1.28.2012

journeys end: dreadlocks

6 months neglect dreadlocks dreads natural

here's my 6 month progress of natural/ neglect/ free form dreadlocks. i took them out right after these pics were taken- armed with a bottle of conditioner, jojoba oil, a fork and a lot of patience! i managed to detangle 6 months of dreads in a few hours with Rob's help too. it was a cool dreadlock journey and no regrets. it may be hard to see on my dark hair, but i had 3 really solid locks in the back (i called them the 3 musketeers).

natural dreads girl dreadlocks neglect organic 6 months

at 6 months my hair was starting to dread like crazy, though the sides were taking forever to dread. shoulder length hair was shrinking up to chin-length. crazy swiggles, loops and matted knots forming a calligraphy of it's own. though i loved the wildness and organic changes that were occurring, there were some cons:
  • my dreads were picking up lint which showed up easily in dark hair, and i was going cross-eyed tweezering it out. it seems unavoidable unless you cover your hair all the time which i'd rather not do.
  • split ends on old hair, again which showed up easily on dark hair.
  • the pulling feeling at the scalp on some of my more solid dreads.
  • dreads getting caught on jackets, seat belts, etc.
ultimately, i felt the dreadlocks just weren't suiting me. so out they went! then i gave myself a hair cut using the ponytail layering method, which works pretty well:



another good ponytail hair cut tutorial here.
self-reliance is what i'm talking about ;)

stay tuned for bear sneak peek tomorroooow! have a great saturday

6 comments:

Tracy said...

Hi PP! Sorry the dreadlock experiment didn't work out for you. On a related note, though, one of the trolls I found at a recent toy show has hair that seemed to naturally form itself into dreads over the past 50 years...pictures coming this week. I thought of you and your dreadlock experiment when I spotted her. (Not that you look like a troll...it was the dreadlock connection, I mean!)

Peng Peng said...

LOL! cant wait to see your dreadlocked troll! xoxo

Jeanne Hospod said...

glad you got to experiment, but also glad the experiment has come to a conclusion. Your overall natural hair texture is lovely! Don't fight it. Best to leave that style to those with really all over kinky texture.

I get one stubborn snarly dreadlock at the base of my neck I have to constantly keep in line but it sure isn't going to tell the rest of my hair what to do. I discipline that upstart. Or threaten with the

yowsa, that makes my scalp ache imagining you & rob getting that all out.

let me see your new do!

Jeanne Hospod said...

whoops left out a word --threaten with the scissors is what I meant to say...but you know sometimes I just leave the threat open to that 'lock. Scarier that way.

Peng Peng said...

waving scissors around to be "scared straight" lol!

k.marie said...

I've come across your page twice in the last month- the first time I stumbled upon your page and became entranced by your art bears, fully convinced that I needed to start collecting these adorable little babies- I could say that I was doing it for my son, but we'd all know the truth... Lol

The second time was just now, when I was looking at different stages in the natural dreading timeline on Google. I started crocheting the bottom half of my head several months ago, but decided to let the rest happen naturally. I'm sorry yours didn't work out! It's frustrating for sure- mine don't seem to be making much progress at all, but I'm patient and stubborn, so I'm hoping that'll get me somewhere!

<3