Okay, so I only just recently started the dread process (like, a few days ago), but I have a question. My hair is very curly and frizzy. I did a very small amount of back combing the first day I decided I wanted them, but nothing else after that. The only other things I did were to palm roll, and kind of "jerking off" my dreads a little bit. I didn't use any products, but I do have them separated by small rubber bands (it would not be manageable at all if I didn't). But my hair really isn't dreading. All the different "dreads" turned into curls, and they're really not sticking together. I know it's supposed to take a while, but did I do something wrong? I didn't particularly measure out the sizes of my dreads, but they're not too big (and most of them aren't that small either). They're also not really dreadlocks at the end, it's more like just loose hair. If I palm roll one of the dreads, it'll turn more "dread-like", but it turns back into a curl afterwards. Do I just have to wait? If that's all I can do, can anyone give me a basic time line for the time it'll take to actually start seeing dreadlocks? My hair is about 8 inches long at the moment. And what do I do about all the frizz? I don't mind frizz that much, I've sort of come to expect it with my hair, but is it detrimental to the dreading process?
Dreads are a very slow process. You'll notice that unless you use things such as wax in the beginning they are going to be very loose, however the wax will most likely stay in them and be detrimental to them in the future. I personally like to think that dreads are dreads no matter where they are at in their journey, it just takes time and patience. I've had some nattys for around 10 months (I think) and I still have loose ends and not completely dreaded roots. You'll appreciate not having to tight of dreads anyways, especially the roots, or you couldn't wash your scalp as well. Oh and the friz, that's fine...that's the hair that'll eventually end up in the dreads themselves, so I suppose it's a good thing. Just give em time and treat them well. I'd also advice against putting any products in them to "speed up" the process, but it's entirely up to you.
If you have 8 inches of hair I wouldn't worry, what I'd personally do (Personally) is remove those rubber bands and just wash my hair with residues free soap, don't look into mirrors for a year, and look after that year. Hair knot a lot faster when they get to a certain lenght like 5 inches or more, mine are like 3-4 inches and after almost 2 month of natty it's still just a bunch of lose hair, but I love it and it's still like dreads for me, just not locked yet. Oh and bthizle you got any pics? 10 months should look good.
^^Yes, the guys above are right. I would also recommend purchasing a wool tam, wearing this will do wonders for your roots and will also hide the messy bits while they are still developing The most frustrating thing is when you palm roll them and they turn back into a curl - as you said. But, this is good news because this means that they are starting the first stage of locking up. Dreads are formed by the strands of hair tangling up and rubbing against each other. I'm now at 6 months and I still have a few annoying dreads that look like 'rolled hair', not proper dreads. Have faith - they WILL turn out in the end. Just treat them with the respect they deserve and try not to get angry, we've all been through the shitty early stages (I still am!) and you certainly won't be the last person to go through them either. And yes, frizz is good so don't worry about that.
It's only been a couple days. Dreadlocks take usually about a year to start really looking like dreads. Just forget about your hair completely for a couple months and you will be astonished.
thats cool, I'll take new pics too, not much to show and its hard to see on pics in real its better but anyway
That's exactly what I wanted to know. I know choosing to dread naturally (rather than using wax and other such products), takes a long time, but no one has ever really said just how long it takes. I was just making sure that the curls were alright, and that I didn't do anything wrong. I am content with waiting, there's no rush. I am just excited to no longer worry every day what my hair looks like and what I'm going to do with it. I can't believe it took me this long to decide that dreadlocks were the key to my hair-happiness. And for the record, I have noticed slight differences every morning when I get out of bed, so I am sure I will have plenty of progress within the next couple of months. Yay for curly hair that's just begging to dread itself!
