Talk me into (or out of) being knotty ;)

[Oldoak]

So, I have been eyeing all the Dready Mamas' lovely locks lately and I'm considering this path myself. But I'm so on the fence.

I tried dreads once before when I was seventeen, I ended up brushing them out after about two months because I just couldn't commit.  

Now I'm a SAHM with two boys. My hair has not been cut or dyed in about five years. And I've been going no-poo since the beginning of the year. So I'm not really afraid of not being able to change my hair. I think the very biggest reason I'm so undecided is because I have spent so long growing my hair out. It's really long, the longest it has ever been for me. I'm afraid of losing the length. And I'm very afraid of having to cut the dreads off if I absolutely hate them or some other reason.I love the look of dreads, I think the are lovely. I just don't know if I am ready for them.

It's almost to the top of my butt. But it has a lot of split ends and gets tangled easily. In fact, it I don't brush for a day locks start forming on their own.

[mamayogibear]

Originally Posted by Oldoak 

So, I have been eyeing all the Dready Mamas' lovely locks lately and I'm considering this path myself. But I'm so on the fence.

Don't worry, be knotty now...

I tried dreads once before when I was seventeen, I ended up brushing them out after about two months because I just couldn't commit.  

You could twist and rip or backcomb or crochet to get a quicker dreaded look without having to commit to it. Both of these methods look like 'dreads' right away but don't actually lock up for a month or two so it's easy to remove them with a bottle of conditioner.

Now I'm a SAHM with two boys. My hair has not been cut or dyed in about five years. And I've been going no-poo since the beginning of the year. So I'm not really afraid of not being able to change my hair. I think the very biggest reason I'm so undecided is because I have spent so long growing my hair out. It's really long, the longest it has ever been for me. I'm afraid of losing the length.

If you go neglect/natural you will not loose much length at first, but if you go this way you go for the long haul since it takes a looong time to look like dreads. My last set was 100% neglect and they did not look like dreads for about a year after starting!

And I'm very afraid of having to cut the dreads off if I absolutely hate them or some other reason.I love the look of dreads, I think the are lovely. I just don't know if I am ready for them.

I am now on my fifth set of dreadlocks and have only cut out one set completly. Most of the time if you cut off the bottom of the dread you can slowly unweave them with conditioner and a comb. By slowly I mean an hour or two a day for about a month. Then your hair still has some length but it's good to trim it to get rid of split ends.

It's almost to the top of my butt. But it has a lot of split ends and gets tangled easily. In fact, it I don't brush for a day locks start forming on their own.

Well then I think your hair is telling you what it wants to do;)

dreadlockssite has lots of info if you google it.

[Oldoak]

I decided to go for it! So, it's been a week with no brushing for me. I wash my hair every 2-3 days with baking soda rinse with a couple of drops of lavender essential oil. In between that I'm just washing with water. Oh, and I have been occasionally spritzing with a salt spray I made with distilled water, unrefined sea salt, and grapefruit essential oil. Things seem to be going well! I need to get to the ocean soon...

[FloridaBorn]

Hey, where in Florida do you live?  I'm near Tampa.  I turned my long hair into dreads about ten years ago.  Alas, I no longer have them at the moment (miss them a lot sometimes!)  I combed them out.  I can help you get your dreads looking like real dreads if you want, or if you just want to talk about having dreads and how to care for them, just send me a message!