Namaste my peace loving dreadheads, I thought it was about time that I posted some photos on my twist & rip dread journey. It has been 11 months since I threw away my hairbrush, shampoos and vanity.

In the photo below, my hand shows how long my hair was when I started my freedom. As you can see, I have one section that was held back at school, does not want to join it's friends yet.

I can't believe how much my hair shrank from long straightness. When I first began the journey, I knew it slowly feeds it way up, thickening as it goes, but somehow this was a surprise to me, how short it really got in such a short time. I must have a metal plate in my head, I try to take turns on how I sleep, but I always manage to wake on the right side of my head. They are shorter than the other side. Still messy looking too. Ah now, here is the left side with the longer sections due to my sleeping habits. No worries though, they will catch up eventually. Underneath all that mess are very short, locking up dreads, up the nape of my neck. I am amazed they really shrunk that short from such long hair. You read about it, but to experience it is another thing. At the moment there is a count of 76 sections.

I noticed that the skinnier sections that I T&R'ed were done tighter, but not on purpose. Anyone doing their hair this method should always do them loosely, and don't let the skinny ones fool you, do em loose too.

I have gone through some days that I thought I looked like a troll, yep, even took pics on those days for my own personal journal, but I won't share those ones. Ha, Ha. I am finally very comfortable not wearing a tam when going out. Luckily I work from home, so the troll was able to stay under the bridge, site unseen. I am by no means vain, nor care about makeup and such, but I really did look like a crazy person for awhile there.

The reason I posted this was because I read many of you worried about your hair not maturing fast. You see photos of people 1 year in and they look fantastic already. Well, look at mine, they are on their way, but not close to mature. We all dread at a different pace. I hope that these photos help ease your mind. Don't worry, just enjoy the ride.

My locks are getting tighter underneath at the nape of my neck, all my hair is very lightweight and free flowing, thanks to this site teaching me about natural hair care. So my fellow dreadies, this is me at 11 months into my dreadhead for life. You'll see me soon again when I notice a change. Cheers!