grow long beautiful dreadlocks

So here’s what my hair looks like now.

Today I have 1 year old dreadlocks!!

This lock loves to stand straight up for no apparent reason whenever it feels like. It’s still all good though.

I’m thinking of wrapping a few of them with yarn or thread for a while. Some of them have a lot of loose hair, especially at the front. Sometimes I have problems with my hairline (due to too much tight braiding back when I was transitioning from processed hair). I’m afraid that the locks at the hairline may break off if there is too much loose hair that’s not incorporated into their roots. Also one of the ones in the back has a lot of loose hair due to my over-zealous lint removal campaign. I’m over that now (especially since I try to cover my hair every night).

I no longer use baking soda in my hair. It’s starting to bleach my hair a little. This is a problem because I adore jet black hair.

so I made a collage of my progress.

Saturday was six months since I have been cultivating dreadlocks.

Here’s a photo of the back of my head. I had them curled because I was supposed to go out.

I live in a very dusty town plus I’d say roughly 80% of my wardrobe is cotton. With the help of my sister I spent three hours this weekend removing lint from my hair with tweezers. I also deep-cleansed my hair (perhaps a little too well?).

I don’t mind the effort though. My locks are worth it. This sounds strange but I’m beginning to believe that locks are magical things. Since I got them I feel my personality changing somehow. I am becoming more pantient, more gracious, more aware. Isn’t that the strangest thing?

I have decided to twist my hair less frequently so my locks don’t get too thin or weak. The longest I’ve gone without twisting is three weeks. My hair didn’t look nearly as scruffy as I thought it would.

I am going to try twisting every 3 weeks for now. When my hair gets fully locked I’ll go longer without twisting.

To aid me in this I have bought several new scarves and hair accessories to use on the really frizzy days.

Here are some photos of my hair at month 4. I really need to learn how to photograph hair.
Photo 1

Today is 4 months since I have been locking my hair. Yeah me!

I don’t think my mother likes them though. I do..

I pretty much wash my hair once a week and oil my scalp with Tea Tree oil. I spritz my hair daily with purified water containing a little carrot oil and or olive oil/jojoba oil. Since my locks are pretty young I try not to manipulate them too much so no fancy styles just yet.

It is advised not to condition your hair in the early stages but about a month ago my hair was dry as a bone! I guess it was due to the shock of the change in the way I was talkig care of my hair. I just had to do something. My hair was breaking. I went and deep conditioned my hair. Of course, some of my locks started to unlock themselves but that is a small price to pay.

My hair is getting used to the limited product use now so it is less dry and the loose locks have started to mat again. The pattern of the twists is also fading and my hair is starting to look more and more like authentic locks.

Now, I just need to figure out how to photograph my hair.