

When I was gone for the retreat, I decided to use one of the shampoo bars I got from dreadlockshampoo.com so that I had something for hair and body in one bar. For various reasons, I developed a significant residue problem after the very first time of using it and continued to have this problem during the whole time I used it. After three weeks of using the bar, I switched back to the liquid soap from the same website. The residue has decreased quite a lot since then, but I'm still dealing with some stickiness, though not nearly as bad as while using the bar.

Well, folks, there it is. I suppose I'll see ya around the three month mark. Be patient and persistent, and you are bound to be successful.

updated by @cody-harder: 02/14/15 06:07:49AM

Introducing myself!

Introduce Yourself

Awesome! Thanks for sharing /your/ words of wisdom.

It's funny that I read this, cuz I've only been going neglect for a month and I've just been trying not to mess with my hair this whole time. Well today, for the first time since I stopped combing my hair a month ago, I started to sort through the sections that were forming on my head. I was really surprised to find that i had to pull some apart at the roots! They've been going for it without me even noticing...

Anyways, blessings on your new set of wisdom-locks. I'm excited to seeing a new timeline! (?)

Shampoo from European seller?

Dread Products

I know I live in the States, so that is quite different from your situation with shipping, but I honestly never thought I would be totally willing to pay 15+ for a bottle of Vicki's shampoo. But seriously, like eagle says, once you try it you will be like "Oh...WHY did I wait so long?!?"

You say that you would have to save up for many months to afford buying a large supply.... Well guess what, that large supply will last you much longer than the time you spent saving to get it. She also includes samples of her other dread soaps which last about 6 or so washes each as well. Great bang for your buck.

I am a student too, and though the shipping is much more reasonable in the States than to overseas, it still puts a dent in my budget. ONCE YOU TRY THIS SOAP, ALL EXTRANEOUS SPENDING (i.e. beer, snacks, movies, eating out, etc.) WILL BE >SERIOUSLY< QUESTIONED. Everytime I've even though of buying something that I don't really need, I've thought of it in terms of how many bottles of shampoo I could buy with that money instead LOL.

To wash, or not!

Dread Maintenance

Sugar scrub, eh? Never heard o' that, sounds weird/interesting. Where'd you pick that up?

Earth Rose said:

I make a sugar scrub for my scalp every once in awhile to get any residues off, it's so refreshing and stimulates hair growth!

I do large, raw sugar crystals, coconut oil and essential oils!

To wash, or not!

Dread Maintenance

Props to you, Rose, for suggesting the tea-tree hair spritz. I've been using it, especially after a couple days of not washing it really helps with keeping my scalp happy and thus I can extend my between-wash time if I want to. It also smells great! My personal essential oil blend (mixed 1:10 with water) is like 83% tea tree oil and the remainder a blend of lavender and cedarwood. Smells delicious =) Next time I will try a bit o' patchouli with the tea tree.

I also have newbie dreadlings. I just switched from Bronners, actually, cuz I found it was leaving a tacky residue in my hair (I even used it as my only soap for the past 5 years, didn't even consider it until I found this site). So now I've been doing BS washes with "VERY" light acv rinse. Fortunately, the Bronners residue was very light, and seems to be entirely gone after a couple BS washes. I will switch to Vicki's just 4 dreads liquid soon, but i loove the BS wash with some essential oils, let that soak for a few minutes mmmmmm

Ocean "natures help"

Introduce Yourself

Thanks Gisela. No I'm not upset by people's comments, I think I'm more upset by the toxic conditions we find ourselves in today. It can sometimes feel like all you hear is "Don't do this" and "don't do that" or "you'll get cancer if you do this, that, or anything." It can be hard to feel like there's much freedom left in life when your actions are dictated by negative health aspects that come from living in what is now a contaminated world. It just seems like you can't do anything these days without hearing about the potential dire health consequences.

And, no, I wasn't suggesting that radioactivity could be washed away with water or anything else I was suggesting just to rinse the saltiness out. I would definitely not swim in water near Chernobyl.

Also, I live on the west coast of the USA, and it's been kinda scary and paranoid in the past few years to say the least. I remember when all the stores were selling out of iodine tablets shortly after fukashima cuz people thought they were going to be able to counteract radiation sickness like that. Time will tell...

Ocean "natures help"

Introduce Yourself

Personally, I wouldn't let the toxic state of our planet dictate what you do/don't do /too/ much. Whether you live in Japan (man, I'd be freaked out) or on this coast of the states or in Europe, our whole planet has rather sadly become filled with lots of nasty, toxic things. Some we're aware of, and LOTS we're not. I don't think swimming in the ocean a few times will shorten your life significantly, even considering Fukashima. Does anyone really talk about Chernobyl or 3 mile island anymore? No, but I'm sure they still have as much impact as Fukashima does today.

I say swim in the ocean if you feel like it. It will get your hair in a dready mood, that's for sure. But yeah, do rinse afterward.

Let It Go [Warning, LOTS of photos] TIMELINE

Member Journals and Timelines

Good tips, thankee sai. And seriously, you look like you're having such a good time on that bike, haha!

Earth Rose said:

Haha, thank youu!

And yes, I go for the Dr. Bronners tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus or peppermint, liquid or the bar. All the different scents are great, the ones I think keep my hair knottier.

I also like to keep 1 part tea tree, 1 part lavender(optional), 10 parts water in a little spray bottle. It's great for tightening as well as keeping them clean and fungus free! Also, great for keeping lice away! My neighbors had lice and didn't know it, and I was hanging out at their house all the time - I was the only one that didn't get it because I spray with tea tree daily!

Let It Go [Warning, LOTS of photos] TIMELINE

Member Journals and Timelines

Thanks, Earth Rose, for this wonderful upload! Very encouraging to one who just put his brush aside this past week. Btw, do you have a favorite washing method/shampoo/stuff for your dreads?

omg, I love love LOVE the photo of you riding that vintage bike in your groovy outfit! You're awesome!