I may get some flack from Soaring Eagle for this, but one month into my new dreads which I started with a mixture of TNR and a little backcombing I was extremely frustrated with how my hair was dreading up. I was losing a lot of length in some areas, and not in others, and I could tell where I had used more backcombing and where I had done more tnr. I was getting a lot of big loops which were driving me crazy!!!! A few of them I liked, but for the most part I was struggling to love my hair. I also couldn't go out with my hair down because it seemed like such a mess.

So... after much deliberation, I finally decided to comb them out & redo them with TNR only. A few years ago I helped a friend of mine comb out her dreads which she had had for YEARS. I didn't think such a thing was possible, but thanks to that experience I realized that if she could comb out 5+ year dreads, then I could manage 1 month dreads For the past few days I have been doing them one at a time, and I am happy to say that I love my hair again!!! I redid the spacing in a couple of places, which I am happy about, and I will probably leave a few of the loopy ones in for fun.

I lost a bit of length (and probably weight!) due to combing the loose hairs out and some inevitable breakage at the ends, BUT I feel like my hair is manageable now and that it will dread a bit more evenly.

If I were to do it again? I'd be interested in taking the completely natural journey, but would NOT mix methods again ever.