A couple of questions... Is it long enough to dread? Which method should I use, I would like to section and backcomb so I have more uniform locks, But I'm not too sure. And what shampoo should I use. Any suggestions would be great. I have a couple of pics which show my hair straight and naturally curly. Do you think the locks will shorten to the length of the curly hair? Any current pics and Info would help alot. Also I'm not using wax at all.
Yes, start dreading. If you don't wanna go natural, try twisting and ripping, and washing without shampoo.
check out the "read before you post" post, that should answer a lot of your questions. as for length, go for it! looks about as long as mine was when i started.
mine started much shorter naturaly yours loioks like it would dread fast naturalyy but if your set on no9n natural id recomend twist n rip over backcomb any day id also dsuggest trying both a non residue soap and a baking soda mix and see for yourself what you like best personaly i would not be able to stand only using water but some preffer that ive heard almpost no complaints about baking soda and a few about almost all non residue soaps ..however some are widely praised by those they work well for experiement and decide for yourself as for methods ..id recommend trying natural for a month before you decide wether youd rather t&r you often hear backcombers say they wished they went natural. but never hear naturalers say they wish they backcvombed (i shouldnht say never..im sure some may have, i just never heard it) your hair looks like it should make alot of progress in a month stop conditioning todayt stop combing and only se[perate em into the size u want weekly or so you should see the beginnings of formatuions fairly quick (not talking days though..possibly 2 weeks )
Depends on what your expectations are. If you want dreads that are as long as your hair is now, wait another 6 months. If you don't mind shrinkage, dread it up. As far as technique, it's up to you! Check the stickies for all your process questions, and welcome to the forum!
mine was shorter than that when I started and I went the backcombing route... haven't regretted it. it'll definitely shrink, but how much depends on your own hair. But I'd definitely say go ahead and get started.
Thanks for all the info Im going to start dredding in the next couple of days or so. Ill also post up pics.
why wait days starting is as simple as throwing away your comb that you can do right this momment... generaly shrinkage tends to be somewhat predictible backcombing, shrinkage is usuakly the most dramatic shrinking to aboutr5 1/3 the original length over a few months to a year twist and rip tends to be far less dramatic (not sure why) and many say that they loose about 1/2 the length very slowly so its not that noticable unless u compare 6 month intervals natural because the actrual dreading process is a slower less dramatic change the growth rate and shrinkage rate almost ballance themseloves out, in fact fore me, growth was faster then shrinkage so i had a year of slow growth and no real apparent shrinkage (starting from just acouople inches though, freinds who went natural from mid backlength hair did experience a fair ammount of shrinkage before growth took over) but stilkl was less then 1/2 before they began to grow
the higher shrinkage of backcombing is obvious... its because you're compacting the hair towards the scalp... on the plus side that though, after the initial backcombing, you don't experience much more shrinkage after that, if any at all. All methods have different aspects and different advantages and disadvantages.... just study up on each one and decide which one is right for you.
