The quickest method?
Dreading Methods
Whenever I hear of new lockers, I'm always hoping their minds are open enough to have a "light bulb moment" realizing that everyone has a different journey -- and one of the magic words is PATIENCE. Unlocked, my hair is loosely textured afro/caribbean type hair. I've had dreads for over 15 years now and I've definitely seen my fair share of friends and peers dive into trying to lock their hair -- some succeeded while others gave up almost as quickly as they started. I found what worked for me was sticking to a natural path. Backcombing, natural aloe vera gel, and honey to get my locks started, and then daily light jojoba & water spritzes and gentle weekly or bi-weekly washes...but no goopy gels, petrolatum, wax or sulfate laden shampoos. Over the years before I started my dreads, I'd heard from so many others that water was something everyone should avoid in the early process, but I found that water was a magic element for me. I found my locks forming faster than I'd expected and I'll be forever grateful I didn't go the route that many of my peers went to get dreads quickly (using unnatural gels, pomades and wax). Build-up has never been an issue for me and my locks still look and feel strong and healthy after all of these years. I do think staying natural helped in the beginning. I saw a lot of people putting all kinds of crap in their hair and it did seem to slow things down -- especially when they'd end up with mildew/build-up in their locks and they decided to either quit or start all over again.Vanity and the urge to compare our dreads with others in a competitive, self-defeating way (as opposed to what a lot of us do on this site to learn, share and encourage each other) is definitely something that needs to be kept in check. I think I've mentioned this to you before in a different post, but I've always looked at having dreads like cultivating a garden. Even though sometimes we start with similar seeds, no one's garden will be exactly the same -- and that's a beautiful thing. Trust your gut, kiddo. You are well on your way :o)
