braids into dreadlocks?

heres a pic of me a few days before i started my dreads:

and here they are today (im leaning forward so it looks longer than it is; it's actualy about 2.5 inches below my shoulder line.

 

This lady looks like she may have braided already mature dreads, not the other way around. I see a lot of folk with that style (braided mature dreads - not quite as dramatically styled as hers) in my neck of the woods. I can't wait until my dreads are long enough to braid as I miss wearing two long braids more than any other hairstyle.

arlia, your method of dreading was ingenious for long, fine hair... as long hair tends to start locking at the bottom when going natural. This way, you forced it to lock first at the root, which is much more ideal. Beautiful!

 

Thank you
I figured if the roots were well knotted it would help the rest of the hair in that section knot up . rather than the giant birds nest that happened when I just couldnt be bothered to comb my hair for 3 months

 

my ex girlfriend is using a similar method to you i think arlia, having it braided and then allowing the dreads to be grow naturally at the bottom
it looks pretty sweet i must admit
maybe i should bring her on here hah

 

ok, I'm gonna stick with the braids and leave them in til they dread.

I have them tied up at the bottom, should I move the elastic bands to the roots? or get rid of them all-together? or just wait til later cause I've only had these things for like 10 days.


and you're all making me jealous, btw

 

I wouldn't leave in the elastic bands. If you want to hold them together, I recommend using beads rather than rubber bands. Bands can get easily swallowed in dreads, but beads are a little more resilient as long as you move them now and then to make sure they don't get stuck above a knot and can't come off!

I braided my hair, slept on it, and then let each section of the braids dread. This worked well for me, because that meant my hair was already sectioned and I didn't have to do it myself.

Here are some pictures I took about 10 minutes ago. My recently washed, not-quite-dry dreadlettes.

 

the braids themselves never dread, they just dread individually, and you can undo them even after 16 months (I have a couple)

The roots do dread, yeah, and some are so wacky they remind me of alien vs. predator

 

thanks for the advice so far. I'm starting to put the beads in and replacing all the elastics and I've got some of that dr. bronners coming in so this should start moving along

edit: i'm hoping to get pics on here soon to show what its at. my only camera is a phone so its tough

 

arlia is the phenom. not to mention her "attractivity" is driving me nuts. xD