Forum Activity for @nicole

I think just leaving it alone and starting neglect, but condition after a mild stripping will do. the aspect of letting them form on their own is a gentle process in itself, causing the least amount of damage, even compared to how most people normally care for their hair with maintenance.

You'll know when to separate, because it will feel like the roots are one massive tangle with separate "dreadlings" hanging from them. Not really dreads, but sections of hair starting to find their buddies and form a section. After you wash and it dries, you'll notice this huge tangle, and I have to leave mine alone until it dries to make any sense of it because when it's wet it feels like an insane mess and is hard to do anything to until dry. My hair's really wavy too so that might be part of why mine feels like that.

So, wash and let it go, and as it starts forming it's tangles (mine took 3-4 weeks to really get that tangly root mass) pull the root tangles apart by section to keep them sectioned. it's really random sections, and if you have root tangles already from the crocheted ones then you probably already have most of your 'base" dreads (sections) going.

Your hair will get better and stronger because hair always does as new hairs come in. We lose and grow 50- 100 new hairs daily. It'll get better, and when it feels like your hair isn't really doing much of anything at all, it likely means that you're right on the cusp of all kinds of new dreading activity going on. Life always seems to work like that.

Oh, and the baking soda wash works really great! I also recommend Maylee's Garden shampoo bars (you can find her in the dreadshops section). They have a very excellent conditioning aspect to them, made my hair much softer after washing than baking soda alone, and quite clean too. Smells fabulous, my entire family is in love with them, husband, kids, all of us.

I agree with Jessica, I'd also do some recovery for at least a week, do some hot oil treatments, deep conditioning and deep cleaning and then start in with the backing soda wash and neglect. I wouldn't worry about brushing though, just conditioning for a week, crocheting broke a lot of your hair you wanna strengthen it first.

I'm doing a combo and I would say that the T&R look better faster, but they both seem to be doing their thing at the exact same speed. What I don't like about the T&R is that they look like some kind of braid or plait because as my hands manipulate them I get into a rhythm and they start to look very "made". What I don't like about the natural is that they tend to get much bigger than I would like them and I have to pull them apart so as not to end up with one big congo. What I love about the natural is that they look more like true dread locks and they don't separate very easily once they find their path. What I like about the T&R is that I can have some control in the sizing. So there are my pros & cons of both

yup gives em a start and ya have some defined sections already

yea u can take em mostly out and leave in some foundation knots